Dear Parents,
Hello April!
I hope you all had an amazing spring break. It was wonderful being able to sleep in, stay up late, and spend time with my family. Plus, the Easter Bunny came and brought some wonderful little treats. I hope you all were saved from any April Fool's pranks, and enjoyed spending time with your kiddos.
As we make our way into the fourth quarter, I am faced with a lesson plan book filled to the margins of content still needing to be covered and objectives needing to be met. It's going to be a fasted paced eight weeks, but I know the hipsters are ready for the challenges they are going to face.
Thank you for supporting your child and helping them get their missing work completed and turned in. I know breaks are just that, "break," but sometimes we have to even work when we least expect it. From the shared stories and times had during the week off, it seems every one was able to slip in a lot of fun over the course of their week.
Our 5th grade field-trip will be coming up on May 4th. If you are interested in attending to help chaperone, please let me know and I will put your name down. I will double check to make sure there isn't a limit of chaperones attending and what the transportation to Eagle Island looks like for parents. I believe parents car pooled together to the park, as the bus was full of students and staff. For those interested I will find this out in the upcoming weeks.
I hope you all have an amazing month, and that your heavy jackets and coats aren't needed throughout all of April. Let's hope the colder-windy weather isn't a prolonged April Fools that sneaky rabbit placed in your child's basket.
Have a fun filled month!
Veronica
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Social Studies...Westward go the wagons! The hipsters are expanding our nation out west. We are taking a trip with Lewis and Clark, going to work on the railroad, and will hopefully strike pay dirt. Either way we have packed up our packs and are making our way out of the newly established country and seeing what adventure and opportunities lie in the uncharted territories of the west. | Mathematics As we finish up our fraction unit with division of fractions and whole numbers, the hipsters will be looking into area and volume. Measurement is where we will be jumping next. | Science... The hipsters are still in life science. The next stop after living organisms will be looking at individual traits. |
Social Studies...
Westward go the wagons! The hipsters are expanding our nation out west. We are taking a trip with Lewis and Clark, going to work on the railroad, and will hopefully strike pay dirt. Either way we have packed up our packs and are making our way out of the newly established country and seeing what adventure and opportunities lie in the uncharted territories of the west.
Mathematics
Science...
Curriculum Corner
* Available lesson materials can be found on the webpage link.
Reading
April 2-6 (Animals on the Move)
Genre: Informational Text
- Target skill:Text and Graphic Features
- Target Strategy: Visualize
- Vocabulary:
disturbing, struggled, primitive, brandishing, gradually, scanned, identical, routine, gorgeous, sweeping
- Spelling Principle (word parts; com, con, pre, pro)
Spelling Words
produce, company, protect, preview, contain, combat, prejudge, commotion, contest, prefix, progress, computer, confide, convince, prospect, confirm, preflight, provide, propose, promotion
Challenge Words:
concurrent, conscious, commercial, compete, conversation
- Grammar Concepts: Possessive Nouns
singular possessive noun: noun in which one person or thing owns something
plural possessive noun: noun that shows ownership by more than one person or thing
April 9-13 (Mysteries at Cliff)
- Genre: Reader's Theater
- Target skill: Theme
- Target Strategy: Analyze/Evaluate
- Vocabulary:
dwarfed, procedure, transferred, enthusiastic, adapted, conserving, critical, realization, available, resemble
- Spelling Principle (suffixes- ant, ent, able, ible, ism, ist)
Spelling Words
vacant, insistent, reversible, patriotism, finalist, honorable, contestant, observant, urgent, pessimist, comfortable, absorbent, optimism, journalism, novelist, terrible, frequent, laughable, radiant, collectible
Challenge Words:
evident, triumphant, occupant, digestible, curable
- Grammar Concepts: Titles and Abbreviations
abbreviation:shortened form of a word
April 16-20 (Fossils: A Peek Into the Past)
- Genre:Informational Text
- Target skill: Fact and Opinion
- Target Strategy: Question
- Vocabulary:
viewpoint, surveyed, advantages, previously, legendary, retreat, persuade, aspects, rural, organize
- Spelling Principle (Greek word parts)
Spelling Words
telephone, autograph, microscope, photograph, televise, biology, microphone, paragraph, symphony, telegraph, megaphone, microwave, photocopy, biography, saxophone, telescope, calligraphy, xylophone, homophone, homograph
Challenge Words:
telecommute, bibliography, phonetic, microbe, autobiography
- Grammar Concepts:Commas in Sentences
comma: a punctuation mark used to show a pause or separation of ideas within a sentence
introductory word/phrase: a word or phrase preceding the comma in a sentence
April 23-27 (The Case of the Missing Deer)
- Genre:Realistic Fiction
- Target skill: Conclusions and Generalizations
- Target Strategy: Infer/Predict
- Vocabulary:
record, incredibly, destination, suspense, required, insights, dependent, effective, diminishing, marveling
- Spelling Principle (Latin Word Parts)
Spelling Words
inspect, export, erupt, predict, respect, bankrupt, dictate, porter, report, spectacle, deport, interrupt, dictator, import, disrupt, portable, transport, spectator, verdict, dictionary
Challenge Words:
spectacular, contradict, corrupt, retrospect, rupture
- Grammar Concepts:More Commas
appositive: a noun, noun phrase, or series of nouns placed next to another word or phrase to identify or rename it, set off by commas
series: a list of three or more items written in the same form
Writing-
- Informational Narrative
Focus-Organization
- Expository-Graphic Organizer
Focus-Expository
- How-To
Focus-Sequential order of steps or process
Mathematics
Measurement
Area and Volume
- area and volume formulas provide a method of measuring these attributes by using only measures of length
- volume is filling of three-dimensional space and represented in cubic units.
Social Studies
Westward Expansion
- technological advancements, communications, and transportation led to the settlement of the west
- westard expansion, influenced by geography and economic opportunity, had both positive and negative effects
- western expansion forever altered the lives of Native American Indians
Science
Life Science: Biology/Living Systems
- plants manufacture their own food through the process of photosynthesis, which also cycles carbon and oxygen into and out of the atmosphere
- all living things inherit traits from their parents in a molecule called DNA. some of those traits are very common while others are rare.
- Species evolve traits to help them survive
Upcoming Events
April 6 -Eagle Store (3:30-4:30)
