The Week in Review

When you see this format, you know I have lifted the message, in large part, from Ms. Schoolcraft!  

Literacy:   Students are reading various texts, including fiction and nonfiction selections, and are practicing oral reading fluency and comprehension strategies, specifically summarizing and inferences.  Most students are perusing at least one biography. The emphasis in our library times is on this genre.

Math:  Third and fourth graders are beginning unit 6. Fourth graders finished their work with geometry and angles with a unit 5 assessment on Friday.  In grade three, unit 6 focuses on geometry and in grade four, the unit is about multiplication & division, data & fractions.  Third graders completed and reflected on a pre-assessment for the unit, and finished April number corner activities with a bang!  Please encourage and remind your mathematician to practice his/her math facts at home.

Theme:  After constructing a working definition for what a ‘peacemaker’ is the week before break, students learned about large-scale peace efforts over the past several decades.  Students have looked for three facts about a number of peacemakers and soon will choose one to study more extensively. Each child will be completing a research project over the next several weeks. This project will culminate in a celebration with families.  

Writing:  Our informational text pieces are becoming more and more sophisticated each day!  Students are working hard develop their tables of contents so that they include some elaboration. Further, they have begun to draft chapters.  Students are expected to have first drafts finished by next Friday.  The next two weeks will include revision, editing and opportunities to add nonfiction text features (photos and captions, diagrams, maps, glossary, etc) to their finished product.

SBAC:  Third and fourth grade students will be taking SBAC tests beginning next week.  Thank you

for remembering to have consistent, early bedtimes next week, as well as encouraging your third or fourth

grader to relax and do their very best in the testing sessions beginning next Tuesday.  Stamina, stamina, stamina!!  Please help make sure your child has plenty of water and a protein-rich breakfast and snack(s) especially over the course of the next few weeks.