Monday, September 2, 2013

Week of September 2


MATH 

Fourth Grade Math
Students continue with Chapter 1: Place Value and Operations with Whole numbers.  We will focus on Lessons 3-5: comparing and ordering numbers, rounding to a specific place value, and renaming or regrouping numbers according to place value.  There will be a quiz on Friday covering skills in Lessons 1-5.  Students can use notes in their Student Edition and Vocabulary notes/examples. We are uncovering "number personalities" while counting the days in Math class.  Fourth graders are assigned a number to provide certain characteristics.  Characteristics include:  even or odd; whether it is a multiple of 3,4, or 5; listing a fact family; and additional multiples of that number.  We are keeping track of this on a number line within the classroom.  Fifth graders add additional characteristics to that number.  Finally, we will start Math Fact Practice on Monday, September 9.  Fourth graders will be timed for 3 minutes on facts 0 - 4. Students are doing a great job completing homework!

Fifth Grade Math 
Students continue with Chapter 1:  Place Value, Multiplication and Expressions.  Lessons 3 - 5 will focus on: number properties, specifically Distributive Property; working with base and exponents; and, reviewing multiplying by powers of 10.
Quiz on Friday covering lessons 1-5.  While counting days in Math class, we are uncovering "number personalities". Each student received a number to provide certain characteristics about.  Characteristics include:  prime or composite; listing all its factors; creating a fraction out of 100; showing the decimal of that fraction; and any fun fact about that number. We are keeping track of this on a number line within the classroom.  Fourth graders provide additional characteristics to that number.  Finally, we will start Math Fact Practice on Monday, September 9.  Fifth graders will be timed for 3 minutes on a mix of facts 0 - 10. Students are doing a great job completing homework!

Math Help - Office Hours 
Beginning This Week 
Tuesday and Thursday:  7:15am - 7:45
4th Grade Monday:  2:25 - 3:15 
5th Grade Wednesday: 2:25 - 3:15

SCIENCE

Fourth Grade 

Students will be using a balance to measure mass.  We will arrange objects from greatest to smallest.  We will estimate. Next, we learn about volume, its definition, and physical properties of matter.  We will find out what mixtures and solutions are.

Fifth Grade 

Students should be working on their dioramas which are due on Friday, September 6th.  We will be finishing up Lesson 1 and should be ready for a quiz on Wednesday. We will be making a puzzle to show how the continents may have once fit together to form a supercontinent.  


Reading, Spelling & Vocab Highlights
Reading:  Storytown Lesson 2: Autobiography selection, entitled Line Drive.
           Comprehension strategy:  Story Structure; Setting, Characters, 
                  Plot & Resolution
           Focus on skills:  inferencing and predicting
           Compare and Contrast: Line Drive to a poem entitled Ninth Inning.
           Comprehension Test: Friday
           We continue learning characteristics of each genre we read.    
           
Spelling: Lesson 2. 
           Mrs. Hall's students correct workbooks on Thursdays. 
           Mrs. Stillo's students correct workbooks on Fridays.
           The workbooks should be written in cursive. 
           Spelling Test Friday
           Each Friday, students also hand in a list of their 20 spelling words each
                 written 5x each in cursive.
          Reminders:  
                bonus words treated as extra points on the test,
                Pretests signed by parents worth 3 quarterly extra credit points, 
               "Spelling Expectations" card taped inside student workbooks 

Vocabulary:  Unit 1 Test on Tuesday. 
           Unit 2 - Blue Sadlier Workbook begins on Tuesday.
           Vocabulary cards due Friday, Sep. 6th.  
           Vocabulary cards contain:  
                 word and pronunciation on blank side
                 definitions, part of speech, synonyms and antonyms on lined side

 Religion

We finish our study of the Catholic Church Liturgical Calendar and Bible readings associated with each of the seasons.  We begin Unit 1 Revelation by discovering the idea of longing for God.   

Other Fifth Grade News

Remember to Read - 4 book reports due per quarter

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email Mrs. Hall at dhall@stjosephdg.org, or, Mrs. Stillo at dstillo@stjosephdg.org.