The END is near...

...but don't worry, we are still working!  Here is what is happening is Room 25 this week:

Language Arts
Word Study
On Tuesday, we will have our Word Study Quiz over List 27 (Chapters 8-10 in Bridge to Terabithia). I plan to finish the book this week as well, so a new word study list will be given.  The list will be only 7 words and include only 3 options.  This work will be due by next Tuesday, May 23rd.  This will include words from chapters 11-13 in our novel and will also be our final list of the school year. The list can be found here.

Reading Comprehension/Writing
We are finishing our last 3 chapters of Bridge to Terabithia this week.  As we finish, the students will continue to identify the plot elements (climax, falling actions, and resolution).  On Friday the students will be given a partner/group activity as fun and exciting way to show their understanding of the book!  These projects will be presented next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Math
This week we will finish our entire math book!  Chapter 13 continues with using Area and Perimeter to solve multi-step problems.  The students will also be engaged in creating a map of a "perfect bedroom" using the knowledge gained from this chapter.

Science
Continuing with the Mystery Science lessons that we started last week, this week we delve into understanding What Do Blind People See?  This unit will lead us to our next two units of:

• How can some animals see in the dark?  and...
• How does your brain control your body?

This is officially my last blog post of the school year.  Thank you all for your support throughout the past 9 months and I am truly proud of the progress your children have made!  I will be sending home a permission slip for anyone who is willing to "babysit" our class pet for the first two weeks of August.  If you are interested, let me know as soon as possible!

One more thing...The West!

In addition to the previous post, we will have our final geography test over the Western states and capitals on Friday, May 12th!  The kids all have study guides in their home folders.  Here is a map, just in case your student "lost" theirs.  Students can also use Sheppard Software to study online! Happy studying!

Plot, Perimeter, and the Power of the Brain!

Teacher Appreciation Week is upon us and I plan to show off my amazing teaching skills by working my students to the bone!  Hopefully, they will appreciate all I do for them by working hard, turning in their homework, and acting like model students!  Here's what I have planned for them this week:

Language Arts

Word Study

This week we continue the novel Bridge to Terabithia.  Part of the purpose of reading this week will to find and understand unfamiliar words used throughout chapters 8-11.  In addition, the word study this week uses certain suffixes (-ous, -able, -hood, -ship, -ty) to show how the part of speech changes when added.  The students will be asked to connect these words to events happening in the novel in context (written sentences).  Here are the words for the week.

Reading Comprehension

While reading chapters 8-11 in Bridge to Terabithia, we will continue to focus on diagramming the events in a plot, including the rising action and the climax (this happens in chapter 11).  This week we will focus on identifying the climax of a story through games, guided practice, watching short videos, and even creating our own comic strips!

Writing

Last week we switched gears and made inferences about the connection between Leslie and Jess in our novel.  The students had the opportunity to compare the relationship in Bridge to Terabithia, and a similar relationship in their own life.  The "My Leslie" essays will be graded this week and available for you to view on Google Classroom by Friday.  The graded rubrics will be sent home as well.

This week we will writing a few "mini essays" reflecting on the meaning of some chosen quotes from the text.  This will give the students an opportunity to show off their awesome writing skills in multiple ways in one week!

Math

Believe it or not, we began Chapter 13: Perimeter and Area on Monday!  This is our final chapter in our Go Math! curriculum and is mostly a review of skills that have been taught throughout the year while learning related skills.  This chapter will last until next Friday (the 19th) and will include a few projects and fun activities to link the geometry with the real world.

Science/Social Studies

Our STEM week was an amazing success last week and was a great way to launch our next science unit - The Human Body.  Throughout the next few weeks we will be exploring such topics as:

• Why do our biceps bulge?
• What do blind people see?
• How can some animals see in the dark?
• How does you brain control your body?

We will be using a really cool online program called Mystery Science for our learning.  This program uses informational videos, explorations, and extension activities to guide the students through learning about the powers of the human body.  Click on the picture to get more information!

Have a great week!  As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If you haven't already, follow us on Twitter to see all that your students are appreciative for!

Diagramming Plot, Dropping Eggs, and Distance Measurement

We have four weeks remaining of school and we are still working hard!  Here is what´s going on this week in Room 25:

Science

This week marks the beginning of our last Science unit of the year.   All week we will be researching, discussing, designing, and building our projects for North School´s STEM Fair on Friday.  The fourth grade will be building containers to withstand an egg-drop from the top of the school!  Students are invited to bring in materials that can be used for the project by Wednesday and the final projects will be completed by Friday, May 5th.  Parents are invited to the final egg drop competition on Friday from 1:15-2:15.  Click on the picture below for a link to the rules and timeline of the project.

Math

This week we will finish Chapter 12: Measurement.  Since this chapter covers many different skills, we will not have a chapter test, but rather a few shorter quizzes that cover each of the individual skills.  On the agenda for this week includes metric unit conversions, elapsed time, and reading stem plots.

Language Arts

Word Study

As we read the book Bridge to Terrabithia, our Word Study words will be from the chapters we read throughout the week.  The words range from the familiar to the unknown, but give the students and opportunity to use then in context and become familiar with them as we read.  The words for the week can be found here.

Reading

For the next few weeks, we will continue to read Bridge to Terrabithia to further our comprehension of fictional text.  This week we will focus on diagramming the plot and identifying the setting, rising actions, conflict, and climax of the story.

Writing

While we focus on the plot of Bridge to Terrabithia, we have been anticipating the climax (or most dramatic event) that all the events are leading up to.  This week we will gather information to help us begin to infer what the climax may be.  Throughout the next two weeks, we will writing an inferential essay describing what we think will happen in the book as the climax!

Have a wonderful week!  If you can, we would love to have you attend our final rounds of the Egg Drop Contest on Friday from 1:15-2:15.  As always, if you have any questions, let me know!