Our Solar System Papers are Finished!!

Housekeeping:
Monday, November 5, 2012: Early Release/PLC
Thursday, November 8, 2012: Math Night at Ellis (6-7 pm)
Friday, November 9, 2012: Veteran's Day Celebration Displays
Tuesday, November 13, 2012: McDonald's Night for Ellis

Language Arts:
The story this week is called Grandma's Records by Eric Valesquez. It is realistic fiction, or a story that could really happen. The story is told by a man who is remembering when he used to visit his Grandma when he was a little boy. He remembers going to a wonderful concert and listening to the music that his Grandma loved. He learns to love music and to appreciate the culture the music originated from.

The spelling pattern focuses on the long /o/ sound.

• coach
• blow
• float
• hold
• sew
• though
• sold
• soap
• row
• own
• both
• most

Skills:
Proper and Common Nouns
Plurals
Subject and Predicates

Math:
For the last 2 weeks we have been solving word problems using addition and subtraction. Some of the strategies we have been using are:

• Comparison Bars
• Math Mountains
• Fact Families

The important idea behind word problems is reading the information carefully and looking for the total or the partners. If the total is given but one of the partners is missing, you will need to subtract. If the total is missing, you will have to add both partners. It is essential for the student to identify the parts of the problem.

Social Studies:
This week we are going to start our study of Native American cultures. We are going to study Natives who lived in:

• Forests
• Deserts
• Grasslands
• Plains

We will also begin to weave our yarn mats. The students can bring yarn from home or use yarn we have at school. We will supply both the yarn and the weaving mats.

Question of the Week:
List 5 proper nouns of your choice.
What makes a noun proper?

Word Problem:
Use a Math Mountain to solve this problem. There were a total of 115 students who traveled to the band competition. The students traveled on two buses. 58 students traveled on the first bus. How many students traveled on the second bus?