April

April 1 B Day Studies || Today we discussed V20 and did a map practice worksheet to review the European countries we learned yesterday. || Get April Newsletter Signed ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Today we made flipbooks for students to take notes in about this unit. We wrote information about adding and subtracting decimals. Students worked on estimating, adding, and subtracting decimals. || Additional Practice Sheet, page 80-81, #1,4,5,7. Green sheet. MAP Testing Tuesday and Wednesday next week!! ||
 * Advanced Math || Students worked more with dividing decimals and are developing algorithms for dividing. They worked on writing fact families involving decimals and finding the mean of a set of decimal numbers. || None. MAP Testing Tuesday and Wednesday next week!! ||

April 4 A Day Studies || Today we took notes on Renaissance artists. Students should be studying for vocabulary test on Wednesday (V17 - V20). Also, April newsletters were sent home on Friday. Please read and discuss. || Vocabulary test on Wednesday. Get Newsletter Signed. || Success criteria: I can explain what hyperbole means, & explain examples of hyperbole. || MAP test on Thursday & Friday! Read. ||
 * Science || Learning about air particles and their properties || Test Tues. over air particles ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Target: Identify & interpret figurative language.
 * Math || Students took a short quiz today over adding and subtracting decimals. They then worked on adding and subtracting decimals and reviewed place value, rounding, and comparing decimals. || Unit 2/3 Review sheet, gold color, page 39 and 55; Due Thursday. MAP Testing Tomorrow and Wednesday!! ||
 * Advanced Math || Introduced terminating and repeating decimals and worked on writing fractions as decimals and decimals as fractions to identify terminating or repeating decimals. || Problem 3.4, page 42, A-E; Due Thursday. MAP Testing Tomorrow and Wednesday!! ||

April 5 B Day Studies || Today we reviewed the artists and paintings we talked about yesterday. Also, did an activity with words invented by Shakespeare. || Vocabulary Quiz tomorrow! V17 - V20. Get Newsletter Signed! || Thurs. & Fri. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Figurative Language PowerPoint || MAP testing on
 * Math || MAP Testing. || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || MAP Testing. || None. ||

April 6 A Day Studies || Today students are taking a vocabulary quiz. They will also have the chance to share their Shakespeare story if they want. If you haven't seen the green April Newsletter, please ask your students to see this. They got it last Friday (April 1) and the expectation is that they bring it back as soon as possible. || Get Newsletter Signed! || How do we prepare for the MAP test? || ** Be ready to show off how smart you are by taking the reading MAP test Thursday and Friday. ** ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Discussion of MAP testing-why do we take it, what is it used for, etc.
 * Math || Finishing MAP testing. || Gold Review Sheet from Monday due tomorrow. ||
 * Advanced Math || Finishing MAP testing. || Problem 3.4 from Monday due tomorrow. ||

April 7 B Day Studies || Notes on Reformation. || None. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing || Pet Peeve 5 paragraph essay should be done. In class we have worked on pronouns and continue to work on our portfolios. || Pronoun Quiz tomorrow. ||
 * Reading || MAP testing started || Read ||
 * Math || Reviewed adding and subtracting fractions. || ACE problems, page 13-17, #14-22, 33, 45-47; this is modified for individual needs. ||
 * Advanced Math || Reviewed multiplying and dividing decimals. || ACE problems, page 43-47, #1-14, 34; or ACE, page 30, #28; this is modified for individual needs. ||

April 8 A Day Studies || Notes on Exploration Beginnings. || Get Newsletter Signed. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || MAP testing completed || Read ||
 * Math || Introduced multiplying decimals by relating decimal multiplication to fraction multiplication. || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || Practiced decimal division and reviewed strategies to divide decimals. || Practice Sheet, blue, page 70, odd numbers. ||

April 11 B Day Studies || Finished Exploration Notes from last week. Some students still have not returned green newsletter. || Get Newsletter Signed || Figurative language scavenger hunt || Read, Find examples of figurative language ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Target: Figurative language to identify, categorize, and interpret examples from independent books.
 * Math || Multiplying decimals: Students practiced decimal multiplication by relating it to fraction multiplication, a skill previously practiced in class. || Problem 2.1, page 22-23, A-C, and ACE, page 28-31, # 1-3, 7-9, 34-39. ||
 * Advanced Math || Dividing decimals: Students updated their flipbooks with notes about decimal division and then took a quiz over the success criteria #3: I can divide decimals. || None. ||

April 12 A Day Studies || Exploration Notes #2. This is our last set of notes for this unit. Students should start to review their learning goals and success criteria. The unit test will be coming up next week. Vocabulary #21 also available now. || Vocabulary #21 due Friday. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing || Today and tomorrow the students are taking a writing assessment. This assessment helps the district keep track of how classes are progressing in the 6 writing traits and what we need to focus on in our teaching. The students worked very diligently today, and I am very proud of them. When the writing assessment is over, we will finish up with voice and move onto another area of focus in our portfolios. ||  ||
 * Reading || We discussed allusion today. We also looked at examples of figurative language slips. || Students need to turn in at least 1 figurative language slip before the end of the week.

Some students are working on questioning in a reteach format. ||
 * Math || Developing ideas on how to multiply decimals. Students worked on finding "missing" numbers in decimal number sentences. || Problem, 2.2, page 24, A-C. ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed sales tax and started developing ideas on determining and calculating sales tax. || Problem 4.1, page 51, A-D. ||

April 13 B Day Studies || Today we finished up notes from yesterday and got summary assignments. Summaries will be worked on in class over the next few days and due on Monday. || V21 due Friday. Summaries due Monday. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Students got their Bits and Pieces 2 tests back and some need to make test corrections. || Test corrections; which are done on a separate sheet of paper and then stapled to the original test. ||
 * Advanced Math || Students finished quizzes that needed to be finished and worked on finding percents and dividing decimals. || Knock Knock Riddle Sheet, page BB-33; and Ice Cream Story Problems Sheet, page 63. ||

April 14 A Day Studies || Today students will be working on their summaries. They will be expected to read the assigned section, fill out an outline, write a rough draft, and type their final copy. Any student without computer access at home should make time to type in study skills or talk to me if this is not possible. If they are using time wisely, they should have time to get everything except the typing done during class. Also, they should start reviewing learning goals/success criteria. Our final assessment is coming up next week. || Vocabulary #21 due tomorrow. Summaries due Monday. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Worked on estimating products when multiplying decimals. || Problem 2.3, page 25, A-B. ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed determining sales tax and tips. We'll continue to work on this tomorrow. Students got a quiz back on Success Criteria #3: I can divide decimals. They are to make quiz corrections if needed. || Make quiz corrections. ||

April 15 B Day Studies || Today students had the period to work on their summaries. The expectation is that they will type these summaries this weekend. They are due Monday. Also, our unit assessment is coming up next week (Wednesday and Thursday), so this would be a good time to start reviewing learning goals and success criteria. || Summaries due Monday. Assessment on Wed./Thurs. || Students are continuing work on applying knowledge figurative language to identify examples in individual text and interpret their meanings. || Students should be finishing up genre requirements and working on finishing their 25th book. Week 1 letters are due next week! ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing || We are making great progress on our writing portfolios. Students should be finishing up their "voice" pages; many are even working ahead. Next week we will be concentrating on organization in writing. This is a trait that they have made great progress with this year. ||  ||
 * Reading || Happy Jackie Robinson Day!
 * Math || Discussed strategies for estimating decimal products in multiplication problems and started working on finding patterns with powers of ten. || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || Students worked on creating their own restaurant orders and calculating tax and tip of their orders. || Problem 4.2, page 53, B. ||

April 18 A Day Studies || Today we spent the day doing review activities to prepare for the assessments this week. || Any students not done with their summaries should finish these as soon as possible! They were due today. || Week 1 conferences || **PLEASE** ask your student(s) to return books to teachers and the library. We are missing a number of books and need them returned so we can inventory them before the end of the year. Book count next week (27 books). Week 2 people should be working on letters. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Learning Target: Apply knowledge of figurative language to identify & interpret examples found in individual books.
 * Math || Students worked on developing an algorithm for multiplying decimals and building the relationship between the decimal places in the factors and the decimal places in the product. || Problem 2.4, page 26-27, A-D. (Problem A was done in class.) ||
 * Advanced Math || Students worked on calculating different tips (10%, 5%, 20%) of meals. Students shared various methods to find tip. || ACE, page 55, #2-3. ||

April 19 B Day Studies || Today we continued to review for the assessments this week. Tomorrow will be the essay portion of the test and Thursday will be the short answer. This is a large assessment. Students should spend a significant amount of time studying. They have a learning goals sheet and several pages of notes, maps, etc. that we prepared in class. || TEST TOMORROW AND THURSDAY. STUDY! || **PLEASE** ask your student(s) to return books to teachers and the library. We are missing a number of books and need them returned so we can inventory them before the end of the year. Book count next week (27 books). Week 2 people should be working on letters.
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing || Tomorrow we need to focus on getting organized. This fits in well with our focus on organization in writing this week. Several students have assignments missing from the beginning of this trimester. It is not too late to turn these things in. If you see a zero in power school, please encourage your student to turn the work in. I know that in many cases, the work is done, but simply not handed in. I will remind them AGAIN tomorrow, but your help would be appreciated. Thanks. || Quiz on Capitalization on Thursday! Pronoun re-take quiz will be ready on Thursday as well. ||
 * Reading || Today, instead of doing a lesson, we cleaned out student lockers and WOW did we find a lot of things! Lost planners, books, gym clothes, supplies long forgotten. Hopefully, you will see some things coming home. ||  ||
 * Math || Reviewed multiplying decimals and updated flipbooks. || Skill: Multiplying Decimals sheet, page 86 ALL, page 87 ODD #s. ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed finding percent discount. || Problem 4.3, page 54, A-D. ||

April 20 A Day Studies || Today we are doing the essay portion of our assessment. Tomorrow will be the short answer portion. || STUDY FOR ASSESSMENT!!! ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Quiz over Success Criteria #2: I can multiply decimals. || Review Sheet, Multiplying Decimals by 10, 100, or 1000, page 65. ||
 * Advanced Math || Problem solved percent situations involving tip, tax, and discount. || Percent Word Problems sheet, page 129-130. ||

April 21 B Day Studies || Today is the Short Answer portion of the Assessment. || __Anyone not done with summaries needs to finish them over the weekend. They were due three days ago__! || Wed-Book check for April (27 books for a B-). ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Final day for students to submit figurative language slips for the contest. Discussion of what an oxymoron is, watched a Weird Al video to understand parody better. || Week 2 letters due next week.
 * Math || Reviewed/Discussed multiplying whole numbers and using whole number multiplication to find decimal products. || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || Reviewed/Discussed percent problems. || None. ||

April 25 B Day Studies ||  ||   || Week 2 conferences over letters || Wed.=April Book Count (27 books for a B-) Week 3-work on letters for next week. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Learning Target: Gain understanding and identify inferring strategy.
 * Math || Introduced students to dividing decimals by relating them to dividing fractions (Success Criteria #3). || Problem 3.1, page 36-37, A-B. And ACE problem, page 34, #55. ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussing finding percent discount and updated our flipbooks with notes on calculating taxes, tips, and discounts (Success Criteria #5). || None. ||

April 26 A Day Studies ||  ||   ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing || Today we started to focus on the conventions as a writing trait. We removed punctuation and capitalization from some silly stories we wrote as proof that conventions really help. We will continue to explore conventions this week and add it to our writing portfolios. || At this point, students should be done with their memorable moments from 6th grade 5 paragraph essay. There are explicit directions in their gmail from April 21st. Students should also create a rubric that evaluates ideas, voice, and organization. Study for any retake quizzes necessary. ||
 * Reading || We read Faithful Elephants-a True Story of People, Animals, and War today. We will use this story for a discussion on inferring on Thursday. || Book count Wed. ||
 * Math || Students worked on solving problems that dealt with adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimal numbers. || Setting a Wedding Budget Packet-Complete Part 1. We'll continue to work on the problems tomorrow in class. ||
 * Advanced Math || Student worked more with various percent problems, trying to find percent discounts. || Problem 5.1, page 63, A-D and Problem 5.2, page 64, A only. ||

April 27 A Day Studies || This week we are in a transition week. Students who did well on the Renaissance/Reformation/Exploration Assessment are working on their next project, a biography speech. Those who still needed to learn some of the old material are working on some redo worksheets to prepare to retake parts of the assessment on Monday. I encourage you to ask your child how they did and if they need to retake, spend some time studying with them. They have Learning Goal / Success Criteria sheets along with the redo materials. || Vocabulary #22 is due Friday. Speeches on Monday and Tuesday next week. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading ||  ||   ||
 * Math || Continued to work problems from packet. || Setting a Wedding Budget Packet-Complete Parts 2-3. We'll continue to work on the problems tomorrow in class. ||
 * Advanced Math || Students worked on Problem 5.2 and ACE problems. || Problem 5.2, page 64, A-C. And Problem 5.1 if not already completed. ||

April 28 B Day Studies || Today students got a sheet with instructions for preparing their biography speech. Speeches will be given on Monday and Tuesday and students are encouraged to practice for someone for extra credit. Those who are working on redo sheets should complete these. Retake test is on Monday. || V22 due tomorrow. Speeches due Monday. ||
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Today I showed students how I made inferences based on specific quotes in Faithful Elephants. Students learned about using quotes as proof to back up their inferences. || Read, read, & read some more! ||
 * Math || Finished up Budget packet problems. || Complete "Setting a Budget" Packet. ||
 * Advanced Math || Discussed finding percent discounts and determining a percent of a given number as compared to the total. (Success Criteria #5 and #6.) || None. ||

April 29 A Day Studies || Today we worked on preparing for biography speeches again. Students should practice speeches over the weekend. They can get extra credit for having someone listen to their speech. Those who are redoing certain learning goals should study over the weekend. || Speeches due Monday. Retake for Unit Assessment on Monday as well. || We discussed the word encounter, and I showed students a clip from the movie //Close Encounters of the Third Kind.// I then read the book //Encounter// by Jane Yolen and prompted students to make inferences at designated points. || Week 3 is next week-letters should be written for those students.
 * Science ||  ||   ||
 * Social
 * Writing ||  ||   ||
 * Reading || Target: Make logical inferences for a variety of text. (I can create an inference from a quote when prompted).

Read! ||
 * Math || Shared packets and ideas/reasons why students choose what they did. Reviewed adding, subtracting, and multiplying decimals, as well as talked more about dividing decimals. || None. ||
 * Advanced Math || Worked on finding percent discounts and creating circle graphs. || Problem 5.3, page 66, A-B. ||