Monthly Updates

To ring in the New Year we are beginning three new, exciting units!

In READING, we are beginning our Historical Fiction Unit. In our Historical Fiction Unit students will:

· develop and revise theories about HF books.

· connect their ideas between story elements to develop ideas.

· deepen their understanding of history.

· independently manage their new book clubs.

· use conversation to deepen their understanding of HF books.

· write about their thinking in HF books to help understand them better.

In WRITING, we are beginning our Opinion/Persuasive Writing Unit. In this unit students will practice:

· writing an effective opening, including a thesis.

· choosing a position.

· creating an organized structure.

· writing appropriate sentence starters.

· choosing strong reasons to back up their thesis.

· elaborating on ideas.

· adding transitional phrases.

· correct language conventions, which are spelling and punctuation.

· providing examples to back up their opinion.

· writing an effective closing.

In Social Studies, we are beginning our Colonial America/Lenape Unit. In this unit students will:

· explore how historians investigate the past. This will include learning about primary and secondary sources.

· take on the role of a history detective by investigating what led to the Lenape disappearance.

· learn about Christopher Columbus’s exploration and the treatment of the Native people.

· discover what trade was like in the new world.

· hear about the importance of a self-government.

· examine what happened to the colony of Roanoke.

research what forced Lenape off their land.