Writer's Workshop

     We continued our work with Realistic Fiction, and students created a story arc to plan their stories.  They also made some very important decisions about their main character(s).  They determined external and internal characteristics, actions and relationships, and self view and others' view.  Knowing our main character well and knowing how (s)he will change and grow throughout the story is key in a strong Realistic Fiction piece.  

Javeion and Griffin, Spelling partners, give each other their choice words as a part of our first Spelling test. 

Math

     In Math this week, students learned about the different properties, or rules, of addition.  The commutative property teaches us that we can add numbers in any order, and the sum will be the same.  The associative property teaches us we can group addends in different ways, and again the sum will be the same.  The identity property helps us remember that any number added to zero doesn't change.  We also did some practice with compensation, an addition strategy that allows us to add numbers mentally.  

Rachel & Ciara "give a little and take a little" from two addends to help them combine the numbers in their heads.  

Ben & Zach work together to adjust the value of numbers so they can quickly add them without stacking.  

Social Studies & Science

     We sketched model Earths this week and learned about lines of latitude and longitude, as well as the equator and prime meridian.  We also explored the six regions of the United States.  Students used their Social Studies text to research information and acquire new terms.  Mrs. Branding taught us more about the layers of the earth and the concept of Pangea.