Week of 11.4.19

Highlights for the Week of 11/4/2019
in Mrs. Bell's Classroom

Spelling -  Unit 9 - Prefixes pre-, re- and mis-
Words on this week's list will include the prefixes pre-, re- and mis-. We will study the definitions of these prefixes and how they change the meaning of the root word that they are attached to. Synonyms are also a topic for the week. The final TEST is scheduled for Friday, 11/8.

Reading - Unit 1 - "Courage"

Students will finish their close read of the story, Happy Birthday Dr. King.  Look for a comprehension/vocabulary quiz to be scheduled the week of 11/11. 
At the end of the week, we will spend time looking at the text structure of cause and effect. Text structured as cause and effect explains the reasons why something happened or the effects of something. An effect is what happens. To determine the effect, students should ask “What happened?”. A cause is why something happens. To determine the cause, students should ask “Why did it happen?”   Ask your child how we used the picture book on the left to discuss this type of text structure.  Once we have reviewed this concept students will revisit the story of Happy Birthday Dr. King to discover how cause and effect is used throughout the text.

Below are some photos of students working in small groups to close read Happy Birthday Dr. King...along with the words to our "Close Reading Cheer"!

"I am a lean, mean close reading machine!"

"TDQ..I'll show you!"

"TQA...I'm not afraid!"

"The text is my TREASURE!"

"The evidence is my GOLD!"

"We're ready to DIG, DIG, DIG, DIG, DIG!"

English - Capitalization & Punctuation
Quotations and titles are the last two topics in this chapter. We will spend extra time on quotations as this topic is challenging. I anticipate that the TEST on this chapter will be the week of 11/11.

Social Studies - The Southeast - Lesson 1 / "Coastal Plains to the Mountains"
The Southeast Map QUIZ is scheduled for Wednesday, 11/6. We will also continue our study of the geography of the region.

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) 
There will not be a formal Second Step lesson this week. Instead, we will spend our morning meetings doing team-building activities such as "Share Chair", "Going on a Field Trip" and "Four Corners". Be sure to ask your child about these activities.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class - Unit 2 - Adding & Subtracting Fractions

A CHECKPOINT is scheduled for Tuesday, 11/5. Students should review their spiral notes and homework sheets to prepare for the checkpoint. 

Our focus this week continues to be problem-solving with fractions. The Unit 2 TEST is tentatively scheduled for Monday, 11/11.

FYI...

11/1- No School 
11/4 - No School - Teachers' Institute

Mrs. Karen Bell