Curriculum
Update for week of May 5, 2014
Dates to Remember:
*Tuesday, May 6th Mid-Quarter Progress Reports go home
*Thursday May 8th Family Picnic at Irwin
*Friday, May 9nd Spelling Assessment
*May 5 – 9th Staff Appreciation Week!
*May 26th- No School
**June 23 – 26 Camp Invention at Irwin! Sign up today! It’s awesome!
What are we learning?
Reading
This week we will continue to give the DIBELS reading tests. During this time, students will continue to read independently as they use skills and strategies learned throughout the year to analyze text. For example, they will continue to determine and identify the important details and information in non-fiction texts! Students will be analyzing the main idea and details, comparing interesting vs. important information, questioning and reacting to what they learn, finding the author’s purpose, and paraphrasing the important ideas in a non-fiction text. It is very important that students not only analyze text in these ways, but they must be able to support their answers with evidence or details from the passages and books they read.
With hope, we will also begin reading poetry this week. We will dive deep into the vocabulary, figurative language, mood, tone, flow, rhythm, type, and meaning of poems.
At home:
*Have your child work on finding evidence or details in text that support their analysis of text. For example, you may want to ask your child to tell the difference between interesting facts and important facts in a nonfiction text that they are reading. Then, have them reference the text (show you where they found their answers) to prove their responses. This skill is very important no matter what the question is for many genres, not just nonfiction. Even if a question you ask them requires inquiry, they should be able to find details from the text that led them to their conclusions, even if it is not directly stated in the text.
*Raz-Kids
Writing
This week we will continue writing persuasive/opinion by developing strong persuasive writing pieces on a variety of topics. Many students are still working on their final drafts of these pieces of writing.
We will also begin writing poetry. We hope to begin reviewing the different types of poems as well as writing them. This poetry unit will integrate nicely with our reading of poetry during reader’s workshop.
Math
This week we continue our new unit on Geometry! We will focus will continue to explore the similarities and differences between polygons, angles, and lines. We will also explore quadrilaterals and types of triangles in depth. Projects and problem solving related to these geometric concepts will be investigated as well. Soon we will work with 3D shapes, congruent figures, and symmetry as we introduce fractions in the coming weeks.
At home: Review skills by going over homework and the following terms with your child as well as finding these shapes, lines, and angles in the “real world”.
Key Vocabulary: triangle, quadrilateral, square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, line, line segment, ray, angle, right angle, obtuse angle, acute angle, isosceles triangle, right triangle, equilateral triangle, scalene triangle, parallel lines, perpendicular lines, intersecting lines
*Dream-Box
Science
We are still learning all about sound. Students continue to learn new vocabulary words throughout the week. We have looked at and discussed examples of these terms. We will discuss how these terms relate to each other and how they relate to sound. We will also be investigating through a variety of science experiments. Students will be expected to not only discuss what they observed but be able to use science vocabulary words correctly in their observations. This week we will continue to look at the inner ear to see how its parts help us hear sound.
Social Studies
We will begin learning all about the specific countries each class chose for Multi-Cultural night! We will also begin learning about local governments including leaders, services, and how communities are affected by the government.
*If you have special talents or gifts that you think would benefit our students and that tie into the curriculum, we would like to hear from you! Please contact your child’s teacher!
Dates to Remember:
*Tuesday, May 6th Mid-Quarter Progress Reports go home
*Thursday May 8th Family Picnic at Irwin
*Friday, May 9nd Spelling Assessment
*May 5 – 9th Staff Appreciation Week!
*May 26th- No School
**June 23 – 26 Camp Invention at Irwin! Sign up today! It’s awesome!
What are we learning?
Reading
This week we will continue to give the DIBELS reading tests. During this time, students will continue to read independently as they use skills and strategies learned throughout the year to analyze text. For example, they will continue to determine and identify the important details and information in non-fiction texts! Students will be analyzing the main idea and details, comparing interesting vs. important information, questioning and reacting to what they learn, finding the author’s purpose, and paraphrasing the important ideas in a non-fiction text. It is very important that students not only analyze text in these ways, but they must be able to support their answers with evidence or details from the passages and books they read.
With hope, we will also begin reading poetry this week. We will dive deep into the vocabulary, figurative language, mood, tone, flow, rhythm, type, and meaning of poems.
At home:
*Have your child work on finding evidence or details in text that support their analysis of text. For example, you may want to ask your child to tell the difference between interesting facts and important facts in a nonfiction text that they are reading. Then, have them reference the text (show you where they found their answers) to prove their responses. This skill is very important no matter what the question is for many genres, not just nonfiction. Even if a question you ask them requires inquiry, they should be able to find details from the text that led them to their conclusions, even if it is not directly stated in the text.
*Raz-Kids
Writing
This week we will continue writing persuasive/opinion by developing strong persuasive writing pieces on a variety of topics. Many students are still working on their final drafts of these pieces of writing.
We will also begin writing poetry. We hope to begin reviewing the different types of poems as well as writing them. This poetry unit will integrate nicely with our reading of poetry during reader’s workshop.
Math
This week we continue our new unit on Geometry! We will focus will continue to explore the similarities and differences between polygons, angles, and lines. We will also explore quadrilaterals and types of triangles in depth. Projects and problem solving related to these geometric concepts will be investigated as well. Soon we will work with 3D shapes, congruent figures, and symmetry as we introduce fractions in the coming weeks.
At home: Review skills by going over homework and the following terms with your child as well as finding these shapes, lines, and angles in the “real world”.
Key Vocabulary: triangle, quadrilateral, square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, line, line segment, ray, angle, right angle, obtuse angle, acute angle, isosceles triangle, right triangle, equilateral triangle, scalene triangle, parallel lines, perpendicular lines, intersecting lines
*Dream-Box
Science
We are still learning all about sound. Students continue to learn new vocabulary words throughout the week. We have looked at and discussed examples of these terms. We will discuss how these terms relate to each other and how they relate to sound. We will also be investigating through a variety of science experiments. Students will be expected to not only discuss what they observed but be able to use science vocabulary words correctly in their observations. This week we will continue to look at the inner ear to see how its parts help us hear sound.
Social Studies
We will begin learning all about the specific countries each class chose for Multi-Cultural night! We will also begin learning about local governments including leaders, services, and how communities are affected by the government.
*If you have special talents or gifts that you think would benefit our students and that tie into the curriculum, we would like to hear from you! Please contact your child’s teacher!