Weekly Happenings 5.7-5.11

We are down to the last few weeks of school! We still have a lot of learning and a lot of fun activities to fit in for the remainder of the year!

Here is what's happening this week:

Writing: Today, the students developed their thesis and supporting reasons for their essays. Over the next few days, we will work on finding pieces of evidence. They'll learn how to paraphrase parts of the book, use quotes from the book, and use lists as evidence. We'll also review how to write and introduction and conclusion.

Word Study: Due to the craziness of our schedule for the next couple weeks, we will no longer have word study. We'll use some of this time doing experiments and hands on science activities.

Science: Today the students learned what motion is and how forces affect motion. We'll dive deeper into the different forces. The students will also be conducting an experiment which tests the force of friction. They'll be creating ramps using different materials to test how they will affect the speed of toy cars.

Math: The students will continue working on their tessellations this week. They are looking great so far! I can't wait for you to see your child's finished project.

Reading: We are still in the middle of book clubs. Most of our lessons will be taught to deepen the understanding of their book. We'll focus on how smaller details and minor characters are important to the bigger ideas a book presents. They will learn about symbolism and what ideas they can form from the symbols. We'll also work on taking notes that will lead to a strong discussion. They'll meet with their groups this week to discuss their reading so far.

Important Dates:

5.8 - Buy One, Get One Free Book Fair
5.16- Field Trip
5.18 - Fun Day
5.22 - End of the Year Parties
5.23 - Last Day/Half Day