Greetings Families,
I hope you are doing well and that the start of your weekend is already a great one. I wanted to remind you to signup for the party that is coming up. You can find details in my last blog post and your child should have brought home a flyer today. If you cannot tell by my constant reminding, I really enjoy these kinds of events.
On to academic stuff, here are the lessons for next week.
History: This week in history, students will learn about Charlemagne and discuss his impact on Europe in the Middle Ages. They will also study the rise of Feudalism in the Middle Ages and explore what life was actually like in a castle and on a manor. The week will conclude with a very brief quiz on these chapters.
Language Arts: This week in language arts students will continue the adventure with Curdie and Princess Irene. What plans do the nasty little Cobs have? Will Curdie survive? Who is Great Grandma Irene. All of these questions are answered as the students come to the conclusion of the book. In grammar, students will take a test on chapter 2 of their grammar books. On Friday, they begin the first major writing assignment of the year. In Spalding, there are more words and more markings.
Science: This past week in science, students were able to visit the lab twice to discern the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit. On their second trip, they had to create a parallel circuit on their own with two lights individually controlled by their own switches. They finished this week with a reading on electromagnetism.
Next week, students will start the week with a teacher led demo. The demo will show students how to build an electromagnet and how a piece of metal, a bolt, can be turned into a magnet with some wire and a battery. Students will then spend some time reviewing all they have learned about electricity and be asked to demonstrate that knowledge at the end of next week. Should may start reviewing their notes early. Anything found in their science notebooks on the topic of electricity may be found on this test. However, please remember that weekly quizzes are accumulative and students should be looking over old notes or notecards to maintain familiarity with prior units. A Quizlet has been created and can be found here.
I hope you are doing well and that the start of your weekend is already a great one. I wanted to remind you to signup for the party that is coming up. You can find details in my last blog post and your child should have brought home a flyer today. If you cannot tell by my constant reminding, I really enjoy these kinds of events.
On to academic stuff, here are the lessons for next week.
Lessons
History: This week in history, students will learn about Charlemagne and discuss his impact on Europe in the Middle Ages. They will also study the rise of Feudalism in the Middle Ages and explore what life was actually like in a castle and on a manor. The week will conclude with a very brief quiz on these chapters.
Language Arts: This week in language arts students will continue the adventure with Curdie and Princess Irene. What plans do the nasty little Cobs have? Will Curdie survive? Who is Great Grandma Irene. All of these questions are answered as the students come to the conclusion of the book. In grammar, students will take a test on chapter 2 of their grammar books. On Friday, they begin the first major writing assignment of the year. In Spalding, there are more words and more markings.
Science: This past week in science, students were able to visit the lab twice to discern the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit. On their second trip, they had to create a parallel circuit on their own with two lights individually controlled by their own switches. They finished this week with a reading on electromagnetism.
Next week, students will start the week with a teacher led demo. The demo will show students how to build an electromagnet and how a piece of metal, a bolt, can be turned into a magnet with some wire and a battery. Students will then spend some time reviewing all they have learned about electricity and be asked to demonstrate that knowledge at the end of next week. Should may start reviewing their notes early. Anything found in their science notebooks on the topic of electricity may be found on this test. However, please remember that weekly quizzes are accumulative and students should be looking over old notes or notecards to maintain familiarity with prior units. A Quizlet has been created and can be found here.
Math: The students have progressed well through the last two chapters covering order of operation and the use of negative numbers. Monday, students will review for the assessment in class, have a practice test for that night, and will be tested on Tuesday. Though many students have excelled very quickly in these last chapters, a pop quiz revealed that many students have still failed to master rounding and are mixing up multiples and factors. I will continue to review these concepts, but any support you can offer at home is a plus. Just giving them one problem to do every once an a while, once a week, is a big help in regards to keeping these concepts on their minds. If they don't use it, they will lose it. I will do my best to support that in the class.
Assessments at a Glance
Tuesday: Math Test
Wednesday: Science Test
Thursday: Grammar Test
Friday: History Quiz, Spalding Test
If you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you for your support.
Best,
Michael Naaktgeboren