Greetings Families!

             Well we have had a fantastic start to the year!  We have kicked off our Lewis and Clark Expedition and are well underway establishing the background knowledge necessary to move into the nitty-gritty of it all.  Right now we are studying the Louisiana Purchase and its historical impact.  Many of the students in class have said that their favorite part of the day is working on the Louisiana Purchase map.  This bodes well, as we will be spending a lot of time in the future on maps!

John representing his group at the board in Expedition.

In math we are diving into the world of rates, ratios, and proportionality.  These skills are critical to acquire, as your child(ren) will be working heavily with rates, ratios, and proportionality throughout all of middle school.  As far as homework goes, I don't assign homework for homework's sake, rather, it is my belief that homework needs to be volitional.  If your child has homework, it is either because it was not finished during the day or there is a need for additional practice.  With that said, I do want each student to start reading out-loud at least 30 minutes each night (this is to help with fluency).

Ivy, Karina, Avery, and Lee discussing the reasoning and methodology behind a rich task problem (this is an in-depth math problem that requires group work)

For literacy instruction we are using the CAFE model.  CAFE stands for Comprehension Accuracy Fluency and Expanded vocabulary.  I have used this model in different grades and different schools, and the result is a student with strong independent reading and writing skills.

Emma and Avery working on CAFE.

 For any additional questions regarding any specifics feel free to email me.  Thanks!


-Mr. MP