Monday, April 11, 2011

Social Studies

This is the remaining of the framed outline we completed in class on the Mountain States region.  It includes some history as well as economic information.  Students should be able to fill in the blanks. 

3.       Women Fight for Their Rights (History)
a.       For much of our country’s history, _____________________, _________________  ___________________, and _____________________  ______________________ could not vote.
b.      __________________  ____________  ___________________, _________________  __________________, and other women led the fight for women’s _________________ for over 50 years beginning in the mid 1800s.
c.       The women spoke a lot in the ____________________  ___________________ region where both _________________ and ____________________ were open to new ideas.
d.      ______________________ was the first state to give women the right to vote.  Many of the __________________ hoped it would encourage women to ______________ there.
e.      In ______________, Congress passed the ____________________  _________________ to the Constitution allowing women’s suffrage across the U.S.
f.        Women continued to fight for ____________________ and in 1924 Wyoming voted for the first woman _____________________________.

4.       The Mountain States Today (Economy)
a.       There are few large ____________________ in the Mountain States.  ___________________ and ___________________________ are the largest.
b.      Much of the region is public land.  It is _________________, __________________, and ___________________ by the government.
c.       The ____________________  _________________ and surrounding area provide varied _____________________ that attract people to it.
d.      ___________________ and ____________________ are the most important industries in the region.
e.      Much of the region’s tourism comes from outdoor recreation, including _________________, __________________  _________________, and _____________.


Friday, April 8, 2011

Paragraph Assessment

Students will be starting their 2nd paragraph assessment of the year next week.  I will be grading on different aspects of writing, including:
  • Voice
  • Word Choice
  • Conventions
  • Presentation
  • Organization
  • Ideas and Content
  • Sentence Fluency
These are the types of paragraphs that have been discussed.

Type of Paragraph
What is it?
Procedural
Tells how to do something- uses time order words
Descriptive
Describes something- uses strong, colorful, dramatic details
Persuasive
Shaped to persuade or convince the reader of the writer’s opinion
Informative
Provides information and explanation about a subject
Compare and Contrast
Compares how two things are alike and different

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Framed Outline for Social Studies (continued)

1.       Mining in the Mountains (Natural Resources)
a.       _________________ provide lumber and rivers and streams supply ______________.
b.      _________________  ______________ is a resource that is drilled in the Rockies.
c.       Dark blue gemstones called ___________________ are mined.
d.      There is a rich supply of _________________.
e.      The most valuable metal found in the Rocky Mountains is ____________________ but many other metals are mined as well.
f.        During _________________ copper ore is placed in a __________________ and heated to very high temperatures until it melts.  The heavy copper sinks to the _________________ and the top layer called _________________ is taken off.
g.       The Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah is an open pit mine and is the ____________________ mine in the world.

Chapter 10: History and Economy of the Mountain States
1.       The Shoshone (History)
a.       The Shoshone and The Bannock are known as the _________________  _________________ and the Snake River is named for them.
b.      In the mid 1800s, many settlers began arriving in search of ________________ and in the process took lots of grassland and hunted lots of __________________.
c.       ___________________  __________________ of the Shoshone did not believe in fighting with the settlers so he helped the U.S. Army against other tribes.
d.      The U.S. government returned the chief’s help by signing the _______________  __________________  _______________ which established the Fort Hall Reservation for the Shoshone Indians.
e.      Because of the treaty, the Shoshone did not have to ______________ from their land. 
f.        Today, the Shoshone share the reservation with the ___________________  _________________ and equally rule it with two separate ____________________.

2.       Exploration and Boom Towns (History)
a.       The U.S. doubled in size when it bought land from France known as the _______________________  ______________________.
b.      President Jefferson chose _________________ and _________________ to lead an _____________________ to explore the unknown territory.
c.       _____________________, a Shoshone, helped guide and translate on the expedition.
d.      The discovery of ___________________ in 1859 brought a rush of people to the region.
e.      When the gold ran out, people left leaving many _______________  _______________.
f.        In 1869, two railroad tracks met at __________________  ________________ forming the first ________________________________ railroad.  It provided ___________________ and ________________ travel.
g.       Building the railroad was hard and many ______________________ immigrants died from the dangerous conditions.  The railroad also changed life for ___________________  ____________________ because workers killed off much of the _______________________ population.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Anthology Vocabulary

This is our new vocabulary for the story, Sing to the Stars.
Key Vocabulary
Definition
Sentence
Boycott
(p.542)
A refusal to buy from a company
“That was the Montgomery Bus Boycott.  And the boycott worked.  We finally won- without fighting.”
Civil rights (movement)
(p.544)
Referring to the legal privileges every American citizen is guaranteed
“Dr. King became a great leader of the civil rights movement.”
Fare
(p.541)
The money a person must pay to travel, as on a bus or subway
“First, we’d get on at the front of the bus, pay our fare, and get off.”
Protest
(p.542)
To express strong feelings against something
“We wanted to protest her arrest and get the same rights that white people had.”
Stupendous
(p.547)
Amazing
“What you were a kid, did you ever do something really stupid that turned out to be stupendous instead.”

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Math Vocabulary

Students have learned the following vocabulary in math.  You can ask your child to explain them to you more in detail.
  • fraction- a symbol that names a part of a whole, a part of a set, or a location on a number line
  • numerator- the top number in a fraction; it tells how many parts are shown
  • denominator- the bottom number in a fraction; it tells the total number of equal parts the whole is divided into
  • region- a figure that is divided into equal parts
  • set- a group of objects that have something in common
  • benchmark fraction- a simple fraction that is easy to visualize
  • equivalent fractions- fractions that name the same part of a whole

Monday, April 4, 2011

Social Studies Lessons 1 and 2

Students should be able to fill in the following blanks with information we have learned in Social Studies.
Chapter 9: Environment of the Mountain States
1.       The Rocky Mountains (Geography)
a.       The Mountain States are located west of the ______________   _______________and east of the states bordering the _____________  _________________.  The states are ____________________, _________________________, _________________________, ______________________, and ___________________.
b.      The Rocky Mountains are referred to as the “_______________” and are known for ___________________ mountain ranges with deep ___________________.
c.       There are a variety of animals that live in the Rockies including ___________________, ________________________, and _________________________.
d.      Plant life changes depending on the __________________________.
e.      Yellowstone National Park is the ___________________ national park in the U.S. and contains some hot springs called ____________________.
f.        The _______________________  ___________________ separates rivers that flow east from rivers that flow west.
g.       Ancient people known as the _______________ or ______________  _______________ lived in Mesa Verde where they built their homes under overhanging cliffs.

2.       Snowy Peaks (Climate)
a.       As elevation increases temperature gets ___________________ and there is more ___________________________.
b.      Much of the precipitation in the Rockies falls as ______________.
c.        All high mountains have a _______________________ above which it is too cold for trees to grow.
d.      ___________________ trees are twisted and bent to help them survive lower _______________________ and harsh ______________________.
e.      The ______________  ____________  _______________ is the largest inland body of ______________  ______________ in the Western Hemisphere because water flows into it but not out so ______________ are trapped in it.  
f.        The Great Salt Lake is saltier than the __________________.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Anthology

Yesterday, students completed a short story flow chart on the story, Sing to the Stars.  They had to answer the following components.  See if your child can fill in the blanks.
  • Title, Author
  • Favorite Character, What he or she like?
  • Where did the story happen?
  • What happened? Beginning, Middle, End
  • What will happen next?
  • What was your favorite part?
  • What was something you learned?
  • How well did you like the story?  Why?