History & Geography
We wrapped up our westward expansion unit this week. We learned about the impact of the expansion on the Native Americans. We read the book, Trail of Tears, together as a class. The students finished their lap books and made their covered wagons. The rest of the Covered Wagon home assignment is due this Monday, students will be sharing their list of supplies and show some the items they made to go into their wagons. We took our assessment on Friday.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• understand how Sequoyah taught the Cherokee people to read
• identify the Trail of Tears
• explain the importance of the buffalo to the Plains Indians
• understand how westward expansion harmed the Native Americans peoples
Science
This week in our Simple Machine domain
we began to learn about screws. The class explored using screws and screw drivers on wood. We worked in our Simple Machine journals and watched a short video about wedges and screws.
Our weekly objectives were to:
• the student will identify that a screw is an inclined plane that curves around a shaft or pole
• the student will explain how a screw works in wood
English Spelling and Writing
In our journals we used the idiom of the week ” She got cold feet?” . We also wrote a reader’s response to the book Trail of Tears in our journals. The class got their new sorts and took their practice spelling test on Friday . Our Word Wall words were: two, very,went
Blue group sort
Green group sort
La lectura
This week we read ¿Por que desaparecieron los dinosaurios?
Our weekly objectives were to:
- review the reading comprehension strategy visualizing during our first read
- review the reading comprehension skill Cause and Effect
- discover what antonyms are and play a matching game to identify them
- understand how to make words plural in Spanish using -s, -es, and -ces
Las matemáticas
This week we learned about lines and surfaces. Our weekly objectives were to:
- identify straight and curved line within drawings
- identify straight and curved surfaces on 3D objects
- understand how straight surfaces can stack and slide
- understand how curved surfaces can roll
Specialists:
Music with Ms. Erin
In April we learned more about the orchestra. We listened to all three movements of Vivaldi’s Spring from The Four Seasons, and read sonnets that were written for each movement.
We practiced singing the song we chose for the end of year performance, learning how to focus on each section to clearly memorize lyrics and melody.
In May we will learn more about keyboard music (piano, harpsichord, etc.), including pieces by Bach, Mozart, and Mendelssohn, as well as some contemporary piano composers.
We will also be listening to and singing many songs: Goodbye Old Paint, Follow the Drinking Gourd, The Erie Canal, and more!
Art with Ms. Kelly
This month all the students have been working on artwork for Mother’s Day. Our inspiration has come from these books:
Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Both of these author/illustrators use painted paper and collage to create their amazing books.
We also looked at some famous artwork by Picasso. The students had fun creating their own painted papers using tempera paint and adding texture. I know you’ll enjoy the artwork that your students will bring home in May!