Ms. Harris' Weekly Update
November 4th-8th
What's Going On This Week:
- Ms. Harris' Social Studies Class: This week we will finish reviewing our unit on Westward Expansion and prepare for our unit test. Students were given a study guide last week to help them study. We will review in class and then students will take their unit test either Wednesday or Thursday. Ms. Harris' homeroom will be Wednesday and Ms. Castaldo's homeroom will be Thursday. Student's proof boxes (These are on the self-assessment sheets at the beginning of each unit in your child's SS notebook.) are due on the day of their test. These must be completed showing proof that they understand the learning target stated on the sheet. If students show enough proof that they have mastered the learning target, they will receive bonus points on their unit test.
- Ms. Harris' GT Math and ELA Class: In math this week we will continue exploring volume. Students will also review area and perimeter. They will have to determine from a word problem, whether it is an area, perimeter, or volume problem and then solve it. We will have a quiz on this by the end of the week. Students will also take their first timed test on Wednesday. Please encourage your students to study their facts, either with great resources like reflexmath.com and multiplication.com or with flash cards. In ELA, we will begin typing our NaNoWriMo novels. Students will type for 45 minutes each day. Please ask your students about their novels. Help them think through writing blocks and inquire about their plot and characters. Because of BizTown interviews on Tuesday, novels will be due on Wednesday not Tuesday this week. On Friday, we will have our spelling tests and spelling sorts/homework will be due.
BizTown Interviews are Tuesday
Camp Read-A-Lot is Thursday
PTO Meeting on Thursday 9-10 am
Operation Christmas Child
If you are not familiar with Operation Christmas Child, during the month of November, they collect shoe boxes full of toiletries, toys, and small objects for children around the world who won’t get anything for Christmas. As a class, we discussed collecting items for a girl age 10-14 and a boy age 10-14. Here is a list of suggested items if you are interested in donating anything. https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/what-goes-in-my-shoebox-suggestions/. I told the students, if they can bring in items before Friday the 15th, we can pack the boxes in class and I will deliver them to a collection site. While this project is in no way mandatory, I am so proud of the students for wanting to give back and help others. They are such a caring and wonderful group of kids. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!
Book Spot Light: Chasing Vermeer
Chasing Vermeer
by: Blue Balliett - (Scholastic, 2004) 254 pages.
GRADES :6-8
LEXILE® MEASURE: 770L
GENRE: FICTION
This bewitching first novel is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, disguised as an adventure, and delivered as a work of art.
When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?
Perfect for: Kids who like mysteries.