We are now heading into the month of April! It was so much
fun to read the tall tales that the students wrote this past week and see their
creativity in both the writing process and making the tall tale
characters. Here is a look at our studies for the week.
Literature: We will now begin reading our final novel for the
year, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. This is an amazing
book that teaches readers about friendship, loyalty, loss, and hope. We
will be reading a bit from this book almost every day, so make sure your child
has his or her copy at school. We will start out by learning some new
vocabulary terms that we will encounter in the book, and then we will be
reading the first three chapters throughout the week. As we read,
students will reflect on the chapters by completing pages in a student
workbook. You will not see as many literature papers coming home in the
Friday folder, but students will be taking these booklets home at the end of
the year.
Grammar/Riggs: This week in grammar, students will be learning to
add supporting details to expository writing. They will be using the
writing maps again but this time there will be spaces for details that support
each main idea. There will also be new Riggs words.
History: To begin the week, students will learn about the
generals of each side of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S.
Grant. We will then talk briefly about the war and finish the week
discussing how the Confederate States of America surrendered. On Friday,
students will learn about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and we will
reflect on the many virtues he displayed and why he is remembered.
Science: This week we will learn about two more simple machines:
the screw (which we began to discuss this past week) and the lever.
Students will learn how the screw is simply an inclined plane wrapped around a
pole and that a lever is a bar that pivots around a fulcrum. We use both
of these simple machines every day, and it will be fun to see students begin to
recognize them! As we learn about these machines, have your child keep
thinking about which machines to use in his or her project. Remember,
students are required to use at least two different simple machines to make an invention.
Important Notes:
-Don’t forget to send your child’s copy of Charlotte’s Web to
school if you haven’t already done so.
-Simple Machine projects are due on April 15th.
