Unit 2 Overview:  Animal Classification

Why is it important to classify animals? 

LITERACY

Use text features to better understand a nonfiction text.  Text features learned aretable of contents

•    heading

•    bold print words

•    photos & captions

•    chart

•    map

•    glossary

•    diagram

WRITING

Focus on informational writing.  Write about the classification of a specific vertebrate from the unit. 

Introduce a topic and provide specific details about that topic while organizing writing and grouping related information.

KNOWLEDGE

Learn about:

•    five vertebrate groups (fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds)

•    characteristics of each group

•    how scientists classify each group

•    vertebrates vs. invertebrates

•    why scientists use classification to identify animals

GRAMMAR & MORPHOLOGY

•    review nouns, verbs, adjectives, subjects, predicates, fragments, and run-on sentences

•    introduction to concrete and abstract nouns and be able to compare them

•    add subjects and predicates to simple sentences to build compound sentences

•    learn the prefixes un- non­ re- and pre-

SPELLING

Review adding suffixes such as -ed, -ing, and -es, as well as whether to double the final consonant when adding the suffixes.

Review alphabetizing to the second and third letter in preparation for learning dictionary skills.

Spelling Tests are slated for 9/24, 10/7, and 10/15. This is lesson 5, 10 and 15.

Unit 2 Notes:  Animal Classification

•        Unit will be full of science exploration and fun.  Students will become zoologists and classify animals by engaging in read aloud and independent readings.

•        Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, add a syllable, and can change the meaning of the word as well as the part of speech.

un- means not (unfair = not fair)

non- means not or lack of {nonfiction = not fiction)

re- means again {reheat = heat it up again)

pre- means before (preheat = heat it up before)

•        Reading every single night is crucial for reading success!

DEFINITIONS

noun:                     person, place, thing or idea

verb:                      action words or linking words

adjective:                words describing a noun

subject:                 who or what a sentence is about

predicate:              what the subject is or does in a sentence

fragment:              a sentence missing a subject or a predicate

run-on sentence:  a sentence that should be broken up into more than one

abstract noun:     a  noun referring to an idea or quality rather than a physical object {i.e. love)

AT-HOME PRACTICE

•       Read a book each night

•       Practice classifying any animal observed in your neighborhood

•       Write a sentence each night and label each part {i.e. subject, noun, etc.)

•       Practice telling about familiar subjects {i.e. Roblox, baseball, etc.) and facts about the topic

SOCIAL STUDIES

Economics Unit

•       In this unit, students will recognize that limited resources require people to make choices to satisfy wants and needs for goods and services for themselves and their communities. Students will examine how a market economy works in their community through buyers and sellers exchanging goods and services.