Spring Break!! March 29th

Reminders and Announcements 

Spring Break is Friday, March 30th and Monday, April 2nd

• April 9th - End of the quarter
• April 10th - School Closed
• April 18th - Shrek, the Musical field trip (Look for a permission slip to come home in the Thursday Folder after break.)

Math 

We are finishing up Unit 7 in math by taking the assessment on the Tuesday we return.  The remainder of the week we will be reviewing concepts from Units 5-7 to check for mastery.  We will take the quarterly assessment on Monday, April 9th.

Unit 7 Pre Test/Study Helper

Standards of Focus From Quarter 3:

• Students will use parentheses and brackets to write simple expressions that record calculations. (OA.A.1, OA.A.2)
• Students will recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand that a cubic unit is used to measure volume (MD.C.3, MD.C.3a). 
• Students will add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators by replacing given fractions with equivalent fractions as fractions greater than one (improper fractions) to produce an equivalent sum or difference of fractions with like denominators..  (NF.A.1)
• Students will solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole, including cases of unlike denominators. (NF.A.2)
• Students will make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (½, ¼, ⅛) and use add/ sub fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in plots. (MD.B.2)
• Students will apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction or a whole number by a fraction. (NF.B.4a)
• Students will find the area of a rectangle with fractional side lengths. (NF.B.4b)
• Students will reason about the product in relationship to the factors when multiplying fractions greater than and less than 1 by comparing the size of the product to the size of one factor on the basis of size of the other factor, without performing the indicated multiplication. (NF.B.5a)
• Students will solve problems where they need to interpret a fraction as division of a numerator by the denominator. (NF.B.3)
• Students will explore dividing a unit fraction by a whole number or a whole number by a unit fraction and create a story context to model the expression. (Students must create their own visual model). (NF.B.7abc)

Writing 

Focus Standards:

Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer's purpose.

Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).

Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

We will be finishing up our opinion writing unit this week.  To show our understanding, the students will be writing an opinion essay independently about a topic that is of interest to them.  Students are welcome to bring notes to help support their opinions for the assignment on Wednesday. 

Reading 

Focus Standards:

• Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
• Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

We will continue comparing and contrasting texts both informational and literary using specific facts/events from the article or story to support conclusions we draw about the texts.

Social Studies

Unit Focus Standards:

• Describe the major settlements in pre-colonial America.
• Explain how geographic characteristics affect how people live, work, and the population distribution of a place or region.
• Analyze how native societies were influenced by the diverse cultures of the explorers and settlers.    

We will prepare to "set sail" for America when we return from Spring Break.  Students will be working in groups to choose their sailing routes and pick their landing destinations.  As we sail, students will learn about early America to prepare them for the decisions they will need to make as colonists.