5P at SES

Hello Everyone,

It feels like awhile since I posted, and I apologize for that!  Last week, we had our Read Across America Day!  We had students from Amherst College come to our class and read a Dr. Seuss book in honor of his birthday.  Students also presented their American Revolution Group Projects!  I was very impressed with how knowledgeable the students were on their topics and how well they worked together in groups.

In math, we have recently finished our unit on decimals. This week, we will be starting a new unit on multiplying and dividing fractions. Students are expected to learn how to use area models in order to conceptually understanding what is occurring when a fraction is either being multiplied or divided.  Students will also learn to recognize fractional parts of a whole within a context.  For example: "a class contains 30 students. 1/5 of the students are wearing red.  How many students are wearing red?"  Below, I have included  2 videos from Khan Academy that might be helpful for both students and parents to watch at home when discussing these concepts.

Videos:
Multiplying 2 fractions with area model

An explanation of Multiplying Fractions

In reading, we have finished our historical fictions books and will be beginning our test prep unit.  We will be taking the English Language Arts MCAS test at the beginning of April.  This MCAS will contain new types of questions, so we will be familiarizing the students with the format as well as teaching them test taking strategies.

This week in writing workshop we will be learning how to write a short narrative in the point of view of a character from a story.  Students will learn how to think about characters point of view while reviewing narrative craft strategies.  This a short mini unit, and will only take place over the course of the week.  The following week, we will begin our larger unit on informational writing in which students will learn and write within our Social Studies topic of Westward Expansion.

In social studies, we will begin to learn about how the United States came to acquire the land west of the Appalachian Mountains during the 1800's.  Students will explore topics such as the Louisiana Purchase, the  Lewis and Clark's Expedition, and The Mexican American War.  We will also learn about the diverse groups of people who settled in the west and the many reasons that settlers decided to venture into the territories. Lastly, we will explore the impact that Westward Expansion had not only on the growing country of the United States but also on the Native People who already occupied the west.

Have a great week!!
Ms. Phillips