Curriculum Update October 14-17

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Please remember that this is a short week for the students. There is no school on Friday and Monday. Also, this is a reminder that picture day is on Thursday.

Please remember to continue having your child complete their reading log. The next one will be due on Tuesday.

Grammar: We will continue to focus on verbs and adverbs in writing. They students are going to use them in their free writes about different communities they watch live on web cams.

Math: We have started working on the meaning of multiplication. The students will work on arrays in multiplication, the Commutative Property, writing multiplication stories and writing to explain in problem solving this week.

Writing: We completed our descriptive writing monsters. They are on their way to a third grade class in New Mexico. The students are very excited about receiving their monster writing to try to draw their monsters. Also this week, we will be writing letters to our France pen pals and beginning bouncing stories with a class in New Zealand. We also will begin working on argumentative writing, where they will take a stance about if living in Shawnee is better today or in the past. They will include reasons to explain their thinking.

Spelling/Vocab: The tests will be on Thursday this week since there is no school on Friday. Here are the words:
Johnson: a county in Kansas
Prairie Ridge: elementary school in Shawnee
Monticello Trail: middle school in Shawnee
Grey Oaks: neighborhood in Shawnee
Mill Valley: high school in Shawnee
Woodsonia: neighborhood in Shawnee
Crystal Park: neighborhood in Shawnee
Oakmont: neighborhood in Shawnee
Shawnee: city in Kansas
Kansas: state in the Midwest region of the United States
mayor: highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or large urban city
ordinance: laws of the city
council: a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate or make decisions
representative: a person chosen or appointed to act or speak for another or others
ward: an administrative division of a city or borough that typically elects and is represented by a council

Vocab game link: http://www.classtools.net/mob/quiz_85/Communities_SpellingVocab_test_October_17_M66N5.htm

Spelling game link:
http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=14774169

Reading/SS: We are continuing to learn about the past and present of Kansas and Shawnee. We will continue to work on making inferences and comparing/contrasting. Students will begin their project-based learning research answering the following driving question? How does Shawnee's past play a part in Shawnee today?

Have a fantastic week!