Classes

We'll start the school year with a solar system unit. We'll learn about the layers of Earth's atmosphere and the attributes of each layer. We'll learn about the Sun's atmosphere and how it rotates. We'll also read about Planet X/9, which my previous students have found fascinating. Maybe your child will spot it with a backyard telescope. We'll also cover topics such as moon phases, tides, eclipses, and current events in space. Next, we'll complete the plant and animal adaptations unit. Students will be given the chance to create a creature and illustrate a brochure explaining how their creature is adapted to survive in its environment. Finally, will be the forms of energy unit. We'll complete many activities and build some circuits. We'll also learn about energy conservation, types of energy, and how things such as wind and coal are turned into electricity.

In math, I teach Saxon 6/5. We'll all work hard to solve word problems, do math activities, calculate many equations, create graphs, learn about statistics, and geometry.

In reading, students will spend about ten minutes a day working in the computer reading program called Lexia and will also get to read their AR books and/or take AR quizzes. We'll complete the Wonders reading program and Shurley English. We'll complete a number of writing assignments using the Write Tools model. I'll also teach the students a poetry unit I compiled. This unit gives children a great opportunity to read poetry, write their own poetry, and get a lot of practice using literary devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, metaphor, etc.