NJASK is finally here. We have prepared all year long and now it’s time to assess student’s knowledge on May 7-11. Students will be assessed in Language Arts/Literacy on Monday and Tuesday, Math on Wednesday and Thursday, and Science on Friday.  Students should be punctual and prepared. Please make sure your child gets a good night’s rest, eats a nutritious breakfast, and dresses comfortably.

In Math, we are currently working on Chapter 6: Fraction Equivalence and Comparison. Students learned how to write equivalent fractions, fractions in simplest form, find common denominators, compare fractions using benchmarks, and order fractions.  Next, we will move onto Chapter 7: Adding and Subtracting Fractions. Students will learn how to write fractions as sums and differences, add and subtract fractions using models, rename fractions and mixed numbers, add and subtract mixed numbers, subtract with renaming, fractions and properties of addition, and solve multi-step fraction problems.  As usual, students will have a mid-chapter checkpoint quiz and a chapter test at the end of the chapter. Students should still continue practicing their multiplication and division facts for their weekly Math--ercise assessment.

        We are finishing up Science Chapter 1: Classifying Living Things. Students learned how living things, plants, fungi, and animals are classified. We made models of plant and animal cells using gummy worms, fruit, jellybeans and marshmallows. We will explore plant classification in depth with the investigation titled “Plant Stems.” Students will observe a vascular plant in action.  We will also learn about animal classification. At the end of the month, we will begin Social Studies Unit 3: Progress as a State.

A few reminders for this month are that our class trip to Liberty Science Center is on May 21 and school is closed on May 24, 25, and 28 for the Memorial Day. We are in the home-stretch of the school year. Please keep working hard through the end of the year.