Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your families!
*Important Announcements This Week*
*Scholastic Book Order: If you would like to books for your child, the last day to order will be this Friday, Nov. 30th. You can either order online using the classroom code I sent home with the fliers, or you can order by sending in a paper copy of the order form with your payment (cash or check). You are not restricted to ordering from just the items on the fliers I sent home. If you order online, you can select any items you find on the Scholastic Book Club website. Also, if you are ordering books as a gift/surprise for your child, please let me know and I will arrange for you to pick up your books from the office when they come in before winter break.
*Assembly: On Wednesday of this week we will have an assembly of the Richmond Symphony. What a wonderful chance for the students to see a fantastic musical performance!
*SPES Stinger Fund: Safety continues to be Short Pump ES’s number 1 priority, and this year, we hope that you can support us in this effort as well. Please consider donating to the Stinger Fund, which is comprised of direct donations to support instruction and this year safety as well. We need to raise over at least $15,000 collectively to reach our goal. The way we figure it is if each family in my class donates at least $25, it will cover instructional materials of my classroom that the PTA financially provides each year and allows me to have a walkie talkie, an enhanced security measure. Thank you for consideration!
*Friendly Reminder: Please be sure to check your child’s “Take Home Folder” each night because the items on the “Keep at Home” side need to be taken out.
*What Are We Learning In Class?*
*Reading:
This week the reading skill we will focus on will be identifying and using reference materials. Each day we will look at a specific reference material and discuss when you might use the reference item and how to access the information in the reference book. The reference materials we will analyze are: dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia. Towards the end of the week, students will complete a reference material assessment. During small group rotations, students will meet with me in our small group and we will continue our strategy work using leveled texts. Students will also participate in their “read to self” and “work on writing” rotations.
We will also continue with word study this week. We will continue with our study of homophones in our small groups. Students will need to learn the spelling and the meaning of the words, especially with how to use the different words in sentences. Please note that students will have 2 word study assessment during the week. The first assessment will be on writing sentences using 10 of their word study words on Thursday. They will need to use the words correctly and show the meaning of the word. Then students will have their Word Study on Friday 11/30.
*Math:
This week we will continue our unit on multiplication. Please continue working with your child on learning his or her basic multiplication facts. I think that it is helpful to stay with a certain times table so that your child can begin to see patterns within the table and learn to use friendly facts.
This week our lessons will be:
- review 2 digit x 2 digit
- practice and analyze 2 digit x 2 digit word problems
- 2 digit x 2 digit quiz
- learn and practice 3 digit x 2 digit
Students will take a short 2 digit x 2 digit Multiplication Quiz Wednesday, 11/28.
Tentatively we have scheduled a 3 digit x 2 digit quiz for Monday, 12/3 and the multiplication test for Wednesday 12/5. Please continue to monitor your child’s homework agenda for confirmation of these assessment dates.
*Social Studies:
This week we begin our next unit on Colonial Virginia (VS.4). We will begin by understanding the effect that agriculture had on the colony and the institution of slavery in the colonies (VS.4a). Later in the week we will begin a review of key economics terms associated with life in colonial Virginia (VS.4d). It is important that students understand these vocabulary terms instead of just memorizing the words and definitions. There will be an Economics Vocabulary Quiz on Friday, 12/7.
*Science:
We will begin our Solar System unit this week (SOL 4.7). On Monday we will look at the order of the planets from the sun and how our solar system is organized. Later in the week we will learn about the inner terrestrial planets and the characteristics of those planets. Then we will learn about the characteristics of the outer gas giant planets. The class will take the Solar System Test on Thursday, 12/6.
Have a great week!
-Mrs. Jacobsen