Tornado Talk

Baby chicks coming SOON! The incubation process has begun! Our little kindergarten scientists will check their eggs on a daily basis to make sure the incubation process is working. We can’t wait to see how many will hatch!

In ELA we are reading and learning about Fairy Tales and the sun, moon, and planets. We will continue to look at the Details of both fiction and non-fiction and how to retell and give details. Our writing focus is narrative writing and writing about information we have learned. In Phonics we continue to review short and long vowels and some of the vowel combinations. Reading fluency continues to be a big focus. We are trying to make our reading sound like talking.

In math we are learning about shapes and their different attributes and making large shapes by using small shapes. Next we start on our last unit in math, adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers up to 99.

In Science we will be studying space systems, learning details about the sun, moon, stars, and planets. In social studies we are looking at how different parts of the world and climates effect how homes are built.

Second grade will be reading about American pioneers and learning about prefixes. We will be focusing on opinion writing and perfecting the writing process. In math, we have been laying the groundwork for students to learn about measurement, time and money. We are happy to have all the kids back from spring break and look forward to finishing the year strong! Happy Spring!

Happy April! In our second to last month, third grade is going to be busy. We are on our last unit for reading talking about civics, government, and responsibility. We began talking about many historical figures who fought for the rights of people. We will continue by talking about the role of government. Students will be working on another opinion writers and continuing to learn how to write a strong opinion piece.

In math, we are learning about word problems, geometry, and area. This is our final unit of the year! It will continue through May, and we have some fun things planned for in-class learning opportunities.

Our social studies unit is working alongside our reading unit. We are talking about government, its role and structure, and how we can be good citizens. We hope to have a few guest speakers to discuss our local government with students.

As we have mentioned a few times, April is our State Assessment month. We will have our reading assessment on April 12 and 13, and our math assessment April 18 and 19. Please make sure your student is in attendance those days, otherwise they will have to make the assessment up on a later date. Other ways you can help your student are: make sure they get to bed at a decent time and get a good nights’ rest; encourage them to eat breakfast (either at home or school); talk to them about the assessment and remind them to do their best!

Thank you for a great year, we are looking forward to the last couple of months with your third graders!

Mrs. Stefan, Mrs. Carmona, Miss Connolly

April is going to be a busy month for us! We have state assessments for reading April 13th & April 14th. Math state assessments will be April 20th and April 21st. We are also taking our trip to the Salt Mine Museum in Hutchinson on April 5th. Arrival back to Northwest may be closer to 4 PM. We will update you on talking points when our estimated arrival will be on our way back home.

Math: -We will be completing Module 6 and Module 4. In Module 6 we will be covering Topic A: Exploration of Tenths, Topic B: Tenths and Hundredths, Topic C: Decimal Comparison, Topic D: Addition with Tenths and Hundredths, and Topic E: Money amounts as decimal numbers. In Module 4 we will be covering Topic A: Lines and Angles, and Topic B: Angle Measurement, Topic C: Problem Solving with the Addition of Angle Measures, Topic D: Two-Dimensional Figures and Symmetry.

Reading: We will be continuing- Unit 4 Module A and B. The emphasis of this module is that readers will be able to understand the elements of narrative texts and how to use them to determine the theme of a story. Writers will understand that they can draw evidence from literary texts to analyze and reflect on story elements. For our performance based assessment, students will write a short story about a character who solves a problem or overcomes a challenge with an innovative solution.

Social Studies: In our unit this quarter, students will recognize and evaluate how limited resources require choices. They will analyze the concepts of opportunity cost and cost-benefit in the context of choices made in Kansas and another region and draw conclusions about these choices. Students will examine how natural, capital, and human resources are used in the production of goods and services. They will analyze the roles of consumer, producer, saver, investor, and entrepreneur. Students will examine the reasons for economic specialization and how that leads to trade between regions of the United States. They will trace the production, distribution, and consumption of a particular good in the state and regions. Students will describe how a market economy works in the United States and consider the role of the government in the market economy.

Science: In out unit this month, our focus will be Energizing Everything. In this unit, students explore energy. Students investigate how energy is stored, how it can make objects move, and how collisions transfer energy between objects. Students also construct devices that convert energy from one form into another, such as heat into motion and electricity into light.

Thank you for your continued support at home!

-4th grade team (Mrs. Egger, Miss Blankman, and Ms. Gleason)

Spring is finally here. In spring, we get to witness new life starting all around us. Springtime is truly one of the best times of the year. For our fifth-grade students, it is time for them to demonstrate what they have learned so far this year. It is also a time of exploration as they continue to learn about explorers in reading, mapping coordinates in math, using different chemicals in science to create different reactions, and finally, the growth of our new Nation.

State testing will begin, and will continue throughout April. Your students will get the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned this year.

Our first testing will be over Science on April 4, 5 followed with ELA on April 12, 13 and finishing strong with Math on April 18, 19. Your students will want to get plenty of sleep on these days to ensure they can do their best on these tests.

This month your students will be learning more about explorers who discovered new places worldwide. It all starts with the book Explores Triumphs and Troubles by Paul Mason.

We will discuss their successes and failures. We will also talk about how these explorers shaped the world today. Some of the explorers that we will discuss are Marco Polo, Hernan Cortes, and Christopher Columbus. Your students finish this section by writing an opinion paper about exploration's positive or negative aspects.

In math this month, we are learning about coordinate planes. Your students are learning how to plot points using the x-axis and y-axis. Some things you can do at home to help your students develop these skills include playing games like Battleship and teaching them how to read maps. Both of these activities will help your students understand how to find coordinated pairs so that they can plot them.

In science this month, we are learning about chemical reactions. We will talk about different chemicals and their properties. We will start by discovering if the chemical is an acid. Next, we will discover the reaction of vinegar and copper. After that, we will talk about the legend of a great alchemist who claimed he could turn steel into copper. We will repeat the same experiment and determine if we can turn a steel nail into a copper nail.

In social studies this month, we will continue learning about the first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights. We will learn about the growth of a new nation by exploring, going to war to gain territory and signing treaties.

Your students will be very busy this month, and we also hope that they will have fun along the way. That being said your student will be able to tour the middle school to get a feel of what it will be like for next year. Our 5th graders only have 1 more month after this! Keep encouraging your child to work hard and let’s all spread positive energy to everyone around us.

- Mr. Struzik, Miss Ochoa, and Mrs. Whelchel

March has been very busy in the Northwest Library – even though we weren’t in school very much! All the school libraries in Dodge City were lucky enough to receive special funds from the USD#443 Board of Education to place a very large order of new books for our libraries. The first shipment of those wonderful new titles came in just before Spring Break, so Mrs. McDaniel and Mrs. Groth are very busy processing those books so the students can have access to them ASAP! The K-2 grade are gearing up for Spring with lots of great books about bunnies and insects and art projects to match. The 3rd – 5 th grade are learning about online reference sources and researching weather. We also announced the winners of our Read Across America school wide Book Mark Contest. Kindergarten was Aubree Barnes, 1st grade wass Aleena Carmona, 2nd grade was Klover Hawes, 3rd grade was Hannah Morrison, 4th grade was Alex Castillo, and 5th grade was Keidy Garibay. We had so many wonderful entries it was hard to choose! Check our the Northwest Elementary Facebook page, as we will be posting more library news on there frequently