We are very excited about our class mall social studies project! We have learned about resources, needs, wants, supply, and demand during this economics. Now our students need to put their knowledge to work and run their own store! Students will have the next few weeks in class to produce their products and all items for their business with their partners. Every student is bringing home the Economics Unit to do list and business plan. Please go over these papers (the business plan does NOT need to be filled out- it is just to see what they will do in class. Our mall will be on Wednesday, May 24 (in the morning) and Thursday, May 25 (in the afternoon).
Save the Date- Our Spring Sing Music Concert is at 6:30 p.m. on May 18th
Reading: We continued with Chapters 3 and 4 this week in Number the Stars. The kids are SO into it. I encouraged them to read the first 4 chapters with you this weekend- hopefully some of them will! We continue to talk about the setting, the characters, the events that took place, and all of the clues that Lois Lowry has already dropped for us to keep in mind as we make predictions and navigate the story. They are making connections all over the place so it's great for their reading growth, but also their writing growth. Ask your kids about chapter 3 and 4. Who have we met, what have we learned? Talk to your kids about your connections to WWII, if any, or any appropriate knowledge or books you've read about the topic. They're very curious.
Spelling: We've been doing spelling in class so I can teach and monitor the kids' word analysis and pattern-finding. It's been a fantastic learning opportunity for us all. We'll continue to do this for the rest of the year. Ask your kids about the different sorts we've done with our word lists, and how they've helped them understand word patterns better.
Writing: We began taking notes and drafting our informational books about the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 (Chicago World's Fair). The kids wrote their chapter 1, "All About the Fair." Next week they'll pick a focus topic about the fair and research/ write about it. Ask your kids what their focus topic will be.
Math: This week we finished our fraction unit! I think the students are very excited to move on and get new books! We reviewed for our test earlier in the week by working on the study guide, reviewing our check ins, and playing a numbered heads class game. Students took the test on Thursday (and some finished on Friday). Today we began our next unit, decimals, by taking a pretest and coloring a hundreds chart. Next week we will look at the fraction and decimal colored in their hundred chart before we start our book. Ask your student how they felt their math test went!
Social Studies: Students are very excited about our mall project! This week we learned about supply/ demand and how this will affect our class mall. All students are now in their groups for the mall. On Monday we will go over a few more ideas for items they can make/sell in their store. They will then have time to work on their products and store for the next few SS sessions. Everyone brought home a packet explaining our mall and the requirements today. Please make sure to sign it and return it to me next week. Ask your child for their mall packet and go over it together.
Science: Our class switched this week to Mr. Lukehart's class for science. They are learning about ecosystems. Ask your student how their science class went this week and what they are learning about.
Miscellaneous:
- We are very low on Kleenex boxes (it's been quite a cold season). Please send in an extra box if you are able to do so.
- Whittier is having its annual Memorial Day Celebration on May 26th at 9:30am. At Whittier, we extend the traditional meaning of Memorial Day to honor ALL who have served in the military. Please wear red, white and blue that day to honor all of our American heroes. If you have the name or a copy of a picture of a veteran, please send it to me, so that your veteran can be included in our Memorial Day Wall. 3-5 grade classrooms will be part of our Memorial Day Ceremony. Our Whittier band, orchestra and chorus will all take part. Any and all family members are welcome to join us outside the main door( weather permitting). Please let me know if any veterans will be attending so that they can be recognized. This ceremony was a meaningful tribute to all the sacrifices that have gone before.
- In support of The OPRF Food Pantry's Can Do Food Drive, Whittier collected 590 items and $1,020.00!! This will help the Food Pantry toward their goal of collecting 100,000 items and dollars in order to receive an additional $25,000 from Challenge Corp. Many people will be helped by our efforts. Thanks for the generous support from our Whittier community!
