The Jungle Journal for the Week of 1-13-14

Reminders

There is no school this Friday or next Monday.

Readers’ Workshop

This week we continue our study of nonfiction texts.  Last week we introduced the concept of “revving-up our minds” for reading by previewing the text features.  This week we will work to summarize the text, identifying the main idea and supporting details.  We will be using our hands to “map the text”.

In order to hold students accountable for their in-class and nightly reading, we are now logging our reading on a reading log.  This log, which will be a portion of students’ Reading Habits grade, should be completed by the student and signed by a parent each night.   

The 6^th BINGO Response is due Tuesday, January 14^th.

Writers’ Workshop

For the next few days, we will be revising our persuasive speeches.  We spent the end of last week drafting all of our thoughts on our chosen topic.  This week, we will work to organize our information into categories that make sense, add examples to support our thinking, and eliminate superfluous or irrelevant information. 

Skills

There will be no spelling homework or test this week.

Social Studies

We will continue our study of local government this week.  We will learn the importance of town meetings, as well as the role citizens play in making decisions in their communities.  In addition, students will learn about the services local government provides for the common good and the laws used to keep citizens safe.  Ask your child to explain how services are paid for and who works in the city and county government to keep things running smoothly.   The quiz will be Thursday, January 16^th.

Math

For the next several days, we will explore the growth patterns of Magic Marbles that children on the planet Rhomaar receive as gifts. In this investigation, students will learn about rates of change.  If the rate of change stays the same, it is referred to as constant.  We will use tables and graphs to represent how one quantity changes in relation to another quantity.  

# of Days	Example:  Children on the planet Rhomaar receive Magic Marbles each night.  Leeyan started with 10 marbles and receives 2 marbles each night.  How many marbles will Leeyan have on the fifth night? Total Marbles
Beginning	10
1	12
2	14
3	16
4	18
5	?

There will be a fluency quiz on the 4’s and 8’s on Thursday, January 16^th.  There will be no concept quiz this week.

Science

We have reached the end of Chapter 4:  Forms of Energy.  Your child should be able to identify light, heat, mechanical, electrical, and sound as basic forms of energy; give examples of how energy changes form; recognize how light energy travels and changes (reflection, refraction, absorption); and understand that many forms of energy can be changed to thermal (heat) energy.  The students will have their Energy End of Unit Assessment on Wednesday, January 22^nd.  Please review the workbook pages in Chapter 4, the review on pages 162-163 and their Science Journal notes.