Week of 5/6/13 - 5/10/13

Highlights for the Week of 5/6/13

in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling - Unusual Spellings

This week's spelling list will focus on words that have unusual spellings. The final TEST on this lesson will be given on Friday, 5/10. The workbook pages OR challenge work will also be collected that day.

Reading - I Can Apply Reading Strategies

Peg Kehret

The third, and final, book club meeting for the novel, Number the Stars, is scheduled for Tuesday, 5/7. During the next unit in reading, we will once again spend time participating in  Book Clubs with various novels by the author, Peg Kehret.  Students will have the opportunity to read a novel at their own learning and interest level and discuss the novel in cooperative learning groups.  They will continue to improve their comprehension skills by applying the reading strategies of summarizing, connecting, predicting and questioning.

English- Adverbs

Comparing with adverbs, and using "good and well" will be the topics in English this week.  Students will independently complete a review of lessons 1-3 of the unit on Friday.

Social Studies -  The Tlingit
After completing the West region portion of the United States map, we will move on to study the Native Americans of the region, The Tlingit. We will focus on the history and culture of the group, and finish the week by creating masks similar to those created by the Tlingit.

Watt's Up?

Science - Electricity
Students will work in small groups to create a poster that shows how to light a bulb 4 different ways using only a wire, a battery and a light bulb. We will also study the difference between series and parallel circuits, and participate in a lab where students create both types of circuits.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class - Fractions

 We will continue our study of equivalent fractions with a look at how to find simplest form. The topic will be introduced with the concept of Greatest Common Factor (GCF)and prime/composite numbers. Students will apply what they learn about GCF when reducing fractions to simplest form.  We will also focus on comparing and ordering fractions.

FYI...

May 17, 2013 - Early Dismissal - Students dismissed at 11:00
May 27, 2013 - Memorial Day -- No School

In an effort to make the transition to 5th grade as smooth as possible, the fourth grade teachers will be enforcing the 5th grade policy for late work during the month of May.
The policy is as follows:

Any assignment that is late, but not taken for a grade, will receive a late slip. The student will have one point taken out of his/her homework bank. (NO CHANGE)

Any assignment that is late and taken for a grade will receive a late slip. No points will be lost from the homework bank. If the assignment is turned in one day late, the final grade will be reduced by 10%. If the assignment is more than one day late, but turned in before the unit test, the final grade will be reduced by 25%. If the assignment is not turned in before the unit test, the final grade will be a zero.

Mrs. Karen Bell