What a week! We had a ton of fun in many of our classes: science class felt like a grown-up lab with great focus and experimentation, reading was met with giggles and smiles as we played prefix/ suffix bingo, and our latest writing lessons have inspired creativity and enthusiasm. Next week we'll use our two days before Thanksgiving to pack in a few more small but important lessons before we transition into some new units.
Reading: As I mentioned above, our story this week allowed for us to review 'affixes' (prefix/ suffix) and root words. We read three stories related to our unit "Taking a Stand," one being an excerpt from Shiloh. Using this piece we also discussed figurative language like idioms, and had a great conversation about how we as humans can 'take a stand' for animals who don't have a voice in their safety.
4th Grade Math: Unit 4 focuses on "Decimals and their Uses." Historically speaking I've found it to be a very challenging unit for the 4th graders to feel confident about. We jumped right in, learning about how numbers smaller than one are parts of a whole, and can be represented as fractions or decimals. Right now we are working with 'tenths' and 'hundredths,' trying to understand that 0.2 is equivalent to 0.20, but that 0.2 is not equivalent to 0.02. We are using 'base ten blocks' to help us physically see these concepts. Your child will definitely benefit from a little extra support with his/ her homework throughout this unit! Eventually we will get into adding/ subtracting decimals, working with money, and solving word problems about distance.
5th Grade Math: Check out Ms. Wennerberg's website and newsletter for updates: http://www.op97.org/swennerberg/
4th Grade Math: Unit 4 focuses on "Decimals and their Uses." Historically speaking I've found it to be a very challenging unit for the 4th graders to feel confident about. We jumped right in, learning about how numbers smaller than one are parts of a whole, and can be represented as fractions or decimals. Right now we are working with 'tenths' and 'hundredths,' trying to understand that 0.2 is equivalent to 0.20, but that 0.2 is not equivalent to 0.02. We are using 'base ten blocks' to help us physically see these concepts. Your child will definitely benefit from a little extra support with his/ her homework throughout this unit! Eventually we will get into adding/ subtracting decimals, working with money, and solving word problems about distance.
5th Grade Math: Check out Ms. Wennerberg's website and newsletter for updates: http://www.op97.org/swennerberg/
Science: Beyond building a circuit to light lightbulbs, we've gotten motors to run, solved 'mystery circuits' in which the wire was hidden behind cardboard and attached to metal paper fasteners, and learned about insulators and conductors. It's been an exciting and very focused week! Ask your kids how to draw a 'schematic drawing' of one of the circuits they've built.
Writing: The last two months have been spent learning what it means to write a piece with a strong idea: finding a topic, focusing it, developing it, and using detail. Often kids at this age do one of two things: make a list of 'exciting things' that happen within a story (ex: We went to Great American and ....and then... and then... afterward... next... and then...) or write within the fantasy genre, thus allowing crazy setting changes, character changes, etc (ex: all of the sudden the dragon turned into a spaceship and we were on Pluto).
This is a difficult concept to rein in, but we're working at it! We've expanded to the next writing trait: organization. This week we did a very fun activity in which groups of students learned about and taught the class strategies to use to create a strong lead (a strong beginning). Ask your child which strategy his/ her group had!
Social Studies: Check out Ms. Wennerberg's website and newsletter for updates: http://www.op97.org/swennerberg/
This is a difficult concept to rein in, but we're working at it! We've expanded to the next writing trait: organization. This week we did a very fun activity in which groups of students learned about and taught the class strategies to use to create a strong lead (a strong beginning). Ask your child which strategy his/ her group had!
Social Studies: Check out Ms. Wennerberg's website and newsletter for updates: http://www.op97.org/swennerberg/
Miscellaneous:
- Bottles, bottles, bottles! Please send in your 2-liter bottles. We will use them as terrariums and aquariums for our next science unit, starting in December. They need to be clear (not tinted or green), rinsed out, and label-free please. Thank you!!
- Lexia Reading is now available at the Oak Park Public Library (Main Branch) ! Students may access Lexia Reading on the homework hub machine, located in Study Room 1A in the Children’s Department.
