Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Sorry!

There have been so many things going on lately that I've forgotten to post!  So sorry!!!  
Students are working on individual weathering/erosion/deposition posters that are due on Monday, March 3. 
Weathering, Erosion and Deposition Poster

Weathering, erosion and deposition shape our Earth. These forces break down, move and build up our land. You are going to make a poster that illustrates landforms created by weathering, erosion and deposition.

I. You will create a 3-part poster. This will be made by tracing a circle onto a roll of paper and cutting out that circle. Then you will divide the circle as shown below.

II. Your poster will have 3 sections on the front. Each section will have an illustration of landforms caused by weathering, deposition and erosion. Each section must the underlined landform in each section plus one additional landform.

Section 1- Waves and Wind
Dunes, beach, spit, bay and barrier island

Section 2- Running Water
Oxbow lake, v-shaped valley, delta and meander

Section 3- Glacier
Horn, glacial lake, moraine, cirque, u-shaped valley

These landforms must be illustrated and colored with colored pencils or crayons. Neatness, accuracy and creativity counts!

III. On the back of your poster, you will list and define all of the above landforms You should have 14 landform definitions.  The back of the poster should also list definitions for weathering, erosion and deposition AND explain the relationship among the three.

A grade checklist was provided to each student.  Points will be issued for each required element in addition to neatness, completeness and creativity.

MATH
We will spend most of the spring learning about fractions.  The students are decomposing and recomposing fractions as they learn how fractions work.  They seem to have a handle on equivalent fractions and are beginning to grasp comparing fractions.  A huge discussion was had about what a "good" answer looks like as well as what it takes to write a better or even best answer-lots of explanation and evidence!


Thursday, December 26, 2013

Happy Holidays!

Here's hoping everyone is enjoying the time away from school!  When we return to school next year :-), we will have one week of school before the end of the second quarter.  On Friday, January 10, students will present their fourth literature project of the year, this one on a fantasy book.  
Fantasy usually describes those stories that could not happen in real life. 

Over break would be a great time for students to check their ProgressBook accounts to see how their grades look.  They could even make corrections on graded assignments in order to turn the corrected work in upon their return to school and earn a better grade.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!



Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Stranger

This week's reading selection is The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg.
The Stranger
Chris Van Allsburg

In science we are beginning a unit on energy and electricity.
Electric Energy 
Electric Energy
Who Can Resist?
BrainPop Current Electricity
BrainPop Electricity
How electric currents work
Revisewise Electical Conductors

In math we are continuing with multiplication and division and reviewing geometry from third grade.

On Friday, we celebrated the first quarter Circle of Excellence by creating crazy caramel apples.  After several students expressed displeasure with the name "Circle of Excellence", they were encouraged to write persuasive letters to Mrs. Greene about changing the name back to Rocket Club.  Apparently the letters were very persuasive; the Circle of Excellence will henceforth be known as the Rocket Club!

Monday, October 28, 2013

So You Want to Be President

This week's selection is So You Want to Be President.
 Each child will spend the next two week's researching one of our nation's presidents.  Students will be given some time at school to work on this project, but time will need to be spent on this at home as well.  The project is due Friday, November 6.

We are collecting food and toiletry items for the school Harvest for Hunger.  So far, our class has collected 11 items.  We need to collect a lot more in order to win the school-wide contest!  Right now, Mrs. Pendleton's class is winning because they have brought in the most canned goods.

We are getting ready to start our unit on electricity.  Donations of C and D batteries would be greatly appreciated.

The next literature project is informational nonfiction due on November 22.  A rubric and graphic organizer to aid in the process were sent home last Friday.

Sunday, September 29, 2013

What Jo Did


Our reading selection this week is What Jo Did.  To view a powerpoint of vocabulary and skills, click here.  For other What Jo Did activities and resources, click here.  To watch cause/effect video, click here.

In science we are practicing the scientific method as we study conservation of matter.  For the steps of the scientific method, click here.  To watch a video of the scientific method, click here. (Email me for the username and password).

In math we are still working on number sense and operations.  This week is a review of addition and subtraction, but students are now being asked to find their solutions in multiple ways and to explain those solutions.  We are moving beyond simple computation and into pulling out the important information from a word problem.

Subtraction Algorithm game

Algorithm explanations
Subtraction algorithm examples

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Walkathon

Don't forget, our walkathon is Thursday, September 26!  It's not too late to donate to this worthy cause.  The funds generated by the school walkathon go directly to the students in the form of Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Math technology.  Without the walkathon, we would not be able to support this amazing source of individualized instruction.  If each student collected $20, we would surpass our goal!

This week's reading selection is Letters Home from Yosemite, a nonfiction text about one of our country's most famous and beautiful parks.
Letters Home Powerpoint
Vocabulary flashcards
Games
Vocabulary Practice
Comprehension and vocabulary review

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Conservation of Matter

In science we will begin to study conservation of matter, the principle that, in a closed system, matter cannot be destroyed or created.  It can only change frrom one substance to another.
The Horned Toad Prince is this week's reading selection.