Language Arts: This
week’s spelling words are coming from chapter 7 titled, You Have to Start Somewhere. The English derivatives and their
origins are below.
|
Latin / Greek Word
|
Root
|
English Derivatives
|
|
LATIN origo, orginis
|
orig
|
original, originate, origin, aborigine
|
|
LATIN initiare, initiatum
|
init
|
initial, initiate, initiative
|
|
GREEK arche
|
arch
|
archaic, archive, archaeology,
|
The suffix “-ology”
means “the study of”.
In writing and grammar this week,
the students will add to their vocabulary and analogy collection, learn about
prepositions, and practice diagramming sentences with prepositional phrases.
Your children will be focusing on identifying the object of prepositions, as
well as various adjectives that modify them. Ask your child to teach you how to
diagram these sentences. Remember, the best way to really digest new
information is to teach it to somebody else! :)
I hope you enjoyed attending the
performance of The Secret Garden on
Friday! I look forward to an engaging discussion of comparing and contrasting the
themes and symbols from the book and musical. We will finish reading the book this
week. The “end-of-book” celebration will be on Friday from 11:00-12:00; if you’d
like to volunteer or donate items, please see the Sign-Up links under the “Volunteer”
section of the website. As always, thank you for your involvement and
contributions!
This week,
the students will learn and discuss the proverb, “Count your blessings”. Please
try to incorporate these idiomatic phrases and words of wisdom into your conversations
at home! We will also catch up on our Latin and Greek words and derivatives.
The students will have a test over the first 25 at the end of next week. Please
begin studying these at home with your child each night. They will be
expected to match the Latin or Greek word to its definition, as well as provide
one English derivative for each of the 25 words. Study, study, study! :)
History: On
Friday, we wrapped up our study of the fascinating era of the Renaissance; the
kids did an excellent job throughout this unit. I hope you found yourself
learning a lot at home, too! I am still in the process of grading these tests,
so please keep an eye out for them later this week. Test corrections on a
separate sheet of paper and a parent signature will be expected from the
children.
This week
we will begin our study of the pivotal era in Europe that followed the
Renaissance… the Reformation! This unit includes learning a great deal about
the impact that this religious revolution had on Europe. The kids will learn
about the geography of the time, Martin Luther, the Protestant/Catholic
conflict, the Jesuits, and the Council
of Trent. Our final product at the end of the unit will be a wonderful study
tool before the test- a lapbook! This is a fun, crafty foldable that will house
all of the information the students are responsible for knowing. We will be
progressively working on these folds, and the kids will keep them in their
expandable throughout the unit. Please ensure that these are not being thrown
away since they will all need to be assembled when we finish the unit.
Science: We
wrapped up our study of Linnaean classification last week; the kids did a great
job throughout our study of living things! Please keep an eye out for these
tests as they will be coming home soon. The students will need to get a
parent signature as well as complete test corrections (as always).
This week will be spent researching
for the partner animal research project. I will be providing resources;
however, the children are also encouraged to find books and internet sources on
their own. You can access the rubric under “Assignment Forms” on the right side
of this page. Students will be provided with white poster boards for this
project. If you’d like to help gather resources on these animals (books or
website links), you can scroll down this page to see a table with a list of
animals the students have chosen. Thank you!
