Friday, November 19, 2010
Week in Review Nov. 15th-19th
ELOQUENCE DAY
The $5 for Eloquence Day was due today. There many students who still need to turn this in. I sent home a reminder note today as well. If you want to volunteer, you will also need to send in the tan sheet.
THANKSGIVING BREAK:
Don't forget that there is no school from Thursday Nov. 25 - Tuesday Nov. 30!
Writing: Students have finished their Biographies. I will have them graded and returned next week. Monday each person used the internet to research a different Native American tribe. Now that we have our information, I have been discussing and modeling writing topic sentences with appropriate details, using varied sentences structure, and writing inviting introductions.
Reading: The class completed their book report projects. Each student had to decide on the 6 most important events that would give the "gist" of their novel. This is a difficult concept, particularly with novels. We have practiced using picture books and will continue to work on this skill. We also have been working with non-fiction in our Comprehension Toolkit to review and strengthen comprehension strategies.
Math: I am very proud of my class and their hard work in math. They all did very well on the chapter 3 test covering division! They are choosing to slow down and check work over. We began chapter 4 which also covers division. This week we have learned to divide by multiples of 10 and began dividing by 2-digit divisors. This requires kids to learn strategies to help them decide how many times a 2 digit number can be divided into larger numbers. This concept can be difficult at first. They seemed to enjoy the challenge today!
Science: We have begun our new unit, Forces and Motion. This is a long but very fun unit. We will be arm wrestling, designing a roller coaster, playing tug-of-war, and designing and testing paper airplanes just to name a few activities- and ten I have to be remind them that there is a point to all this fun!
This week we have been designing a system to cause a marble to go as sow as it can down a slanted table. We talked about friction, speed, direction, obstacles, gravity, and forces. Students made revisions and we tested today again.
The $5 for Eloquence Day was due today. There many students who still need to turn this in. I sent home a reminder note today as well. If you want to volunteer, you will also need to send in the tan sheet.
THANKSGIVING BREAK:
Don't forget that there is no school from Thursday Nov. 25 - Tuesday Nov. 30!
Writing: Students have finished their Biographies. I will have them graded and returned next week. Monday each person used the internet to research a different Native American tribe. Now that we have our information, I have been discussing and modeling writing topic sentences with appropriate details, using varied sentences structure, and writing inviting introductions.
Reading: The class completed their book report projects. Each student had to decide on the 6 most important events that would give the "gist" of their novel. This is a difficult concept, particularly with novels. We have practiced using picture books and will continue to work on this skill. We also have been working with non-fiction in our Comprehension Toolkit to review and strengthen comprehension strategies.
Math: I am very proud of my class and their hard work in math. They all did very well on the chapter 3 test covering division! They are choosing to slow down and check work over. We began chapter 4 which also covers division. This week we have learned to divide by multiples of 10 and began dividing by 2-digit divisors. This requires kids to learn strategies to help them decide how many times a 2 digit number can be divided into larger numbers. This concept can be difficult at first. They seemed to enjoy the challenge today!
Science: We have begun our new unit, Forces and Motion. This is a long but very fun unit. We will be arm wrestling, designing a roller coaster, playing tug-of-war, and designing and testing paper airplanes just to name a few activities- and ten I have to be remind them that there is a point to all this fun!
This week we have been designing a system to cause a marble to go as sow as it can down a slanted table. We talked about friction, speed, direction, obstacles, gravity, and forces. Students made revisions and we tested today again.
Friday, November 12, 2010
SPELLING CITY-
Your child can now get on the following website: www.spellingcity.com to practice our spelling words for upcoming tests and play spelling games! There is also typing and other skills.
I have shown the kids how to do this, but here are the directions.
Go to the site address.
Click on "Find a list".
Enter "Maxson" in the search box. Several Maxsons will come up.
Click on "Robin Maxson".
Click on the lesson you'd like-(Monday's test will be over lesson 8)
Your child can then play games, take a practice test, etc. Very fun!
Hope it's helpful and that your child enjoys it!
I have shown the kids how to do this, but here are the directions.
Go to the site address.
Click on "Find a list".
Enter "Maxson" in the search box. Several Maxsons will come up.
Click on "Robin Maxson".
Click on the lesson you'd like-(Monday's test will be over lesson 8)
Your child can then play games, take a practice test, etc. Very fun!
Hope it's helpful and that your child enjoys it!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Penny War
IT’S WAR!!
(A Penny War)
Purpose: A fundraiser for our absolutely awesome end-of-the-year
Field Trip to the Saugatuk Dunes- dune ride, lunch, games…
When: The Penny War will be December 1st-3rd
These are the ONLY days pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
can be brought in to be put into the classroom jars.
How it works:
Each class has a large jug for change.
Your child’s class ONLY WANTS PENNIES in their own classroom’s jar. Each penny counts as a point for their class.
Your child’s class is competing against the other two classes for points.
When your child puts a nickel, dime, or quarter in another class’s jug, it TAKES POINTS AWAY from the competing classroom.
The class with the most points wins! We will have a prize for the winning class. All classes win in the end because we have the money needed for the field trip!
Beginning right now, students in each class can begin saving change, maybe doing extra jobs to earn change from family members, etc.
We will post this information to the blogs-this will be the only note home except for a reminder before Thanksgiving!
Thank you,
Mrs. Maxson
Mrs. Blowers
Mrs. Chateau
Friday November 12
Thursday we discussed Veteran's Day and how it became a holiday. We had a minute of silence and then went outside at 11:11 to make some noise like everyone did on the original Armistice Day-which became Veteran's Day later.
HOMEWORK:
Each student has the rest of their guided reading book to complete this weekend along with a couple of short activities. I have also assigned math. All of this is due on Monday.
Reading: We will complete our guided reading session next Wednesday. We will then be moving on to non-fiction texts until Thanksgiving break.
Writing: Students will be completing their biography pieces by next Tuesday. We will then begin writing reports over American Indian tribes. We'll practice researching, note taking, and appropriate format. I hope to have these completed by Thanksgiving.
Math: The Chapter 3 test will be Thursday. We have been reviewing multiplication this week. Prime factorization and order of operations were also focus areas. We will review Monday, compete the study guide Tuesday, and review the completed guide Wednesday to study. The study guide will come home Wednesday.
Science: Students took the Objects in the Sky unit test on Thursday. We will begin Forces and Motion on Monday.
HOMEWORK:
Each student has the rest of their guided reading book to complete this weekend along with a couple of short activities. I have also assigned math. All of this is due on Monday.
Reading: We will complete our guided reading session next Wednesday. We will then be moving on to non-fiction texts until Thanksgiving break.
Writing: Students will be completing their biography pieces by next Tuesday. We will then begin writing reports over American Indian tribes. We'll practice researching, note taking, and appropriate format. I hope to have these completed by Thanksgiving.
Math: The Chapter 3 test will be Thursday. We have been reviewing multiplication this week. Prime factorization and order of operations were also focus areas. We will review Monday, compete the study guide Tuesday, and review the completed guide Wednesday to study. The study guide will come home Wednesday.
Science: Students took the Objects in the Sky unit test on Thursday. We will begin Forces and Motion on Monday.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Important Dates to Remember!
-November 9: Fundraiser Money Due
- November 16: Donuts with Dad
- November 17: 5th Grade Release Time
-November 19: Parent volunteer form for Eloquence Day is due
-November 25-30: Thanksgiving Break
-December 3rd: $5 for Eloquence Day is due
Eloquence Day
On Friday you should have received a note about Eloquence Day. This event will be on December 17th.
If you would like to volunteer for Meal Preparation, Servers, and Clean-up, please return the brown slip to school.
Students will need to bring $5 to cover the cost of the meal. Please let me know if this is an issue so we can take care of it for you.
Contact Mrs. Wolfram 751-7013 with questions.
Week of November 1st
Last week was very different with me being out of the room for 3 days! We've had to spend some time regrouping and making sure everybody has what they need. I've given extra time for some assignments as it can get confusing having a substitute that many days.
I appreciate the students' cooperation with our substitute!
I appreciate the students' cooperation with our substitute!
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