WHEATLAND

Math

Unit 1 = Area & Volume

In this unit, the students will build upon their prior work with area and explore ways to find the area of rectangles with fractional side lengths.  The students will also learn about volume as an attribute of solid figures.  Using improvised units, they will explore volume and build towards using cubic units and volume formulas.

1.8 = Measuring Volume by Iterating Layers
1.9 = Finding Volume Using 2 Formulas
1.10 = Visualizing Volume Units
1.11 = Volume Explorations
 

*Your child will typically have a math assignment each day. This assignment may or may not come home as homework, depending on whether or not your child completed it at school.*
 

Unit 1 Test = Thurs., Sept. 26
 

Language Arts

Unit 1 = Meet the Challenge
Lesson 3 = Civics/Politics

essential question = Why is determination a good quality for a politician to have?
anchor text = Off & Running (realistic fiction) & Vote For Me! (persuasive)
reading skills = compare & contrast, idioms, formal/informal language
reading strategy = infer/predict
decoding skill = VCCV pattern
vocabulary = debate, inflated, shaken, decorated, gradually, hesitated, scanned, stalled, beckoned, prodded
vocabulary strategy = using context clues
grammar focus = compound sentences
spelling = long i & long o (this week’s words are below)

*Aside from reading a minimum of 20 minutes daily outside of school, your child will typically have a reading assignment each day. This assignment may or may not come home as homework, depending on whether or not your child completed it at school.  It will be on the back side of the math assignment.*

Unit 1/Lesson 3 Test = Fri., Sept. 27
 

Writing

narrative writing = dialogue

focus = elaboration

Social Studies

Native Americans

Coming soon!
 

Science

Spaceship Earth
Sun, Moon, Stars, Planets!
 

This astronomy unit helps students develop a new perspective on the world they’re standing on. They will be given evidence that the Earth beneath our feet is actually moving through space, both spinning on its axis and traveling in a great orbit around the sun. They will see how these movements account for the patterns we see in our sky (the paths of our sun across the sky, the changing seasons, and the changing constellations). Accompanying us on this journey are the moon and planets, which the students will observe have their own patterns of movement in the sky. Throughout this unit, students will engage in actual and simulated observations of the sky, and they will engage in the process of inquiry: beginning with observations, debating a range of possible causes, and reasoning to possible conclusions.

Mystery Unit Starter = Sky Patterns & Modeling
Star Trails

Mystery #1 = Day, Night, and Earth’s Rotation
How fast does the earth spin?

Mystery #2 = Earth’s Rotation & Time
Who set the first clock?

Mystery #3 = Seasonal Changes & Sun’s Path
How can the sun tell you the season?

Mystery #4 = Seasons & Earth’s Revolution
Why do the stars change with the seasons?

Mystery #5 = Moon Phases & Lunar Cycle
Why does the moon change shape?

Mystery #6 = Planets & Solar Systems
What are the wandering stars?

Mystery #7 = Gravity
Why is gravity different on other planets?

Mystery #8 = Star Brightness & Habitable Planets
Could there be life on other planets?

End-of-Unit Performance Task: Night Sky
How can you tell time at night?

Spaceship Earth Test = TBD