Just as a reminder, there will be no school tomorrow or on Monday... so enjoy your 4 day weekend! Hopefully the weather will cooperate (no more snow please!) and we can all get some time outside over the next few days! In any case, take a look at what we have been up to this week.
Things To Note:
Have a fantastic, extra-long weekend!
- I/E: This week, we took some time to do research! Students were given a link to various space topics on Kids National Geographic. They then needed to take notes based on their research. Once they did this, they created a final project to demonstrate the name of the space topic, information/facts about that topic, as well as a picture of their topic. Students were given the option to create a powerpoint, poster or write an informative essay. These turned out awesome and will definitely be up during Science Night/Open House!
- ELA: This week we focused on poetry and the difference between free verse and lyric poetry.
- Strategy: Stanzas (groups of lines/sections) & Meters (Rhythm)
- Skill: Theme (what is the poet trying to overall communicate with the readers)
- Genre: Free Verse Poetry (no set meter or stanzas) & Lyric Poetry (typically rhyming, has a rhythm)
- Vocabulary Strategy: Metaphors (does not use "as" or "like") & Similes (uses "as" or "like")
- Spelling: Suffixes -ance and -ence
- Greek/Latin Root Words: Vers, Vert = to turn
- Math: After learning common denominators and equivalent fractions, we began adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. The biggest thing we are focused on remembering, is that when you add or subtract fractions, you MUST have the same number in the denominator. If you do not, you need to change the denominators to be the same by creating equivalent fractions. We are working on remembering that whatever you do to the denominator, you must also do to the numerator. Additionally, we also are learning to make sure that we have reduced our final fraction in simplest terms.
- Social Studies: We are continuing with The American Revolution and looked specifically at the road that lead to the Declaration of Independence. Students learned who drafted the document, whose name is most "notable" as well as the whole reason for why it came about in the first place, which is why we celebrated the 4th of July!
- Science: Water Sources was our topic this week, where students learned about the vast amount of water that consumes the earth, but how little is available for us to use/drink. We did an experiment to show this too! We learned that 75% of earth is comprised of water, meaning only 25% is land. Of the water we have on earth, 97% is saltwater, which we are unable to use. While 3% is freshwater, we only have access to 2%! Essentially, we discussed the importance of conserving water and eventually finding ways to filter the water we are unable to use right now.
Things To Note:
- NO SCHOOL: There will be NO SCHOOL on tomorrow, Friday, April 19th or Monday, April 22nd
- OPEN HOUSE: Open House will be Thursday, May 9th from 6-7 pm. More information about this will come home later in the coming weeks :)
Have a fantastic, extra-long weekend!