Dr. Shaw's Weekly Newsletter
November 16th - 20th
Greetings Everyone!
Another week in the books and just one week to go before the Thanksgiving break!
Midterm progress reports are in today's Friday Folder. Please sign and return it to me in the folder on Monday.
We will be participating in a Holiday Luncheon STEAM challenge next Friday. Both classes have had the opportunity to split into groups of 3 or 4 students and do some planning for this challenge. The theme for the luncheon is peppermint and hot chocolate. Working with that theme, I've challenged the students to create a marble maze from marshmallows, peppermints and the lid of a box. The object of the game is to move the marble through the maze of sweets!
Both classes will spend time on the 20th creating their maze, which will then be displayed at the holiday luncheons. Mrs. Blankenship and I will supply the box lids and marbles. We are asking the students to decide within their groups who will bring in the marshmallows and peppermints. Please ask your child if he or she needs to pick up one of those items.
Here's what is coming up in academics next week:
In math, we will wrap up our fraction unit with a test on Thursday. Our last skill that we are focusing on now is multiplying a mixed number by a mixed number. A study guide will be given out on Tuesday.
Don't forget about the accelerated math content on eClass. Very few students have taken advantage of this opportunity.
In social studies, we have wrapped up chapter five and are reviewing both chapters 4 and 5 for our Tuesday test. The students were given study guides Tuesday the 10th. The study guides are due on Monday!
In science, we've been examining the effects of weathering and erosion on land forms. There is a daily grade on this Wednesday and the students have plenty of notes in their notebook to prep with, We will then shift our focus to volcanoes and earthquakes and how they can be both constructive and destructive forces in nature.. The unit test will be after the Thanksgiving break.
There are great resources on eClass for both science and social studies. I am adding a featured website to the landing page every week. Also, check out the links under the Resources tab that provide students with game based activities to review science content and an important Google map of places we have studied in socials studies so far this year. Students are responsible for locating specific geographic locations in social studies.
In reading, the students will continue to work on paired passages where quoting accurately from the text is a focus. Thursday, the students will complete a cold read. This will count as a test grade.
In grammar/writing, the social studies research project will be completed in class by Tuesday. This is a test grade for writing. From there, we will begin a review of synonyms, antonyms, and homographs. There will be a daily grade on this skill when we return from Thanksgiving break. The class will also continue a focus on paraphrasing and summarizing in writing in preparation for an in class science writing piece that will begin when we return from break.
The Tempor/Chrono DG will be given Tuesday. That is the final grade for Greek and Latin root study this term. Mrs. B will be issuing a "root challenge" enrichment activity where the students will include roots learned from the beginning of the year in a fun fall piece.
One last word from Mrs. Blankenship...Please remember the ten minute nightly ELA Classworks assignment should be completed Monday-Thursday.
Upcoming Events/Deadlines
Thanksgiving Break - November 23rd - 27th
Holiday Lunch - December 4th - 1:00
Have a wonderful week!
Dr. Shaw