1/9/18 Weekly Update

Happy New Year and Happy January! 1/8/18

Calendar Sales: Student have been asked to participate in a fundraiser for their 8th grade Boston field trip.  The calendar sale is the most profitable for students (their account receives 9 out of every $10 calendar sold).  Mrs. Endres has the calendars to be sold.  Tickets and money are due to Mrs. Endres ASAP.

Progress Reports will be sent home on January 19th, delivered by your student.  Grades and other information that are reflected on the progress report will be from the last 6 weeks, through January 12.  

Science & Literacy:  Students are preparing for the science Fair that is quickly approaching. “How To Do” necessities such as background research and writing, procedures and experimentation is introduced in science class and continued in Literacy.  The hope is that students have more time  and guidance and support to complete each portion of their project.

Social Studies:  Last week we started a unit called Colonization and Settlement.  Most of our focus will be on the early colonies in North America before the American Revolution.  We will examine the various cultures that settled here and reasons why people left their home countries.  We will also look at the challenges colonists faced as well as conflicts with the Native Americans.  This week students will have three worksheets that will be homework if not completed in class (The Early Colonists chart, The Early Colonists questions, and Graphing European Immigration questions).  Lastly, before Christmas break, many students wrote letters to 6th grade students in Hyderabad, India.  The letters were delivered over the break and the Indian students wrote back.  These letters just arrived and will be handed out on Tuesday.  Hopefully this will be exciting for our students!

Language Arts: students have created and designed a PLP (Personal Learning Plan) blog and will write about themselves this week.  They will also begin to examine Jamestown and New England settlements through primary and secondary sources.  We will hopefully begin reading The Sign of the Beaver, a book about a young boys settlement experience in Maine in the 1760s.