We have been naming and locating points using Cartesian coordinates. While this is something students will work with now through high school (especially in analytical geometry), it is also the the beginnings of understanding how maps, computer screens, and GPS devices work.
Your student may bring home a connect-the-dot-picture, laid out on a grid or ask you to play a game of Sunken Ships on a grid. Have fun with it.Literature Workshop-
We have finished with our fun non-fiction books and are now working on creating our own non-fiction literature, by sharing what we have learned from research on the topic of our choice. Students have used a research grid to record the answers to questions they have and the source of those answers. They are trying out a new pre-writing tool, a flow chart, that will help them organize their learning into a five (or more) paragraph essay draft. We will revise and edit that draft and complete a final. Then we will share that writing in class with visual aids.
Science-
We are moving from a study of rocks into a study of minerals. We will explore minerals using some of the same tools field geologists use to help them record the properties of mineral samples and correctly identify them.
Social Studies-
Our class is known for making good choices around the school and on the playground. We talked about why students are able to make good choices without the rewards that are used in some schools and what it means to feel triumphant instead of rewarded. The character, Phoebe, from Walk Two Moons has also helped to dialogue about what being rude is and what it does to the people around us and to our relationships. Another character, Salamanca, on the other hand, helps us see the power of empathy, of being able to see things from another persons point of view before making judgements.
