Curriculum Update

Happy 2015!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed your time at home with your students. I am glad to be back in the classroom with them and excited for all the learning we will do in the first half of 2015! There final few months in elementary school goes by fast but we fit a lot in.

Reading:
In reading students have been working on identifying examples of flashbacks and foreshadowing within a given text. Each child is also part of a book group that is reading a fantasy book. These books will be used to compare theme within different books, as well as give students an opportunity to learn communication and language skills while discussing author's intent in small groups. The students are learning how to put their thoughts into written form and the best way to organize and support their ideas through specific evidence from the text. The reading log that students fill out each week changes along with our focus strategy. Students have an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding as well as practice written responses by filling out this chart. Please encourage your child to use direct evidence from their independent reading books when answering the final log question.

Writing:
In writing students have spent time reading and examining examples of informational writing. They are now learning the basic structure of how to support an idea through writing. They are working on developing short pieces that illustrate understanding of a thesis and supporting ideas. Students are using google docs to type their pieces of writing.

Science:
In Science students are studying extreme weather. Each child is learning about one form of weather which they will share learning with other classmates. All of the books in this unit focus on the same three concepts about weather: Changes in atmospheric air pressure cause weather, meteorologists can use clouds when forecasting weather, and meteorologists us tools to predict the weather.
Students will also combine their new writing skills by creating an informational piece about an extreme weather.

PAARC: Studens will be taking an online practice test during technology time to introduce them to the new testing format.

STEM Fair

A reminder that the deadline to enroll to participate in the STEM fair is the end of this week. The fair is a great opportunity for the students to explore their scientific inquiry skills. Here is a link to the video that was used to introduce it to the students. 

Our Crisafulli website has all of the forms needed to sign up for the Westford STEM fair.  You can click here to go directly to the webpage to read about the STEM fair and complete the necessary forms to participate.   

Entries are due by January 9, 2015.