Language Arts

What are we learning?

• We are evaluating character development against our  own experiences to create new understandings about life lessons.
• We as writers are developing the conflict of our stories by placing true-to-life characters into a historical context. 
• We are continuing to use a variety of context clues strategies to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Home/School Connection

• Ask about how “Chase” is rebuilding who he is as a person in our book Restart.
• Inquire about your student’s realistic historical character in their writing. 
• What Revolutionary war event is your story built around?
• How does using background knowledge help you to better understand what you are reading?

Math

What are we learning?

• We are multiplying and dividing fractions and mixed numbers.
• We are solving single-step and multistep practical problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions and mixed numbers

Home/School Connection

• How  can you use pictures to multiply and divide fractions and whole numbers?
• How can you break apart a word problem to make it more manageable?

Social Studies

What are we learning?

• Students will be analyzing and interpreting Native American artifacts (primary sources) to learn about the lifestyles of ancient settlements, including Cactus Hill in Virginia.
• Students will describe how the environment and resources of the Native Americans impacted their daily lives, making connections between the past and present.
• Students will describe and analyze the motivations, obstacles, and land claims of the Spanish, French, Portugese, and English explorations and their interactions with the Native Americans.

Home/School Connection

• How can artifacts help you learn about people of the past?
• What can your artifacts tell others about you and your lifestyle?  Look around your personal environment (and even your trash) to see what stories it will tell about you?
• What can the stories of Native Americans and explorers teach us about the past and present?  What have we learned from them? 
• How have today’s technological advancements  impacted current exploration of the world (think astronomy)?  What model could you make to show your thinking?

AAP Content

What are we learning?

Systems Are Influenced by Other Systems:  Human Migration and Settlement

• In this unit, students demonstrate skills for historical thinking and geographical analysis to understand how early cultures developed in North America and the cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to cooperation and conflict between systems

Proportions & Linear Relationships

• In this unit, students develop proportional reasoning by noticing the multiplicative relationships between numbers in various contexts such as unit rate, scale models, and percent applications. 
• Students work to solve problems involving tips, tax, and discounts.

Home/School Connection

• How can you solve problems involving scales and scale models?
• Practice converting between fractions, decimals, & percents
• Students should practice finding tax, tip, and discounts on items purchased as a family.
• What are the causes and effects of conflicts that take place between groups within systems?
• How do systems change?