Cluster 1 Newsletter
April 8 & April 15
Hello Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers!
MCAS is next week-- ELA sessions are Monday and Wednesday. Please make sure your students charge their Chromebooks and bring a book to read once they finish. Grades for term 3 closed today and report cards will be coming home as soon as the main office is able to print and mail them. Please reach out with any questions!
All our best,
Cluster 1
English Language Arts Update
Our research-based informational writing unit is coming to a close but not before all of our students completed work on their E-Books! Students developed their research, note-taking, and digital literacy skills over the course of this project. Maybe above all, they developed essential collaboration skills as they worked in small teams to research and compose their books on Google Slides. We’re really proud of how they turned out! Ask your learner to share their work with you!
After break we’ll begin our next round of book clubs. Students enjoyed the first round and will surely be excited to pick new books and jump into them with their classmates. Students will be expected to read at home, so please help us to keep them honest as much as you can. Thank you for all that you do to support our students!
Math Update
In math, we are currently working on our Expressions and Equations unit of study. This is the students initial introduction into Pre-Algebraic concepts. We have been writing and solving equations in the form `x+p=q` and `px=q`. We also learned about the distributive property and how to use it to write equivalent expressions with variables. As the unit progresses, the students will learn how to evaluate numerical and variable expressions with whole number exponents. We will wrap up by using tables, equations, and graphs to represent relationships.
Here is a link to Desmo’s Family Resources. There is also is a video overview of our unit on Equations and Expressions!
Science Update
♬Owl Pellets, Owl Pellets, Owl Pellets, a ball of bones and fur and other things!♬
Get ready to be humming that song all next week! We are so excited to be dissecting owl pellets next week. The pellets contain undigested parts of an owls’ meal (fur, bones, etc.). What exactly did the owl have for supper? A bird? A mouse? A vole? Students will examine the bones to find out!
Social Studies Update
This week we explored the story of “The Exodus” in more detail using “The Prince of Egypt” as our guide. We are now working on mapping out the Israelites’ journey using a series of texts to eventually create an interactive map showing our learning. Work on this map will conclude next week as we start to get ready for our next adventure – the study of Islam and it’s spread through Africa.