Newsletter Week of January 22nd

Week of January 22nd-26th

We had a fantastic week of learning in 3AH! As we launched our Ancient Civilization unit,

students learned about some of the ancient civilizations and the type of

dwelling they lived in. Next week we will look at some artifacts and 

investigate what they were used for, where they come from, and how 

old they think the items are. 
This semester, students will have time in their week to explore a topic

 they are passionate about. We are calling this time Genius Hour. This week, we

started by brainstorming different topics we love, things that interest us,

ways we spend our free time, types of books we read or shows we watch.

This list of ideas will help us choose a topic to explore further.

If you would like to know more about genius hour, here are a couple

of links we showed the kids.

What is Genius Hour?

Genius Hour in the Classroom

Visit with your child about some of the ideas they came up with this week.

What are your passions? Share them with your child? Perhaps you want

to have a genius hour project of your own!

This week begins on a day 3

Reminder: ASA sign-ups will close on Monday, January 22nd at 10:00 am sharp!

Reading Students will continue to analyzing different nonfiction books. We will be determining what makes a quality children’s nonfiction book. Some of the elements we will look at are:infographics, back matter, layout, interest level, and more. This week we will also be working in nonfiction reading book clubs to read, discuss, and ask questions of a shared reading.

Writing Students will continue writing persuasive speeches. The focus this week will be on gathering and organizing information about their opinion. We will also working on elaborating our writing by proving through showing rather than telling their reader.

Math We will continue our multiplication and area unit. This weeks focus will be on breaking apart numbers to multiply more easily (ex. 12x8= (10x8) + (2x8)). This is called the distributive property. We will also continue to explore using square units to measure area, solve real-world problems dealing with area, and continue to reinforce our addition/subtraction/multiplication/division facts. Please continue to help your child practice these at home!

Social Studies As we dive deeper into our ancient civilizations unit we will take a closer look at the different features of successful civilizations. We will be looking closely at Ancient China. We will start by looking at how location impacted China. Then students will be choosing a civilization to study independently.