Two weeks left...we can do it!

This week will be a little different than expected due to my absences on Monday and Tuesday.  My absence on Monday was unexpected, so the scheduled Social Studies test and Word Study Test will be postponed to Wednesday.  With this in mind, this gives the students two more days to make sure they are prepared for both assessments.  Here's what else is going on this week:

Language Arts

Reading

This week starts our Nonfiction Unit.  We will be focusing on the reasons we read nonfiction, the characteristics of nonfiction writing, and text features that appear in informational text.  Our independent reading will also include nonfiction books; where the students will be connecting and reflecting what was taught daily with their personally-chosen nonfiction book.

Word Study

Due to my absences, the Word Study test will be postponed until Wednesday.  The words from last week shared an ending ar/or/er spelling pattern.  The test on Wednesday will have a stronger emphasis on spelling than most weeks, so make sure to review these words with your student a little extra in the next few days.  Here are the words from last week for your review.

The kids will get their new words (List 13) on Thursday, and that will be the final list before we go on break.  I will post the words on Wednesday when I get back to school.

Writing

Our persuasive essays were composed and published last week.  Some students still need to complete the typing process; but for the most part, we will be moving on to a new persuasive topic this week. In addition, we will be writing another expository essay (constructed response) based on one of our nonfiction read-alouds next week.

Math

On Monday and Tuesday, the students will be reviewing and practicing the three multiplication methods learned last week (Area Model, Partial Products Method, and the regrouping Method).  I will assign homework on Tuesday with the substitute, so expect some computation and word problems.  We have one more official lesson until the end of Chapter 3, so we will plan to take the end-of-the-chapter test on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  I'll keep you posted as we get closer.

As for this week, we will be working on Problem Solving with 2-digit multiplication.  A majority of the students have chosen a multiplication method that works for them, so now we will work on transferring that knowledge to real-world problems.  Homework on Wednesday and Thursday may only be a few problems, but they will involve multiple steps that will require some careful reading.

Have a fantastic week!  If you have any questions of concerns, please feel free to let me know.