Parents-
First I'd like to apologize. I did not realize that I had not sent home the last spelling tests. They're coming home today.
Secondly, I had a conversation with our media center staff. Because of the nature of our class, we have been able to send several students to the media center each day to work on technology. I am very thankful for this because it allows me to get every student onto a technology device daily. However, some of the students I've sent there have been disruptive and messy. Today, the staff reached their breaking point with the mess that was left. I will make sure our kids are able to view all of the required resources in class, but I will not allow them to go to the media center for a while so they understand what a privilege it is. It will create a headache and I will have to change some things up, but I think it's necessary.
On to what we're studying:
- Reading – We started Son by Lois Lowry. It completed her 4-part Giver series. We will continue to work on various reading skills throughout the novel.
- Writing – We are working on summarizing this week. We will take informational pieces and work on pulling out the most important facts into a well-written paragraph.
- Social Studies – Continuing our "Changing Nation" unit. We wrap this up at the beginning of December. In our discussions, I've been focusing on how the inventions have helped our nation/world progress. We're also looking at how our progress impacted everyone both positively and negatively.
- Science – Our "Matter" unit has begun. Focusing on the states of matter, as well as physical and chemical changes. This unit is short and somewhat abstract because we're talking about things that the kids can't readily touch/see. I'm trying to relate as much as possible to their everyday lives.
- Math – We finished our first foray into division. Now we tackle addition and subtraction of decimals. Our mantra is: "Line up the decimal points!" If they do this (and borrow properly), they should do well. I suggest time on IXL each night to review this standard and they can look ahead to addition/subtraction of fractions.
I'm not sure if I'm overly sensitive to it, but there seems to be a big uptick in behavior problems and boundary testing with work lately. I will be more strict with it all until I feel we've gotten it back under control. I'm always available if you would like to meet or discuss anything. Planning is best (8:10-9:00 each day).
Thanks,
Shane Brazile
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