Mr. Blanc's Class

State Testing On Monday we will start the math portion of state testing. Students will complete a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) and a Performance Task (PT). The testing will change our schedule for the week, so if you are a weekly volunteer, please join us again the following week 5/8-5/12. The best way you can help your child prepare for the test is to make sure they are well rested and well fed. Math  We will continue our study of geometry next week. Students will learn how to identify symmetry and classify quadrilaterals and triangles based on their angles and side lengths. Because we are state testing, students will not be sent home with math homework during the week. Inquiry  Next week we will proceed in our science inquiry unit with the central idea of people use scientific knowledge to respond to a changing Earth. Students have learned about a few ways the Earth can change rapidly. We will learn about a few more and then each student will select one way the Ear...

State Testing The students gave tremendous effort on their English Language Arts state tests. We will take a break from testing next week and then do the Math testing the week of 5/1-5/5. Classroom volunteers are welcome to join us again next week! Math We completed our first week of geometry. So far students have worked on identifying acute, right, and obtuse angles. They also identified perpendicular and parallel angles. Next week they will begin finding angle measurements with protractors. Reading  Last week we focused on prefixes and how they can help determine meanings of words. Ask your student to tell you some of the prefixes we looked at this week. Next week we will look at some common suffixes.  Idiom of the week: get cold feet Inquiry Next week we will jump into our new inquiry unit. This will be a science unit with the central idea of people use scientific knowledge to respond to a changing Earth. We learned about Rachel Carson as a brief introduction...

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 li...

  Math Our metric conversion unit was short and sweet. Since I'll be at a training on Monday and Tuesday of next week, students will get their scored tests back when I returned on Wednesday. Next week they will begin learning about decimals. The main focus in our study of decimals will be understanding equivalence between decimals and fractions up to the hundredths.  Writing In writing we have been working on writing persuasive papers. Last week we analyzed multiple perspectives on whether or not people should eat insects. Students created a pro and con list to help them decide where they fall on the issue. Next week they will begin writing a persuasive paper convincing others to come around to their way of thinking.  Reading Last week we worked on making inferences in our texts. Ask your student how they used the sentence starters of the text says... I know... so I think... Next week we will integrate some of our persuasive writing into our reading. Students wi...