Friday, December 18, 2015

Week of January 4th -8th



Program of Inquiry
Where We Are in Place and Time
Central Idea:
Immigration influences new and existing groups.


Lines of Inquiry:
·         Changes in native cultures
·         Conflict between cultures
·         Acceptance and understanding between cultures


Teacher Questions and Key Concepts:
What effect did the native and settler encounters have on their population? (change)
What impact can immigration have on a culture? (perspective)
Why does conflict arise between different cultures? (causation)




Daily 5/CAFE  11:00-12:30
Reading: Daily 5/ CAFE
Daily 5/CAFE:  This week, students will make inferences within texts.  This is a CAFE strategy that supports reading comprehension.  When you make an inference, readers are able to figure out things that aren’t directly stated by the author.  You must use clues from the text and your own background knowledge to make an inference.  This is also referred to as drawing conclusions.  
Follow this link to find out more about Inferencing and Drawing Conclusions:
Looking for extra practice at home?




BOOK GENRE STUDY-Historical Fiction

Please follow the paragraph guidelines located on the link below.  Students MUST follow the writing process (plan, rough draft, revise, edit, neat/final copy).

VOCABULARY: Students will be introduced to a new list of Wordly Wise words this week. We encourage you to use Quizlet at home to review your weekly Wordly Wise words.   
3rd grade-attitude, confess, defend, gradual, hint, individual, malice, misery, solution, survey
4th grade-abrupt, achieve, attempt, contempt, entertain, glimpse, mock, persist, persuade, phase, quaint, recall, reject, revise, sensitive
Writing: VOICES
1:30-2:00
VOICES: Students will continue the 6+1 Traits of Writing. This is referred to as VOICES: voice, organization, ideas, conventions, expanded vocabulary, and sentence fluency. This week we will continue our focus lesson on Expanding Vocabulary (Word Choice). Students will learn and practice how to use words to clarify an idea, create a mental picture for the reader, and to make the writing sound appealing to the ear. Word Choice is all about the rich, colorful, precise language that communicates in a way that is not only functional, but also in a way that moves and enlightens the reader.


3rd grade: Students will continue reviewing the steps of the writing process as a group. This week in the writing center, students will begin a new narrative prompt: How I Spent My Winter Vacation. Students will include holidays they have celebrated, places they went to, people they visited, and any fun things they did. Students will focus on brainstorming ideas and creating their plan. Their plan should include the juicy details they plan to include, what and how they will describe things, a good hook, and how they plan to provide closure to their story. Students will begin conferencing with a teacher throughout the planning process. Once a plan is complete, students will begin their sloppy copy using a “hamburger” template, and work on their sentence fluency and vocabulary.

Hamburger Paragraph Template:

4th grade:   Students will students will begin a new narrative prompt: How I Spent My Winter Vacation. Students will include holidays they have celebrated, places they went to, people they visited, and any fun things they did. Students are expected to follow the steps of the writing process for all pieces. Students will be practicing adding dialogue to their story to help give the characters a voice. They are encouraged to avoid using the word said, and use more words that help describe emotions.
When editing, students will be checking for proper use of capitalization, punctuation (including commas), and spelling.  We will be using proper editing marks when editing their writing. Each student will keep a editing reference guide in their home binders for them to use if needed for homework. You can also use the one located below:

You can also use these resources at home:


GRAMMAR: Students will continue to practice identifying various verbs in a sentence. Verbs are words are expressing action, something that a person, animal, force of nature, or thing can do.Verbs are a necessary component of all sentences. Students will review main, helping, and linking verbs. Students will begin to focus on verb tenses: past (danced), present (is dancing), future (will dance).
You can access a variety of review activities for verb tenses here:

Please use the links below to help your child review verbs.
Activities:

Videos (Songs):


WORDS THEIR WAY SPELLING:
Students will be given a new spelling word list this week.  Students may practice these words during Word Work as well as homework.  Students are responsible for correct spelling and knowing their word patterns.
Weekly Words Their Way lists can be found in your child’s agenda.



3rd Grade Math 9:15-10:15
Looking for extra practice at home?  Use the suggested practice information for each individual day.  Your child has their username and password for www.ixl.com.
Monday
Students will review line segments, rays, turns, parallel, and perpendicular lines through a variety of resources.  
  • IXL practice at home: V5, V6, V20, V21, V22

(Students are now focusing on becoming fluent with their multiplication facts. Nightly practice is encouraged if mastery is not yet achieved. Weekly timed quizzes will be each Friday. Personal goals will be set after each quiz. Please encourage your child to reach their goal!)  
Tuesday
Students will draw and name quadrangles, and discover the properties of quadrangles.
  • IXL practice at home: V26
Wednesday
Students will create a poster in small groups that show the relationships between parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombuses, and kites.
  • IXL practice at home: V26
Thursday
Students will construct and name regular polygons based on their number of sides.
  • IXL practice at home: V23
Friday
Students will review 3-dimensional shapes and will identify the bases of pyramids and prisms.
  • IXL practice at home: V1




4th Grade Math 8:15-9:15
Looking for extra practice at home?  Use the suggested practice information for each individual day.  Your child has their username and password for www.ixl.com.
Monday
Students will review fractions as parts of a whole (ONE), fractions on number lines, and the many uses of fractions.
  • IXL practice at home: Fractions, Equivalence, and Ordering Q.1
Tuesday
Students will practice finding fractional parts of sets.  
  • IXL practice at home:
Wednesday
Students will review basic vocabulary and concepts of probability.  Students will find probabilities for events when all the possible outcomes are equally likely.
  • IXL practice at home:  Probability and Statistics W.1
Thursday
Students will find fractional parts of polygon regions.  
  • IXL practice at home:  
Friday
Students will add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers using visuals and the LCM (least common multiplier).  
  • IXL practice at home: R.3, R.11, R.12, S.1, S.2, S.3, S.4




Science/Social Studies 2:00-3:00
Monday
Where We Are in Place and Time:  Students will be introduced to our new unit of inquiry.  We will start off the unit with a provocation in which students formulate definitions to the unit vocabulary using their own words.  Students will formulate connections with these words and how they are related to our unit.  Students will become aware of the central idea, lines of inquiry, and teacher questions for this unit.  They will have the opportunity to add their own questions about the unit under the appropriate key concept.  
Tuesday
.Where We Are in Place and Time:  While collaborating in small groups, students will work together to complete a “Mind Map” in which they answer the following question:
In what ways can one group of people influence another?
Wednesday
Where We Are in Place and Time:  Students will inquire about the Native American culture.  Students will explore various aspects of the Native American culture.  As a class, we will explore interactive websites about the Native American culture.  (Two-day lesson)
Thursday
Where We Are in Place and Time:  Students will inquire about the Native American culture.  Students will explore various aspects of the Native American culture.  As a class, we will explore interactive websites about the Native American culture.  (Two-day lesson)
Friday
Where We Are in Place and Time:  Students will explore changes in cultures.  We will view a powerpoint and complete a CLOZE activity.





Extra! Extra! Chavura News

  • Students should be using Quizlet at home several times each week to practice their Wordly Wise vocabulary words.
  • Remember to check your child’s “Keep at Home” folder each Monday!



Friday, December 11, 2015

Week of December 14-18, 2015

Program of Inquiry
How We Express Ourselves
Central Idea: Our voice is an important form of expression to communicate different ideas, emotions, and feelings.

Lines of Inquiry:
  • Voice
  • Public Speaking
  • Written Expression

Teacher Questions:
  • What is our voice, and how do we use it to express ourselves? (form and function)
  • What is the relationship between speaking and listening?  (connection)
  • How can written expression be interpreted? (perspective)


Daily 5/CAFE  11:00-12:30
Reading: Daily 5/ CAFE
Daily 5/CAFE:  This week, students will learn about the Author’s Viewpoint.   The author’s viewpoint identifies the thoughts, feelings, and opinions that the author has about a subject, topic, or character.  During student conferences this week, teachers will work with students to identify the author’s viewpoint in their good fit books.  


BOOK GENRE STUDY-Realistic Fiction
DUE December 18th!
Please follow the paragraph guidelines located on the link below.  Students MUST follow the writing process (plan, rough draft, revise, edit, neat/final copy).

VOCABULARY: No vocabulary lessons this week.
We encourage you to use Quizlet at home to review your weekly Wordly Wise words.   
Writing: VOICES
1:30-2:00
VOICES: Students will continue the 6+1 Traits of Writing. This is referred to as VOICES: voice, organization, ideas, conventions, expanded vocabulary, and sentence fluency. This week we will continue our focus lesson on Expanding Vocabulary (Word Choice). Students will learn and practice how to use words to clarify an idea, create a mental picture for the reader, and to make the writing sound appealing to the ear. Word Choice is all about the rich, colorful, precise language that communicates in a way that is not only functional, but also in a way that moves and enlightens the reader.
Students will explore strong verb usage in their writing and begin consulting resources for using synonyms for various verbs. These words may be more precise and interesting, rather than using the first word that comes to mind.


3rd grade: Students will continue reviewing the steps of the writing process as a group.Students will be practicing sentence variety and formation, and following steps to creating a decent paragraph. We will continue to model paragraph formation using the “hamburger method”. This week in the writing center, students will complete their plan for a given prompt and write complete sentences for their introduction, colorful detail, and concluding ideas using a mind map.

Hamburger Paragraph Template:

4th grade:   Students will complete their final drafts for the homework machine prompt. Students are expected to follow the steps of the writing process for all pieces. Students will be practicing adding dialogue to their story to help give the characters a voice. They are encouraged to avoid using the word said, and use more words that help describe emotions.
When editing, students will be checking for proper use of capitalization, punctuation (including commas), and spelling.  We will be using proper editing marks when editing their writing. Each student will keep a editing reference guide in their home binders for them to use if needed for homework. You can also use the one located below:

You can also use these resources at home:


GRAMMAR: Students will practice identifying main verbs in a sentence. Verbs are words are expressing action, something that a person, animal, force of nature, or thing can do.Verbs are a necessary component of all sentences. Students will continue identifying helping and linking verbs. A helping verb determines the mood or tense of another verb in a phrase. Helping verbs are words such as  be, have, do, can, could, may, must, should, will, and would. Linking verbs help to describe a condition. These are words such as is, am, are, were, been, was, be, and being.

Please use the links below to help your child review verbs.
Activities:

Videos (Songs):


WORDS THEIR WAY SPELLING:
Students will review their spelling sort this week.  Students may practice these words during Word Work as well as homework.  Students are responsible for correct spelling and knowing their word patterns.
Spelling test will occur on Wednesday this week!
Weekly Words Their Way lists can be found in your child’s agenda.


3rd Grade Math 9:15-10:15
Looking for extra practice at home?  Use the suggested practice information for each individual day.  Your child has their username and password for www.ixl.com.
Monday
Students will participate in a unit review and complete a practice test.
If time allows, students will begin their unit assessment.

(Students are now focusing on becoming fluent with their multiplication facts. Nightly practice is encouraged if mastery is not yet achieved. Weekly timed quizzes will be each Friday. Personal goals will be set after each quiz. Please encourage your child to reach their goal!)  
Tuesday
Students will complete their unit assessment.
Wednesday
Students will participate in math review activities.
Thursday
Students will play math jeopardy as a class for review.
Students will take a timed math facts quiz.
Friday




4th Grade Math 8:15-9:15
Looking for extra practice at home?  Use the suggested practice information for each individual day.  Your child has their username and password for www.ixl.com.
Monday
Students will participate in a mid year review.
  • IXL practice at home:
Tuesday
Students will take their mid year assessment.
  • IXL practice at home:
Wednesday
Students will be introduced to latitude and longitude.  We will practice finding the latitude and longitude places on a globe and map.
  • IXL practice at home:
Thursday
Students will participate in math review games and complete any unfinished journal pages.
  • IXL practice at home:  
Friday




Science/Social Studies 2:00-3:00
Monday
How We Express Ourselves:  Students will work on their summative projects.  We will meet individually with each student to monitor their progress and answer any questions they have.
Tuesday
How We Express Ourselves:  Students will present their summative projects.
Wednesday
How We Express Ourselves: Students will present their summative projects.
Thursday
How We Express Ourselves:  Students will complete the unit reflection for How We Express Ourselves and fill their IB portfolios with artifacts from this unit.
Friday





Extra! Extra! Chavura News
  • Friday, December 18th - Students will be dismissed from the SALT Block after the performance.
  • Holiday Break - December 19th - January 3rd.
  • Students should be using Quizlet at home several times each week to practice their Wordly Wise vocabulary words.
  • Remember to check your child’s “Keep at Home” folder each Monday!