by Ivary & Paola | Sep 21, 2018 | In The Loop
La Lectura
During literature circle this week, we spent time reading and analyzing three realistic fiction pieces: La abuela de Max, Una mochila cargada de historias, Esperanza renace. We talked about the elements of the stories and discussed how these stories had a theme in common.
We also had a chance to meet for our first book club discussion of our book Esperanza Renace.
Dear parents: please make sure your child is staying on track with their reading so they can actively contribute to our discussions!!
Other objectives during Spanish literacy this week included:
• Interpret the information presented in a variety of formats and media. Explain how this presentation contributes to the topic, text or subject being studied.
• Cite relevant evidence from the text, both in oral and written form.
• Determine characters, setting, topic: compare and contrast.
• Correctly use the written accent according to the tonic accent in words at the grade level applying a systematic analysis.
• Read grade level poetry and prose orally with accuracy, appropriate rhythm and expression in progressive readings.
• Identify simple sentences. Identify phrases.
• Use the correct capitalization and punctuation in simple sentences.
Ciencias
We spent most of our time working on literacy, but we did have time to make progress on our bee project. Students created beautiful art pieces that will be used to educate the public about the current bee crisis. More information to come.This week the investigative question was: How can we plan to help an ecosystem recover after a serious disturbance? Next week we will elaborate on this, studying how natural disasters impact ecosystem and will tie their learning to the anchoring phenomenon of the bees and colony collapse disorder.
Mathematics
This week we continued working on Positive Numbers and the Number Line. Our objectives were:
- find the common factors and the greatest common factor of two whole numbers
- find the common multiples and the least common multiple of two whole numbers
- Find a square and a cube of a number
- find a square root of a perfect square and a cube root of a perfect cube
Our first math test will be Thursday September 27th!
History & Geography
This week we continued learning about world deserts. Our objectives were:
- understand the unique land features and water resources of the Australian continent
- describe the hard conditions of the Gobi Desert
- explain the importance of mineral resources to the Arabian Peninsula and to the United States
- describe the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert, and the Chihuahuan Desert, including the areas that they cover and the characteristics unique to each one
- describe the vegetation, wildlife, and topographical features of the Patagonian and Atacama deserts\
Our first history assessment will be Tuesday September 25th!
English Writing & Spelling
Our objectives for writing were:
- identify sentence fragments and convert them to complete sentences
- identify run-on sentences and fix them using conjunctions
- understand, find, and write topic sentences
- review indentation at the beginning of a paragraph
- identify relevant details in relation to the topic sentence
Our Greek and Latin roots this week were:
- arm- “army, weapon”
- astr- “star”
- audi-“to hear”
- bene, bon – “good, well”
- mal – “bad, wretched”
by Ivary & Paola | Sep 14, 2018 | In The Loop
La Lectura
This week, we played a game called Pasapalabras. Pasapalabras is a game where you go in alphabetical order with words. The computer gives you a clue as to what the word could be, and you write down your guess. After a few letters, you turn the computer back and reveal the answer. The class had fun playing with it. – Sophie Jacobs
Hello families! This is what the students from the ⅚ class of SWS did this week. They read a folktale from Argentina called ¨The cricket and the jaguar¨. They talked amongst themselves about the text comprehension clues including: purpose, genre and more. Also, they wrote about their summer vacations and shared with the class. – Rafa Lavagnino
- Acquire and accurately use words and phrases for general or specific academic use of a discipline, suitable for the sixth grade. They expand their knowledge of vocabulary by recognizing the importance of a word or phrase for comprehension or expression.
- Use the combined knowledge of all the correlations between phonemes and graphemes, patterns of division into syllables, paying attention to the accent written according to the morphology (example: roots and affixes), to accurately read unknown multisyllabic words, in context and out of context.
- Define the main theme or idea of a text and how it is transmitted through certain details. Summary the text without giving opinions or personal judgments.
- Understand the key characteristics of folk tales.
- Analyze in detail how a character, event or key idea in a text is presented, described and developed through examples or anecdotes. Make cross-curricular connections (social studies and science).
- Apply their knowledge acquired during literary circle. Create rubrics proposals for possible book clubs during the year. Argument and justify their proposal to the class.
Ciencias
Throughout this Unit, students will expand their understanding of ecosystem dynamics and study how organisms interact with each other and other non-living parts of the ecosystem. Students will study the anchoring phenomenon of Colony Collapse Disorder and will explore the relationship between bees and their ecosystem. After each lesson, students will connect their findings to the problem faced by the bees and come up with a solution.
The bees! Maybe you don’t know much about them. This week the 5th and the 6th grade class had lots of debates on how we should save the bees, which are very important on this planet. In fact the bees are so important that, if the bees died of of this planet, then, the whole ecosystem would fail without the world’s most important pollinators. The bees are responsible for a third of our food, which is like every third bite of food you eat. We spoke about why the bees are important and lots of possible solutions that could help them. Help save the bees! – Juliette Murrow
Engage and explore bee colony collapse using videos and articles.
• Research colony collapse disorder.
• Brainstorm ways that humans can preserve the honey bees.
• Reflect on the concept of wholeness, unity and teamwork: how bees see themselves, their colony and the world, and what lessons can we, humans, learn from them.
• Create a quick sketch of the relationship between honey bees and
humans.
• Brainstorm possible ideas for bee protecting campaigns.
• Choose one solution to focus on and develop throughout the Unit.
“Song of Increase opens up a mystical realm of deep communication with nature. Learn the wisdom of the bees, and you will never look at the world the same way again.” – Starhawk
Mathematics
Our objectives this week were:
- Express a whole number as a product of its prime factors
- represent whole numbers, fractions, and decimals on a number line
- interpret and write statements of inequality for two given positive numbers using the symbols < and >
History & Geography
Our objectives this week were:
- Understand that the Sahara supports plants and animals that have adapted to extremely hot and arid conditions
- recognize that the Kalahari is known for its rich variety of plants and wildlife
- explain the ways the San have adapted to living in the desert
- understand that she shared features of all deserts is aridity
- describe the difference between a hot and cold desert
English Writing & Spelling
Our objectives for writing were:
- finish our ¨writing ideas¨ section in our journal
- understand and find the subject and predicate within a complete sentence
Our Greek and Latin roots this week were:
- aqua/hydr: water
- arch: ruler
Our first Greek and Latin Roots quiz is on Monday September 17th!
by Ivary & Paola | Sep 7, 2018 | In The Loop
La Lectura
Bienvenidos a un nuevo año de studios y descubrimientos en nuestra clase de 5to y 6to grado!
What a great start our school year! We loved hearing all the fabulous summer stories and adventures. We are so happy everybody got to enjoy in their own special ways and most importantly, have some fun family time! I was very impressed to see our 5th and 6th graders ready to start from day one. It almost felt like no time had past since the last time I saw them, in academic terms of course! Everybody has grown so much!!
This week we spent time going over routine and procedures. Although many of our routines will remain the same, they will be having some changes. We will make sure we communicate these to families during curriculum night. This year students will be working at a faster pace, will have more responsibilities with regards to homework, and will bring their Spanish abilities to a full functioning academic level. Other literacy objective this week were to:
• Explain the importance to continue to build a successful community of learners, team players, collaborative and inspiring members, with strong work ethic and study habits.
• Share their experiences from the summer in oral and written form.
• Get familiar with materials and resources for literacy and science.
• Understand the use of technology in the classroom: Google accounts, use the Spanish keyboard, access our science portal.
• Understand expectations for our first reading club, Esperanza Renace.
One of the activities this week included making as many words in Spanish as possible using only the letters in students names.
Another activity was to create a comercial to advertise our school SWS.
We had so much fun celebrating Juliette’s and Evan’s birthdays this week! May all your birthday wishes come true!
Ciencias
Fall Science Overview
The FOSS Populations and Ecosystems Course explores ecosystems as the largest organizational unit of life on Earth, defined by its physical environment and the organisms that live in the physical environment. Students will learn that every organism has a role to play in its ecosystem and has structures and behaviors that allow it to survive. Students will raise populations of organisms to discover population dynamics and interactions over a range of conditions. They will learn that food is the source of energy used by all life forms in all ecosystems to conduct life processes. Reproduction, including limiting factors, heredity and natural selection are explored as ways to understand both the similarity and the variation within and between species.
Mathematics
Our objectives were:
- Represent whole number, fractions, and decimals on a number line
- interpret and write statements of inequality for two given positive numbers using the symbols < and >
Students should have taken their textbook and math journal home to complete their first homework assignment! pg.14 #2-12 (evens), 20. This is due Monday! Students are using their planners and should always have homework assignments recorded.
History & Geography
Our objectives were:
- Read maps and globes using longitude and latitude, coordinates, and degrees.
- Describe the three climate zones: arctic, tropical, and temperate.
- Identify the Arctic and Antarctic Circle as imaginary lines on a map an the relative locations of the North and South poles.
- Understand that maps created to represent Earth contain distortions.
English Writing & Spelling
Our objectives for writing were:
- Learn expectations and procedures for working in our writing journal.
- Complete some “writing ideas” pages in our journal.
Our Greek and Latin roots this week were:
- aer: air, atmosphere
- ambi/amphi: both
- anim: spirit, soul, life
Specialists
Music
I’m excited to be back for a second year teaching music at SWS!
September will be an engaging month full of hands-on rhythm learning and skill development. We will review concepts and skills covered last year, and build on them with activities involving the theoretical knowledge of beat counts, notation, and time signatures brought to life with group instrument playing, rhythmic spoken word, singing, and movement.
Character Education
It was great to be back with this class! We had so much fun talking about what we did over the summer, and then we read the poem “Manners, for a child of 1918” by Elizabeth Bishop. Manners and kindness are our themes this month and we’ll do a few activities to practice what it means to have good manners (using people’s names, having a firm hand shake, using eye contact, and of course the basics like “please” and “thank you”). Our quote is: No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. – Aesop
We also put together a packet for the novel we will read this fall, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. Several of the kids have read this wonderful novel and it will be fun to dig deeper into all the character ed topics this story encompasses: courage, standing up for others, doing the right thing even if it means putting yourself in harms’ way. We’ll be studying the vocabulary, answering comprehension questions, and doing other fun extensions like Reader’s Theater and more!
Art
It was great seeing everyone back at school this week in Art! It’s fun to see how much everyone has grown over the summer! This week in Art the students made self portraits, and as always, I’m impressed with the artistic ability of this class. Their wonderful drawings are on the bulletin board at school.
For the rest of September we’ll work on a “Dot Stitchery” project which combines abstract painting on a square of foam core, and adding a circular pattern with yarn stitching.
If you would like to help out in your child’s art class, there is a SIGN UP SHEET on the bulletin board to the left of the office. Thank you so much!
by Ivary & Paola | Jun 16, 2018 | In The Loop
Literature Circle
It is always emotional to write our last newsletter. We have had some many incredibly wonderful experiences and opportunities for growth this year. This week, we took the time to look back and reflect on our work. We feel so proud of all our accomplishments, but most importantly, we feel happy and fortunate to have each other and to continue to walk this path together one more year! We hope everybody has fantastic summer break – I cant wait to hear all about it! Buen trabajo!
Science
The science objectives for the year:
- Plan and carry out investigations
- Develop and use models
- Analyze and interpret data
- Obtain, evaluate, communicate information and construct explanations
- Engage in argument from evidence
- Share information orally effectively and accurately in the target language
Focus Question:
History and Geography
This week we began learning about Native Americans: Cultures and Conflicts. Our objectives were:
- Explain how Native Americans, such as the Shoshone and Utes, adapted to the environment in the Great Basin
- Summarize how the Plateau Native Americans, such as the Nez Perce, lived in each season
- Summarize how Plains peoples, such as the Arapaho and Cheyenne, lived before 1750
- Explain how geography influenced the lives of Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, such as the Tingits and Kwakwaka’wakw
Mathematics
This week we finished our last math chapter of the year! Surface Area and Volume. Our objectives were:
- Find the volumes of cubes and rectangular prisms
- Find the volume of a solid constructed from unit cubes
- compare volumes of cubes rectangular prisms and other objects
- use a formula to find the volume of a rectangular prism
- find the capacity of a rectangular container
- solve word problems involving volume of rectangular prisms and liquids
English Spelling
This week we finished our last spelling rotation. Our rotation days were:
- Writer’s Workshop: Students were tasked with working on a secret Father’s Day project!
- Blind Sort Test: Students tested each other on their spelling using the Blind Sort method
Specialists
Art with Ms. Kelli
Our Visiting Artist:
We were so glad to have Maestra Ivary’s father, Ivar Benavides, visit our school again and provide an amazing art lesson for each of our Art classes this week. Señor Ivar is an artist with a disability, having lost his arms in a childhood accident when he was 11 years old in Chile. Ivar brought in some more of his beautiful paintings, and he demonstrated his painting techniques on both portraits and landscapes, by holding the paintbrush in his mouth. The students were then able to try Ivar’s same technique by painting a picture using their mouth to hold the paintbrush. Everyone did a great job with this challenging art project! Señor Ivar explained that he learned to paint by practicing very hard, and he encouraged the students to always be determined to achieve their goals in spite of obstacles. Everyone was very inspired by Señor Ivar’s lessons about both art and life. Many thanks to Señor Ivar, and to Maestra Ivary who provided the new paintbrushes and so much assistance!
Dear Parents: I enjoy working with all your wonderful children! It is such a treat to see their unique creativity and enthusiasm in Art Class. Thank you to all the parents who assisted in the art room this year, and a special thank you to Barbara!
Have a Wonderful Summer!
by Ivary & Paola | Jun 9, 2018 | In The Loop
Literature Circle
Focus Questions: What makes ordinary people do extraordinary things to help their community or to fight for something they believe in? What things are worth fighting for? Our class unanimously concluded: FOLLOW OUR DREAMS! Our last literacy unit/topic this year is El llamado del deber (The Call of Duty). This week we spent time reflecting on our many gifts and talents and, in connection to our school Character’s Ed Unit, we talked about how we can use our skills and knowledge to help make the world a better place. It is always enlightening to hear so much wisdom and kindness from our 4th and 5th graders!
We were so excited to read Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. This masterpiece is a classic in the Spanish language. We spent our week analyzing the literary elements in the story, as well as the powerful theme and message.
Our kids never cease to amaze me! After reading Don Quijote, they came up with the idea of putting on a Don Quijote play. This is so brilliant and I cant wait to see what they will do! All I know is that the sky is the limit!
Science
Focus Question: What happens when to the soft-drink solution when you increase the amount of powder in a given amount of water?
This week in science, we discussed the concept of Concentration. Concentration is the amount of material dissolved in a measure of liquid – the more material dissolved in a liquid, the more concentrated the solution. We used some common everyday beverages to illustrate this concept: tea and powdered juice. Next week we will continue to explore this concept.
Students did a magnificent job this week during their science presentations! What a wonderful way to culminate such a successful science year!
History and Geography
This week we finished learning about Westward Expansion After the Civil War. Our objectives were:
- explain the terms and significance of the Homestead Act
- Describe the influence of technology on farming in the American West
- summarize events leading up to the Oklahoma Land Rush
- Explain why Russia wanted to sell Alaska
- Describe the public response to the Alaska Purchase
Mathematics
This week we continued learning about Surface Area and Volume. Our objectives were:
- draw a cube and a rectangular prism on dot paper
- complete a partially drawn cube and rectangular prism on dot paper
- Find the surface area of a prism by adding the area of each face
- Find the volumes of cubes and rectangular prisms
- Find the volume of a solid constructed from unit cubes
- compare volumes of cubes rectangular prisms and other objects
English Spelling
This week we finished out rotation and started our last rotation of the year! Our rotation days are:
- Writer’s Workshop: Students were tasked with working on a secret Father’s Day project!
- Blind Sort Test: Students tested each other on their spelling using the Blind Sort method
- Teacher Meeting: I met with each student to discuss and clarify their new sort.
by Ivary & Paola | Jun 2, 2018 | In The Loop
Literature Circle
“A picture is worth a thousand words”. What a fun week full of meaningful learning opportunities. Our Beisbol en abril book club has come to an end. Students did such a fantastic job during our literary circle this spring, not only during our discussions but also coming up with some of the most creative presentations yet. I could not be any more proud of their work! It was only fitting to culminate it in the most fun way with our camping day! Please take a look a these pictures that captured some wonderful moments experienced this week.
We were so beyond happy to have Hazel joining us for Camping Day! We love you so much!
Yum!
Be sure to stop by a see our amazing book club bulletin board!
Camping Day fun!
Science
Students helping with our school garden this week!
History and Geography
Learning about Westward Expansion in the great outdoors!
This week we began learning about Westward Expansion after the Civil War. Our objectives were:
- explain how the lure of silver and gold spurred migration to and economic growth in the west
- identify key events in the construction of the transcontinental railroad
- explain the rise of the cattle industry and the long drive in the American West
Mathematics
This week we completed our chapter on Three-Dimensional Shapes and began our last chapter of the year Surface Area and Volume. Our objectives were:
- identify and classify cylinders, spheres, and cones
- demonstrate identifying and classifying solid figures by the number of faces, edges, and vertices on the chapter test
- build solids using unit cubes
- determine the number of unit cubes in a irregular solid
English Spelling
This week we continued our rotation. Our rotation days were:
- Teacher Meeting:I met with each student to discuss and clarify their new sort.
- Vocabulary Day: This week our lesson was about geography words. We added … and … to our word wall
- Spelling City: Students had a chance to work on computer skills as well as spelling on spellingcity.com. If your kiddo would like to work on spelling city at home they can follow this link www.spellingcity.com/users/34SpellingSWS
Our spelling test is on June 5th!
Music with Ms. Erin
In May we worked on learning new and strengthening learned music theory and notation elements. We practiced rhythm reading skills and challenged each other to tap complex rhythms using quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes. We worked on singing and instrumental skills. We learned about swung (or shuffle) rhythm. We also learned all about the composer Felix Mendelssohn.
In June we will focus on:
- Learning and singing songs Sakura and Havah Nagilah
- Improving singing, instrumental, and performance skills while preparing the whole class to perform student written song Adventure At Sea at the End of Year school event
- Learning notation instruction da capo [D.C.] al fine, and use it in practice
- Introducing Theme and Variations using Hilary Hahn’s performance of La Folia, and Glenn Gould’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations
- Singing songs from the Greatest Showman in our last class before summer break
Art with Ms. Kelly
We finished our Landscape Prints that we started in April. The goals were:
- Review prints made by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai
- Learn about Children’s Day in Japan (May 5)
- Make a second print using 3 printing plates (foam clouds, burlap mountains, pipe cleaner trees)
These beautiful landscapes were on the bulletin board in early May.
Transparent Origami sun catchers. The goals were
- Review Origami as a Japanese paper folding art
- Learn how to fold and attach shapes to create a sun catcher
- Learn about Radial Symmetry
The students made one for themselves and they also made sun catchers, Origami butterflies, and Get Well cards for Hazel.
Portfolio review: We reviewed all of the amazing artwork that the students made throughout the year. In addition to the portfolio, the students have also brought home Christmas artwork, Clay art (with Miss Karen), Dream Catchers, and Paperplate Weavings. Each student shared about their favorite art project. I hope you enjoy all the wonderful art that your students create!
Picasso One Liners
We spent a short time looking at the book “Picasso’s One Liners” and practiced making some simple drawings without lifting the pencil from the paper. I hope to continue this fun Picasso lesson in the fall!
by Ivary & Paola | May 26, 2018 | In The Loop
Literature Circle
This week in literacy we focused on writing. Students worked really hard on their short stories and they are looking amazing! I cant wait to publish them. For the long three-day weekend, students were allowed to take their rough drafts and start typing them on their google classrooms accounts, so I can start making edits. I would love for them to spend some time this weekend making some progress. Students need to be completely finish with this projects by next Thursday. Students were also assigned to read La campeona de canicas. They will need to be ready for our book club discussion on Tuesday.
Don’t forget we have Camping Day on Friday, June 1st!
Science
Focus Question: Can an unknown chemical be identified by its solubility?
This week students received an unknown/mystery material. Based on the information explaining the properties of six different materials, students had to design a their own investigation to find our what the mystery material was. Students had to determine the mass of the “mystery material” and how much it would take to saturate 50 ml of water, and then, compare the value to other solids thus identifying the material.
The science concepts included:
• A solution is saturated when as much solid material as possible has dissolved in the liquid.
• Solubility is the property that substances have dissolving in solvents. Solubility is different for different materials and can change with temperature and different solvents.
• Simple solutions are composed of two components: a liquid solvent and a solid solute dissolved in the solvent.
Math
This week we finished our properties of triangles unit and began our next unit Three dimensional shapes. Our objectives were:
- Understand and apply the properties of parallelogram, rhombus, and trapezoid
- demonstrate understanding and mastery of the properties of geometric figures (relationship among angles and sides)
- demonstrate understanding and mastery of the properties of a triangle and four-sided figures and their own special properties
- Identify and classify prisms and pyramids
- Identify the solid figure that can be formed from a net
History
This week we finished out Civil War unit. Our objectives were:
- I can work with a group to come up with Reconstruction solutions
- I can read about how Reconstruction was successful and unsuccessful
- I can define and illustrate the main idea of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments
- I can reflect on what I have learned about the Civil War
Spelling
This week we finished our rotation and began a new one. Our rotation days were:
- Spelling City: Students had a chance to practice their spelling online at Spellingcity.com
- Writer’s Workshop: Students were tasked with revising and editing their spelling sentences.
- Blind Sort Test: Students tested each other on their spelling using the Blind Sort method
- Word Search: Students received a word search with their new spelling words. They were tasked with finding and sorting their new words.
There is no spelling homework due next week! Our next spelling test is on June 5th!
Character Education Bake Sale
Thank you all for coming out and supporting our “Buy a Goat” Bake Sale! It was an amazing success and we raised almost $450!! ($448.75 to be exact). Wow! Thanks so much for donating, buying, and showing up to the sale. Your generosity is amazing! The 4th and 5th graders did a great job of hosting it and we are proud of them. Next week all classes will have the chance to vote on the animals we purchase through Heifer International.
by Ivary & Paola | May 19, 2018 | In The Loop
Dear Families,
Thank you so very much for all the thoughtful and loving expressions of appreciation, this week and very day!! I could not tell you enough how fortunate I feel to be a part of your kids lives and our amazing SWS community! I absolutely love my job!
Literature Circle
This week we continued with our weekly literacy routines: spelling and word work, grammar, syntax, usage and mechanics of the Spanish language in context. The main focus, however, was on our literary studies. We are having so much fun reading our book Beisbol en abril. This book is a compilation of short stories that narrate the everyday life adventures of kids in school. Some of the themes present in the stories include: friendship, challenges, success, self-confidence, family, among others. Everyday, we spend time reading the stories, analyzing the literary elements, and sharing our personal connections and opinions about the stories. Students are applying all their understanding during literary studies writing their own short stories. We cant wait to publish them!
Science
Focus Question: How can you determine the amount of citric acid needed to saturate 50 ml of water?
This week in science, we continued to explore the concept of saturation. We introduced a new type of solid: citric acid. Citric acid is found naturally in many types of citric foods. Students made a saturated citric-acid solution. We compared and contrasted the solubility of citric acid to last week’s investigation (salt solution). It was very interesting to observe the differences.
- Solubility is the property that substances have of dissolving in solvents. Solubility is different for different materials and can change with temperature and different solvents.
Dear families, this week students were given a rubric that explains the expectations for the end of the year science project. Students can choose an area of interest during this year’s science studies and present it to the class. This is an oral presentation only, but they are encouraged to bring a visual to illustrate their project (poster, power point, materials used, plants, observation tray, pictures, etc). Students can come up with their own idea or choose one from the ideas that have been given in class. For this project, and just like we have done in science class (please refer back to previous newsletter for guidance), students need to:
- Come up with a focus question.
- Make a prediction of what the outcome could be.
- Design and explain the steps that will allow them to carry on the investigation.
- Explain the results and answer the question.
Thank you so much to Barb and Russ Wegner for coming into our class to do a presentation this week. What a wonderful opportunity for us to learn from such knowledgeable and experienced master gardeners!
Save the date!!!!! Our class has been planning a “School Camping Day”. This will be a day where we will spend the full school day outside doing camping themed activities. We have scheduled this activity for Friday, June 1st. Please stay tuned to find out more about this fun activity next week!
History and Geography
Reading the Gettysburg Address!
This week we continued studying the Civil War. Our objectives were:
- I can read and analyze different perspectives on the Civil War
- I can analyze how early Civil War events led to Lincoln giving the Emancipation Proclamation
- I can analyze and understand the Gettysburg Address
- I can read an article about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and answer comprehension questions about the text
Mathematics
A big thank you to everyone for making this week extra special!
This week we continued working with Properties of Triangles. Our objectives were:
- Understand that the sum of the length of any two sides of a triangle is greater than the length of the third side
- Understand and apply the properties of parallelogram, rhombus, and trapezoid
English Spelling
Working on vocabulary!
This week we finished our rotation and began a new one. Our rotation days were:
- Blind Sort Test: Students tested each other on their spelling using the Blind Sort method
- Word Search: Students received a word search with their new spelling words. They were tasked with finding and sorting their new words.
- Teacher Meeting: I met with each student to discuss and clarify their new sort.
- Vocabulary Day: This week our lesson was about collective nouns. We added gaggle and troop to our word wall
by Ivary & Paola | May 12, 2018 | In The Loop
Literature Circle
Our focus on literacy this week was on Poetry. We read two wonderful pieces: No acabaran mis flores by Nezahualcoyotl and Pueblo fantasma en California by Adela Basch. We had a memorable time sharing some of our favorite poetry and using these special pieces as mentor texts. Once again, we feel so fortunate to be able to speak two languages and have access to these pieces in the original language they were envisioned and created. We concluded that a piece of poetry (and really any text), once translated, looses part of its essence, part of its soul.
The literacy objective were to:
• Demonstrate understanding of symbols, imagery, and figure of speech.
• Make connections to using descriptive, vivid, sensory language.
• Make personal connections creating a mother’s day poem.
Book Club Update: As homework, students who are still not finished, were assigned to finish their notes for the short story Dos sonadores, and be ready to discuss on Monday. They were also asked to get started with the story Barbie, which we will finish in class next week.
Science
Focus Question: Is there a limit to the amount of salt that can dissolve in 50 ml of water?
Students were introduced with the concept of saturation. They made a saturated solution by adding salt to water until no more salt was able to dissolve. Using a balance, they found the mass of the solution to determine the amount of salt that dissolved in the solution. Next week, we will continue to explore these science concepts.
Science concepts:
• A solution is saturated when as much solid material as possible has dissolved in the liquid.
• Solubility is the property that substances have dissolving in solvents. Solubility is different for different materials and can change with temperature and different solvents.
• Simple solutions are composed of two components: a liquid solvent and a solid solute dissolved in the solvent.
History and Geography
This week we continued learning about the Civil War. Our objectives were:
- I can answer questions about the election results 1860
- I can analyze information about how prepared the Union and the Confederacy were for the war
- I can read quotes from civil war soldiers and summarize their point of view on fighting.
- I can research important leaders of the civil war by reading task cards and answering prompts
Mathematics
Mother’s Day celebration!
This week we continued learning about the properties of triangles. Our objectives were:
- understand and apply the properties of right, isosceles, and equilateral triangles
English Spelling
This week we continued our rotation. Our rotation days were:
- Vocabulary day: This week our lesson was about blends. We added squiggle and telethon to our word wall.
- Spelling City: Students had a chance to work on computer skills as well as spelling on spellingcity.com. If your kiddo would like to work on spelling city at home they can follow this link www.spellingcity.com/users/34SpellingSWS
- Writer’s Workshop: This week for writer’s workshop students were tasked with revising and editing their homework spelling sentences.
Our spelling test will be on Monday, May 14!
This week we continued working on Positive Numbers and the Number Line. Our objectives were:
This week we continued learning about world deserts. Our objectives were:
Our objectives for writing were:
