Literature Circle
What do you think about when you hear the phrase “going west”? Why did pioneers explore west? Why was it important the settlement of the west?
Read selection: Bill Picket, un vaquero de rodeos/ Make connections to the unit’s theme.
Genre: Biography – Review Biographies
• A biography is written about a real person’s life.
• The story includes details about how the person talks, feels, and thinks about things.
• Often focuses on the most important events in a person’s life.
• It usually describes the person’s achievements or talents.
• Many times it is written chronologically ( Make connections to sequencing)
Comprehension strategies and skills: Predicting, Visualizing, Summarizing, Identifying Facts and opinions and Making Inferences.
Writing:
This week in writing, students worked on describing an object,
generating a word bank of descriptive language, giving examples of these words in sentences and using vivid and descriptive language to write a paragraph, incorporating metaphors and similes.
Science
Focus Question: How can a mixture be separated? How can a solution be separated?
Students discovered that water and salt make a special kind of mixture, a solution, which cannot be separated with a filter. We compared and contrasted the characteristics of mixtures and solutions. Students predicted ways in which a solution can be separated. They found out that they need to look at the different states of matter in order to answer this question. They compared the total mass of a mixture to the mass of its parts and we discuss key vocabulary.
- Evaporation can separate a solid from a liquid in a solution.
- A mixture combines two or more materials that retain their own properties.
- A solution forms when a material dissolves in a liquid (solvent) and cannot be retrieved with a filter.
History and Geography
This week we finished our unit on Westward Expansion before the Civil War. Our objectives were:
- The students will discuss the early efforts of Stephen Austin to settle Texas through a read aloud
- The students will read discuss and summarize the events of the Mexican War by writing what they learned
- Students will list the Mexican lands ceded to the United States (California, Nevada, Utah, parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona) and label them on a map
Next week we will begin learning about The Civil War!
Mathematics
This week we began our new chapter Angles. Our objectives were:
- Understand and apply the property that the sum of angle measures on a line is 180°
- Understand and apply the property that the sum of angle measures at a point is 360°
- Understand and apply the property that vertical angles have equal measures
English Spelling
This week we continued our rotation. Our rotation days were:
- Teacher Meeting: I meet with each student to check their understanding and completion of their sorts.
- Vocabulary Day: This week our lesson was about clips. We added and to our word wall.
Our spelling test is on Tuesday, May 1st!
Music with Ms. Erin
In April we worked on elements of songwriting, singing, writing for instruments and percussion, and recording. We wrapped up the songwriting project, getting final recordings of student written songs!
In May we will focus on:
- Music theory elements
- Music notation reading
- Rhythm counting and percussion
- Improving vocal melody and harmony skills
- Learning about the composer Felix Mendelssohn
Art with Ms. Kelly
We spent the month of April working on a Weaving Project for a Mother’s Day gift. This project involved painting the Loom, putting the Warp yarn on the loom, and then weaving the Weft yarn to create some beautiful designs. I don’t want to give you any more detail, but I know you’ll be impressed with these beautiful weavings. All the students did a great job following directions, choosing colors, and going “over and under” many times!