Here's some info about what we'll be studying this week:
Important Dates:
* MAP Testing - Mid-year MAP testing begins next week. We'll be completing the Reading test in Literacy on Tuesday & Wednesday, Jan 9-10. Math testing will be on Thursday & Friday in Math class.
* Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Mon. Jan 15th - No School
* End of Term - Early Release/Day of Service - Friday Jan. 19th
Writing -
Literary Analysis Essay - To end the Quarter, students will be composing a multiple paragraph essay analyzing one of the books or short stories they have read in class or independently. Each essay will examine the text for plot, theme and figurative language or dialogue. These are the elements that we examined this term.
Last week we chose our text, began drafting introduction paragraph and writing about plot.
Monday will be a writing day focusing on Theme paragraphs, and a paragraph about how the author used Figurative Language, Symbolism or Dialogue to create mood, or convey a message.
Thursday we'll focus on revising - adding detail, hooks, quotes to make our essays richer.
Friday we'll be doing peer editing looking for conventions like spelling and punctuation.
* Tuesday and Wednesday we'll be taking the mid-year MAP Assessments in class
Reading -
This week we'll be resuming Independent Reading Logs. Reading Log 7 will be assigned Monday - Due Tuesday Jan 16th.
Independent Reading:
Reading Log - due Mondays. Students are required to complete at least 150 minutes of Independent Reading each week with parent & teacher signatures for their reading times. Logs are due each Monday. Since we are studying fiction, Independent Reading books should be novels, stories or biographies (including graphic novels) - books that tell a story, have plot, and develop characters, so that we can practice the skills we are developing in class.
Listening to E-books on Overdrive can also count towards Independent Reading for reading logs. Students with a Madison Public Library card can also link their Library Card to Overdrive for access for even more books.
Students should have a book/E-book for class each day, either from home or from the library.
Social Studies -
This week we'll beginning our unit on Ancient Egypt. This week we'll be learning about Daily Life in Ancient Egypt by learning about the Social Structure and religious beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians. One fun project we'll be starting is our examination of how and why the Egyptians practiced mummification. We'll get a chance to see how mummification works by mummifying apple slices and comparing what happens to apples that are mummified versus those that are allowed to decay naturally.