Reading

Students learned how to create plot diagrams by using story element charts.  We worked with stories such as, The Little Engine that Could (a blast from their younger days) and Train to Somewhere (a short historical fiction story).  Later in the week we worked on identifying theme in stories.  Students were given the opportunity to practice in a small group and the next day, they were asked to respond to a prompt independently. 

Math 6

Students learned two new data displays this week - double stem and leaf (also known as back to back stem and leaf) and box and whisker plots.  As always, we spent a lot of time analyzing what information we could gain from the display!  Throughout the week, we reviewed older concepts such as, the measures of central tendency and the difference between a population and a sample.  THE UNIT ASSESSMENT WILL BE NEXT TUESDAY, OCT. 2. 

Math 5

Students continued to practice their divisibility rules.  This really is the base for many things that they will learn this year so it is important for them to have a grasp on the concept.  We also started least common multiple (LCM) and greatest common factor (GCF).  These are two easily confused areas and we spend quite a bit of time on them.  It is not only important that students be able to identify them in isolation, but also choose which one is applicable in problem solving situations.

Writing

We crafted interesting events this week.  Students were given a “boring” story and asked to use all of their tools to spruce it up.  This is getting them ready to write their own personal narrative, complete with details, proper paragraphs, introductions, conclusions and some excitement!

Science

Unit one is finished!  Throughout this last week, we wrapped up by talking about kinetic and potential energy.  Students were given lists of energy sources and forms and used their knowledge to categorize them as on the types of energy.  To sum up their learning, students created and presented (Monday in Ms. Marino’s room) a demonstration of one of the key topics in the Force and Energy Unit.  If you would like to give them a pop quiz at home, our main concepts were, force, kinetic & potential energy, variable, uniform & periodic motion, friction and frame of reference.  Happy quizzing!