March 24-28, 2014

Lifeskill or Life-long Guideline of the week: Initiative

Math rd 3 - This week, students will be introduced to measurement. We will be diving into understanding the similarities and differences of the metric and the customary system. The third graders will be experimenting with rulers to measure objects around the room to build their knowledge of length. The students will be able to estimate length, properly measure with a ruler, and recognize units. Encourage your child to explore length with objects around the house to get practice using a ruler. *Ask your child to share an example of an estimation of an inch, foot, yard, millimeter, centimeter, and meter with their fingers and arms. th 4 - This week concludes the fourth graders immersion in Geometry! In fourth grade, students review and learn new information including identifying angles as right, acute and obtuse, identifying and describing parallel, intersecting and perpendicular lines, and using attributes to describe and define two- and three-dimensional figures. Finally, students will be able to demonstrate translations, reflections and rotations and use these transformations to prove two shapes are congruent. Students will be bringing a journal back and forth to school/home each day. This journal contains vocabulary, class work and homework. Please review your childs homework with him or her each day. *The Geometry unit in fourth grade has 50 vocabulary words. Ask your child to share the movements or tricks to remember the meaning of each word. Poetry This week in reading and writing, students will focus on poetry. Building on what we learned from last weeks figurative language unit, students will transfer their knowledge into poetry. We will be exploring poetry through various authors, poets, and our very own students. Students will be able to identify parts of the poem, such as stanzas, lines, rhymes, rhyming scheme, and meters. Also, students will be able to identify and understand the different characteristics of humorous, lyrical, free style, and narrative poetry. For writing this week, we will have poetry workshop. Students will freely write poetry in their writing journals at this time. We are learning various ways to find inspiration in writing by listing out feelings, thoughts, and images that comes to mind. We are also learning how to transfer the list of words into lines and stanzas of our poems. By the end of the week, students are expected to publish two different types of poetry. If you have time, write poems with your child to explore poetry, figurative language, and fun! *Ask your child to share what kind of poems they explored today. The Revolution of Texas This week in social studies, students will continue to expand their knowledge of the Texas Revolution. We have finished learning Texas path towards independence, and we will be getting more in depth with the major people and events that took place. The students will be using their knowledge of text features to do research about specific people and battles. The students will be focusing on the importance of what happened, how it contributed to the Independence of Texas, and any interesting or surprising facts that they came across. They will gain perspective of the revolution through their research topics. Students will be working in pairs or groups of three to support in each others learning. Students will analyze the causes, major events, and effects of the Texas Revolution, including the Battle of the Alamo, the Texas Declaration of Independence, the Runaway Scrape, and the Battle of San Jacinto. Also, the students will be able to identify individual that contributed to the revolution, such as Texians William B. Travis, James Bowie, David Crockett, George Childress, and Sidney Sherman; important leaders such as Jose Antonio Navarro, Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, and Anson Jones. *Ask your child about their research topic. Important Notes and Events! Market Day Date: Friday, March 29 Item will be available for purchase from $0.50-$1.00. Brentwood Rocks! Date: Saturday, March 29 When: 3-6 PM Where: Brentwood Elementary (at the outdoor stage) STAAR Dates: 4 Grade April 1,2-Writing April 22-Math April 23-Reading 3 Grade April 22-Math April 23-Reading
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Report Cards will be coming home in todays Wednesday folder! *Please visit our wiki page for information about our class: http://mahlstadtsvrcek2-3class.wikispaces.com/ * Please check the calendar online every week as dates do change. http://mahlstadtsvrcek2-3class.wikispaces.com/Calendar