Fiftieth Day of School

Today we took notes for our Social Science and Science test. Their notes were sent home. You student should be able to recall the verbalize or graphically represent and/or explain the following concepts:

Social Science:

• Survival needs
• The differences between goods and services and examples of each
• Some ways in which the past was different than the present with an emphasis on transportation, education, and means of communication (postal systems/services)

Science:

• The 3 forms of matter with examples of each
• How a solid becomes a liquid
• Properties of each form of matter

We will also have our final Math Test on Chapter 2 this week.

Forty-Seventh Day of School

Today we took our Reading fluency and comprehension tests. Results will be posted in graphic form in the classroom.

Mid Chapter 2 Test Results

Of the 26 students taking the test, all students passed with an adjusted score of 12 or higher. One student achieved a perfect score.

Forty-Fifth Day of School

In Science, we made observations of a mystery substance and tried to discern whether or not it was a solid or liquid. Note, the substance is non-toxic (don't eat it). It washes easily out of clothing, but should be kept off of wood, carpet, and paper products.

Forty-Third Day of School

In Reading, we are learning the difference between summaries of fiction and non-fiction.

In Health we discussed feelings of anger and how to deal with them.

Forty-Second Day of School

In Writing, learned how to extend a story beyond 2 events. We discussed multiple ways to transition.

We will be on the the yard Thursday for an extended time for our safety drill. It is suggested that the kids bring something to protect themselves from the sun, i.e. hats,  hoods, etc.

It is likely that we will have a Math test on Thursday as well.

Forty-First Day of School

In Writing, we planned our class fantasy narrative about a penguin who leaves the Arctic via the airport to live in an ice rink where he learns to ice skate.

In Science, we observed a collection of liquids and observed and recorded their properties. We developed a bank of descriptive words including: opaque, viscous, transparent, and translucent.

We also attended a presentation on fire safety and prevention.

Fortieth Day of School

Today in Writing, we made our plans for our fictional narratives.

In Math we played a game called Battle Towers which put our collection comparing skills to the test.

There was no homework tonight.

We also practiced out interview skills for discussing the life of Roberto Clemente.

Thirty-Seventh Day of School

In Science today, we experimented with our collection of solids and attempted to take advantage of their properties to build towers. We learned how with a simple physical modification, the properties of a solid could be changed to better suit a new purpose. This was demonstrated throng the process of corugation. We also learned the synergistic effect of 2 solids being used together.

Unit 2 Week 1 Preview

Our weekly themes in this second unit will center around our families and our neighbors, (having already examined ourselves) our abilities and our growth. Our last idea about teams was that families are the most important kind of team. This week, we will explore the idea of families taking care of each other. [Some activities may include:] Our oral vocabulary words are guide, protect, provide, separate, wild. Our sight words are her, our, they, two. Our comprehension strategy this week will be to focus on summarizing a selection. We learn to summarize by developing the skill of distinguishing main ideas from details. Summarizing a selection is a different skill than a retell. Where a retell would be to tell a story in our own words with as much interesting detail as possible, a summary isolates only the most important ideas answering the basic questions of who? what? where? when? why? and perhaps how? This story is about a girl walking in the forest who seeks food and rest in the home of 3 bears. In phonics and spelling, will take a more detailed look at some long vowel spellings this week beginning with 'a_e'  (cane) and 'i_e' (ride) along with inflectional ending '-ed'. In grammar we will discuss sentence subjects and nouns.

In Writing. over the next several weeks we will explore other sub-genre's of the narrative.

For Social Science we will continue comparing and contrasting the past with the present (HSS 1.1.4) (tested). We will examine photos of schools long ago.

In Science we will begin our exploration of liquids.

In PE we will combine several skills practiced so far to play a fast-paced, high-energy game of sockball.

Math Quiz

Of the 25 students taking the Chapter 2 quiz, 13 students passed with a score of 7 or better. Four students achieved a perfect score.

Thirty-Sixth Day of School

Today we listened to a biography of Roberto Clemente. We agreed that it was a sad story. We cam up with questions we could answer about the the life of Roberto Clemente.

• Where was Roberto Clemente born?
• What did he grow up to be?
• What kind of person was he?
• What did he want to do?
• How did he die?
• How was he honored?

We  will use these these questions and their memorized answers as well as the questions and answers about Alexander Graham Bell to become interviewers and experts on their lives.

Tomorrow we will likely have a Math quiz.

By this time, in Science, students should be able to name 3 forms of matter. They should be able to describe how one forms changes to another form. They should be able to give an example of each form. They should be able to name more than one property of solids.

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. We will read, discuss, and generate question for a non-fiction selection about baseball and humanitarian great, Roberto Clemente. We will use our generated questions to conduct expert interviews about Roberto Clemente. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals as well as chasing and learning base running.