Week of January 2nd

Important Dates to Remember: 

• Thursday, January 3rd: Reading Logs are due. 
• Tuesday, January 8th: NWEA - Math 
• Friday,  January 11: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40
• Monday, January 21: No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Friday, January 25: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40 
• Friday, February 1: Reading Logs are due 

Math: We're just finishing up our Fractions and Decimals unit and we'll be ready for a test on Monday.  We'll be reviewing the rest of the week.  Review sheets will be sent home tomorrow so you can work with your child on the skills they might need help with.  Our next unit is Multiplying larger numbers so knowledge of those facts will really help with this unit!

Report Cards: As you know, report cards were sent home before break.  Our Math program has changed and the district is communicating the following information to parents regarding the grades you might be seeing on your child's report card.  

Farmington Public Schools has adopted the Everyday Math program this year. Everyday Math incorporates distributed learning of the math standards over time.  Because the standards are visited frequently throughout the school year, the level of proficiency toward a standard looks different for teach trimester. Students can still achieve a proficient mark for each trimester based on the mastery expectation at that point in the year. Because each trimester has a different level of mastery, your child's level of proficiency may vary throughout the year as they work toward achieving each standard. 

• If your child is at a developing (D) for first trimester, the standard will be revisited at some point during the year. 

• If your child receives a developing (D) or a not yet (N) for first or second trimester, he or she will still have the opportunity to master the standard in third trimester.

Timed Tests:  Timed tests are going great!  Kids are moving through their facts and I'm so proud of their hard work.  Keep up the great work at home!  It's helping!

Language Arts: In Reading, we'll continue moving through our character unit.  We'll continue working on strategies such as inferring, questioning, predicting, and visualizing as we connect and empathize with our characters.  In our Tiger Rising books, we're talking about different character traits that the characters have as well as supporting them with details and examples from the text.  Next, we'll also be working on some close reading strategies.  In addition, we'll be starting our IST groups late next week.  In our groups, we'll be working on summarizing non-fiction text.

In Writing, we've just started our Opinion unit.  This is a fun unit because kids get to pick a topic that they care about and persuade someone to see their point of view.  We'll take a look at different persuasive letters and talk about whether or not the author has included enough persuasive evidence to persuade their reader. 

Social Studies: In Social Studies, we're moving on to our Geography unit.  We'll start by focusing on continents and oceans and looking at where the United States is in relation to other areas of the world. 

Science: Now that our science kits have arrived, we have officially started our Motion and Deign unit!  In this unit, students explore concepts related to the physics of motion.  Students work in teams to design vehicles using K'Nex rods and connectors that meet certain requirements. This unit is a lot of fun and the kids love it!