McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

update for the week of November 16, 2015

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, November 23rd- Reading logs due

Wednesday, November 18th-November 29th - Thanksgiving Break

**In light of the short week, Mrs. Mayberry and Mrs. Begley will not be assigning spelling and math homework.  Please use the time to practice your multiplication facts.  Mrs. McFarland will still collect reading logs after the holiday break, so don’t forget to get your four reading sessions in!**

Please help your child be prepared for each swim class.  Your child’s swim bag should include: swim cap for hair longer than 3 inches, swim suit, goggles, towel, hair brush or comb.  

Mrs. Reichert, the long term substitute for technology class, has introduced the classes to an online typing program, Typing.com.  Kids will have time with the site in class, but she is encouraging kids to practice at home too.  Below is the login information if you decide to access this program.

Login Info:  Username - greely first initial,last name (no spaces)

ex. greelybreichert

PW - msad51lunchcode ex. msad5124879

Academic Updates:

Reading

If your child hasn’t already told you about our friend, Journey, it’s time to ask.  Ask how Journey changed from the beginning of the story to the end: his relationship with his grandfather, his hopes about his mother, and what Journey “got” in the end.  Monday and Tuesday, we will watch the Hallmark movie version of the book -- of course while taking notes on a Venn diagram to compare and contrast them, in preparation for our upcoming unit on nonfiction!

Writing Workshop

We are winding down the essay unit.  Students will be using their Google accounts to type their final drafts next Monday and Tuesday.  Cross your fingers that the technology will work, as it’s not a guarantee...

Math

This week has been one for review and assessments. Students have taken the end of unit 2 assessment, and a cumulative assessment which covers concepts taught since the beginning of the year. I am also conducting individual interviews aimed at assessing students overall multiplication facts and the strategies they use to solve unknown facts.

Spelling

This week students spent several days learning about contractions.  We also talked about the job of an apostrophe in both contractions and possessive nouns.

Theme

This week we have been immersing ourselves in a simulation to understand what life would have been like for the Pilgrims back in 1620.  Students are participating in activities to learn about the culture back then (how they lived, what they ate) as well as the things they did for survival (hunting, fishing, trading).

    After vacation, we will be embarking on a culminating project.  Students will be creating a keynote or Google slide presentation, giving their top 5 tips for surviving in the New World.  They will incorporate evidence from our research over the last four weeks.  This project will be completed in class and will be used in place of a formal quiz.  Project requirements and scoring rubric will be presented up front, as well as samples of work so students will know how they will be assessed.