Math: The infamous study guide is coming home tonight - albeit a day late. The kids have two jobs tonight: develop a plan for completing the guide by Tuesday and complete a probability worksheet. My expectation is to address any concerns next Tuesday and Wednesday so Thursday's assessment is as smooth as possible. The probability work is due tomorrow.

Language Arts: We keep plowing through figurative language (alliteration and personification so far...). Historical fiction is on-deck!

Science: We completed our 4-string harp creations today and will respond to a prompt tomorrow!

Spelling is due Friday!

Math: I had an excellent conversation with a parent this morning who was concerned about their student's comprehension of the fraction/decimal concepts. Historically, fractions/decimals/percents are areas of concern in grades 4/5 and even middle school. In short - this unit lays the foundation for more success down the road. However, with that said, this isn't a one shot deal...there will be many times over the next few years to sharpen their knowledge of how these three concepts relate to one another. In the end, fractions/decimals/percents will take time - there isn't a short cut!

Tonight they should complete their BCD packet (subtracting decimals). I hope this supplement was helpful but if it wasn't please let me know what didn't seem to work on your end.

Tomorrow there will be a study guide coming home for our unit three assessment scheduled for 2/19. Considering I still have probability lessons to instruct over the next 5 school days, I need each family to develop a plan that works best for them for the completion of this guide. It is not intended to be done in a single sit-down - try to spread it out into manageable parts and note questions for class the following day.

Language Arts: We are moving into figurative language for the next couple of weeks...mainly poetry. Shortly there after, we will begin historical fiction novels.

Reading groups have experienced a few changes in recent weeks so please ask your child about what they're working on...

William and Mary - tonight they should complete the pre-assessment part in preparation for tomorrow's discussion and subsequent paragraph.

JGB - We began the Ugly Duckling in class today but I will finish reading with them tomorrow (20+ pages!). Tonight they should complete the text opener activity to prepare for tomorrow's discussion.

Hailstones... - "Choose a poem and explain how the poet uses language to paint a picture in the reader's mind. Describe what you see."

Miss Nelson... - Complete the organizer about how the mood changes throughout the story.