Monday, November 21, 2016

Headlines, 11/21

Time is flying; it's hard to believe that this week we will celebrate Thanksgiving!  This week we have school today and tomorrow and the remainder of the week will be an R&R so you can enjoy the holiday with your family.

This week I will be leaving for London with my family to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday.  We are all very excited!  However, I will be out next Monday-Wednesday, so please direct any questions you have to Ms. McKernan. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

ELA
This week in Writing we are practicing our persuasive writing skills by writing an essay from the point of view of the poor Thanksgiving Day Turkey!  We will also take the time to share these essays with the class on Tuesday; hopefully your students won’t request pizza for their Thanksgiving dinner!

We have almost completed Where the Red Fern Grows.  Students should have be working on their projects for the 100 Point Project.  These are due December 9th.

Students will recite, “I Hear America Singing” on Tuesday.  The next roots quiz will be on Wednesday, November 30th.

Math
This week we will introduce Unit 4 which covers multiplication and division of fractions.  We will begin with concrete examples and will then learn the algorithm.  Math groups will be back to the regular time of 8:00-9:00 beginning Wednesday, November 30th.

History
This week, students will review for the history test. Students will be assessed on their knowledge of the Renaissance on Tuesday, November 22nd.

Science:We are finishing our study of cell parts. There is a quiz on Tuesday.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Headlines 11/14

I hope everyone enjoyed a relaxing weekend and this fabulous weather!  It's hard to believe that we are in our last week before Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season.

We are so excited to watch our scholars perform this on Wednesday at the winter concert.  Please let Ms. Kaye or I know if you have any questions about the concert.

As a reminder, our winter dress code began today, so boys should be in long pants, and girls should wear long pants or skirts with tights or long socks.  Students are welcome to wear jackets to school, but only uniform sweaters or sweatshirts are allowed in the classroom.  Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this.

We are looking forward to a great week!


ELA
This week in grammar we will continue to review complex sentences and dependent clauses.  We will be taking a grammar test on Thursday covering conjunctions, independent, and dependent clauses.  We will finish the week by learning about persuasive writing with a fun Thanksgiving activity.

We are delving deeper into Where the Red Fern Grows. This week we will continue to focus on comparing and contrasting characters.  Students should have chosen their projects for the 100 Point Project and hopefully have begun working on getting some of the work completed.  This project has a TENTATIVE due date of December 9th.

Students will recite, “I Hear America Singing” next Tuesday and we have our next roots quiz on Wednesday!


Math

This week in math we will be learning to use our knowledge of fractions in word problems.  Out Unit 3 Test will be on Thursday and we will begin our new unit on Friday.  We will be having math groups from 8:45-9:45 on Wednesday.  Please let us know if you are able to help.


History
This week, students will learn about Michelangelo and his great works. Students will also take a look into proper etiquette as described by Machiavelli and Castiglione. Students will be taking home passages from The Courtier and The Prince to read and annotate on Tuesday for our Socratic discussion on Thursday. These passages are very difficult and should be read with a parent or older sibling to ensure understanding. We will also discuss the Renaissance in other parts of Europe and study guides will be sent home. The Renaissance test will be Tuesday, November 22nd. If you plan to be gone, please plan to have your child take the test early.

Science
To deepen our understanding of cells, we will be learning the difference between prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells. Then, we will begin learning about the various organelles found in eukaryotic cells. There will be a ton of brand new vocabulary so I suggest that students make flash cards of the new terms and study them daily.