Only Seven Days Til Thanksgiving Break?

We have seven days before Thanksgiving Break.  Where has the month gone?   It was just Halloween ... wasn't it?

What a great win Friday night for the 12-0 Knights.  I watched the game from my warm couch.  Kudos to those of you that attended in the cold.  Next up Trotwood Madison...  I hope it is on tv :)  

Our Veteran's Day parade was fantastic.  The students really enjoyed waving flags for all the past and current members of our Armed Forces.  I thought the assembly was a wonderful way to end the parade.  If you haven't heard, my mother-in-law was in attendance.  She was very impressed with the students and the tribute.

Over the next week, our goal is to wrap up the realistic fiction writing unit.  Most of the students are almost finished writing their rough drafts.  My goal is to conference with each of them early in the week and then they will be ready to take the piece to publication.  Hopefully, they will finish their published work before we leave for break.

A science test is scheduled for Thursday.  The test will cover the layers of the earth, tectonic plates, earthquakes, physical and chemical weathering, erosion and deposition.  Students should use their Science Binders to help them study for the test.

I think I have turned the students on to a new author: Gordon Korman.  One reading group read the first book in the series Island.  They loved it and now they are fighting over who gets to borrow my ONE copy of the second book.  Another group read the first book in the Titanic series.  They have decided to share the ONE copy of the second book.  I love when I can turn them on to a new author.  If you are looking for Christmas ideas, Gordon Korman also has a few other series sets that I am sure many of the kids would love.

I will introduce division on Monday.  This can be tricky if the students are still struggling with their math facts.  Don't forget to practice these if your child is still struggling.  It really does help.

We are focusing on homophones in word study.   Last week we added quite a few to our word study list.  This week we will play a few games and illustrate the meanings of the words.  The students and I discussed that it is important to know the difference in meaning for these words as well as how to spell them.

Government is our next focus in Social Studies.  This is a quick unit on the three branches of government and their duties.  Remember the Social Studies binder comes home on Tuesday and Thursday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  I'm planning on grading the Social Studies test and watching the Bengals on the television tomorrow.  Let's hope for a Bengal win !!