Update for 3/20

     Dear Parents,

     I can't believe we are in the final nine weeks of school!  Please remember that this Tuesday, 3/21 is our spring Picture Day.  Did you ask your student about our fantastic field trip to the Alliance Theater on Friday?  We loved their interactive version of Cinderella called "Cinder and Her Fella" - we laughed, clapped in time, and danced in our seats.  The kids stayed together and looked after their partners and Ms. Borrelli, Mr. Reynolds, and I were very proud of how well they conducted themselves!

       This week we will be finishing up our formal unit on Pollution and Conservation with our test on Friday, 3/24.  Our discussions and research will not end there however.  We will continue to weave this unit into our Heat unit with our exploration of insulators and conductors.  These two units fit nicely together so we will continue our research in our Science classes over the next month as we head toward building our environmentally friendly houses.

       In Writing, we have the Milestones and its constructed responses in our sights as we continue to improve our craft and follow the RACES model (Restate the question, Answer the question, Cite your evidence, Give examples, Summarize).  In Reading, we are circling back to some of the areas we need to continue to strengthen, such as Finding Main Idea, Author's Purpose, and Vocabulary Acquisition and Using Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words to Determine Meaning.

     In Math, our 3.2 students will be learning about Time and all of our students will continue having these math concepts reinforced in our Tiger Time classes.  Our 4.1 students will be delving deeper into Equivalent Fractions.

3.2 Math
MGSE3.MD.1 Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure elapsed time intervals in minutes. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes, e.g., by representing the problem on a number line diagram, drawing a pictorial representation on a clock face, etc. MGSE3.MD.2 Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (l). Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as a beaker with a measurement scale) to represent the problem. Represent and interpret data. MGSE3.MD.3 Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets. MGSE3.MD.4 Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Show the data by making a line plot, whe

4.1 Math
 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
 ● What is a fraction and how can it be represented? ● How can equivalent fractions be identified? ● In what ways can we model equivalent fractions? ● How can identifying factors and multiples of denominators help to identify equivalent fractions? ● What are benchmark fractions? ● How are benchmark fractions helpful when comparing fractions? ● How can we use fair sharing to determine equivalent fractions? ● How do we know fractional parts are equivalent? ● What happens to the value of a fraction when the numerator and denominator are multiplied or divided by the same number? ● How are equivalent fractions related? ● How can you compare and order fractions? ● How do I compare fractions with unlike denominators? ● How do you know fractions are equivalent? ● What can you do to decide whether your answer is reasonable? • How do we locate fractions on a number line?

         Thanks for your support!!

         Jenny M-G