We started to learn about trading and value of goods this week as we played a game called Settlers of Catan. IN this game the students need to build roads to build houses and to build cities. To do this they need to collect resources - sheep, wood, bricks, wheat and steel. Since no two games are the same they are finding that scarcity of resources happens more often than they thought and this changes the value of items. We will look at this further as we continue in the unit next week.
Our writing has been two fold but both are literary essays. Students are finishing off the second of their assigned literary essays and starting, as their first homework project, the essay from IN the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson that they have just finished reading. They have until Tuesday morning to complete their planning sheet and on Friday of next week they need to hand in their first draft. The following week they will complete their final draft either on a word processor, hand written or on their blog. All of this is a homework assignment.
Put last math unit for the year is the coordinate plane. This week included a look at designs that can be made from points on a plan, the definition of the x-axis and y-axis and also a look at reading coordinate pairs. Not too much time on it this week but it will pick up next week.
MAP tests are next week on Tuesday (reading), Wednesday (Language) and Thursday (Math). As most of the students in my room have done these before, I am expecting an ease of the testing time. Results should be out prior to the end of the year. For me the results are not too critical since they represent a single snapshot. Hopefully, they should show growth from the start of the year. Students should get lots of sleep and have a good breakfast prior to coming to school to do the MAP tests.
Have a great weekend and enjoy what looks to be good weather.
