News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room Jan. 4-Jan. 8

Math- In math this week the students will be introduced to decimals.  They will use the base pieces as a visual anchor to comparing decimal numbers and to investigate the relationship between tenths and hundredths.

Spelling- The students will be working with words that have the final /j/ and /s/ sounds.  They will be responsible for completing age 44-46 in their spelling books.  If they pass out of the pretest, they will have alternate words and activities to complete.

Reading - The students will read a biography on Lou Gehrig. They will answer text-dependent questions and work with the vocabulary of the reading. They will  distinguish between fact and opinion.

English-  We will begin our expository writing this week. The students will practice the steps in writing an essay.  They will begin by brainstorming ideas and organizing them.  From there  they will write their first expository essay step, by step.

Social Studies-  The students will identify ways in which resources of the Southeast are used. They will be able to identify a renewable and nonrenewable resource found in the Southeast.  They will explain why coal is an important resource in the Southeast.
There will be a test on Friday, Jan. 8 over Chapter 6 The Land of the Southeast.  The students should:

Study all vocabulary and main ideas from the text.  They should study any sheets that are in their Social Studies folder.

They should know:
The different landforms in the Southeast and traits about them
The difference between the inner and outer coastal plains
The climate of the Southeast
Understand the use of lighthouses in the past
Know the animals that live in the different areas of the Southeast
What is burned to run generators?
What products can come from a logging industry?
What is a hurricane and how can it be dangerous? Be able to explain 3 details about a hurricane and 3 ways in which it can be dangerous.
What are crops that grow well in the Southeast, but not very well in other regions of the U.S?
Where would you like to visit in the Southeast?  Be able to explain at least two good reasons why you would like to visit there.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room Dec. 14-18

Important Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, Dec. 15- Early Dismissal 11:35
Wednesday, Dec. 16 - Bowling 8:45
Friday, Dec. 18- Movie 11:00 We will be eating lunch at 10:30 that day

Math-We will continue Unit 3, Fractions and Decimals.  This week we will learn how to add and subtract fractions with different denominators and mixed numbers. We will continue to use the egg carton model to explore fractions.

Spelling- This week the students will be working with words that have a long e sound for the final sound.  They will be responsible for workbook pages 29-31 unless they pass out of the pretest.  Then they will have an alternate list and activities for the week.

Reading-In reading  we will complete our  mythology unit. We will  create a Venn Diagram comparing Athena and Gloria Estefan. We will also read the myths of  Pandora's Box and Demeter and Persephone.

English-We will have fun with figurative language this week.  The students will work with idioms, metaphors and similes this week.

Social Studies- This week in social studies the students will  describe the climate of the Southeast and examine hurricanes.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room Dec. 7- December 11

Math- This week in math, the students will have a a graded checkpoint review on Tuesday of this week.  They should understand equivalent fractions. When given an egg carton they need to determine the fraction represented by the number of rows filled up. They need to write  equivalent fractions to show this.  
Ex: XOOOOO     This egg carton shows:  2/12, 1/6,
       XOOOOO

Can they draw pictures to show 1/2 in different ways?

Spelling- This week the students will work with words that have the /k/, /ng/, /kw/ sounds.  They will be responsible for pages pages 9-11 in Volume 2.  If they pass out of the pretest, they will have an alternate list and activities to complete for the week.

English- This week the students will write using conjunctions in sentences. They  will be tested on this and their ability to use the homophones their, there, and they're, too, two, and two, know, no, and hour, our  as well as can, may, and must correctly in a sentence.  This will be given on Friday of this week.

Reading- The students will read the story of Arachne and Athena this week.  They will complete activities to go along with this myth and determine if Athena is a hero. We will discuss the use of mythology in our lives today, and they will be detectives as they search for mythological references in our everyday life. An assessment will be given on Tuesday of this week over the skills gone over in our courage unit.

Social Studies- We will begin our tour of the Southeast Region.  The students will have to complete a drawing with states from the Southeast following the rubric.  That is due on Wednesday of this week.  There will be a map quiz on Thursday. The students will have to label the southeast states and other features from the Southeast on the map correctly.  Spelling will count this week on the map quiz.  This will be given on Friday of this week.