Week of May 4-8, 2026
*Spring Benchmark Testing takes place this whole week--MAP Reading Monday, AimsWeb Reading Tuesday, MAP Math Wednesday, AimsWeb Math Thursday, and MAP Language Friday. These tests take time, so some of our other subject times will be affected.
*Hat Day Thursday ($1); Pop a Strike fund raiser after 2:00 in the afternoon.
*Our "End-of-the-Year Countdown" continues with each day offering a different activity. See Social Studies below for this week's schedule.
*Track meets on the schedule this week, weather pending.
*WIN Time this week is ELA focused. The last day of WIN will be this Wednesday, but we'll continue to use iXL in the mornings to keep numbers up-to-date.
*Be sure to check-out the photo gallery! I'll keep the pictures on my webpage until July.
*Chess: Chess does meet this week on Wednesday, May 6 (it's the last one). Next year's schedule and permission slip will be available on the tab on my webpage sometime late summer.
May, 2026 monthly newsletter added--Check it out!! Each month, an updated version will be posted that contains general info and is available through a link on the left side of this webpage.
Scott BR Book reading:
Last BR project of the year and the signed bookmark is due Monday, May 4. Throughout the year, the kids have worked so hard on writing ToSEECs, creating compare and contrast, describing characters and theme...so many topics. Kudos to all of them for their hard work! AR reading will still be expected, as tests can be taken until May 15 to count for this quarter. No project to complete--just enjoying a book of their choice!
"In-Class" Reading:
Reading time will move around due to benchmark testing mentioned prior.
This week--We'll write a ToSEEC stating and proving the theme of an article about how feed sack companies changed the design of their fabric bags because they realized families were using the sacks to create clothing during the Great Depression--a smart and friendly business move! Our focus has been this theme: Throughout History, Difficult Times Lead to Perseverance, Resilience, and Transformation; and now our main text has become the novel Out of the Dust. We've been reading the novel in class--it's written like a diary or journal, told from the perspective of Billie Jo--a girl living in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. A great deal of figurative language is used in the novel, so we'll be describing their true connections on the current slideshow.
Ultimately, an essay will be created to support the theme of perseverance, resilience, and transformation, using all the various sources of evidence from the past few weeks.
Scott Math--
Monday: Start a general math review (on paper with a checking slideshow). This will be continued on Tuesday. Independent Work: iXL skill. Tuesday: Together, continue the review started on Monday (volume, distance between points, equations). IW: iXL teacher recommended skills. Wednesday: MAP Math Test and Playground Geometry outside (connected to countdown). IW: none. Thursday: AimsWeb Math Test. IW: none. Friday: Ratio Drawing (connected to countdown). No HW on Fridays.
Language:I
Work as the week starts: the slideshow titled "Pearl City School Rocks!" needs to be finished by just three students.
Next up: "Summer Is..." mini-poems; each poem is about a different fun activity in summer. As with all our writing, there's a parts-of-speech focus: verb phrases, adjectives, adverbs with -ing verbs, and interrogatives for each poem will be needed.
And who doesn't love to think about all the great activities summer offers?? :) Brainstormed ideas are being written on a paper in the classroom and kids will work on this on paper when/if they are done with that day's benchmark test (since choir and band come into play in the afternoon so testing sometimes needs to be paused).
Future writing: My Dream Week, where time and money aren't factors in the choices each day of an ultimate week of events!
Social Studies:
Countdown: Monday-bubbles and bubble gum; Tuesday-Paper airplanes; Wednesday-Playground Geometry (perimeter, area, etc. on the playground); Thursday-Decorate clothespins for backpacks; Friday-Candy/Fruit Snack wrapper ratio drawing (also for math).
Continuing: Civil War information. Two Civil War battles are being researched for locations, casualties, and victors. Eventually, a bar graph will be hand-drawn with casualty totals marked off--each student is writing one of their two battles' totals onto a big poster and kids will use that data; they'll use rulers to measure and draw the lines for the graph--rulers can be tricky for some...
Science:
*Many have Mosaic pictures in Google Slides to finish from last week's countdown--I'll be printing these off in color. These can also be worked-on if testing finishes.
*Self-chosen groups have been creating ads for a fruit or vegetable that contain nutritional info and at least five strategies.
*We'll finish determining the life stages of stars by reading information that can be turned into a graphic organizer.
Also, constellations will be researched.