Updates 6/5-6/9

EVENTS

Hi Everyone! I hope your week is off to a good start! We have a very busy few weeks coming up as the year comes to an end. Please carefully read the dates listed below!

We are going to have a "Summer Birthdays" and end of year celebration on Wednesday June 21st from 9:00-9:30 am. During this celebration students with July and August birthdays will be recognized, and all families are welcome to join us for final end of the year good byes. I will be in touch soon about how we can coordinate treats for that morning.

• Tomorrow June 8th there is no school for students (Professional Day for Staff)
• Friday June 9th is Family Friday for grades 3-5. The theme is Enrichment! Students are asked to come to their classroom first to drop off their belongings, and then travel with students to Enrichment group locations.
• Monday June 12th there is no school for students (clerical day)
• Wednesday June 14th we are going to the zoo! Please remember water and sunscreen (next week looks hot)
• Friday June 16th is Field Day
• The Family Potluck is June 16th
• Monday June 19th 3-509 is visiting the Chelsea Piers Water park (I will email chaperones by Friday to confirm)
• Wednesday 6/21 3-509 Runs the farm stand for the final time this year. Students should try to report at 8:00 am. We also have our end of the year celebration from 9:00-9:30.
• There is no school on Monday June 26th

CURRICULUM

Reading- Students are working in research clubs to explore a different country. This week in teams they are sorting through research materials, making a plan (deciding on subtopics to explore, determining note-taking structures), and reading a variety of texts to learn about how the land, culture, economy, and history impacts a country. Over the next two weeks students will also read folktales from their countries, and create informational presentations about their countries for their classmates.

Writing- Students have selected a fairy tale to adapt, and are picking one significant change that leads to a domino effect of changes. We are revisiting how to weave narration through stories, and how to stop ourselves from flooding our work with dialogue by carefully balancing action, dialogue, and descriptions.

Math- In our final cycle of data collection both math classes are exploring line plots. Students are learning how to collect and display data on a line plot, describe the data, and draw conclusions. We are also practicing tackling word problems that require graph analysis.

Social Studies- Students are continuing to study China as a case study country, practicing taking notes during read alouds, participating in centers, and listening to minilectures on a topic.