Friday, September 30, 2016

Classroom News for the Week of October 3rd


News and Upcoming Events: 
  • Orchestra is every Monday. Students will miss orchestra this week due to the unassigned day.
  • 10/3 and 10/12 Unassigned Days - No School.
  • Social Studies HW due Thursday 10/6. Please make sure you do all parts and answer in complete sentences.
  • 10/21 Field trip to Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens. We'll be visiting hands-on stations to learn how local California Indians used native plants. We have room for 2 more chaperones. If you are willing and able to supervise a small group of students, please email me at slc5001@lausd.net. Chaperones will be assigned first come/first serve. This all day trip takes place outside and involves moderate walking on dirt paths. Chaperones may ride the bus, carpool, or take private cars.
Volunteers Needed- 

Donate to Our ClassUse this link to shop for items for our classroom on Amazon. You can have items sent directly to the school c/o Ms. Convey. Please be sure to include your name, so I can thank you!  Ms. Convey's Class Supplies

What's Going On This Week In Class:

Math: 
This week students will be learning about the metric system. They will practice adding, subtracting, and converting units of weight and length.

Using the CUBES* strategy to unlock word problems:

  • C - circle the numbers
  • U - underline the question
  • B - Box key words
  • E - Eliminate unnecessary information
  • S - Solve (lots of strategies to choose from)
  • * Check!

Accelerated Math (Individualized practice)

Reading:

This week students will begin reading Scott O'Dells Newbery-Award winning book, Island of the Blue Dolphins. This historical fiction book ties in with our current social studies unit on the geography of California. We will be using Depth and Complexity icons to help us dig deeper into the text.

Genre Blackout: Students have been challenged to read books from 9 different genres in the first reporting period. Ask your child about his/her progress.

Spelling & Vocabulary:
Review Week. Students should review and study the prefixes they have learned so far this year. Students will take a matching quiz (prefix to meaning i.e. sub=below) on Friday and will be asked to give 2 example words of each prefix (subway, subterranean). Spelling counts.

List-
  1. sub
  2. pre
  3. re
  4. co, col, com, con,
  5. ex
  6. trans
  7. bi, du
  8. mono, uni
  9. cir, circum
  10. ant, anti
  11. contra, counter
  12. sur, supr, super
  13. co, col, com, con
Tip: Spend 10 minutes verbally studying the words each day. Research suggests that studying for small periods regularly is more effective than cramming. In addition to having your child spell the word aloud, ask your child to use the word in an imaginative sentence. You can pick a "theme" for the sentences, such as Halloween or the Desert…"Give me a sentence with 'collide' that has to do with Halloween." This can provide some challenge and novelty to a routine task.

Writing:

Revising, Editing, Publishing

Arts:
Using the Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) to build meaning from visual text.

Human figure in clay

The NBS Dance (P.E. project)

Social Studies/Science:

Social Studies: Geography: The 4 Regions of California
Earth Science: Geology - Volcanos


Reminders:

Tardies:
 Please make sure your child is at school and in line by the 8:06 bell. We try to start the school day at 8:11 promptly. Thank you for your help!

Homework:
Please check your child's Homework Log nightly and sign or initial after the work has been completed. Remind your child that completed homework and the HW log are due in class daily.

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Classroom News for the Week of September 26th

News and Upcoming Events: 
  • Orchestra is every Monday. If you have already been assigned an instrument, make sure to bring it every Monday.
  • 9/29 Picture Day. Order forms went home with students last Friday. Please return your envelope a.s.a.p. if you are planning to buy pictures.
  • 10/3 and 10/12 Unassigned Days - No School.
  • 10/21 Field trip to Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens. We'll be visiting various hands-on stations to learn how local California Indians used native plants. We can take 5 chaperones. If you are willing and able to supervise a small group of students, please email me at slc5001@lausd.net. Chaperones will be assigned first come/first serve. This all day trip takes place outside and involves moderate walking on dirt paths. Chaperones may ride the bus, carpool, or take private cars.
Volunteers Needed- 
  • Weekly Photocopy Volunteer - Mrs. Paz and I are looking for a regular weekly volunteer to help make copies each week for the 4th grade. This person would come by the class anytime after noon on Thursday or anytime Friday and pick up the materials to copy using the school's duplo machine. If you are unfamiliar with using it, we could show you how. This would take approximately 30 min. to an hour each week. Please email me at slc5001@lausd.net if you can help.
  • Art Volunteer - I am looking for a volunteer who can cut paper and mount the children's art work using glue stick. This job can be done at home or at school. This is an occasional no-rush job with approximately 1-2 week turn around time. Please email me at slc5001@lausd.net if you can help.
Donate to Our ClassUse this link to shop for items for our classroom on Amazon. You can have items sent directly to the school c/o Ms. Convey. Please be sure to include your name, so I can thank you!  Ms. Convey's Class Supplies

What's Going On This Week In Class:

Math: 
This week we will be wrapping up the place value, rounding, addition, and subtraction unit. This week's work will continue to include multi-step word problems, tape diagrams, and estimation to determine reasonableness. Students will have an end of unit assessment on Wednesday. Our next unit will be on metric measurement.

Using the CUBES* strategy to unlock word problems:

  • C - circle the numbers
  • U - underline the question
  • B - Box key words
  • E - Eliminate unnecessary information
  • S - Solve (lots of strategies to choose from)
  • * Check!

Accelerated Math (Individualized practice)

Reading:

This week students will be working on final "Beyond the Book" projects individually and with partners. Projects are being completed in class. Ask your child about the project s/he chose and his or her progress. Projects due Friday.

We will continue to read and use various strategies to comprehend non- fiction text features and identify text structures. Ask your child to explain the difference to you.

Genre Blackout: Students have been challenged to read books from 9 different genres in the first reporting period. Ask your child about his/her progress.

Spelling & Vocabulary:
This week's prefixes are mono, uni (one); bi, du (two); co, col (with together) 
Our words are:

  1. condense
  2. companion
  3. confer
  4. collide
  5. conspire
  6. monopoly
  7. unicorn
  8. unify
  9. dual
  10. bisect
Tip: Spend 10 minutes verbally studying the words each day. Research suggests that studying for small periods regularly is more effective than cramming. In addition to having your child spell the word aloud, ask your child to use the word in an imaginative sentence. You can pick a "theme" for the sentences, such as Halloween or the Desert…"Give me a sentence with 'collide' that has to do with Halloween." This can provide some challenge and novelty to a routine task.

Writing:

Unit 1 of Writer's Workshop: Realistic Fiction continues. 

This week's lessons continue to emphasize how to show, not tell, providing peer feedback and writing powerful endings.

Arts:
Using the Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) to build meaning from visual text.

Human Figure cont.

Social Studies/Science:

Social Studies: Geography: The 4 Regions of California
Earth Science: Geology - Volcanos


Reminders:

Tardies:
 Please make sure your child is at school and in line by the 8:06 bell. We try to start the school day at 8:11 promptly. Thank you for your help!

Homework:
Please check your child's Homework Log nightly and sign or initial after the work has been completed. Remind your child that completed homework and the HW log are due in class daily.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Classroom News for the Week of September 19th


News and Upcoming Events: 
  • 9/16 Field Trip $. If you have not donated, please do so as soon as possible. We are still several families short. If you can't do the full amount, we can take it in several payments. Your $67 covers the bus and admission costs of 5 field trips and a t-shirt for your child.
  • 9/19 Orchestra Begins
  • 9/22 Focus Fish PE Program Begins
  • 9/23 Book Orders due - Please send a check. No cash or online ordering. 

What's Going On This Week In Class:

Math: 
Subtracting Whole Numbers continues - Modeling with a Tape Diagram & the Using the Standard Algorithm; Performance Task Problem Solving

Using the CUBES* strategy to unlock word problems

  • C - circle the numbers
  • U - underline the question
  • B - Box key words
  • E - Eliminate unnecessary information
  • S - Solve (lots of strategies to choose from)
  • * Check!

Accelerated Math (individualized practice)

Reading:

This week students will be working on final "Beyond the Book" projects individually and with partners. Projects are being completed in class. Ask your child about the project s/he chose and his or her progress. 

We will be reading out of Scholastic News this week and analyzing different text structures and features.

Genre Blackout: Students have been challenged to read books from 9 different genres in the first reporting period. Ask your child about his/her progress.

Spelling & Vocabulary:
This week's prefixes are ex (out of, outside, from) and anti, contra (against)
Our words are:

  1. export
  2. expel
  3. exhale
  4. extract
  5. exempt
  6. antiseptic
  7. antibacterial
  8. antonym
  9. contradict
  10. counterfeit

Writing:

Unit 1 of Writer's Workshop: Realistic Fiction continues. Students will continue drafting.

Arts:

Proportion and the Human Figure (Drawing)


Social Studies/Science:

Social Studies: Geography of California
Science: Earth Science - Geologic Formations


Reminders:

Tardies:
 Please make sure your child is at school and in line by the 8:06 bell. We try to start the school day at 8:11 promptly. Thank you for your help!

Homework:
Please check your child's Homework Log nightly and sign or initial after the work has been completed. Remind your child that completed homework and the HW log are due in class daily.