Welcome Back!

It's a new year and we're off to a quick start!  I hope all of you had a relaxing break because we are hitting the floor running this week.  Here is a breakdown of what's going on this week in Room 25:

Math
This week we start Chapter 4:  Dividing by 1-Digit Numbers.  During this week, we will introduce division through finding the quotients through finding multiples (Monday-Wednesday), and finding and interpreting remainders (Thursday and Friday).  Here are a few links to support you at home with the work this week:

Estimating quotients using multiples - This You Tube video explains it pretty well! 

I will be absent on Tuesday afternoon, so expect no Math homework that day.  All other days will have regularly-scheduled homework.  Thursday and Friday's lessons focus on division using counters as models (something most of us were taught "back-in-the-day"), but here is another example for some extra support:

Finding Remainders using models - Another great video!

Science
Before break we finished-up our investigations revolving around erosion and weathering (graded work will be coming home this week!).  This week we begin a Natural Resources and Energy Unit.  Monday and Tuesday we will be discussing what resources are renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy, and the rest of the week will be focused on how energy is created (specifically thermal energy) and stored.  Look forward to some cool stories about predicting what containers can insulate heat the best!

Language Arts
Word Study
Our words this week (List 15) all end in the letter "y".  With this spelling pattern, another strong emphasis will be on each word's part of speech.  The words range from nouns (beauty, assembly), adjectives (lazy, pretty, hungry), and adverbs (slowly, loudly, awfully).   Please make sure that your students review these words nightly for spelling and common synonyms/antonyms for the quiz on Friday.  Here are the words for the week.

Writing
An addition to Room 25 for 2016 is a read aloud after lunch everyday to bring everyone together with a common text for discussions, connections to lessons, writing prompts, and to just read a few great books together.  We are starting the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio this week.  As an introduction to this amazing book, the students will be writing an informational response using their "first impressions" after only reading the first page and observing the cover.  Here is a link to the first few pages of the book through Amazon for your reading pleasure.

Reading
We continue with our study of nonfiction text structures this week (compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, description, sequence).  I will be assigning practice stories with short graphic organizers during class time that will need to be completed for homework, so keep an eye out for those Monday-Thursday.  I have no problem with using these passages as the 20 minutes of reading needed per night!

Have a wonderful week!  Let me know if you have questions or concerns.