This week were in charge of the 4/5 Morning Meeting. We will be responsible for next week, as well. The kids did a fantastic job recreating a newsroom. Special shout-out to Nicholas and Peyton. They were our “news anchors” and dressed the part. They both even had their own “coffee cups” just like they see our own news anchors have on their desks!
First Trimester Perfect Attendance: Aaliyah, Avalea, CJ, Laiken, Payton, Olive, and River
Nonfiction Reading: We worked on strategies to figure our difficult words in complex nonfiction text. Sometimes the author just tells you the meaning and sometimes you have to look around for clues.
Monthly reading logs: We completed the first week of December school logs and subtotaled the minutes we had read. Readers will need to add Friday and Saturday and then add their minutes together.
Writing: We are continuing to work on our Feature Articles. This week we worked on developing a survey, having our classmates take it, and then looking over the results. We then worked on phrases that we could use in our write up. Here are some examples:
Examples are:
From the survey data…
Based on the survey data…
Use percents, not plain numbers
When asked ___________ students responded _________
According to a recent study ___% of students said ________
High Frequency Words: We had quite a few writers correctly spell 5 out of 5 of their words this week. Lists went home on Thursday and we will have one more test next week before taking a break until after our winter break.
Age of Exploration: This week we learned about Vasco Da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan. We are also reading Karen Hesse’s book, Stowaway, to help us have a better understanding of just all that these explorers endured to sail off to unknown places.
Art: We read, Snowmen at Night on Thursday afternoon and then tried our hand at using chalk pastels to recreate a few of the illustrations from the book. We will continue with more snowman art next week.
Buddy Class Project: We will be decorating gingerbread cookies (thanks to Chris Shaw) on Wednesday, December 19 at 3 pm with our Mrs. Mack’s Class. We would love some donations of white canned frosting, large Chinet plates (the white, sturdy ones), green or red plastic wrap, and small candies to help decorate our gingerbread people. Some extra volunteers that day would also be appreciated.
Canned Food Drive: Our class is participating in our annual Canned Food Drive. Please send any extra food that you can donate. We are also needing other supplies such as: toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo, etc. December 19 will be the final day before items are boxed up and donated to a local family. If you or someone you know could use some extra help this year, please feel free to email me.
Winter Break: Thursday, December 20 will be our last day before our Winter Break. School resumes on Monday, January 7, 2019!
Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!
Michelle
