Happy Friday!

We are winding down to vacation, and our energy levels are rising each day as excitement and holiday anxiety set in!  I am trying to keep things fun and  move us through activities as quickly and smoothly as I can.  We are working hard as a group on VOLUME (as in sound!) I know these next 2 weeks will be difficult for many of the students, and who can blame them? This can be a tricky time of year as our focus is on holidays and family and presents rather than on academics.  We keep pushing through!

Here's the rundown:
Math We are learning about linear measurement, including the metric system versus the US Standard system. We measured many things in our classroom and learned how to use a variety of tools. We also learned how to convert inches to feet and yards, and centimeters to meters.  We are also learning about perimeter and how to calculate it. The students have got this! Next we will move into polygons and angles.

Reading
We have reached a new bend in our reading unit. The students are working in research teams to research big weather events (hurricanes, etc.) Each group has divided up the responsibilities so that they each have only one sub-topic to research. For example, one student in the group is learning about causes, one about predicting, one about the aftermath, etc. This work prepares students for personal research that they will be doing later, and helps them to organize their thinking. And, they are fascinated by huge weather events!

Writing
We are finishing up our expert books next week. Students are revising their writing, looking for places where they need to add more, make the writing more interesting, add text features, or use paragraphing. This writing has helped them with organization immensely, preparing them for opinion writing in January.

Science
We have had a lot of fun making "roller coasters" out of pipe insulation and marbles this week. We have been learning about kinetic energy and energy transfer. We have had a lot of fun and learned a lot!

I think that's all for this week. There will be no homework the next 2 weeks -- we know kids (and parents!) have a lot going on this time of year. Homework will resume in January.

Have a lovely weekend!