Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of May 1, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 8 - weekly reading logs are due

Tuesday, May 9 - Home Link due  

Wednesday, May 10 -

Thursday, May 11 -  math journal pages due

Friday, May 12 -  states quiz, goal 30 states / SpellingCity: words ending in -ing suffix

Monday, May 15 - weekly reading logs are due

General News and Announcements

Field Trip:

Permission slips and payment are due May 19.  Thank you to those have already sent this in, and thank you to our MANY chaperones!  You all are making this trip possible!

Latest fad:

Many students are beginning to bring “fidget spinners” to school.  While they are marketed as a tool for concentration, most students use them as toys.  One student even remarked on how they are, “all the rage and you can get them on Amazon.”  Students are having spinning contests, balancing them on their nose, fingers, etc… You get the picture. We have decided that fidget spinners will be allowed during snack and recess only.  Of course, if your child has a special plan that indicates a “fidget,” we will work together to find an alternative tool.

Academic Updates:

Reading Workshop

This week in reading workshop, we have been doing some review work with accuracy and fluency.  I hear this a lot: “I read better in my head.”  The best indicator of how accurately a reader reads in her head is how she reads out loud.  I’m encouraging a half a page or so of out-loud reading a few times a week at home.  Some kids say they do some shared reading with a parent, alternating pages or chapters.  This is a great way to provide feedback on accuracy.  But, reading aloud for less time than that also contributes to improvement.  In class, reading partners chose passages and read aloud, noting good reading strategies and kinds of errors, in order to build awareness.

Writing Workshop

In writing workshop, we have finished literary essays!  The results are strong, from what I’ve read so far.  Today, we started doing some review of personal and persuasive essays in preparation for our school-wide writing prompt next week.  There will be one class period for planning on Tuesday, and the kids will write their essays on Thursday.

Math

This week students continued work in unit 7 of the EveryDay Math program. We started the week learning how to multiply a mixed number by a whole number, reviewed how to take a set of data and create a line plot and then finished off the week with multi-step division number stories.

Theme

In science this week students extended their learning about eyes and how eyes work. Students did an activity which helped them understand why animals are so much better with night vision than we are (larger pupils let in more light) and learned how the brain can trick us into seeing something that is not real. Ask your child to show you the hole in their hand, you can have one too! Students also learned a little about reaction time and how our brain responds so quickly in order for us to react. There is a reaction video game linked to my web page that your child can show you, it’s called Slap Shot.

On Friday students took their first states quiz. I will try to have the results back to students on Monday - I know they are anxious to get their quizzes back. The next goal is to know a minimum of 30 states for the quiz on May 12th. Thanks for all the support you have given your child with studying the states.