RETURN MATH REFERENCE BOOK
Please return your child's MRB. It was sent home at the beginning of the year for home use, and now it is time to turn it back in. The book is checked out in your child's name, therefore, families will be responsible for any books that are not returned. 
 

Writing 
We have finished our poetry unit in which the students learned about 4 styles of poetry and tried their hand at writing them.  We learned about Cinquains, Couplets, Acrostic and Definition poetry.  

This week we will start a new unit on writing biographies.  First, we will start with looking at some biographies and then we will try to write one ourselves.

Reading
Our story last week was Montigue on the High Seas.  The focus skill was Homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings; ie: sea/see).  The students had fun trying to write a list of as many homophones as they could and then compared them to the ones the author of Dear Deer used in her book.

Our story this week will be Ruth Law Thrills a Nation, which goes along with our writing unit of biography.

Science
I hope that you have been hearing about our mealworms at home.  We created petri dish habitats for them and they have been occupying a place of honor on each student desk.  Last week we had many turn from the larva stage to the pupa stage.  Soon I hope we will have some Darkling Beetles to watch.  

Math
We will have our Chapter 11 assessment on Monday of this week and begin Chapter 12.  In chapter 12, we will revisit many of the concepts that were introduced this year and review them.  We will spend additional time going over math boxes and working on our multiplication facts as well.

Please make sure to continue math fact practice with your children.  Mastery of the basic math facts is essential to being successful in math in upper elementary.

Citizenship
In our citizenship program last week, we had a class discussion to evaluate the bullying program at the school.  I was really impressed with the students' responses and understanding of this school-wide program.

Reminder
There is no school on Friday.  Teachers will be working together to begin to make plans for next year and to finish out this year.