Dear Galileo

In our study of the Sun, we have learned about an important scientific tool:  the telescope.  Scientists use this tool to make distant objects (things that are far away) appear closer.  This is helpful because it helps astronomers to study objects in space and learn new things!

Galileo made some of the first discoveries in space, using an early version of the telescope.  It was much less powerful than the ones scientists use to study space in modern times.  We watched a video and read articles about this important scientist, who is often referred to as "the father of modern science."

Students then discussed what they had recorded in their notebooks with groups and partner pairings, before writing a letter to Galileo.  They wanted to tell him how the world has changed because of his early space discoveries, since many of his findings were disputed and rejected during his lifetime.

Students were able to share their letters, and if you scroll down, you can enjoy some of our letters as well!

Ava's Letter

Ben's Letter

Maddie's Letter

The Jungle Journal for the Week of 3/3/14

Reminders

Scholastic orders should be placed online by Thursday, March 6^th.   Thank you for supporting our classroom and helping us build our library!

FCAT Parent Night is this Tuesday, March 4^th at 7:00 PM.  The meeting will be held in our classroom, room 226.

Readers’ Workshop

This week will work to closely analyze texts, noticing that the reading with the lens of word choice helps us to develop clearer ideas about the central message of a text.  Students will notice how words are chosen thoughtfully by authors to create a tone and reinforce their perspective.  We will then begin research projects in small groups, working to study a variety of texts on the same topic, comparing the texts and developing theories.  Ask your child what topic their group is studying.

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.

At this point, we have collected four BINGO Responses.  Check your child’s Reading BINGO Folder to see if they are on track.  If they have missed a response, it is not too late to make it up!  

Our 5^th BINGO Response is due Tuesday, March 11^th.

Writers’ Workshop

This week we dive into our information writing unit.  Students have selected a topic on which they are an expert and will begin to construct writing for the purpose of teaching others.  We will experiment with the organization of our information, determining what we believe will be the most effective structure for our chosen topics.  Our previous unit on text structures will prove most beneficial for this activity!  

Skills

There will be no spelling homework or quiz this week.

Social Studies

We will begin our new unit on the regions of America.  We will start with the southeast.   We will spend the next two weeks placing the applicable states on a map before studying the land and water, climate, resources, and landmarks of this region we call home.  Visit the blog to take advantage of a cool study link that your child can use to practice mapping the states for each region throughout this unit of study.  The quiz will be next Friday.

Math

Our fraction unit will come to an end this week.  The quiz will be Thursday.  Students should study and review their white packets in order to prepare.  We will spend our last sessions playing “Capture Fractions,” which is similar to the card game “War.”  As a result of this game, students will undoubtedly have disagreements about which fraction is actually larger.  So, we will review how to compare fractions to landmark numbers to settle these debates.  We will also practice placing fraction cards on a number line to see them in relation to other fractions and whole numbers.  The hands-on nature of this series of lessons is very powerful in clearing up some final comparison misconceptions.

 Science

We continue our study of the Sun, but we will ask a new question about our nearest star:  What is radiant energy?  We already know that the Sun provides heat and light energy to Earth.  We will move past that to discuss how radiant energy from the Sun can heat objects, but that when the Sun is not present, this heat can be lost.  Students will utilize their knowledge of the scientific method and the practice of science to design an experiment (as a large group) that shows how the temperature of a cup of tap water can be changed without tools like microwaves or refrigerators.  There will be no quiz this week.  Instead, students will submit their lab notes for a classwork grade.