Important Dates:

Monday, April 5<sup>th</sup>:  Back to School

Thursday, April 8<sup>th</sup>:  Festival!

Friday, April 9<sup>th</sup>:  Professional Development Day:  NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, April 21<sup>st</sup>:  Report Card Pick-up:  NO SCHOOL

Thank you to all the parents that made sure that their child turned in their Young Author pieces on time. Thank you for helping your child!

Instruction for the Week

Literacy:

Reading:

This week, students are receiving minilessons on monitoring their comprehension.  Students will practice creating their own “inner conversations” as they read to help improve self-monitoring of text.  Students will also use the strategy of writing notes on post-it notes and tagging pages where there is confusion, connections, and important information.  This is a strategy that students can take with them throughout their academic careers.

Writing

April is poetry month!  Everyday during Writer’s Workshop, students will receive a minilesson on a new type of poem.  Students will then create a poem to match the model.  Students will create their own bulletin board in the hallway of their best pieces.  At the end of the month, students will take home their poetry folder will all their work!  I expect these pieces to be some of their best work!

Phonics

Students will continue to work on word families and silent letters and independently work on these lessons during the Daily 5

Mathematics:

The week before Spring Break, I sent home two assessments.  The first assessment was a mid-year assessment that showed me how much students have retained since the beginning of the year.  The second assessment was Unit 6. This unit focused on geometry concepts.  The Unit 7 Assessment will be held on Wednesday.  A review sheet will be sent home on Tuesday.  We will also play a review game that day to prepare your child.

Social Studies

The class did a wonderful job working together and coming up with their landforms.  I am very proud of their work.  You will receive your child’s grade after Spring Break in the form of a rubric.

Science:

The week before Spring Break, students went on a calcite quest.  They looked at different rocks and used vinegar to find out if calcite was in the rocks.  Please ask your student about this process.  This week we will finish up our Earth Materials Unit.  Your child has been keeping a Science Notebook during this unit.  This notebook will be used to assess your child’s knowledge on the topics covered this quarter in Science.  This notebook is a VERY IMPORTANT part of your child’s Science grade.

I hope you all had a wonderful spring break and see you during Report Card Pick-up!!

Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Ms. Prasad-Heintz