Language Arts
Reading
Last week we finished Who Is Malala Yousafzai? by Dinah Brown. The kids appreciated learning about a woman who is not too much older than them and is making a large difference in the world. This week, we are shifting gears and beginning to read the popular book-turned-movie Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson. This fantasy book follows the story of Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke, who young children in a lonesome farm town. Their imaginations run wild and bring this book to life as the characters struggle with the conflicts one feels while growing up. This week, we will be working on identifying the character traits of Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke, as well as reviewing the types of conflicts characters experience (self vs. self, self vs. nature, self vs. society, and self vs. others).
Writing
The students are flexing their persuasive muscles as we write essays on "Should Helium Balloons Be Banned?" Last week, the students held a "Philosophical Chairs" debate where we split the class into "yes, helium balloons should be banned" and "no, helium balloons should not be banned." Everyone did an excellent job respectfully arguing their point of view! Students are now taking what was discussed in the debate and writing an essay around their opinion. It will be interesting to see who still has balloons at their birthday this upcoming year!
Word Study
This week's words focus on words the students will encounter in chapters one and two of Bridge to Terabithia. Students will be defining the words, writing synonyms, sorting the words by part-of-speech, and creating sentences. Here is a list of the words. The quiz will be on Wednesday, April 26th!
Math
This week we are finishing up Chapter 11: Angles. Students have learned how to take fractional parts of a circle and convert them into degrees, how to draw angles with protractors, and how to figure out the measure of an angle that is split in two. The Chapter 11 test will be on Thursday.
We are so excited that we will be beginning Chapter 12 in April! This chapter will discuss converting between different kinds of units.
Social Studies
We have transitioned back to Social Studies for the first half of the third quarter. Students have eagerly begun learning about the Southwest and West regions of the United States by beginning their state research! Each student chose a state in the Southwest and West region of the country and will conduct research focused on the culture, geography, history, and current events of their state. After completing their research, the students will take what they have learned and create a magazine to showcase their work. We are very excited to see what the final products will look like!
