Photos from this week can be found here. 

UNIT 8: Multiplication and Division

This week in math, students practiced making conjectures and then using mathematical reasoning to show whether the conjecture was true or false. Students also continued practicing identifying factors of products through a new game called Factor Bingo. Finally, students practiced division through equal sharing. Students worked with partners to model equal sharing by distributing money amounts into equal groups.

UNIT 6: Writing About Research

This week in writing, students worked hard to use all the information they have gathered during reading to draft the chapters of their information books about the animals their group has been studying. After drafting their chapters, they worked to revise and edit them. Then, students began a second study in reading. In writing, they met with their groups and made a plan for their books by creating several possible tables of contents before deciding on and finalizing the chapters for their new books.

Information Writing

UNIT 6: Research Clubs

This week in reading, students continued to work hard researching the rest of the information they needed in order to complete their chapters in writing time. Then, 3A and 3B switched what animals we are researching, with 3A now researching land animals and 3B now researching marine animals. New research groups were created, and students had the chance to meet with their groups, orient themselves to their new books, make a list of subtopics they would be researching, and finally begin their research. Students used the table of they created during writing time to help guide their research during reading time.

Non-Fiction Texts

UNIT 3: Structures of Life

This week in science, students analyzed dinosaur fossils in order to provide evidence about the appearance and behavior of those dinosaurs when they were living. Students compared the traits of dinosaur fossils with the traits of animals alive today in order to help a paleoartist draw a dinosaur as accurately as possible. Next, students spent time learning about food chains and food webs. They learned how energy passes from the sun to produces and from producers to consumers, as well as from consumers to other consumers. Students also explored animal life cycles by thinking about their birthday buddies – animals that were born on the exact same day as they were – and what happens to those birthday buddies over time. Students developed a model to compare the life stories of different animals. Through this model, students discovered that although the lives of animals can be very different, they all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death. Another exciting event in science this week is that our chicks hatched!

Science