Happy St. Patrick's Day

                              

Language Arts

Students are continuing their study of inference.  Students have read poems and made inferences regarding the words and phrases written by a poet.  In addition students have viewed subheadings in articles to try to infer what an article is about.  Students have used authentic questions as a vehicle to help make inferences about a reading. 

                    

Students will read the book, Encounter, and discuss the narrator's point of view. Then they will decide on their perspective on the topic of exploration of the New World and the consequences it had on the Native Americans. Students will write an entry from the point of view of the Taino Native American.  Students will also read a second book about the Cheyenne and their forced assimilation into American society.  Students will discuss the narrator's and other character's points of view.  Finally students will compare and contrast these two books. Students will discuss their opinions about these books and the injustices which occurred in history.


                               

When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador in 1492, what he discovered were the Taino Indians. This story is told from a young Taino boy’s point of view.  This is a story of how the boy tried to warn his people against welcoming the strangers, who seemed more interested in golden ornaments than friendship. Years later the boy, now an old man, looks back at the destruction of his people and their culture by the colonizers.

              

 

 

                      

 

As part of the present language arts' unit students are reading books about places they might want to travel.  Students are reading fact finder books from the Magic Tree House.  These books are nonfiction texts. Students are identifying the most important parts of the chapter as well as finding the main idea and supporting details in the chapters.  Students are broadening their background knowledge of the rain forest, dinosaurs, space, and the arctic.

                    

 

Writing

After studying the Vikings, students are writing an opinion piece about the Vikings in which they will write three reasons to be a Viking.  Students are learning to identify three main ideas and support those ideas with two to three details.  This practice writing exercise will prepare students for their performance assessment.  In their performance assessment for writing in Unit 4 students must write an opinion piece as to why they want to go to a particular location.  Students are reading books about the rain forest, dinosaurs, space and arctic.

 

                             

 

Below are some more samples of student's work from the Unit in which they wrote about a lesson learned.

 

                                      

 

Listen to Your Parents

Pranav

 

“Can we take a walk in the woods? Please Dad? Please, please, please?” Jack and his friend Alex had just finished playing hopscotch. “No Jack.” Jack’s dad said. “It’s best not to take a walk now. It’s almost dark and Alex needs to be home in ten minutes so his mom can pick him up. It’s almost dusk and wolves will be coming out now.” “Oh please, dad,” Jack begged. “I promise we will be back in five,” Jack pleaded. Finally his dad let him go. His dad went inside. Alex was gasping at him from the porch steps. “Come on. It’s now or never. Don’t be a chicken,” said Jack. But even after Jack said this Alex did not even move a muscle. Jack then ran across the street not even watching if a car was coming. But Alex as a responsible person yelled, “Stop, Jack! There is a car behind you.” As if obeying Alex, he stopped and walked quickly to Alex. Alex was relieved to see that his best friend was safe. Alex is 10 and Jack is 9. Alex was a responsible, wise person. Jack was a very reckless and careless boy. Jack gave Alex a tug. “Come on. I promise you nothing bad will happen. I promise you. Please,” Jack pleaded and finally Alex agreed.  They crossed a street and went into the woods.  The woods were thick and dark.  The trees cast dark shadows over the forest. Crickets chirped loudly. The two walked without uttering a single word until they came to a small clearing. A small amount of light slanted into the clearing. Alex sighed and whispered, “It is a bad idea to walk in these woods right now.” Jack gasped,” You are frightened by the darkness of the woods? I told you nothing.”  Growl! Growl “What was that noise?” asked Alex shivering. “I have no idea. But it sounds distant to me, “said Jack.  GRROWL!  “Uh, Oh,” said Alex. “We’re in big trouble. “Which way is home?” Jack asked. “I have no idea,” Alex replied. Then Alex thought of a strategy. Alex told Jack, “When we came into the woods, the sun was setting directly before us.

So if we walk with our backs toward the sun, we will return home!” “Splendid idea!” said Jack. They turned around to leave but before they could take a step a ferocious growl split the air. Startled they turned around in time to see the dark looming shape of a wolf. “Walk slowly. We don’t want the wolf to see that we are afraid,” said Jack. They turned to leave but the wolf started to walk towards them. It opened its mouth revealing many teeth that shined in the dim light. “Forget slow,” said Alex. “Run!” They turned and ran not even knowing if they were going the right way. Finally they reached the edge of the woods. There they stopped to gather their wits. At last they spoke. “I was wrong,” said Jack. “You and dad were right. It was a bad idea to come in these woods. I’m so sorry I caused all this trouble today.” “That’s all right,” said Alex. “But have you learnt your lesson?”                   

 

 

 

                        

                 

Be Nice to People

Jada 

When I got home from school my best friend was there. The other thing I could see was that this really annoying girl named Chachi was there also. I asked my mom, “What are they doing here?” “We are taking them out to eat at Applebee’s,” my mom said. I started putting my stuff down and asked the girls if they wanted to play dodge ball outside in the backyard. Then I asked my mom if we could go outside. She said, “Fine, but you have to take Chachi with you.” I did a big sigh. Then I said, “Fine.” I got 3 balls from my room and we all went outside. Since the teams weren’t even, we decided only 2 people could play. Jazmen and I played first. Chachi didn’t know how to play so she sat on the patio and watched. Then she would get the hang of it. It didn’t take long for the first game. It only took about 2 minutes because I caught Jazmen’s ball. For the 2^nd round I had to try and not catch the ball for more than 5 minutes. Since I caught Jazmen’s ball Chachi had to come in for Jazmen. I decided to throw a ball since Chachi was in but before I could even pick up a ball Chachi just threw the ball at me. I was out since she hit me with the ball. I was pretty surprised that she got me out. Then Jazmen went in for me. I was really excited for this because it was sister versus sister. Five minutes later Chachi lost and Jazmen won. After that round my mom said, “Get all your stuff on. We’re going to Applebee’s.” Then Jazmen, Chachi, and their mom went in the car. My mom and I got in our car and we drove there. Once we got to Applebee’s we sat in a booth. I started talking to Jazmen and my mom started talking to Chachi and Jazmen’s mom. Chachi talked to herself. Then Chachi got really loud. It was bothering me so I asked her nicely to quiet down, but she started getting louder. Then I asked for Jazmen, Chachi, and me to go to the bathroom. I asked if Chachi cared to join us. She said, “Ok, let’s go.” I said, “Chachi, I asked you nicely to be quiet. Why didn’t you do that?” Chachi answered, “You’re not the boss of me.” “Yes I am because I’m older than you. Now you go back to that table. Be quiet and mature. You get it,” I said. “Ok,” said Chachi. The three of us went back to the table. Then Chachi started yelling out, “Jada and Jazmen were mean to me and they said I have to be quiet through the whole dinner.” “I didn’t say that. All I said was can you please be quiet at the table. I can’t hear Jazmen talk,” I said. “Just leave each other alone,” said my mom. “Jada, you can talk to Jazmen,” said my mom. “Then what do I do?” said Chachi? “Nothing,” I said. Then we ordered our food. Jazmen and I talked to each other. Chachi talked to my mom and her mom. In 10 minutes, our food is delivered. After we ate we all went to our homes. Mom gave me a serious talk. When I got home I was grounded for 2 weeks. Then I learned my lesson to never be mean to anyone.   

 

Math

Students are continuing their study of multiplication and division stories.  They will finish the unit this week and start a new unit on fractions.  Students will use their understanding of division and transfer this knowledge to fractions.  Students will start with dividing rectangles into equal pieces and discuss how to label each share as a fraction.  Then students will make and label fraction sets and put fractions in order by size.

 

Social Studies

                                      

                       King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, and Christopher Columbus

Students will finish reading about Christopher Columbus and his reasons for finding a new route to the Indies.  Columbus believed the world was round in contradiction to the majority who thought it was flat. Students have enriched their background about the world and the importance of Columbus' discovery of the New World. They have learned that Columbus sailed for the country of Spain although he was born in Genoa, Italy.

                                      

 

Report cards will be issued the end of March.  Parent/teacher conferences will take place in April.  These conferences are not mandatory.

 

 

Spring is right around the corner!