In addition to the Writing assessment, we will also be reading about the famous painter Chuck Close. The story of his life is almost as amazing as his painting. In Science, we will continue to learn about animals in their ecosystems and proofread, revise, and publish our work about owl pellets. Hold on tight, it’s going  to be busy week!

Objectives:

• Compare and contrast a person at two different times in that person’s life.
• Write statements of comparison and contrast.
• Read words with suffixes -ent/ence, -ant/-ance, -able/-ible, and -ate.
• Learn that many common words have their origins in languages other than English.
• Use a dictionary to find word histories.
• Identify and correct double negatives.
• Identify and write contractions.

Assignments:

• PB 122-123 (selected pages)
• Weekly Skills Tests
• Owl Pellet Essay
• RS 16-17
• AIMS Writing Assessment (Wednesday)

By Brian Scott

This week we dissect owl pellets as we explore organisms and their ecosystems. We’ll try to identify what owls eat by the waste they expel. We’ll also work to identify problems and solutions in several reading selections.

Objectives:

• Identify problems faced by characters in a selection.
• Evaluate alternative solutions and select the best ones.
• Read plural forms of nouns, including irregular forms, and identify the singular form.
• Write plural forms of words ending with f or o.
• Use sentence context to identify the appropriate dictionary definition of multiple-meaning words.
• Identify and use possessive and indefinite pronouns.
• Identify and write who, whom, and whose correctly.
• Learn how animals obtain nutrients.
• Identify an ecosystem’s energy source.
• Describe how energy moves through an ecosystem.
• Sequence: Look for the sequence of organisms, from producers to decomposers, in a food chain.

Assignments:

• Practice Book 107-119
• The Diet of Owls: Lab Report, Data Sheet, and Analysis

Variations of Green by Giant Ginkgo

We begin two new units this week. In Reading, we read the first in a series of selections on doers and dreamers. This week’s dreamer: Jackie Joyner-Kersee. In Science, we zoom out from our cell study to examine organisms in their environment. We’ll answer the question “What are ecosystems?”

Objectives:

• Word Roots ven and graph
• Identify persuasive techniques commonly used in propaganda.
• Distinguish between statements included in propaganda that are supported by facts and statements that are not supported by facts.
• Read words with parts ven and graph.
• Write Spelling Words that end with /iz/, /iv/, /ij/, /ik/, /cher/, and /es/.
• Identify antonyms in sentences or sentence pairs.
• Identify subject and object pronouns
• Use correct pronouns in compound subjects and objects.
• Compare different climates.
• Describe how organisms interact in ecosystems.
• Explain how climate affects ecosystem diversity.

Assignments:

• Practice Book pages 87-99
• Chapter 1 Assessment Corrections
• RS 14-15

Objectives:

• Phonics: Suffixes -ion and -ation
• Comprehension: Summarize; Cause and Effect
• Vocabulary: Synonyms
• Identify and control variables related to seed germination.
• Identify the needs of plants and ways they are met in the environment.
• Distinguish between vascular and nonvascular plants.

• PB 23-35 (selected)
• Lesson 3 worksheet: RS 9-10

• Practice Book 2009.01.12 – Record your scores for the PB pages from last week.

Writing:
Plan a Friendly Letter

Reading:
Prince Caspian Movie Poster

Social Studies:
WHSW Week 23

Math:
MJ 345

Computers:
Record advice for next year

Writing:
PB 214 w
PB 217 w
Publish a comparison and contrast essay

Reading:
PB 209-210
Sharks Under Ice Activity

Computers:
Advice for next year’s sixth graders (MS Word)

Writing:
Revise a comparison and contrast essay
PB 213

Reading:
PB 208

Social Studies:
WHSW Quiz

Writing:
Plan and Draft a Comparison and Contrast Essay
PB 212 w
PB 216 w
PB 219 w

Reading:
PB 207
PB 215
3 Choice Activities due Friday

Social Studies:
WHSW Week 22 pp. 3-4

Reading:
PB 206
PB 211
PC chapter synopsis 7-8

Social Studies:
WHSW Week 22 pp. 1-2