Dear Parents,

This week in Room 304, we will complete our ISAT testing on Tuesday.  On Wednesday we will resume with our <em>regular schedule again. On Wednesday, I will hand out Five week Progress reports.  Remember that the grades reflected provide students and parents with feedback and an opportunity to work towards bettering the grade over the next five weeks. </em>If you have any questions or would like to schedule a conference to discuss your child’s progress, please contact me via email:  <a href="mailto:agkrecik@cps.edu">agkrecik@cps.edu</a>.

<strong>Reading</strong><strong>: </strong>We will begin working in partnerships to develop PowerPoint presentations of our findings in Guided Reading groups.  Students have been examining two different versions of the same fairy tale and comparing/contrasting.  Now it is their opportunity to present their findings to the class in a multimedia project.  I will be collaborating with Ms. Zivko, our computer teacher, to complete this assignment.<strong></strong>

<strong>Writing: </strong><strong>Students will begin writing their own fractured fairy tales towards the end of the week.  I will provide guidance by demonstrating how to use a story map organizer to “map out” their story.  Students will complete their own before beginning their rough drafts.
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<strong>Math:</strong> This week, we will resume our regular schedule on Wednesday and will continue studying Unit 5.  This week we plan to cover lessons 5.5 – 5.8, which focus on converting fractions to decimals and percents. There will NOT be a quiz this week.

<strong>Science: </strong>This week we will complete our investigation on preparing different slides for our microscopes and determine appropriate slides for specimens.  Students will have a Sum It Up page to write in their notebooks for Tuesday homework.

<strong>Social Studies: </strong><strong>We will begin our study of the Southern Colonies this week.  Students will examine the differences between the Middle colonies and the Southern colonies.    Wednesday homework:  define key vocabulary  Friday homework:  focus questions.</strong>

<strong>In addition, we will read about Ben Franklin in class.  Students will be responsible for identifying one important invention/discovery and write one paragraph describing the importance of this contribution.  We will then place these paragraphs in a Ben Franklin timeline.  I will distribute a handout and rubric for this assignment on Friday.</strong>

<strong>Spelling: </strong>We will resume spelling practice next week.<strong></strong>

<strong>HELP!  We could really use some classroom contributions of Kleenex, paper towel, hand sanitizer, and loose-leaf paper.  If you are able to donate any of these items, we would greatly appreciate it. </strong>