Jeffers Journal
Week of October 28th – November 1st
“It’s the great pumpkin Charlie Brown!” Happy Halloween! Are you ready to board the learning train for another week of excitement and adventure? Please come to school each day with an open mind, positive “ I CAN” attitude, a friendly smile, and eager to be a member of our team.
Important Dates to Remember:
October 31st: Halloween Parade and Party (Parade @ 12:15pm)
November 1st: All Saints Day Mass with Father Ennis @ 8:50AM
November 5th: Election Day-No School or CASE
November 8th: Penny War Fundraiser & Veterans Day Assembly at 1PM
November 8th: End of First Quarter
November 9th: Wing Wars Fundraiser
November 11th: Veterans Day-No School or CASE
November 14th: Parent Teacher Conference Day-No School or CASE
November 18th: Mass with Father Ennis at 8:50AM
November 26th: Special Persons Day
November 27th-November 29th: Thanksgiving Recess-No School or CASE
Here’s a breakdown of our learning:
- Math: Its important children learn math facts for addition/subtraction and multiplication/division with the goal of automatic recall. For the upcoming week, we will be wrapping up Topic 3. To start the week, we will be reviewing how to solve multiplication problems using partial products and area models. Did you know that there are mental math strategies that you can use to help you multiply mentally? We are also going to work on using the CUBES strategy to help us solve word problems. To prepare for the Topic 3 test we will review the mini topics that we learned: Multiply By Multiples of 10, 100, 1000, Estimating Products, Partial Products, and also Area Models. The Topic 3 test will be on Thursday, October 31st. Students will also continue to work on their independent lessons in I-Ready Math each day. This is also a great way to practice their skills.
- English Language Arts:
- Grammar: Students will learn how to proofread their writing for subject-verb agreement, capital letters, and punctuation using the proofreading symbols. This week the students will be reviewing concepts learned in Unit 1. Some of the topics were: Kinds of Sentences, Complete Subject and Predicate, Simple Subject, Simple Predicate, Compound Sentences, Complex Sentences, Fragments, and Run-On Sentences. They will complete the Unit 1 Test on Wednesday, October 30th.
- Vocabulary: Every two weeks students have 12 new vocabulary words and complete different activities each day (sentence completion, synonym/antonym, matching, word meaning, and context clues).
- Reading: An important skill we will be practicing is reading articles or passages and answering comprehension questions.
- Spelling: Each week the students will be given a list of words that contain a certain spelling pattern. They will complete different activities each day. They will also learn two or three commonly misspelled words and a mnemonic device to help them remember correct spelling. They will write a sentence for each word to demonstrate an understanding of its meaning and of conventional spelling.
- Writing: The Personal Narrative Train is geared up for another great week of writing! To begin the week, we are going to learn how to write the beginning of our narrative. The beginning of the narrative is different from the introduction because it lets the reader know the situation and also the characters. Next, we move into writing the middle of our narrative. This part of the narrative tells the events in order and also includes transition words. Students will also be shown how to add dialogue. Then we will be working on the ending part of the narrative. The ending includes the final words of the narrative. If time allows, we will work on the conclusion and begin revising. It is going to be a busy week of writing! Students will have the time to conference with a teacher or with a peer to get ideas to improve their writing.
- Social Studies: The theme of the first unit is New York’s First People. The focus of the first chapter is the geography of New York. Inside the first lesson, students will learn how the landforms were formed and also the different regions of New York. What is the Ice Age? Would you have liked to have lived during the Ice Age? Can you identify what makes our region unique? The next lesson is about the importance of rivers and lakes. Why are rivers and lakes important? We will also explore lines of latitude and longitude and how to use them to locate points on a map. What a better way to end the week and talk about the four seasons! I think it is safe to safe to say that the season of Fall has officially arrived in New York! Do have a favorite season? Why is it your favorite?
- Science: Why do our skeletons have so many bones? What would happen if your body didn’t have any bones? In this activity students are going to learn about the bones inside their hand by making their own X-ray. Some other activities are: Spooky Expanding Ghosts and Dancing Ghosts and Bats. Did you know that Wednesday, October 30th is National Candy Corn Day? We are going to do lots of candy corn activities to celebrate!
- Religion: The theme of Chapter 4 is The Lord’s Prayer. To begin the chapter, we are going to learn about communication. How do you communicate your thoughts and feelings? Do you like to write your thoughts in a journal? Or is there someone you feel comfortable talking to? How did Jesus teach us to pray? Did you know that prayer leads you to God’s Kingdom? Students are also researching a saint and completing an activity.
- Google Classroom: Students continue using my Google Classroom to complete assignments and quizzes in English/Language Arts, Math, Religion, Science, and Social Studies. Please check with your son/daughter to show you what they have been doing. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me an email.
- All Saints Day Mass: We will celebrate All Saints Day with Father Ennis on Friday, November 1st at 8:50. Students will have the opportunity to volunteer to be an altar server and/or a lector for future Masses. If your child signs up to be a lector, he/she will receive their reading in advance to have time to practice both in school and at home.
- Penny War Fundraiser: We have a jar to drop pennies or bills in for positive points! The class with the most positive points wins a prize! The next day to bring in pennies, bills, or silver coins is November 8th!!! Reminder the silver coins are to be dropped in the jars of the other classes! Start collecting your coins and bills and help our class win a prize at the end of the year!