This semester we will be doing a novel study of “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo. The vocabulary and all of our lessons will come from this book. We will be covering about 3 chapters per week. I have books for each student to use, however if you would like to purchase the book for your child to make notes in, or to have to review at home, you may. This novel study will take us until Spring Break to finish, after which we will be doing an integrated unit on Biomes. In writing we will be begining to learn about Informational/Expository writing, as well as using figurative language.
Homework will be a little different this semester. I will be adding a grammar page to practice what we are working on. Reading logs will change to a monthly chart where students will log the book and amount read each day. You will need to sign off that they read 20 minutes. (I will accept time on Ticket to Read as reading log time) Instead of filling out each day of the reading log, students will be working on a weekly paragraph. Each day will be a different part of writing and must be shown each day for homework check off. The packet will be turned in on Friday and will be graded as a writing quiz and included as part of their writing grade on the report card.
In Math, we are going to start working on fractions. If your child is struggling in simple multiplication or division I suggest working on flash cards or some other means to help with the basics they need to understand fractions. We will also be restarting our daily calendar math for practice, review, and reteach of concepts. The grade level will also begin a special review as a countdown for the SBAC, which we will be taking within the first few weeks after we return from Spring Break.
If you need to contact me, for anything ranging from praises of the day or questions about your child, it is best to get ahold of me by email at [email protected], but you can always call the school or send me a note with your child. However, please remember that I am a mother of two young ones and may not be able to get back to you immediately. I also encourage you to use our website at mrsdoidge.weebly.com. Check out the blog, homework list, websites, and suggested resources to help your child at home.
I look forward to seeing what this semester holds!