Honors News 4/21
Post date: Apr 20, 2016 10:43:19 PM
I wanted to take just a moment to update you on some classroom news.
4th Grade
In Honors Reading, we are analyzing, comparing and contrasting, and examining classical poetry for National Poetry Month. We will also be incorporating a Shel Silverstein poetry reader’s theater into our unit. At the end of our unit, students will choose a poem to recite during a Poetry Cafe in our classroom on May 6th. (Date not set in stone) More info to come.
Greek & Latin Roots- The 4th graders now know over 60+ Greek & Latin roots! Wow! Boy, do they have a firm foundation for next year’s Caesar’s English program. We are not done and we will continue learning our roots. There will be a final exam in May over all roots we have learned. My goal was to get to 100 roots. We will fall about 20 short...I will give each student a list of the last 20 roots so they can practice those over the summer should they want to.
ILR-Book Project Q4- The Book Project for all grades for quarter 4 is the board game. I have conferenced with every student over their chosen book. All explanations and rubrics have been given and can be found on my website. All students need to have their book completed, an AR test taken, and their board game ready to present on 5/13!
In Honors Math, we are still working with fractions. I strongly encourage your students to do extra practice on ixl these next few weeks to reinforce what we are doing in the classroom. The next unit of study will be pre-algebra and geometry. The Dynamath magazine for April is still optional this month (for some). I have used it as a challenge activity for extra credit for some, but for others it is mandatory but will only help not hurt their grade. It is due 5/2. All Dynamath magazine extra credit will be applied at the end of the quarter.
5th Grade
In Honors Reading, we have started our poetry unit. We will be analyzing, comparing and contrasting, and examining poetry for National Poetry Month. This week we focused on figurative language in poetry and read the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Lastly, we are competing in our last WordMasters Competition in a few weeks, so we are busy preparing our analogies and making connections!
ILR-Book Project Q4- The Book Project for all grades for quarter 4 is the board game. I have conferenced with every student over their chosen book. All explanations and rubrics have been given and can be found on my website. All students need to have their book completed, an AR test taken, and their board game ready to present on 5/13!
In Math, we are working with algebraic functions, linear equations, and inequalities. Students are immersed in solving linear equations and graphing one-step inequalities. We took our Chapter 8 test today. Our final unit in our Math book is Ch. 9 Geometry. We will be learning how to find area and surface area of three dimensional shapes. The April Scholastic magazine is optional this month (for some). I have used it as a challenge activity for extra credit for some, but for others it is mandatory, but will only help not hurt their grade. It is due 5/2. All Scholastic math magazine extra credit will be applied at the end of the quarter.
6th Grade
In Honors Reading, we have started our poetry unit. We will be analyzing, comparing and contrasting, and examining poetry for National Poetry Month. This week we focused on figurative language in poetry and read the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Lastly, we are competing in our last WordMasters Competition in a few weeks, so we are busy preparing our analogies and making connections!
ILR-Book Project Q4- The Book Project for all grades for quarter 4 is the board game. I have conferenced with every student over their chosen book. All explanations and rubrics have been given and can be found on my website. All students need to have their book completed, an AR test taken, and their board game ready to present on 5/13!
Skills books- For the Quarter 4 report card, I will be recording grades for Skills Books 8-10. All Skills books must be turned in by May 13th.
In Honors Math, we are immersed in Geometry. We are learning volume and surface area of 3 dimensional shapes. We are also busy consumers with our Stock Market Game. The students are learning so much about economics and finance. Of the 6 teams competing, one of our six is in top 15% in Arizona. We have 2 teams in the top 30%. Keep up the good work, 6th Grade! The competition comes to a close on April 29th!
We have a date! The Middle School Placement Exam will be given starting the week of April 27th.
The April Scholastic magazine is optional this month (for some). I have used it as a challenge activity for extra credit for some, but for others it is mandatory, but will only help not hurt their grade. It is due 5/2. All Scholastic math magazine extra credit will be applied at the end of the quarter.
Hope you have an excellent weekend,
Mrs. Wilhelm