Late Weekend Update

Hi Families,

Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I became busy with some other activities this past weekend.

MLK Day: On Friday, we took the opportunity to have an important discussion surrounding the impact of Martin Luther King Jr.'s work on our world today. Students viewed a short video and discussed their own experiences. We will continue this discussion early this week.

Math: We will be continuing with Unit 5 this week, which is a longer unit than most. Centering mostly around fractions, I believe this unit is very important for your student to grasp so they can build on their knowledge going forward. Please monitor and assist their Study Links work at home, and remind them to come back to school with questions, should something not quite make sense to them. Also, please ask your student how they are progressing with mastering their math facts. We will continue to take a weekly timed test, where students pick the set of facts they need to check off their list.

Social Studies: Hopefully, your students have told you about the research they conducted about their tribe. In the coming week, they will start to put together a power point presentation on the computer that they will present to the class.

Writing: Since we returned to school after winter break, I have been stressing the importance of building on their writing skills through a weekly writing prompt each week. Last week, students wrote about "The Best Meal" that they ever ate. Students should get their paragraphs back Tuesday and can bring them home to share with you. With this type of assignment, I am having them focus on the important details of the writing process including basic punctuation, using descriptive language, and reading their own writing to make sure it sounds like what they meant to say. They will get weekly practice with these skills, and soon will be writing their first descriptive essay.

That's enough for now. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,
Mr. Norman