January 6, 2013


Multiage News

January 6, 2013!

Happy New Year to each of you!  After a refreshing and relaxing two weeks, I am ready to jump back in with these wonderful well-rested kiddos! 

This Week

READING We are beginning a new unit, with new unit partnerships.  We will be continuing our work with inferences (when an author doesn’t directly state something—we have to look for clues to make sense of what we’re reading) in fiction.  This week I will be having one-on-one conferences to check in with individual readers. 

We will each be setting new reading goals and beginning next week we will begin new book clubs and small groups. 

WRITING Again, new unit this week—FICTION writing.  Our new reading partners will carry over into writing, as well.  I will be sharing several examples of fiction by professional authors and we will be analyzing what we hear for elements of excellent story-telling.  Students will be interviewing an “interesting person” on Wednesday evening.  I will be encouraging them to think outside of the box—perhaps calling a distant relative, coach or community leader to conduct a short interview.

MATH                      We had a Division Test right before Christmas.  Because division is so important to both grade levels, we will be spending one more week focusing on division strategies and will take a short quiz on Friday.  All fourth and fifth multiplication concepts will be assessed on the district 2nd quarter cumulative test, the end of January.

SCIENCE  We explored “States of Matter” before Christmas.  We will be testing on Wednesday.  Look for the study guide Monday and Tuesday.  Thursday we will begin work on our new unit-“Force and Motion”.  Please keep in mind that because of our unique classroom, I am organizing and modifying my methods of teaching a little differently from the one-grade-level classrooms.  I want to ensure little repetition from year to year.

SOCIAL STUDIES       We just tied up our Explorer Unit before Christmas.  Next up, we’re going to take a shortened look at European exploration of North America, leading to the settlement of the British.  Along the way, we will be looking into the history of Michigan and the beginning of the colonies.  

Important Dates Coming Up

January 14-18         BOB (Black Out Bullying) Week- District Wide  Stay tuned for information…

January 21-             MLK Day  No School

January 22               4th Grade Spelling Bee—6 PM

January 23               5th Grade Science Camp Meeting – 6 PM

January 24               5th Grade Spelling Bee – 6 PM

January 25               End of Semester – No School

 

Just a Reminder….Reading 20 minutes at home (IN ADDITION to reading at school) is the single-most important factor in determining a student’s school success.  Keep reading before bed!!

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