This week we will be reading the story "The Gold Coin" from our Jr. Great Books curriculum. We will work on our critical thinking skills and show them off in our seminar on Friday. Students are graded by participation in the seminar discussion.
Students who missed words on last week's spelling test will be retested on those words on Friday. Make sure that you sign the spelling sheet to say that your child worked on these words throughout the week.
We will also continue working in our Analytical Grammar packets focusing on nouns the first week.
In MUM...
This week we will wrap up Chapter Two: Estimation with a short quiz. Then we will move into Chapter Three: Whole Number Multiplication and Division. Students will be learning about multi-digit multiplication and long division.
Students will receive math homework on Monday that is due by Friday. This packet will contain a few basic fact worksheets and will also contain a few pages on the topic that we are working on during the week. There may also be homework that comes home during the week, of in class work is not finished in class. This work will be due the following day.
Please check Infinite Campus grades regularly at home so you can keep up with how your child isdoing in class.
In Writing...
This week we will learn how to write a friendly letter. We will be sending these letters to pen pals in Massachusetts! We will correspond with these pen pals throughout the year.
We will also be spending 1-2 days per week in the lab working on our typing skills. The free website that we will use is http://www.freetypinggame.net if you would like to access it at home. Another great site that you can encourage your child to use at home is called http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/.
In History...
In history we will be doing the first two units which are on mapping and world mountains. Students will learn how to read a map and about different kinds of maps during the mapping unit and will learn about the tallest mountains in the world and how mountains affect people, weather, and how we live in the mountains unit.
There will be a small quiz after each unit which will last about 2 weeks.
The mapping quiz is this Tuesday, October 2nd. Please see the email that I sent with the study guide for more information.
In Literature Circles...
We will start practicing the process of literature circles as a whole group over the first few weeks of school. Students will be learning and practicing the roles in order to be prepared for small group/independent work. We will start by reading the book "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
What we are reading for read aloud...
I always kick of the year by reading one on my favorite books called "The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt. We started the story today, and the students are already very excited to keep reading!
