McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

for the week of January 12, 2015

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Reading Workshop

Don’t tell Mrs. Begley, but I’ve been sneaking a little science into reading workshop this week!  I have an enormous collection of nonfiction books about animals, and the kids have been setting themselves up for what categories of information they can expect to encounter when reading a factual book about animals.  We’ve talked about adaptations, life cycle, food webs, etc.  Soon, we’ll be diving into a research project where they’ll research an animal from a number of sources, and they’ll need to synthesize and categorize what they read.

Writing Workshop

This week, students asked for mini-lessons about how to write introductions and conclusions for their informational projects.  I also offered an optional mini-lesson about how to use quotes in their projects.  Many students opted in for a chance to exceed the expectations for this part of the project; you may have seen the summary sheet titled, “How to Use a Quote,” in your child’s homework folder if s/he wanted to pursued that at home.  I think the highlight of the week, though, was having editing help from middle school students on Thursday (for the Mayberrys) and Friday (for the McFarlands).  We are lucky to have willing and able (and cool) writers right down the hall to partner up with us and nail some spelling errors!

     Next week, we will begin final drafts of our writing.  Each child will create a poster to display the writing.  By next Friday, January 23rd, please have your child bring to school a regular piece of poster board: http://www.staples.com/Staples-White-Poster-Boards-10-Pack-22-x-28-/product_247403.  The typical size is about 22”x28.”  The color does not matter to me.  Have your child keep both sides clean, just in case we need to use the back!  The one I brought in to use for demos is probably considered foam core, because I will be standing it up to show them how to do some lettering, etc., but they don’t need foam core.  Have your child write her/his name neatly in small letters in the bottom corner before bringing it to school.

Math:

This week we kicked off unit 5 in math. This unit has a heavy emphasis on learning to multiply larger numbers. The goal is for students to become proficient with solving problems such as; 76 x 59  and 873 x 8. As you can well imagine, being fluent with basic multiplication facts will play an important role in this unit. 

     Our first step this week was to work on extended multiplication facts (like 30 x 80, 

700 x 600, etc…). On Thursday and Friday students learned to play Multiplication Wrestling which is a pivotal step in learning to do partial products. I will post a video tutorial for partial products on my web page so students and parents can access the steps to support homework in the coming weeks. 

Spelling:

This week we learned patterns for the /oo/ sound - oo, u-consonant-e, ue, and ew.  We also reviewed some common homophone pairs, which are starting to show up more regularly on tests.

Theme:

This was a fun-filled week in science!  We used pan balances to determine how the force needed to separate two magnets changes as the distance between the magnets increases.  We graphed our results and practiced writing conclusions about our findings.  We also built electromagnets and searched for hidden magnets inside of sealed boxes.  And of course, we learned about temporary magnets and how to create one by induction.  The one I sent you a photo of held on for 24 hours!  Next week we will start learning about electricity!

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, January 19th - No School 

Tuesday, January 20th - Read logs due

Wednesday, January 21st - Full day  / Sneakers for P.E.

Thursday, January 22nd - Spelling due 

Friday, January 23rd - Study link due / Poster board due for writing workshop

**Report cards will be sent home Friday, January 30th**

Hope you had a great long weekend!

Dena