News from Mrs. Cavoto's room March 20-March 24

Invention Convention- The students will be bringing home the letter and information about our invention convention on Monday, March 20th.  A calendar will also be handed out so the students will know what to turn in when.  On Monday, we will review and go over what is to be expected.  A parent signature will be required on their contracts and will need to be returned on Thursday, March 23.  After that, they may begin working on their inventions.  Inventions will be due on Monday, April 24th. 
Math- The students will solve multiplication and division problems using ratio tables and area models.  They will review the halving and doubling strategy.  They should practice their multiplication facts. It will make solving higher level problems so much easier if they know them. 

Spelling-This week in spelling the students will work with words that are Greek and Latin roots:  homo, phobia, auto, tract

Reading-The students will continue reading and responding to the story The Miraculous Adventures of Edward Tulane. They will also continue their word study of the rich vocabulary throughout the chapters.

English-The students will continue their work with figurative language.  This week, they will study Hyperboles. (hy-per-bol-ee) is an exaggerated phrase used in writing that is not meant to be taken literally.

Science- There will be a science test over Chapter 3 Adaptations on Thursday of this week.  The students should know all vocabulary along with the key concepts in the chapters.  They should study the papers in their folders as well.  They should know:

They should know:
The basic needs of all living things and what basic need plants meet by themselves.
The difference between learned behaviors and instincts-also be able to give examples.
Which organism has fossils that show it has changed little over time
What happens during hibernation and migration?
Understand extinction and be able to give examples of plants and animals that are extinct
Understand adaptations and be able to give examples of adaptations and what they are used for.
Understand the life cycle of a tree and be able to label the different stages and explain what happens in each stage.
What information can you get from fossils?
Understand living fossils.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room March 13-March 17

Math- There will be a unit 5 test on Tuesday, March 14th.  The students have a pretest in their folder which they should use as study guide. They should study the different types of triangles and quadrilaterals-also in their math folders, know how to use a protractor to construct and measure angles, understand and recognize polygons-triangles and quadrilaterals, understand the formula's for area and perimeter and be able to solve problems involving area and perimeter.

Spelling- The students will work with words that are spelled with oi and oy.  They will understand that a proverb is a phrase known by many people that usually contains words or wisdom or advice.  It can offer advice on how to live or how to deal with a situation.

Reading-The students will continue reading The Miraculous Adventures of Edward Tulane.  The students will work with the vocabulary from chapters 1 & 2. They will have a quiz over the vocabulary on Thursday of this week.

English- Adjectives describe nouns.  Usually, an adjective comes immediately before the noun it describes. Sometimes an adjective comes after the noun.  The students will understand, identify, and use adjectives in their writing.

Science-How do the behaviors of animals help them meet their needs?  The students will describe how instinctive and learned behaviors help animals survive and meet their needs.

News from Mrs. Cavoto's Room March 3-March 10

Math- This week in math the students will review the concepts related to area and perimeter. They will apply formulas as they solve problems involving areas and perimeters of complex figures.

Spelling-In spelling this week, the students will work with adjectives-words that describe nouns.

Reading-This week we will begin reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  The students will study the characters using the rich vocabulary throughout the context of the story.

English-The students will continue to study figurative language-similes, metaphors, and personification, idioms, and hyperbole.  They will understand that adjectives describe nouns and that there is a specific order when using more than one adjective in a sentence.

Science-We will begin a new science unit this week called Adaptations.  They will understand how the bodies and behaviors of animals help them meet their needs.