Dear Parents,

Remember that this week there will be no school on Friday, November 6<sup>th</sup>.  This date also corresponds with the end of the 1st quarter.    All work should be handed in by Thursday for grading purposes.  In addition, there will be no school on Wednesday, November 11<sup>th</sup> due to Veteran’s Day.

Thank you to Mrs. Hernandez for the delicious cupcakes she brought to class on Friday.  Also, thanks to Mr. Jackson for helping with the Marshmallow Catapult challenges on Friday.  We had such a great time celebrating Literacy day on Friday.

Just one tiny reminder that our classroom still needs classroom fees for the school year.  If you have paid already, again, thank you!

<strong>Reading</strong><strong>: </strong>This week during Reader’s Workshop, students will be responsible for completing their letters to me about the book they are reading in their Reader’s journal.  Students  have till Thursday to complete their 5 week AR goal.  AR is worth 10% of the overall reading grade.  We will continue to read <span style="text-decoration: underline">Maniac Magee,</span> by Jerry Spinelli, as a class.  In addition, students are working in reading groups to study nonfiction texts about the First Americans.  Students will be working on prediction and refining predictions, as we

<strong>Writing: </strong>Students will be responsible for completing one narrative essay due Thursday.  Students have been drafting these in class and at home.  Every student will be given a rubric as they begin to draft their final writing piece. We will learn strategies to write good leads and strong endings this week as we revise and write our final pieces.  Narrative pieces are due Thursday.  They may be typed or neatly hand-written.  <strong>Narrative essays count towards this quarter’s writing grade.</strong>

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<strong>Math: </strong>Homework:<strong> </strong>Study Links 2.6, 2.7, 2.8.  Students will have a short quiz on Thursday to review what they have learned.

<strong>Science: </strong>Students should have 3 resources for Science fair by now, and should be using this research to write, in their own words, the background information about their topic.  All students should continue working on their Review of Literature. The Review of Literature is the research component of the Science Fair Research Paper.  In class, we will look at our sunclocks this week and take a short assessment on the phases of the moon on Tuesday.

<strong>Social Studies: </strong>Students will construct Native American dolls and dwellings this week in their tribe groups.<strong> Groups will review a rubric this week for grading purposes on group projects. </strong>Wednesday homework:  Answer questions 2-3 on page 78.

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<strong>Spelling: </strong><strong>Students should study the spelling list of words attached to this overview nightly.  This week’s spelling test will be Thursday.</strong>