The Week Ahead 4/17- 4/21

State Testing
Students will be taking the English Language Arts (ELA) state tests next week. Because we will be state testing, I'm asking weekly math and reading volunteers to not visit us next week. We look forward to seeing you again the following week! The best way you can help your student prepare for the tests is to make sure they sleep well the night before and eat a good breakfast. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding the tests.

Headphones
Students will need headphones for a portion of the state test. They all were given school provided headphones, but many of those are in rough shape at this point in the year. Please check with your student and ask if they need to bring headphones from home.  


Math 
Next week we will be moving on to geometry. In an attempt to front load the students with some of the vocabulary they will learn, their vocabulary words from last week were geometry terms. Our early lessons will involve identifying lines and angles. Because we will be state testing, students will not be sent home with any math homework during the week.


Reading
In reading we have been working on growing our ideas about our books by talking with a partner. Students practiced making eye contact with their partner, thinking about what their partner had to say about their book, and then building on their partners idea. Some of the sentence starters we used to assist with building on partner ideas were:
  • Your idea (relates, is similar) to __________, because __________.
  • That also makes me (think, wonder) about _______________.
  • ___________ made an important point. I would like to add ______________.
Idiom of the week: in the bag

Writing
Last week students wrapped of their opinion paper on whether people should eat insects or not. Ask your student to tell you their opinion and the reasons they used in their paper. In our upcoming inquiry unit students will use the opinion writing skills we have been practicing to convince people to follow their plan of action.



Upcoming Dates
  • Week of April 17th - 21st - ELA State Testing
  • Tuesday, April 18th - Vocab Test
  • Wednesday, April 26th - Continent Club
  • Week of May 1st - 5th - Math State Testing
  • Monday, May 1st - Art Lit
  • Friday, May 5th - Buddies

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