Aside from spring, these weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite time of year. Everyone seems to be filled with anticipation. We all know what the kids are looking forward to, but now as an adult with two of my own kids away at college, I am most looking forward to family time when they come home. I also think about sharing the joy of the holiday season with others that may not be as fortunate as I am, and I look forward to doing some of that with your kids as well. These will be a busy four weeks for us, so please stay updated as best you can! Reminders:
Class Notes: Reading: We continue reading The One and Only Ivan. It was a sad day in the story yesterday, and I cried, just a little. (Actually a lot). I hope you are talking to your child about this book , and how it may be changing their perceptions of how we treat animals.
I Gratitude: showing appreciation and thanks. There is so much in my life that i am grateful for, but let me take this opportunity to thank you all for sharing your children with me. They each bring a little something different to the classroom, and that "something different" varies every day. Maybe yours is the child that is always volunteering to help someone else, or maybe yours is the child that is little firecracker and spunky, or maybe yours is the child that holds back a little, but when they do share it is something insightful and meaningful. Whatever the case, each one of them is a blessing to have, and I am grateful every day for each of them, and their families! I hope you all have a peaceful Thanksgiving, surrounded by those that you love.
Religion quiz 7 due Friday(Tomorrow) SS. We continue learning about the path of WI becoming a state, and the immigrants that made us who were are. See the worksheet coming home in today's gray folder, and return by Monday. We also are starting to focus on learning the continents, regions of the US, and the 50 states. Feel free to use any online game to help study. Here are a few links: online.seterra.com/en/vgp/3003 https://kidsgeo.com/geography-games/ Reading: We continue reading " The One and Only Ivan". It's been a great book for developing empathy, and studying point of view. Hopefully you have had some discussions around the dinner table about Ivan and Stella. In grammar we are working on using conjunctions appropriately. Ask your kiddo if they can give you all of the "FANBOYS"! It feels like this week has just flown by! I spent Monday with my daughter in Boston, and the kids were absolutely great for the sub. You should be proud! As we wrap up first quarter, I think we are on a strong course of learning and the kids are really getting into the groove! im looking forward to chatting with you all tonight at conferences. Reminders:
Social Studies: This week we are moving from the French and Indian war toward the Northwest Ordinance and WI becoming a state. Students have vocabulary notecards in their accordian folder that they should be studying. RLA: We are wrapping up realistic fiction, and starting Fantasy and Science Fiction. The book of their choosing should be in either of those 2 genres. We also started a new novel, "The One and Only Ivan". This is a fantasy"ish" book that provides for good thought provoking discussion about animals in zoos and circuses. Remember to keep reading 15 minutes per night and record on the book log sent home last week. That is due Dec. 3 As we celebrate All Saints day today, I am reminded of our patron saint, Saint Joseph. Historians know little of Saint Joseph, but we do know he died early in Jesus' life. Therefore, he is the patron saint of dying. He also is known as the foster father to Jesus, so he reminds us of the many families that are separated for a variety of reasons, and the need to be compassionate and supportive to families that choose to foster. Reminders:
Social Studies: Chapter 2 Test is in this week's folder. Chapter 3 starts tomorrow when we begin "Wisconsin becomes a State." RLA: Reading logs for October were due Today, and a new one for November is in your folder. The realistic fiction book that they have been reading the last two months should be done by next Tuesday. We will start our book project then. The next book that they should be reading is either science fiction or fantasy.
Reminders:
Social Studies: We finished Chapter 2 on the "Early Explorers". The projects were great! Summative Assessment will be next Tuesday. RLA: We are still working on prewriting the narrative using transitions, strong verbs and specific nouns. First draft will be next week. This week in mass and in school we have been reflecting on the "Fruits of the Spirit" as described in Galatians 5:22-23. These are beautiful, easy to understand concepts that the students(and ourselves) can work on as we reflect on what it means to live every day as followers of Jesus. Take a minute to discuss with your child what these mean to them and how they can implement them in their life at home. Reminders:
RLA: We are continuing to work on the prewriting stage of our personal narrative: the 4 ways to start a narrative, how to paint a picture with words, and the 4 ways to end a narrative. In grammar we are continuing our work on subjects and predicates. First draft will be next week! Social Studies: This week we continued with learning about the Native American tribes in WI, where they settled and how they lived. Today, we watched a retelling of the creation story of two tribes, and compared them to our own creation story in the Bible. Projects due tomorrow! Enjoy the rest of your week! What is the image above? Your kiddos should know. Ask them to tell you what that is! Fall or Winter? It seems to have switched overnight! Brrrrr!!! I will say that the benefit to the cooler weather is that it's easier for the kids to concentrate in class. On that note, here's whats happening in 4th/5th this week:
Class notes: RLA: We are starting to write our personal narrative this week. Today, the students created a graphic organizer called "The heart of ______" to get their minds thinking about all the parts of them that they love. Stay tuned! Remember, reading log is due November 1. Social Studies: We started studying the tribes of WI this week. Students will be researching one in class today and tomorrow, and then will create a project based on their findings. They have some questions to guide their research, using this website: http://www.native-languages.org/wisconsin.htm They can choose how they would like to display their research(shoebox, posterboard, etc), but it must have some written component. See a few examples below. Projects are due next Friday, October 19. There are moments in teaching where you can just see the excitement of learning taking hold. This week I had one of those moments when we discussed the Peshtigo fire that happened in 1871. They were mesmerized as we talked about how the people of the area ran to the river to survive, and how many people died as the fire jumped across the river to the other bank. Wisconsin history is so rich, and I look forward to sharing it with your kids every day!
RLA: Unit 1 Summative is being sent home today. Please take a moment to discuss this with your child. We started Unit 2 this week, which focuses on becoming active readers by questioning. Social Studies: We wrapped up Chapter 1 in WI History: "Wisconsin Geography", and the test is tomorrow. The students have been making notecards all along, and hopefully they have been studying them this week in preparation. The next chapter is Early Wisconsin History. Well, we're almost one month in! I can't believe how quickly September flew by. October will certainly be busy as we have a lot on the calendar. Stay tuned for details. This weeks notes:
Reading/Language Arts: We continue to work on making connections while being active readers. Journaling is done almost every day in class to reflect on the lesson and apply it to what we are learning. We wrapped up our study of commas and ending punctuation. Take a close look at the summative in the Thursday Folder for how your child did with that. Some of them need to continue working on those skills. Social Studies: We studied the regions of WI and presented our part of the map. Next week Friday will be our Chapter 1 Summative. Have you seen this tree in the school parking lot? It is truly feeling the tug of summer into fall. What a beautiful example of finding God's beauty in nature! I just love fall in WI: the smells, football, sweater weather, apples and mulling spices! Oh! How could I forget going back to school? We had a great experience at Paul's Pantry this week. The students really learned what it means to serve others, and how it is so important to give back when we have so much. They all asked if we could go back, which is definitely the plan! A HUGE thank you to Dakarai's dad, and Lina and Hayden's grandma for driving. Just a few notes:
Social Studies: We completed our first summative on Chapter 1, Lessons 1 & 2 after completing a review sheet. See both in your Thursday folder. Students are also creating notecards with every vocabulary word, which are perfect for sneaking in a few minutes of study time every night. Those can be found in the accordion folder, so they are at home every night. Today we started a great project on the regions of WI that will be ready for you to see at the open house next week. |