Writer's Workshop- This week we began work on persuasive writing.  We are writing about topics related to information we've learned during our weeks in the the Rise Above drug and alcohol prevention course.

Math- This week, we wrapped up our study of Unit 1.  We will have our Unit 1 test on Monday!

Reading & Social Studies- This week, we have been working on developing our final projects for Rise Above.  Students picked a topic that was discussed during the course of our classes and will develop some kind of presentation with information about the topic.

Science- The students continue their study of Land & Water.

Friday was our Halloween party.  Thank you to our room parents for doing such a great job in throwing us a fun party!
 
Writer's Workshop- This week, we finished our personal narratives.  We also talked about nouns.  The students practiced identifying people, places, and things in sentences.

Math- This week, we continued with our Rocket Math testing.  The students are making great progress in progressing up their rocket.  I hope that they are applying this knowledge of facts in their use of multiplication in daily assignments.  Once 80% of our students have mastered a level of Rocket Math, we add a flame to our rocket located outside our classroom.  Please be sure to check our progress when you stop by!

Reading- This week, we focused on reading non-fiction.  Our class was lucky to receive a donation of several hundred dollars in magazines for our classroom.  This donation was made by a couple in Joplin using Donors Choose.  They paid for our class to have Weekly Reader Magazine and Time for Kids Magazine.  These magazines will be used throughout the year to discuss current events and read non-fiction.

Science- The students began their study of Land & Water.

Social Studies- We have wrapped up our Native American WebQuest, the graduated books look great.  I hope that the students have gained much knowledge of various Native American tribes.
 
This week marked the end of our first quarter of the 2010-2011 school year.  How time has flown by!  Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held next Thursday (21) from 3:00-7:00 and Friday (22) from 7:30-10:30.  Don't forget your scheduled time!

On Thursday evening, our Academic All-Stars (those students who scored Proficient of Advanced on the MAP test) were honored by the district in a ceremony held at the high school auditorium.  Congratulations to the 10 members of our class who achieved this goal!  Go to the photos section to see images from the event.

Writer's Workshop- This week, we talked about making sure our pieces of writing have "Bold Beginnings", "Mighty Middles", and "Exciting Ends".  We also talked about adjectives to help our readers better picture the events or objects in our writing.  We used thesauruses to help us turn our words from mild to spicy! The students have been working on typing the final drafts of their personal narratives.

Math- This week, we continued our studies in Unit 1.  Please take time to look at the Unit Overviews provided by the textbook publisher.

Reading- Last week, we read several tall tales from our anthology.  This week, we wrote our own!  Students used their knowledge of tall tales to write a tall tale featuring themselves as the "larger than life" characters who help solve problems using their unique character traits.  Come see our hallway bulletinboard and read that stories!

Science- Students continued to work with Ms. Lawrence on learning about the Water Cycle, and will be starting the Land and Water Kit soon.

Social Studies- We continue to work on our WebQuests  Native Americans.  We should be nearing the conclusion of this project by the end of next week.
 
What's going on?
Writer's Workshop- We have chosen our narrative topics and have started our rough drafts.
Math- We have started working on Unit 1 in our math books.  We have started to discuss Multiplication and Division in Real-World Contexts.
Reading- We have wrapped up the first theme, Nature's Fury.
Spelling- Spelling City!
Science- Students continued to work with Ms. Lawrence on learning about the Water Cycle.
Social Studies- We continue to work on our WebQuest about Native Americans.  We will be working on this project for the next couple of weeks.