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Here's What's Happening...

English/Language Arts: We are going to finish up possessive nouns and take a grammar checkpoint.  Then we will move on to introduce Module 3, which is entitled Natural Disasters.  The essential question of this module is "How can learning about natural disasters make us safer?"  We will look at author's craft as we read the introductory text entitled "Who Studies Natural Disasters?" 

Science: We didn't get to exploring decomposers by using the online sim tool, so we will do that this week.  Students will also have another opportunity to practice writing a claim and backing it up with evidence.

Social Studies: We turn back to England's colonization of the Americas and learn about the Pilgrims and the Puritans and the way they set up Plymouth Colony and Massachussetts Bay Colony.

  

Advanced Math:   This week students will extend strategies they have learned to calculate an unknown number of groups when there is less than one group.  It also sets a foundation for understanding a new strategy to use when dividing fractions -  creating common denominators.  Then they will explore a strategy for dividing by a unit fraction by asking the question "How many in 1 group?"  We will wrap up the week by exploring a variety of other strategies for dividing fractions. 

Important Info:

Too Good for Drugs

On Monday, your learner will be bringing home a letter that introduces the Too Good for Drugs program, which our class will begin this week.  For the next ten weeks, Corporal Terri Albright from the DuPage County Sheriff's Department will visit our class once a week to present a Too Good for Drugs lesson.  These lessons begin with a focus on goal setting and communication skills.  They move into positive decision making and strategies for dealing with peer pressure.  It isn't until the last few weeks that they address the dangers of smoking/vaping, alcohol, and marijuana.  There will be homework each week for the students to complete with their family.  I'll provide more details about this next week.

Photo Corner!

We took time this week to enjoy Snow Studies and the Science of Snow!

Schedule of Events

• Monday, January 30th: Monday Choir, 2:50-3:45pm
• Tuesday, January 31st: Tuesday Choir, 2:50-3:45pm
• Tuesday, January 31st: Young Rembrandts, 2:50-3:50pm
• Wednesday, February 1st: SIP Day Early Dismissal, PV dismisses at 11:25
• Thursday, February 2nd: American Eagle Theater class, 2:50-3:50pm
• Thursday, February 2nd: PV Cheer/Dance Team, 2:50-4:00pm