General News
P&P this week
ELA:
- Read chapter 9 & 10 of Esperanza Rising
- Complete reading response questions for Esperanza Rising
- Complete grammar spiral review page and cursive practice
Math:
- Complete Math Practice Packet
Theme:
- Have fun creating for our collaborative art/research project! (Here is the template we gave you in class! Here is the list of Creative Jumpstarters to pick from! Here are some examples from you-know-who! Behold my Bart Simpson!)
- Study your Midwest states! (Check-in on Tuesday!)
End-of-Quarter Calendar Items!
- This Tuesday – Midwest States Check-In
- Tuesday, October 6th – All US States Check-In
- Wednesday, October 7th – Great American Expo (student showcase of regional artifacts…no parents, please, as we want to wow you with our artifacts at POP!)
- Thursday, October 8th – End of Quarter and our USA Buffet! Parents are welcome! Sign-up for a food item here!
Reading/Writing Update
This week, we continued working through our regional research packets and put all of that research to use as we began writing persuasive letters. Students are imagining that they live in the region they’ve been studying and are writing to convince someone to come visit! This project connects with their Math and Theme work as well, bringing several pieces of our learning together. Research skills and carefully tracking our sources have continued to be big goals for us as we work through this project.
Math Update
We kicked off the week with colored-toothpick logic puzzles that, according to the official Delta vote, were a serious crowd-pleaser. (We even heard rumors that a few parents were put to the test at home. Excellent!) Year 1 Deltas used estimation and decimal models to make sense of decimal multiplication before moving toward the standard algorithm. (Don’t make Ms. Lorrie do her dreadful decimal-point cheer. Nobody wants that.) Year 2 refreshed the meaning of fractions, especially moving between mixed numbers and improper fractions, so we could tackle multiplying mixed numbers. We practiced simplifying before multiplying whenever possible, because making the numbers smaller before doing battle is simply good life advice. Next, both groups will put their math to work in project-based activities connected to their regional research in Theme. We’re even carrying the project into ELA for a full-blown multi-content-area extravaganza.
Theme Update
In Theme, our small-group regional research made the leap from notes and sketches into some seriously impressive travel brochures in Canva! Every bit of artwork is an original, student-drawn creation, and Deltas also got to flex the persuasive-writing skills they’ve been practicing in ELA. Their brochures invite travelers in with everything from man-made attractions and natural resources to regional culture, food, music, cities, and must-see destinations. We had a lovely visit from Abby Brown (Mac’s mom) to regale us with tales from Southwest! (Thank you, Abby!) Next week, we’ll add the finishing polish before launching a new souvenir project that will sneakily weave together Theme, Math, and ELA. Look at us, knocking down the walls between subjects! We’ll also tackle our Midwest state check-in on Tuesday, so Deltas should dust off those state skills and make sure the Midwest is firmly planted on their mental maps.