Our week in learning 9/18

 This week, we cordially invite you to Math and Phonics Night on Wednesday, September 20th. In addition to word problems and Spalding, we will also be covering the basics of sentence diagramming.

There will be no school on September 29.

Another week has come and gone, and before we know it, the quarter will be over! Students will continue to work on their science fair projects at home. By now, they should have their hypothesis written, have decided on their variables, and may soon begin conducting their experiments.

We will continue with math groups on Wednesdays. On Thursday, students will take a unit test. If you would like to help students prepare for this test on Wednesday, please let me know that you are interested in leading a math group.

This week in grammar, students will explore descriptive writing. They will describe items such as their favorite foods using details that appeal to the senses. They will also draw a Narnian creature of their own invention, which other students will write a detailed description of, and will write their own description of another student's Narnian creature.

In literature, students will read through chapters 12-14 and continue building their summarization skills.

This week in History, students will continue learning about the Renaissance, focusing on Venice, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Castiglione. On Friday, students will get to read unabridged excerpts from Castiglione’s The Courtier and Machiavelli’s The Prince in preparation for a socratic discussion on leadership on Monday. Please note that these are difficult passages and may need some parental or older sibling assistance to comprehend. I would suggest taking time to read these, and maybe creating a vocabulary list. The readings can count for reading log credit. We will also be learning about the South region of the United States on Wacky Wednesday. There will be a states location quiz covering the South, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regions next wednesday, 9/27.

In science, students will continue studying chemistry by learning about molecules and compounds, as well as mixtures and solutions. Students will practice writing chemical formulas with atomic symbols, and learn the difference between a solute and a solvent. They will read about the difference between acids and bases and conduct a lab to determine which known substances are acids, bases, or neutral, based on their prior knowledge of the substances.

This week in Math, students will finish the unit on “More Calculations with Whole Numbers" and will take a unit test on Thursday. Students will start Unit 3: Fractions on Friday with a review of fractions, equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, and comparing fractions. Math groups will continue this Wednesday, 8:00-9:00.