Human Body Review Videos

Josh, Noah, Kyle, Daniel

Renusree, Hailey, Gianna, Zoey

Kyle, Daniel, Pareena

Justin, Jason, Jillian, Won Jun

Penny, Patryk, Erica, Rayvn

Chrystel, Christina, Carlos

Week of September 30, 2013

Math:  This week we are finishing Unit 2. We will review on Wednesday, and will have a test on Thursday. Students were given an overview of the test on Friday. Please encourage your students to use Khan Academy to further study these concepts. 

Writing: Common and proper nouns will be the grammar focus this week. We will continue to focus using strong verbs, showing and not telling, and using focused writing. Students will work on explaining how they did various things using transition words. 

Treasures/Novels:  This week we will learn about the text features of the fantasy genre. The story is titled, "Westlandia".  We will focus on making inferences/analyzing the text, as well as word origins. Lastly, students will be introduced to theme and how to identify the theme of a story. 

Students will be asked to select a historical fiction book for October's independent reading project. Please help students select a book by Oct 7th. We will be doing research in the LMC for 4 days throughout the month of October in relation to the book they choose. 

Science: Students will review for our final Science quick check on Monday for the assessment on Tuesday. We will start History Alive on Wednesday. 

DAILY GEOGRAPHY:  Students are encouraged to review their Daily Geography over the weekend before they turn it in on Mondays. 

Special Events this week!

• STARS lunch for students who have turned in all their homework this month on Thursday. 
• Miss P will be out at a meeting all day Tuesday (please email if you need anything). 

September Book Reviews

Miss P's students all read realistic fiction books this month. Check out their reviews!

Hailey

Penny

KyleB

Gianna

Christina

Noah

Justin

Erica

Chrystel

Joshua

Jason

Rayvn

Carlos

Won Jun

Daniel

Kyle S

Zoey

Daniel T

Renusree

Preeti

Jillian

Patryk

Week of September 23, 2013

Math: This week we will be working on 2.5-2.8 in Everyday Math. We will be estimating, learning about probability, multiply decimals, and begin formal problem solving instruction. Continue to refer to last week's video tutorials. 
**Xtramath reports will be sent home occasionally for you to see your child's understanding of math facts (this includes accuracy/speed). You have access to check their progress through the parent login.

Probability Videos/Exercises

Probability practice
   Use videos 1 -8 depending on your understanding of probability thus far.

Writing: Using strong verbs and varying sentence structure are the main focus of this week. Grammar will go over how to correct run-on sentences. 

Words Their Way:  Students meet with me 1x a week and practice independently/with a partner the remaining 4 days. When we reconvene, students are testing on 10 of the words that follow the pattern they studied.

 

Treasures/Novels:  This week we will be using the book "Freedom Riders" to do Close Reading lessons (which connects to the CommonCore standards of Language Arts). Students will gain more experience with highlighting key ideas and revisiting the text multiple times to aid their comprehension. 

Students will continue to work in their reading groups, respond to what they read in the notebooks, and work in literature circles. The independent reading project for their realistic fiction book was introduced last week & is due SEPTEMBER 30th. Ask your students to show you the purple plan sheet. We will begin recording this week! 

**Students wrote their 1st "Reader Response Letter" during reading time. This is to show me their understanding and thinking of the novels they are reading in class. It follows a specific format and an example we did as a class. I am conferencing with students to provide them not only written feedback, but also personal feedback and a time to ask questions. You will be asked to sign the rubric this week. The notebooks are not to go home, but will be shown to you at conference times. 

Science: This week we will be doing an experiment to illustrate how the respiratory system works. We will also do another experiment to show how digestion occurs. We are nearing the end of the science unit on the human body, and will have a test early next week. 

DAILY GEOGRAPHY:  Students are encouraged to review their Daily Geography over the weekend before they turn it in on Mondays. 

Special Events this week!

** Thinking Skills with Mrs. Albrecht on Thursday 11:15-12:15! 

Week of September 16, 2013

Math: Students should have cleaned out their math section of their accordion folder this weekend. Please check this, so your child can stay organized and start unit 2 on track. We will start the week by finishing the test for about 30 minutes on Monday. We will review how to estimate reasonable answers, learn how to add/subtract numbers with decimals, and begin problem solving. Use the following links to preview/review concepts. 

Ever Wonder Why Borrowing Work?
Adding/Subtracting Decimals Tutorial
Word Problem Practice
Word Problems with decimals

Your child can login to Khanacademy anytime and watch video tutorials on any math concept. This is a great opportunity for them to preview future concepts or review concepts they are having trouble with. It is a great resource to watch videos and also practice concepts with immediate feedback. 

You will get updates on Xtramath mastery levels. Your child is expected to login at least 6x a week to practice math fact mastery. This is very important as we approach our fractions unit. 

Writing:  Our grammar focus is on combining sentences and complex sentences. This week we are continuing to focus on SHOWING and not TELLING. Students should be getting more comfortable with being descriptive in their writing. We will also introduce the new skill of using strong verbs and revising their work independently. 

Words Their Way:  Students will have their first quiz on their word patterns this week.

 

Treasures/Novels:  We will be studying a new genre this week and read a story called "Goin Someplace Special". We will learn about the historical fiction genre. This will connect to some CLOSE reading we will be doing with the book Freedom Riders next week.  We will also learn about homophones and the text features of a timeline. 

Students will continue to work in their reading groups, respond to what they read in the notebooks, and work in literature circles. The independent reading project for their realistic fiction book was introduced last week & is due SEPTEMBER 30th. Ask your students to show you the purple plan sheet. 

Science:   This week we will be studying the effects of muscle fatigue on our muscular system and cardiovascular system and graph the data on the computer.
Create a Graph

DAILY GEOGRAPHY:  Students are encouraged to review their Daily Geography over the weekend before they turn it in on Mondays. 

Special Events this week!

** If students are interesting in participating as student council class reps, students have to make a 2 minute speech to the class this Thursday. 

Week of September 9, 2013

Math: 

Use these videos of Ms. P for Monday/Tuesday when learning about Prime Factorization 

Prime Factorization 1

Prime Factorization 2

Prime Factorization 3

We will be finishing up Unit 1 (which covers factors, square numbers, square roots, and prime factorization) by the end of the week. Students will get a study guide & will have a review day before the test which is tentatively scheduled for Friday.

****Before using Khan Academy this year, you need to join my coaching group. Use your district "d25" login and password to do this. You can then join this class by entering the code 9H39JJ on the "Coaches" tab of your profile page:   Please do this before clicking the links below! You should see your user name in the upper right hand corner if you do this correctly.  PLEASE WRITE YOUR USER NAME/PASSWORD in the front of your assignment notebooks, next to your Everyday Math info/password.  We did this in class on Sept 4, but please make sure you can login from home too! 


Math Videos : 

Practicing Square Roots

Prime Factorization

Prime Factorization Practice

(Review videos)
Factors Tutorial/Practice on Khan Academy
Divisibility Practice
Divisibility Rules Tutorial
Practice Divisibility Rules
Brain Pop Square Roots
How to Find Square Root (unsquare a number)

Writing:  Our focus of writing this week is on "Showing" and not "Telling". Students will be asked to use descriptive writing rather than recounting events in sequential order. Our grammar focus is on compound sentences & conjunctions. We will also be reviewing subjects/predicates-- please review your child's grade on Friday's quiz (and sign if the score was below a 70%)

Words Their Way:  We have gone through a practice week of how our daily activities will run. This week students will work with words at their spelling level. Word lists may be used over 1-2 weeks, depending on student progress.

 

Treasures/Novels:  For Treasures, we will be continue to work with last week's story, focus on a story chart (and the parts of a fictional story), as well as read some non-fiction texts. We will also practice our vocabulary and focus on synonyms. 

Students will continue to work in their reading groups, respond to what they read in the notebooks, and work in literature circles. The independent reading project for their realistic fiction book will also be introduced. 

Use this link to help your child find an independent reading book: Scholastic Book Finder

Science:  Students were introduced to the nervous system last week (and also reflexes), and will continue to explore this body system, in addition to the skeletal system. We will likely do an experiment to learn about our bones on Thursday/Friday of this week. 

DAILY GEOGRAPHY:  Please check your student's home section for their Daily Geography work that they complete every morning. They are welcome to take it home to finish up if they feel rushed in the morning. 

Special Events this week!

• Picture Day on Monday at 11:20!! 
• MAP TESTING FOR SOME STUDENTS (NO LONGER ALL STUDENTS!) Look for a letter in backpack mail!!  
• Music for Youth assembly Wednesday at 9:15

How Our Limbs Work

The following are videos that students made to explain the limb models they created. A job well done!

Daniel x 2

Renusree & Preeti

Jason & Jillian

Rayvn, Joshua, and Patryk

Kyle & Noah

Gianna & Erica

Carlos & Christina

Penny & Kyle

Chrystel & Hailey

Justin

Won Jun & Zoey