January 2010
Dear Families,
Please Note: Homework club in my room will be cancelled after January 20th
as I will be tutoring children after school throughout the week. Homework
club will still be in the library and room 222 for children who are still
interested in receiving teacher support.
Thank You :)
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with
plenty of fun and rest.
For term two we will be focusing on the following units/strands:
Mathematics:
Patterning we have completed before the break where students have already
been formally assessed.
Focus: number patterns (extend, create, and determine patters using a table
of values and translations).
Geometry Overall Curriculum Expectations:
"identify and classify two-dimensional shapes by side and angle properties,
and compare and sort three-dimensional figures."
Focus: 2D shapes, 3D figures, Angles, and triangle construction. We will be
focusing on sorting polygons and polyhedrons. Students will benefit from
having a geometry set. Students are required to have and use a protractor
and ruler during this time.
Measurement overall curriculum expectation:
"estimate, measure, record and determine the relationships among units and
measurable attributes, including the volume of a rectangular prism."
Focus: Conversions, mass, volume, and capacity.
Number Sense and Numeration Overall Curriculum Expectations:
"read, represent, compare, and order decimal numbers to hundredths;
demonstrate an understanding of magnitude by counting forward and backwards
by 0.01"
Focus: decimal numbers (add, subtract, multiply and divide) and money.
Language Arts:
Focus in Reading – Reading a variety of text with a significant focus on
fictional texts. Reading strategies to look forward to learning about more
are; inferring, summarizing fictional texts, and making connections.
Students have a Book Report due when they return to present and share their
favorite section of the text with the class.
Students will be working on reading for understanding daily with their weekly
letters in class in their “Reading Workshop” binders. Here students have a
rubric and will be assessed on their reading strategies (summary, inferring,
making connections) as well as their writing skills (editing, spelling,
grammar, etc).
Writing:
Students will write a commercial (Media Literacy) and present/record their
commercial using technology “Audacity” and sound effects—only their voice
recorded. Here students will think creatively and try to sell a book,
product, or game.
Students will independently work on their creative writing as they create a
myth in the form of a comic strip. Here students will be graded on their
writing, creativity, and artistic ability.
Students have created short skits for Energy Conservation that they will
present at various “Good News Assemblies”. They are educating the school
about ways to conserve energy at home and at school. This relates to the
Science, term one unit, “Energy Conservation”. Here students can use their
schema to create short skits. They will be assessed in writing (short skits)
as well as in drama (presentation of skit to class and gym).
Oral Communication:
Students will present their book reports upon their arrival to school after
the holidays (starting on January 16th 2010).
Science projects on the Human Body will have a presentation component.
Drama/skits will be presented (short plays) to focus on voice projection,
memorization, and eye contact.
Science:
In science we will be focusing on the Human Body. Students will explore
various human organ systems and specific organs. They will learn about how
systems work together in the body as one system. They will be learning about
the environmental effects of technology and products on our human health.
Students are responsible to complete a project on one human organ systems and
create a 3D representation of one organ system (group element). Individually
students will explore that system in a report discussing how the system
works, what it looks like, and ways to keep it healthy.
I am looking forward to a great term filled with learning and exploration.
See you in 2010,
Ms. Guastelluccia :)