October 5th - 9th 

General Announcements:	Picture orders are due next Friday, October 16th. We are collecting Box Tops. This is an awesome way for us to raise money for our classrooms! Please save box tops as you get them and send them in! There will be no school on Monday, October 12th. If you would like to schedule a conference with us on that day, please let us know. All conferences will be before noon and are not required. Remember to frequently check your child’s grades in iNow. Wednesday, October 14th, Report Cards will be coming home. Earthsavers Science club is collecting gently used shoes throughout the month of October. Send in any shoes you would like to donate.
Language Arts:	This week will be a reading week. We will be reading “The Roots of Southern Food” and looking for Main Idea and Details. We will have a reading and vocabulary quiz Friday. Reading Logs are due Wednesday. Please make sure you are signing your child’s reading log. McNiel Homeroom Southern Food Sign Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0F4CABAF29A6FC1-mcniel Ponder Homeroom Southern Food Sign Up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4cabaf29a6fc1-mcniel1
Social Studies:	This week we will begin our study of the Colonies. We will be looking at the Mayflower voyage, why early settlers came to America and what life was like in New England.
Math:	This week we are practicing the partial quotients strategy for division. We are also reviewing multiplication, Order of Operations, and lots of computation and word problem involving all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). Our Unit Test is this Friday.  It will be worth 100 points (There are 20 problems).  The only math homework this week will be to complete the Unit 1 study guide came home today.  It  is due Wednesday. Due to technical difficulties at school- EXTRA time is being given for the IXL activities that were due today (IXL Level G: C17, C23, D3, and D4). These are the only IXL activities for this week!
Science:	As a culminating activity for our unit, we are working on a project to model the interactions of Earth’s  four spheres. Students may choose to work with a partner or independently.  A grade will be given for both the model they create and the explanation  they give of sphere interactions in their chosen ecosystem.  Please go to our class blog under science resources  http://mcnielponder.blogspot.com/p/science.html to see project directions and the grading rubric. I have also provided websites to use for their research.   The project is due this Friday, and is worth 50 points.