Week of April 1 - April 5th

Dear Parents,

Hopefully,, you and your family had a relaxing and fun holiday. We are now set up for our final stretch of the school year. A time that promises lots of learning and growth, and it will go by quickly. We have several new units scheduled to begin either this week or next!

Remember to send in a photo of your child reading out in nature for Ms. Suji and our Earth Day Celebration coming up soon.

This week begins on a day 6.

Reading Students will finish up our character studies reading unit this week. This will also be the last week for book clubs. They will continue to practice making predictions, asking thick questions, retelling important events, comparing and contrasting, and identifying character traits.

Writing Students are continuing the fiction writing unit from before the holiday for one final week. They will not only continue to write adapted fairy tales but also branch out into other fantasy and creative writing choices.

Math This week we are focusing on the attributes of 2D shapes, with particular attention to quadrilaterals. Some shapes can go by many names, for instance, a square is a special rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, and a quadrilateral.

Science We will be starting a new science unit this week called Balancing Forces: Investigating Floating Trains. Students will begin to figure out ideas about magnetic force, gravity, and how forces can cause an object’s movement to change or stay stable.

Week of April 1st. Please complete 2 activities and bring in to share on Friday, April 5.

Math: List the different attributes of a polygon. Then draw examples and non-examples.	Language Arts: Write a story that includes this character. He can either be the main character or a secondary character.	Language arts: Read a fairytale. Write down the characters, setting, problem, solution, and lesson learned.
Math: Practice your division and multiplication facts. --online --flashcards --game	Social Studies: How have ancient civilizations influenced our modern day world? What are things that came from the past that we still use today? Think about art and architecture, education, technology. Make a drawing and label it or write about it.	Other: Practice one act of kindness each day this week. Write down what you did.

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.

Week of 18th - 22nd

Good Afternoon Parents,

Book week was a lot of fun last week. From the book swap, to dress like a character day, to March Book Madness, and Matt Smith the visiting author/illustrator, the students enjoyed a successful week of reading celebration.

Today is an in-service work day for teachers, but there will be no school for students.

We will begin the week on  Day 2

Reading Students will continue to work in their book clubs. They will be making predictions based on evidence, asking and answering thick questions, retelling the important parts of the story. Students will also be comparing and contrasting characters both in their book and other books.

Writing Students will continue with fiction writing. They will focus on adding actions words and descriptive details. They will continue to work to show, not tell what is happening in the story.

Math Students will begin our new unit in math. This unit focuses on geometry. They will learn about how stapes in different categories may share attributes. They will be recognize and draw rhombuses, rectangles, squares and other examples of quadrilaterals.

Science This week will be the final week for our People of the Past Unit. For a final project, students will be busy creating their own made up ancient civilization. They will be using the features of what made ancient civilizations successful: a good location with access to water, a belief system, a social structure/organization, art and architecture, technology and education.

Week of March 18. Please complete 2 activities and bring in to share on Friday.

Math: Draw a picture using only closed shapes. Color code your drawing so that 3 sided shapes are outlined in one color, 4 sided shapes in another color, etc.	Language arts: Draw a comic version of part of Because of Winn-Dixie. Make sure to include at least two characters and some dialogue.	Language arts: Compare and contrast Opal to a character in another book you know. How are they the same and how are they different. Use any way you know to compare and contrast them.
Math: Show your parents a multiplication/division table. Explain to them how it works. Show them any patterns that you see.	Social Studies: If you were to go back in time to an ancient civilization, which one would you go back to? Give three reasons why you would go back to that civilization.	Other: How could you drop something breakable from the second floor down to the ground and not have it break? Design a model to keep this object safe. Optional: build and test this design.

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.