I hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed some time with family and friends. If your child is going to be absent before or after the winter break, please let me know. We will be completing each of our units of study and finalizing grades over the next few weeks in preparation for the 2nd quarter ending and report cards being sent out.
Reading- This week students will finish working on finding text features in nonfiction texts. We will be going over titles, headings, timelines, table of contents, photographs, subheadings, captions, diagrams, labels, charts, tables, maps, bold/highlighted/italic words, textbox/sidebars, bullets, glossaries, and indexes. Students will identify how these text features help them better understand a text. Students should take home their reading interactive notebooks and study the text features that are pasted in them. We will begin learning how to identify the author’s point of view of nonfiction texts. We will also identify our own point of view. Homework for this week will be sent home on Monday, November 26th and due Friday, November 30th. Grammar- This week, we will begin introducing reference materials, including uses of a dictionary, encyclopedia, and thesaurus. Students will be introduced to each reference material and shown how to use it. Spelling –Students will concentrate on Sort 16 this week. Our spelling quiz on these three sorts will be on Friday, December 14th. Writing- This week, we will continue working on informative writing. Informational writing will include 5 paragraphs: an introduction to the topic, 3 paragraphs explaining the 3 big ideas or subtopics that support their main topic, and a conclusion. Students will also include facts, definitions and transition words in their writing. This week, students will read two articles about owning a hamster and dog. They will be asked to write a five paragraph essay explaining what some of the responsibilities of owning a pet are and cite evidence from the articles. Science: We will begin our unit on rocks, minerals, erosion, weathering and soil this week. Students will learn how to describe how rocks and minerals are alike and different, describe the physical attributes of rocks and minerals, analyze data to classify rocks by their physical attributes, and explain how water and wind can affect rocks and soil. Important Dates November 27: Yearbook Cover Drawing Contest ends November 29: Sign and Returns December 14: Spelling Quiz Sorts 16, 17 and 18 December 21st- January 4th: Winter Break (No School) Have a wonderful week! |
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