Our Week at a glance:
Daily Schedule:
8:00-8:10 Homeroom for Attendance
8:15-9:05 Specials
9:10-11:10 Reading/Language Arts/Social Studies
11:10-11:55 Lunch/Recess
12:00-2:00 Math/Science
2:00-2:20 Recess
2:25-2:55 MTSS
2:55-3:05 Homeroom Check-Out
Specials Rotation:
Monday - GUIDANCE/KEYBOARDING
Tuesday - ART
Wednesday - MUSIC/P.E.
Thursday - LIBRARY/ KEYBOARDING
Friday - MUSIC/P.E.
Important Dates to Remember:
•Wednesday, November 9th - Early Dismissal
•Friday, November 11th - ISU Women's Basketball Field Trip (sack lunch required; all intermediate grade levels will attend)
•Tuesday, November 15th - Secrets of Bearhaven Author Kristin Rocha @ 12:30
•Thursday, November 17th - Early Dismissal @ 12:30 and Parent Teacher Conferences from 1:20-7:40
•Friday, November 18th - November Book Orders DUE
•Wednesday, November 23rd to 27th- Thanksgiving Break
Reading and Language Arts:
Standard: RI.3.5 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Target Statement: I can tell the relationship between a series of historical events using language that pertains to cause/effect.
Unit Proficiency Scale
1- Beginning I am working on describing a cause or an effect when reading about historical events. I am working towards using language that shows, time sequence, and cause/effect when describing a text.
2- Developing I can describe a cause and its effect when reading about historical events. I can use some language that shows time, sequence, and cause/effect when describing the text.
3- Proficient I can describe a cause and its effect when reading about historical events. I can use language that shows time, sequence, and cause/effect when describing the text.
Historical events are often connected through cause and effect relationships. A cause is WHY something happens. An event occurs because of an event in time. The effect is what happens as a result of the event. Cause and effect within historical events is a lot like falling dominoes. One cause leads to an effect. Then the effect becomes a cause and so on. In our next unit we will be working on reading informational texts about historical events through time. Students will identify and describe the cause and effect relationships within the text. We will focus on not only identifying the relationships, but also on the language used to communicate a relationship between events.
Texts (items may be added to the list as we progress through the standard):
Battling Blazes Scholastic News
Facing the Flood Scholastic News
Insect Invaders Scholastic News
Rosa Parks Takes a Stand
Volcanoes
When Ice Covered the World
Writing Standard:
L.3.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.3.2 Demonstrate a command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
a. Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding in comprehension. b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details.
c. Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.
d. Provide a concluding statement or section.
During October and November we will begin working on our trimester 1 Ice Age informational writing project. This project is integrated with our social studies unit about the Ice Age. Students will select an Ice Age animal to research and report. We will focus on building a multi-paragraph paper. They will work on taking notes and grouping related information together with a clear introductory topic sentence. We will discuss hooks to grab a reader's attention and using linking words to connect ideas. Their paper will end with a concluding paragraph that wraps-up their topic.
Social Studies:
The last Ice Age ended about 11,500 years ago. During this time, the Earth’s climate repeatedly changed between very cold periods, during which glaciers covered large parts of the world, and very warm periods, during which many glaciers would melt. These differences in climate made survival for living creatures challenging. We know about many of the animal species from this time period because of great discoveries made by scientists that are searching for the answers to how animals and people survived during the great freeze.
During the next few weeks students are going to research an animal from the Ice Age, write about it, and then share what you have learned with the class. There are several well-known animals from this time period that you may choose from:
Glyptodont
Giant Beaver
Dire Wolf
Short-Faced Bear
American Lion
Harlan’s Ground Sloth
Wooly Rhino
Stag Moose
Woodland Muskox
Wooly Mammoths
Mastodons
Saber Toothed Tigers
While they are researching their Ice Age Animal, they will need to find information about the following topics:
•Appearance
-What did it look like?
•Survival
-What did it eat?
-Did it have predators?
-How did it adapt to changes in environment?
-Did it live alone or in groups?
•Location
-Where do scientists think it lived?
Mathematics and Science:
Mrs. Nees teaches math and science.
Math homework will be sent home on Monday. Please have your student work on it at home and return it to school by Friday. If you have any questions as they are working, please let Mrs. Nees know! She is REALLY trying to encourage the kids to be flexible thinkers, because sometimes it makes sense to try a different strategy. If you see them trying something that looks different than "traditional" math, ask them to explain it to you! One of our favorite parts of teaching math is hearing how the students are able to explain their thinking.
Math:
We began our multiplication unit on Thursday. Students will begin bringing flashcards home in their math folders this week. Please encourage them to practice their facts 5-10 minutes each night. In class, we will be spending time working on story problems related to groups of items.
Science:
The kids are LOVING constructing their weather-proof homes. They designed plans and began building last week. This week, they will get 2 days to finish their construction, and then we will be testing the designs to see if they are really weather-proof. Thank you SO much to everyone who sent in supplies-the kids have so many options available to them to use to construct their homes!!!
Science Project:
We are going to continue to investigation on Climate vs. Weather this week. Following that, we will be taking a closer look at different types of weather dangers (hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes). Students will have the opportunity to pick which they are most interested in. After they have learned more about the different types, they will be given the task of designing a type of housing/shelter to withstand these types of weather. We will be creating these structures in class. Mrs. Nees is excited to see what they come up with!
Along with our weather unit, we will be creating some weather proof houses at school. Students will get to choose to build a house that will be safe from a tornado, hurricane, or flood. They will be partnered with another student with a similar interest. Students will do research about these disasters and use what we have learned about water and different surfaces to design and create a home that will withstand their chosen disaster. We ask that you support their thinking and let them share their ideas, but please don't give them too much guidance on how to build their home. We really want to see their ideas shine through!
Please visit her Live Binder webpage for websites and other information!