Nov. 6, 2009
Hello everyone! Students are hard at work preparing for the NYS Social
Studies Assessment – scheduled for Nov. 16-17. Parent-Teacher Conferences are
Nov. 19-20, 30. Students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. on those days. Here
are upcoming events:
Nov. 10 – SLT Ice Cream Social (for those who signed up)
Nov. 11 – Veterans Day (no school)
Nov. 13 – Picture re-takes
Nov. 19 – Blood drive (3:30-8:30 p.m. in the gym)
MATH: We worked on multiplication skills (1-digit, 2-digit, 3-digit factors),
properties of multiplication and problem-solving strategies. A quiz is likely
early next week. We’ll begin multiplying whole numbers and decimals.
READING: We finished reading “On My Honor” with a discussion about themes –
honesty, friendship, family relationships and grief. Students are now working
in groups on writing their own final chapter. Next week we’ll review the
novel, and have a comprehension test. Students are also completing content
area comprehension assignments (social studies, science). Students should be
reading a minimum of 20 minutes each night, and then filling out their
Reading Logs. Several students have been doing this inconsistently.
WORD STUDY: This week we focused on prefixes. We’ll continue next week.
LANGUAGE ARTS: Students are applying expository writing skills to answer
Constructed-Response Questions and write thematic essays for the upcoming NYS
Social Studies Assessment. (Hang in there. It’s almost over!)
SCIENCE: We are wrapping up our controlled study unit. Students took a quiz
today on key terms. Time did not permit us to complete another controlled
experiment.
SOCIAL STUDIES: We focused on the foundation and organization of American
government, including a comparison of federal, state and local government.
Next week we’ll discuss citizenship, holidays and symbols. Students are also
completing practice tests for the NYS assessment. Vocabulary test #8 is
Tuesday – a mixed review.
