Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of November 27, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, December 4:  reading logs are due

Tuesday, December 5: Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E.: come prepared for the last swim class

Wednesday, December 6: early release day

Thursday, December 7: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, December 8: Home Link due / SpellingCity activities due (save TestMe for in class on Friday) / book orders due on-line

Monday, December 11: reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Book orders

McFarland students brought home book order flyers on Thursday.  If you’re interested in ordering books for your child (happy holidays?), please place the order on-line by the end of the work day next Friday, December 8th.  Directions are on the cover sheet of the Scholastic orders.  

Towel for lockers

Students will be storing boots, snowpants, and other snow gear in their lockers this winter season.  A hand towel spread out at the bottom of the locker is ideal for absorbing melting snow and drying out quickly overnight.  Please send one in with your child as soon as you can; winter weather is apparently upon us.

Super Hero Day: Wednesday, December 6th

GMS ⅘ students have earned 500 bucket slips and a celebration next Wednesday!  Students are invited to dress up as their favorite superhero!

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

After focusing on thesis statements this week, we are ready to craft one for a class essay.  The McFarlands will focus on the topic of homework, and the Mayberrys will focus on Maine.  As a class, we will walk through the process of planning and writing an essay together over the next couple of weeks.

Reading Workshop

We are delving into the first part of our nonfiction reading unit, and we have focused on making a commitment to read to learn, as opposed to read for random interesting facts or to pass the time.  Mrs. Mayberry and I have a super collection of nonfiction books on a variety of topics for daily in-class reading.  Students are welcome to read NF books for their at-home reading also, or they can continue to enjoy other genres.

    

Math

This week students learned to find equivalent fractions through the use of manipulatives, fraction bar charts and by using the ‘rule of equivalents’. You can help support your child’s fraction knowledge at home by pointing out how fractions are used in the real world. The best example is usually in the kitchen. While baking holiday treats let your child help you measure ingredients. Talk about how the numerator and denominator work in a fraction, for example: ¾ of a cup of sugar means the whole cup is broken into fourths and you need 3 out of the four parts of a cup for the recipe.  

Theme

This week students worked hard at creating a map of a newly discovered land. This is where the skills learned in the first two projects meet their incredible powers of creativity and imagination! The maps are looking wonderful.