News from Mrs. Cavoto's Class Jan. 2-Jan.6

Dates to Remember:
Jan. 3 - Classes resume
Jan. 5 - Martin Luther King Assembly
Jan. 10 - Reading MAP test
Jan. 13 - Math MAP test

Math - This week in math the students will make generalizations from data taken from a graph. They will review the skills in chapter 7. There will be test over the skills in chapter 7 on Thursday of this week. If anyone needs extra help, I will be available at recess time every day except Wednesday.

Spelling - The students will work with words that have the sounds of /k, /ng/, /kw/. Workbook pages 9-11 need to be completed. There will be a test on Friday over these words.

Reading - This week we will be working on predicting outcomes. Readers can often guess ahead of time, or predict, what will happen in a story, based on information the author has given. Additionally, readers can change or adjust their predictions as they read.

English - Students will identify and use action verbs, main verbs and helping verbs in sentences. They will also identify and correctly use present, past, and future tense verbs.

Science - Before break, we had a High Tech, High Touch in class field trip. This was a great introduction to our Human Body unit. The students learned about the different organs in our body and were able to see and touch real organs such as a brain, heart and kidneys of different animals. We will continue our study on the Human Body. This week we will focus on how our body gets oxygen and nutrients. They will learn about the digestive system.

Social Studies - This week the students will learn about the Native Americans who settled in the Southeast. They will understand how the Cherokee have contributed greatly to the history of the Southeast. They will read about Sequoyah, a Native American who developed a writing system for the Cherokee.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Class Dec. 12-Dec. 16

Dates to Remember:
December 15 - High Tech-High Touch in school field trip (Body Systems)
December 19 -- Winter Break Begin
January 3 -- Classes Resume
January 16 -- M.L. King Holiday -- No School
January 25 -- School Improvement -- Early Dismissal

As a special holiday treat, on Friday, Dec. 16th in the afternoon, we will be watching the movie "Homeward Bound". This is an adventure story of three animals (family pets) who get lost and travel across the country to find their way home against all odds. Mrs. Linde is bringing in treats and drinks for the children as her special holiday gift to them.

Math - This week the students will collect and organize data by conducting a survey and using a frequency table. They will also interpret and construct Venn diagrams to sort, describe, and classify data, along with finding the mean, median, and mode of a set of data.

Spelling - This is a review unit of theme 2. The students will work on pages 187-189 this week. The test will be on Friday of this week.

Reading - In reading this week the students will evaluate the text. They will think about the author's writing and decide if he/she did a good job of helping them to understand the story. They will also review the strategies used throughout the theme.

English- The students will revise and edit their descriptive paragraphs. They will be sure that they have an exciting hook and closing to their paragraphs, along with colorful language-usage of similes, metaphors and descriptive language.

Social Studies - There will be a test over chapter 6 on Thursday of this week. The students should study the following:
All vocabulary
Understand all the landforms found in the Southeast (wetlands, mountains, beaches, keys, islands, piedmont,)
Understand the differences between the inner and outer coastal plains(The inner coastal plains have a slightly higher elevation than the outer coastal plains)
Understand the climate of the Southeast
Understand the purpose of the lighthouses on the coast in the past
Know the animals of the of the swamps (Everglades), and the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Appalachian Mountains
Know how the logging industry works and what it produces
Understand the importance of the nonrenewable resource, coal
Be able to explain what a hurricane is(a violent storm that moves in a circular path and has high winds and lots of water) and how it can be dangerous( It can lift and throw heavy objects through the air, causes flooding, damage buildings)
Know the crops that grow in the Southeast and explain why they grow so well there.
What state would you like to visit in the Southeast? Explain two reasons why?

Science We will begin a unit on the human body this week. The "Big Idea" is to stay alive, people depend on body systems that work together. Our first lesson the students will learn how the body gets oxygen and nutrients.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room Dec. 5-9

Dates to Remember:
Thursday, December 8 - Science test Chapter 3
Friday, December 9- bowling field trip, Math test Chapter 6
Thursday, December 15 - High Tech body systems in school field trip
Monday, December 19 - Winter Vacation begins
Tuesday, January 3- Classes resume

Our BOWLING FIELD TRIP to Brunswick Zone is scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, 12/9. Students may bring money to purchase snacks at the bowling alley. Brunswick Zone is offering a concession special: 2 slices of cheese pizza & a 16 oz. drink for $3.23 (including tax). Please keep in mind that we will be going bowling after lunch.


Thank you to all who sent in items for our Celebration of Knowledge party of Winn Dixie. We had a wonderful party with egg salad sandwiches put together with fancy toothpicks, pickles, "Dump" punch, and "Litmus Lozenges".

Math This week the students will learn how to change units of time including years, months, days, and hours. There will be a quiz over lesson 6.1-6.4 on Wednesday of this week. The students will also measure temperature and changes in temperature in degrees Fahrenheit and degrees Celsius along with identifying and naming negative numbers by using a number line and counting techniques. There will be a test over chapter 6 Time and Temperature on Friday, December 13th.
Here are a couple of games that the children may enjoy playing to help them with their telling time and elapsed time skills.

TIME CLOCK: http://www.primarygames.com/math/timeclock/start.htm

CLOCK RACER GAME: http://justkidsgames.com/play.php?ClockRacer

Spelling This week in spelling the words will have the different sounds that /or/ and /ur/ can make. Workbook pages 167-169 will be assigned and checked daily for completion. The test will be on Friday of this week.

Reading Our reading strategies for this week are questioning, categorizing and classifying. Recognizing the question a story may raise is a good way to make sure you understand it. Also, as people read they wonder about the things they are reading and they form questions in their mind. Good readers usually do this without thinking. The students will practice the questioning strategy this week. Classifying involves grouping like items, and categorizing involves naming the group. Grouping the items makes it easier to remember them. Students will also classify and categorize information in the stories they read this week.

English This week we will continue to learn about writing descriptions. The students will learn about similes and metaphors and colorful language to help them describe how things feel, taste, sound, smell, and look like. As they are doing their independent reading they should look for passages that show examples of colorful language. They can bring things they have found at home that show examples of colorful language. The students will begin writing descriptions of animals that are found in the Southeast Region.

Science In science this week we will have a test over chapter 3, Adaptations, on Thursday of this week.

• The students should know:
• All vocabulary
• Study the sheets in their folders
• Know the stages in the life cycle of a tree and why each stage is important (see their folder for the picture of this that they drew)
  
• What can scientists learn about animal fossils
• Understand what will happen to animal or plant populations if their habitat has changed in some way. What will happen if their basic needs have not been met?
• Understand learned behavior and know examples of a few
  
• Understand what happens during hibernation
• Know animals meet their basic needs
  
• Know the behavioral and the physical adaptations animals have to survive
  
• Know some extinct animals and plants (see pictures of extinct animals and plants that we drew in class)
• Know how and why animals adapt (give examples)
• Know how plants meet their basic needs

Social Studies Ask your children what a hurricane is and what the effects of a hurricane can be. (It is a violent storm with strong wind and heavy rains. It can cause flooding, and send large objects flying through the air. It can uproot trees and damage buildings.) The students will also learn about the wildlife and the resources of the Southeast Region.