Can you believe that we've already made it to the third quarter of the year? This nine weeks is probably one of our busiest times. We have so many new concepts to cover, and yet we always need to keep reviewing previously covered material. I think our students are up to the challenge! The start of the new quarter means the start of new units in the different subject areas. Here's a summary of what's in store for the coming months.
Math: Our big focus this quarter will be on geometry. I absolutely love this unit - all the cutting, creating, and manipulating makes it my clear favorite to teach! Some of the key concepts we'll be covering include: types of polygons; naming, classifying, and measuring angles; identifying special types of triangles and quadrilaterals; parallel and perpendicular lines; sums of interior angles of polygons; complementary and supplementary angles; congruency; regular and non-regular shapes; diagonals; and line and rotational symmetry. We'll also spend time at the end of the quarter reviewing the metric and customary systems of measurement. Students take a big leap with this in fifth grade, as they will learn how to estimate conversions between these two systems.
Reading: As with second quarter, many of our comprehension skills and strategies will remain the same during third quarter. Consistent practice is the best way to reinforce these skills and become stronger readers! Our two biggest areas of focus will be making inferences and identifying cause and effect relationships. We started working on inferences last quarter, but we'll really begin to hit it hard in the coming months. We'll continue to explore a variety of different genres, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, recipes, and much more. And don't forget to encourage your child to be reading independently as well! Students have new AR goals this quarter, and we want everyone to rise to the challenge.
Writing: Expository writing, which follows a five-paragraph format, will continue to be our main focus. We spent much of second quarter strengthening our introductions, so now we're moving on to adding exciting details to spice up our body paragraphs. Students will also continue to study prefixes, suffixes, and spelling patterns to improve vocabulary, and will utilize Writer's Workshop to revise, edit, and publish their writing.
Science: Our third science unit of the year is Weather and Climate. While we won't be using the stream tables anymore, we'll still have lots of fun exploring the different factors which affect our local and global weather. Some of the topics we'll be covering include: the water cycle; weather instruments; temperature; air pressure; wind speed and direction; cloud formation; sea breezes; land breezes; and much more! Don't forget to check our classroom website for a study guide containing all the vocabulary words your child should be learning this quarter.
Social Studies: After finishing up our study on the branches of US government, we're switching gears and traveling back in time for a unit on Native Americans. Each student will be researching the native people of a particular region in North America. Using the information they find, students will write, illustrate, and publish their own storybooks about their people group.
For more information on third quarter curriculum, check out the "Curriculum Corner" section of our classroom webpage. I'm looking forward to another successful quarter!
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