Important Dates & Reminders

• October 5: Student Holiday, no school for students 
• October 10: Teacher Workday, no school for students 
• October 11: Family Science Night at TLES from 6:00-7:30
• October 24: Student Holiday, no school for students
• October 28: End of Quarter 1, 2 hr. Early Release 
• October 31: Student Holiday and Conferences, no school for students
  • Your student’s teacher will be in touch about signing up for conferences!

Language Arts

What we learned in September:

We have spent our first unit beginning fictional writing and learning the routines of reading and writing workshops. 

Students have started a word study routine where they will continue to build their knowledge on meanings of parts of words. 

Students have started to learn of a new online learning tool, Lexia, to help assist with their grammar and comprehension.

What we will be learning in October:

Unit 2 is Memoir Writing and Fictional Book Clubs. In Fictional Book Clubs Students will learn to 

• Track character trait and development
• Discuss readings with peers 
• Find the theme of a story 

In Memoir Writing students will learn to: 

• Analyze significant moments in their life
• Use narrative writing 
• Revise their writing using literary techniques

Math

What we learned in September:

We have spent our first weeks together building a mathematical community and practicing our conversation moves so that we can all learn and discuss together. 

 In our first unit we work to develop an understanding of the connections among ratios, fractions, decimals, and percents.  Students learned to: 

• represent relationships between quantities using ratios, and will use appropriate notations, such as a/b , a to b, and a:b.
• Represent and determine equivalencies among fractions, mixed numbers, decimals, and percents. 
• Determine the unit rate of a proportional relationship and use it to find a missing value in a ratio table.

Students applied their knowledge of fractions, decimals, and percents to the interpretation of circle graphs. Students also worked with measures of center to determine how changes in the data affect the mean, median, and mode.

The students are also applying their understanding of decimals and percentages to create a stock portfolio to find percent change over time as well as measures of center (Mean and Median). 

What we will learn in October:

Unit 2 is Fractions and Decimals. Students will learn to:

• Multiply and divide fractions and mixed numbers.
• Solve single-step & multistep practical problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, & division of fractions and mixed numbers.
•  Solve multistep practical problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of decimals.

Advanced Math 

What we learned in September:

Our first unit was The Rational Number System. Students learned how to identify, order, and compare positive and negative integers. Students learned how to solve real-world problems using these skills.

At the end of the unit, students took a small quiz in which they showcased what they learned.

Science

What we learned in September:

Our first unit is Astronomy.  This unit of study focuses on Astronomy and the history of space exploration. At the end of the unit, students create a travel brochure that advertises their trip.

Students will know… 

● astronomy vocabulary 

● Sun-centered models of the solar system 

● the cause of the seasons 

● the cause of the moon phases

● the cause of the tides

● the effect of gravity in our solar system

What we will be learning in October:

Following our unit on Astronomy, our focus will be on Patterns of Weather Layers of atmosphere, weather, climate, storms, cloud formation, global winds/fronts. Students are investigating and tracking storms, including hurricanes.

Social Studies

What we learned in September:

In Unit 1, Students have learned to: 

• Demonstrate responsible citizenship, both on and offline
• Construct an understanding of the Student Rights and Responsibilities 
• Understand the significance of Constitution Day