The Kersey Chronicles
Rockstars Choosing to Matter in Room 25
MLK Jr
I hope you enjoyed a restful weekend! I spent some time reflecting on the life of Martin Luther King, Jr yesterday; this quote about education has always been one of my favorites. My prayer for all my students is that they develop the ability to question and challenge the things that bother them, with the goal of making their world a better place. Knowledge is not merely the reception of others' ideas, but the application of our own. Education, then, becomes more about how we act on our knowledge, and the difference we make in the lives of others. I continue to be thankful to play a role in your child's life.
Try This At Home ...
Choose a famous quote of Martin Luther King Jr and analyze it together. What did he mean? Why did he say it? How can a statement resonate over decades of time?
This Week's Set List (January 19-22)
Week at a Glance/Skills for the Week:
LITERACY – We finish book clubs this week. In guided reading groups, we will study text structures used in nonfiction texts (cause/effect; problem/solution; chronological order; compare/contrast; lists). We will also continue reviewing and practicing our test-taking skills.
WRITING – We will continue our informational writing unit this quarter.
MATH – We will wrap up unit 7 this week. The main purpose of this unit is to investigate prealgebra concepts and skills. Students explore notional conventions of numbers, develop rules for adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers, as well as make and analyze line plots. The four main areas of focus are: to understand conventions associated with exponents; learn to interpret number sentences with order of operations; recognize the need for negative numbers; and to organize and analyze date with line graphs and line plots. These skills will be tested at the end of unit 7. This test is currently scheduled for Friday, January 22nd. A student guide will be sent home the week before and we will review the day before the test on January 21st. Per usual, please remember to utilize the family letter to support your child's work throughout this unit.
SPELLING – We will resume spelling this quarter. Students will take either 4th grade words, unit 11 (almost, whole, because, among, special, probably) or 5th grade words, unit 4 (often, watch, friends, explain, whose/who's).
SCIENCE – We continue our unit on electricity and heat. Students have been building different types of electrical circuits. Questions to guide our learning include: How is energy transferred? How do we use electricity and heat? How are heat and electricity related? Why do we need electrical circuits? What do we know about circuits, conductors, and insulators?
SOCIAL STUDIES – We are taking a break from Social Studies and will resume later in the school year.
TIPS - We are reading Journeys texts to explore text structure.
Upcoming Events
January 20th: Early Release Day, 2:55pm Dismissal
January 22nd: Yearbook group photos
February 3rd: Early Release Day, 2:55pm Dismissal
February 5th: PTO Movie Night 6:15-8:30pm