Reading This week the students will review literal and inferential questions, main idea and supporting details, summarizing sequenced skills events and fact and opinion. They will work on the functional skills of drawing conclusions from maps, charts and diagrams.
Along with review they will read passages and discuss author's purpose for fiction and non-fiction text. They will compare themes and works by different authors.
English The students will be working on their written responses to reading passages. I will give extra points to those students who practice their written response at home. Here is a non-fiction topic for you to write on that goes along with our social studies unit: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a barge to transport goods? You can use your social studies textbook or what you remember we have discussed to write your response. Remember in your explanation you need to have a topic sentence when you "turn the question around". Then give text proofs, explanations, and your own ideas. Try to put it in separate paragraphs and don't forget the closing.
Science - We will discuss,"What is force?" The students will learn that force is a push or a pull between two objects. They will use spring scales to measure force and chart their information. The students will demonstrate the efects of equal and opposite forces.
Social Studies A test over chapter 8 Water and Land of the Midwest will be on Friday of this week. They should begin studying the vocabulary for the chapter and then study the key concepts as well. They have workbook pages in their binder they can study and the end of the chapter reviews as well as the concept reviews at the end of each lesson.
Some key concepts to know:
How did the badlands change from the time of the dinosaurs to today, and what caused the change? The land at the time of the dinosaurs had broad rivers and lush, green plains. Many plants and animals lived on the plain. Then the climate changed over a million years and became cooler and less humid. The Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills rose and because of this the they blocked some of the rain that once fell on the region and over the next millions of years, the land began to change. Now the bad lands are regions of dry hills and sharp cliffs formed of crumbling rock.
Explain how a lock works: When a boat is traveling down a waterway and comes to another waterway where the level is higher or lower the boat can go into a lock. The lock has a gate that will open and close to let water in or out. This will raise the water up or down to allow the ship to pass into the other waterway.
How were the Great Lakes formed? The Great lakes were formed many years ago during the last Ice Age. North America was covered with glaciers and the movement of the glaciers caused deep pits to form in the Earth. When the Ice Age ended, the ice melted and filled the pits forming the Great Lakes.
Be able to read a line graph.
Math In math we will begin a unit on measurement. We will review telling time and mostly spend time on problem solving with elapsed time. This week we will also continue working on problem solving and t-chart written responses. Division 6 will be tested on Friday.
