Reading: Benchmark Advance
Unit 7: Past, Present, and Future
In this unit, students read and compare selections about United States history and its preservation to understand why it is important to remember the past. They will develop the following Enduring Understandings:
· Knowledge of the past is important to understand the present and plan for the future.
· People use tools, such as timelines and maps, to help organize and understand events of the past.
Foundations: Phonics and spelling is embedded into Benchmark. We have a daily focus on Phonics Word Study and Spelling instruction. Unit 7 is a focus on long o (o, oa, ow, oe), long e (e, ee, ea, ie), and long i (i, ie, igh, y). Each unit will also have high frequency words.
High frequency words for Unit 7:
Week 1: always, found, know, your
Week 2: all, draw, people, where
Week 3: again, country, round, they
Writing: We are excited to start our Research Writing unit after wrapping up Personal Narratives in a couple weeks. Students will participate in shared research projects in order to write informative texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure. Your child will be learning to use research information for writing nonfiction passages. We also will continue to focus on handwriting and conventions.
Math: In Everyday Math Unit 7, This unit will introduce Fact Families and Fact Triangles. Fact Families will help students master addition and subtraction facts within 20. Fact Triangles are tools used to help build mental arithmetic skills. You might think of them as the Everyday Mathematics version of flash cards. Fact Triangles are more effective for helping children memorize facts because of their emphasis on fact families. Students will learn about “What’s My Rule” which is a problem involving inputs, outputs, and a rule. This unit will also expand on fact families and subtraction fact strategies. Geometry will also be introduced in this unit by identifying defining attributes of shapes.
Social Studies: We will finish our geography standard with Geographic Tools. Students will develop an understanding of geographic tools on maps and globes to represent places, and learn how to read a map using cardinal directions, boundaries and labels.
We will continue to spend some time learning about Important African Americans and their varied contributions and accomplishments to move our society forward, often against tremendous odds. Our hope is by exposing our students to the history, culture, and accomplishments of African Americans, they will be more aware and accepting of people within our diverse country. This will be taught in lieu of Second Step this month. We will return to our final Second Step unit at the end of March.
Important Dates:
Read Across America Day - Thursday 3/2
Eco-Cycle - Monday 3/6
PTO meeting with Dr. Mike - 3/7 @ 8:15
Boosterthon Kickoff - Wednesday 3/8
Boosterthon Fun Run - Friday 3/17
Spring Break - March 20-27
Students return back to school on 3/28
Class Pictures - Thursday 3/30
