Ready, Set, … Watch! (European Explorers Lap...

FactMonster: Hernando Cortéz, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake #2, Sebastián Vizcaíno

MSN Encarta: Hernando Cortéz, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Sir Francis Drake, Sebastián Vizcaíno

Other Sites: Early California Explorers, Hernando Cortéz, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Sir Francis Drake, Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno, Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno #2, Sebastián Vizcaíno

Don’t forget to use your textbooks too!

SWAT + Geometry Park...

There’s nothing like a fun game of SWAT coupled with renditions of “Geometry Park” (see, quotation marks around songs)!

One Week Left: Trimester Two Testing ’09!...

Please look over the following essential standards and review each with your child! I have chosen one online review for each standard. If you have any questions about the content of the test, send a note via the contact form. Remember, benchmark tests are used to “take a snapshot in time”. They are done in accordance with trimesters up to the point of state testing, not necessarily the end of the school year. For this reason, please keep in mind that if your student is low in a particular area, it is simply a reminder that this is an area to focus on before fourth grade is over. Standards need to be met in order to be prepared for fifth grade and beyond, not used as a micromanaging of specific months. Standards are consistently reviewed and practiced. Okay, off my soapbox!

English/Language Arts – Second Trimester

• I am able to figure out the meaning of words or phrases by using word origins, synonyms, and antonyms. Wordworks
• I am able to use root words to define unknown words in my reading. Short Circuit
• I can compare and contrast information on a topic after I have read several articles on the topic. Compare and Contrast (click on Skip Intro, then Number 42)
• I can identify the main events of a story and tell how each affected the future action in the story. Summarize As You Read
• I can combine short sentences into more interesting sentences using adjectives, adverbs, and phrases to describe. Combining Sentences
• I can use commas, quotations marks, and parentheses correctly. I can use apostrophes in contractions and to show ownership. Punctuation Paintball
• I can correctly spell root words, with prefixes and suffixes, and use this skill to spell longer words. Spelling with Suffixes

Mathematics – Second Trimester

• I can write decimals in tenths and hundredths and show that common fractions have equivalent decimals. [Four to memorize: 1/4=0.25, 1/2=0.50, 3/4=0.75, 4/4=1.0. For the remainder, read the number aloud, and it will be easy to write its equal. For example, 1 2/10=1.2, 34 5/100=34.05, 16 3/10=16.3] Comparing Fractions and Decimals
  
• I can solve a division problem dividing a multi-digit number by a one-digit number. [DMSBR - Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down, Remainder] Snork’s Long Division
• I can understand and identify prime numbers. [Prime Number: A number with only two factors, one and itself. For example, 13 is prime because the only factors that make up 13 are 13x1. 15 is not prime because it has more than two factors - 15x1 and 5x3. 2 is the only even prime number. 0 and 1 are not considered prime.] Prime Numbers
• I can measure rectangles using the correct units (area). [Area = Length x Width] Area and Perimeter
• I can identify parallel and perpendicular lines. [Parallel: Never touching, always the same distance apart. Intersecting: Touching. Perpendicular: Intersecting/Touching at 90* exactly.] Lines
• I can identify the radius and diameter of a circle. [Diameter: A line that extends from one end of a circle to the other, while passing through the center of the circle. D=Rx2. Radius: A line that extends form the center of a circle to its outer edge. R=D/2.] Matho (all geometry terms)
• I can tell when figures are congruent. [Congruent = Same size, same shape.] Congruent Concentration
• I can identify the different types of triangles and can tell how they are different. [Triangles are identified by sides and by angles. Angles: Acute (All angles are less than 90*), Obtuse (One angle is greater than 90*), Right (One angle is 90* exactly). Sides: Scalene (no sides are the same length), Isosceles (two sides are the same length), Equilateral (all sides are the same length).] Identifying Triangles Based on Their Sides/Identifying Types of Triangles by Angles
• I can identify the different types of quadrilaterals and can tell how they are different. [Quadrilateral: A shape with four (and only four) straight sides. There are five types of quadrilaterals to review. Square: Four congruent sides, four right angles. Rectangle: Two pairs of congruent sides, four right angles. Rhombus: Four congruent sides, no right angles. Parallelogram: Two pairs of congruent sides, no right angles. Trapezoid: Only one pair of parallel sides, no right angles.] Quadrilateral Quest

California’s Native Americans – Ch. 2 ...

Just a reminder that our Chapter Two Social Studies test will take place next Thursday, January 22nd. The following sites are fantastic tools for study, as are our blue notebooks and our textbook. Inside our blue notebook, we have written the definitions to all the needed vocabulary, summary paragraphs for each lesson, as well as guideline notes for each chapter guideline. Thoroughly study the vocabulary and guideline notes, and you’ll do just fine. You’ve got to STUDY!

Chapter Two Study Guideline Notes (also found in the front of your notebook)

Matching Game Vocabulary Practice: First CA’s/ North Coast Region, S. Coast/ Cent. Valley/ Desert Tribes

Native Californian Cultures (Great photographs of California Native American artifacts)

The First Californians (links to information about each tribe)

Mid January ’09: Topics-of-Study...

Language Arts: Paragraph Writing, Apostrophes and Parentheses, Compare and Contrast, Main Ideas, Review of Synonyms/Antonyms + Prefixes/Root Words/Suffixes

• Step Up to Writing (notes)
• Punctuation Marks (notes), Power Proofreading, Punctuation Paintball (games)
• Compare/Contrast Guide (notes), Compare/Contrast Essay Helper
• Main Idea, Reading Nonfiction (movies), Summarize As You Read (review practice)
• Same Difference, Synonyms, Squanky the Tooth Taker: Quiet Quest for Opposites, Squanky the Tooth Taker: Tooth Tally (all games), Synonyms and Antonyms (movie)
• Root Words, Word Parts (all notes), Root Words, Prefixes Say Plenty (review practice), Rooting Out Words (game)

Mathematics: Long Division, Prime Numbers, Quadrilaterals, Triangles, Review of Two-Digit Multiplication + Area

• Long Division Lesson (sample problems), Snork’s Long Division (review practice), Math Baseball, Sum Sense (division fact games) [Divide (Dad), Multiply (Mom), Subtract (Sister), Bring Down (Brother), Remainder (Rover)]
• Prime Numbers (notes), Prime Numbers, Prime Factorization [use factor trees] (notes/review practice), Grid Game (game)
• Quadrilaterals (notes), Quadrilateral Quest, Quadrilaterals Memory Game
• Matho* (review of all geometry terms)
• Triangles (notes), Identifying Triangles Based on Their Sides, Identifying Types of Triangles by Angles (review practice)
• Two-Digit Multiplication (notes), Two Digit Steps (review practice)
• Area and Perimeter, Measuring the Area and Perimeter (review practice), CyberChase, Everyday Area, Find the Area (games)

Social Studies: Chapter Two – California’s Indians (Native Americans) [ending soon]

• Study Guideline Notes — Chapter Two, Textbook Enrichment
• First CA’s/North Coast Region, S. Coast/Cent. Valley/Desert Tribes (all vocabulary practice)
• The First Californians, Native Californian Cultures

Science: Chapter Three – Rocks and Minerals

• Chapter Three Resources (vocabulary practice, movies, etc.)
• If Rocks Could Talk, What is a Mineral?, Minerals in Your House, Mohs’ Drill, Who Am I? (rock types), Rock Cycle + Game

January 2009 Newsletter...

PDF: January 2009 – English

PDF: January 2009 – Spanish

Content: Month’s Study Topics/Home Tips, Online Guestbook, Trimester Two Testing, DonorsChoose

Correction: By the Great Horn Spoon should read Island of the Blue Dolphins! I’m getting a little ahead of myself!