Dear Parents,

Thank you so much, parents, for giving your time to attend and assist in our field trips in the month of May.  This week, we will begin our smART Explorers workshops at the smART museum in Hyde Park.  We will leave every Thursday after lunch and spend our afternoons exploring, creating, and writing about art.  So that you may prepare for the culminating event, we will have an evening reception at the museum for the students on June 1 from 6-8 pm at the Smart  Museum.  This final celebratory event will be an opportunity for students to give their presentations.  Please mark the event in your calendar.  You may contact me at <a href="mailto:agkrecik@cps.edu">agkrecik@cps.edu</a> if you have any additional questions.

<strong>Reading</strong><strong>: </strong>We will analyze food advertisements this week, and students will design their own advertisement to sell their favorite food that they have written about previously.  We will brainstorm a list of advertising strategies that are used to sell products, and students will be required to use two of these devices in their ads.  Students will review the Food pyramid, and there will be a short assessment of their understanding on Friday.<strong></strong>

<strong>Writing: </strong><strong>We will continue to create different types of poems to include in poetry books.  These are:  5 Senses, Haiku, and Who, What, When, Where, Why poems.  Students will be writing poetry as homework assignments throughout the week.  Students will be given time to type and illustrate poems in computer lab.  The completed project will be graded based on book requirements and a rubric.  Poetry books are due May 14. </strong>

<strong>Math:</strong> This week students will begin lessons from Unit 8.  Specifically, students will review comparing fractions, and learn adding and subtracting of mixed numbers.  We will cover lessons 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4.  Students will take a Checking progress quiz on Friday.

<strong>Science: </strong>This week we will investigate Levers and Pulleys.  Students will construct a class-1 lever.  Students will identify the fulcrum and lever arm, and students will determine the best position of each through trials and observation.

<strong>Social Studies: </strong><strong>Students will complete Unit 10 assessments in class Monday.  They will write a two paragraph essay explaining which events were most important to the Revolution.  We will begin reading and taking notes on Chapter 11 this week.  Students will define vocabulary and respond to focus questions as homework during the week.</strong>

<strong>Spelling: </strong>We will continue spelling practice this week.  Please study with your child the spelling words.  The spelling test will be Friday.<strong></strong>