Week of March 21st to 28th

SAVE THE DATE!
Please save Friday, June 3 for our field trip to Saugatuck for a dune ride, hike to Lake Michigan, lunch and a time of celebration!!
(Monday, June 6 is the rain date) Any parents who wish to join us are welcome, however, you MUST be registered with the WISH volunteer program. If you have not yet signed up with WISH for the current school year, you must do so prior to MAY 3. Forms can be found in the front entrance of our school. More information will be sent home after Spring Break.


Music Performance- Monday March 28th
The 3rd - 5th grade students will be having their music performance this coming Monday night at the high school auditorium.  The students need to be there by 6:45 with their recorders.  They will need to be dressed in nice clothing (Sunday Best)! 

UPCOMING DATES:

-  March 28:  3rd-5th Music Program at the High School

-  March 30: Hawaiian/ Beach Day, Ch. 8 Math Test

- April 1 - 8: Spring Break!!!

Spelling Test

 The tests are on Monday as usual. We have been studying homographs. I have been telling the students that if they are frequently missing 3-4 words or more, they should be studying the words on Spelling City.


Math:
We completed the Chapter 8 study guide and we will continue to review for the Chapter 8 math test (Fraction operations) which is on Wednesday. Students should take the study guide home on Monday
and study this.  


Reading: 
Students have finished reading their biographies and have been working on activities to demonstrate what they have learned. They will present their biography information on Monday and Tuesday. They are aware that activities are to be completed this weekend.


Writing:
We are wrapping up our most recent writing project. Monday and Tuesday, students will complete editing, revising, and final drafts. Wednesday and Thursday they will present their writing to the class.


Science:
We will conclude our Forces and Motion unit on Wednesday with the test. We have already done the study guide. Students are supposed to be studying in class ans we will study during science. They should bring the study guide home on Tuesday night and study that evening as well. Our next science unit is "Systems". We will be studying human body systems briefly and then ecosytems. We'll be getting hermit crabs and tree frogs to study and care for. I will send a permission note home in May for students who wish to bring one home. The note will include materials needed to care for the critter and how to care for it.  If more students want animals than the amount I have, we'll have a drawing.


Reproductive Health will begin after spring break. You will be receiving a note next week about this.

Week of March 14-18

Upcoming Dates:
March 22nd: Author visit-Sue Stauffacher
March 25th: Family Fun Night
March 28th: 3rd-5th grade music program
March 28th & 29th: Book Swap
March 30th: Hawaiian/Beach Day

Music program: Students in the program should be at the stage by 6:45.

Author Visit: Students will hear from author Sue Stauffacher next Tuesday from 1:30-2:30.

READING  and Puppets

We will begin reading biographies in class on Monday and the kids have been making a puppet in art in the likeness of their topic. The last day of art class to work on these was Friday. Some students need to finish these at home- some paint, material for clothing, etc. They can also take a little spare class time for this as well, if needed. I had them take them home on Friday to finish and keep there for now because of space in the classroom. I would like them to have their puppet to present on Monday, March 28th along with their information about their biography subject. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

MATH:

We took the chapter 7 (fractions) test on Friday. The test will come home next week. I like to review the test with each student and didn't have the opportunity on Friday. We continue to work in Chapter 8 (fractional operations). We will take this test Tuesday Mar. 29th.

SCIENCE:
Our forces and motion unit is wrapping up. This week we discussed forces and motion of roller coasters. We read an informational book, and then each student was able to try a site on the computer that allowed them to design a roller coaster keeping in mind the importance of momentum, a lift hill, exit path and hill shape. Their roller coaster had to get a thumbs up rating for safety and fun! After they tried this for awhile, I let them spend a little time playing a roller coaster game on another site.
 Monday we'll be designing our own roller coasters in class. I will be spending plenty of time reviewing for the test (Wednesday March 30th) as this is such along unit.  

WRITING:
We continue to work on a piece of writing focusing on voice, word choice, and point of view. Students  are writing about a situation based off of a book we read. Students were able to choose to write a news report, a talk show interview, another scene like one from the book, or a conversation between 2 characters. They'll present these next week.

Week of Feb. 28th - March 4th

- March 2:     Sports Day

- March 10:   Family Reading Night Event (6:30 - 8)
- March 11 - 14: No School

- March 16:   Favorite Character Day

- March 25:   PTO Family Fun Night

  March 30:   Hawaiian/Beach Day 

Please remember! Turn in your $7 for your Track and Field Day shirt!
I know there are many trips, etc. this year to pay for. If this is an issue for you, please contact me by phone, note, or email!

FYI: Charleton Park is our next field trip. Mrs. Maxson's and Chateau's classes will be going on March 31st while our class will be going with the Sandyview 5th grade on April 20th. They can only accommodate 2 classes at a time.

Middle School Principal, Mr. Smith, came in to visit on Friday. He showed us a video of a day in the life of a 6th grader that was very informative. Students who have returned their yellow slip will also be going to visit the middle school on March 17th! This will be fun and informative and certainly relieves some of the anxiety students tend to have. They will receive a snack, a tour and information, and there will be some fun activities such as inflatables! 

READING: 
We continue reading and discussing the novel, The Fighting Ground. Students are enjoying this historical fiction piece set during the Revolutionary War, a topic they are also learning about in social studies. We work on reading and comprehension strategies and skills, vocabulary, grammar, and dictionary skills.


MATH: 
We have begun our next unit covering fractions - Chapter 8. We will take the Chapter 7 test over fractions on March 18th. Chapter 7 concepts such as simplifying fractions, changing improper fractions to mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, and finding a common factors are required in Chapter 8 giving students more opportunity to practice for the Chapter 7 test.
In Chapter 8 so far, we have learned to add/subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators as well as practice finding the LCM, or least common denominator.


MATH RTI- Each student is working on specific skills in fractions they continue to need to practice. Students that already are confident in these skills are working in other areas.


SCIENCE:
This week we discussed magnetism and contact and non-contact forces. Most movement/work requires some kind of contact force. But there are also non-contact forces such as gravity and magnetism. Students performed an experiment that showed a non-contact magnetic force- they were able to "float" a paper clip in air using a bar magnet. Then I was very impressed to watch as students were able to come up with other ideas to show this force. We also played a game I have called "Jishaku" (sounds like "just shock you").
This game uses magnetic "rocks". If you're looking for a new game at home- they love this one!


WRITING:
We have worked on brochures this week that either persuade others to join the patriots or persuade others to move to the colonies. Students were to use some historically accurate information for these. Students know brochures are due on Monday.


SPELLING:
The spelling test will be Monday. We have reviewed adding suffixes to base words, in particular
-s and -es.