Week of April 25th - 28th

Important Dates:
May 3rd:     Muffins with Mom 
May 3rd:     High School band comes to perform for 5th grade students
May 13th:   5th Grade Track & Field Day

TRACK and FIELD DAY:
Our class has already chosen their events and they are practicing! A note went home with your child Thursday about this event. If you have additional questions, please contact me.


POETRY BRUNCH:
Thank you to all of you that were able to be a part of our audience. Thank you also to parents who brought brunch items for us! > Cathy Dykema, Amy Klanderman, Lynae Wolfram, Bridget Scoville, Tara Blood, Kathy Eastman, and Missy Eustice! The kids worked hard and really looked forward to this day. I have put some pictures below:

READING: 
We will begin literature circles next week.

SCIENCE:
We have been caring for and observing our animals. We are studying behavioral and physical characteristics and survival needs. We are beginning to move into inherited traits as well as behavioral and physical adaptations. Your child will have some homework for you next week!

WRITING:
We will read some Pourquoi tales and then write one of our own. A Pourquoi is a fictional story that explains the reason something is the way it is. For example, Why does the giraffe have a long neck or why does a cheetah have spots?

MATH:
We continue to practice converting units which can be tricky, but students are getting a handle on it! We have also learned about perimeter and area. We are practicing using the formulaic format when working area problems in order to prepare for algebra in middle school.

POETRY BRUNCH CHANGE!

I (more than once!) have put the poetry brunch at 9:40 on Wednesday.
The time will actually be moved up an hour to 8:40!!
We will be in Music from 9:30-10:00- I cam sorry for my silly mistake! 
I will also sed a note home about this on Monday!

Week of April 18th-22nd

                   Upcoming Dates: 

- April 27 - Poetry Brunch (See below) 
- May 3 -    Muffins With Mom

- May 13 -  Track and Field Day (a note will come home soon!)

- June 3 -    Dunes Field Trip (rain date June 6)

Poetry Brunch/Writing: We've been writing poems and practicing reciting poems for our Poetry Brunch on Wednesday. Students will be reciting poems from other authors and their own work will be displayed around the room. If you wish to come, please plan to be there by 8:40 in our classroom on Wednesday, April 27th.

Puberty Lessons:

We have concluded our lessons on puberty.

All participating 5th grade students watched 2 videos about puberty on Friday and had the opportunity to ask questions. (We have them write questions anonymously if they wishand then we read and answer.) Some questions can't be answered by us as they aren't part of our curriculum. There are many books that are suitable for students this age to read with a trusted adult which may make discussing this subject easier for you and your child. I encourage you to discuss changes your child will be going through so they are more comfortable coming to you when they have questions as they come up. 

Charlton Park Trip:

Thank you to our volunteer parents that came along on our trip. The students enjoyed the day! Students were responsible on the bus and at the Charlton Park and I appreciate this very much! 

Track and Field Day:

Students are preparing for track and field day events. Next week they will sign up for 3 events. WISH will call parents to volunteer for this day. Whether you volunteer or not, all parents are welcome to come enjoy the day with your child and watch from the bleachers! 

Dunes Trip:

Please remember to turn in the purple paper sent home by May 3rd if you plan to attend and/or donate items.

MEAP:
Scores were sent home for he MEAP test that was taken in October, 2010. Please call if you have questions.




Reading: We finished reading and discussing our novel, Long Way from Chicago, and will begin Literature circles next Tuesday. Students will be working in small groups reading and participating in discussion/activities based on their novel.

Math: We began our first unit on measurement this week. Concepts covered were measuring and converting units of length in customary units and metric units which we will work on next week as well. We will also learn perimeter and area and reviewing past concepts.

Science: We spent time caring for and observing our hermit crabs. We are focusing on behavioral and physical characteristics and how these help the crabs survive.

 

WEEK OF APRIL 11-15

Welcome Back to school! I'm glad everyone had a pleasant break, and now we're all back to reality!

- April 20 - Charleton Park trip
- April 27 - Poetry Brunch (See below) 

- May 3 -    Muffins With Mom

- May 13 -  Track and Field Day

- June 3 -    Dunes Field Trip (rain date June 6)

Today was "Yellow Day" in order to encourage spring to stay! We wore yellow, watched the OLD video for the song,  "Mellow Yellow" while we drank Mellow Yellow, watched the "Yellow Brick Road" Muppet video, made and ate some scrambled eggs, ate some Lemon Heads, and finally had banana popcicles. Whew! It was a yellow day. I forgot my camera to take pictures! :(

Puberty Lessons begin next week. 
Students will bring short assignments home to discuss with you. The videos will be shown on Friday. Boys and girls are separate for this, but watch both videos. Mr. Hoekstra teaches this part to the boys so they are a little more comfortable. If you have not sent your child's permission form back, it is assumed that he/she is to be included in these lessons. 

3 Field Trips Left!

FIELD TRIP! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20TH
Wednesday is our field trip to Charleton Park! Please remember to send $5 with your child for this. Students will need a snack, sack lunch, and a drink. I will send a second note about this on Monday. We'll be touring a pioneer village in Hastings.
We'll see a general store, one room school house, military museum, and a typical home where students will make vegetable soup and butter to eat! As the note said, there is a gift shop with trinkets and candy. I encouraged the kids not to go crazy there- a couple dollars for some candy to $5 for candy and a little souvenir is plenty if they want to get something.

DUNES FIELD TRIP:
Today your child should have come home with a purple note about the Dunes trip which is June 3rd. If you have questions about any of the information, please call or email me! If you want to join us, a WISH form MUST be turned in by May 3rd! Many of you filled one out earlier this year. If you are unsure, I can fins out for you!


TRACK AND FIELD DAY
Track and Field Day is May 13th. Parents and other family members may come watch this fun event where the 8 - 5th grade classrooms compete against each other. Very fun!


Science: Tomorrow I will be picking up our tree frogs and hermit crabs and disgusting meal worms to feed the frogs for our Systems unit. Monday I will show students how to handle and care for these creatures- and what to do when one gets away from us. Fortunately, I haven't had a death since I accidentally dropped a couple dwarf frogs down the vents when I subbed in Mrs. Slotman's 4th grade a few years ago! Thankfully, tree frogs are too big for that to happen. 4 frogs and 4 crabs will be able to be adopted by the end of May. I will send home a page about needs and care along with a permission form later. If too many students want one, I will have a drawing.


Math:
We will take the test over our very short ratio and percents unit on Tuesday. We did the study guide today, reviewed it, and students were quite confident. We'll review on Monday and students should study the guide. Our last 2 units are measurement.


Reading:
At this time, we are reading A Long Way from Chicago. Set in the depression era of the 1930's, this is the story of 2 Chicago kids who go spend a week each summer with their very colorful grandmother in a tiny Illinois town. We have learned some history along the way- prohibition, the depression, gangsters of Chicago, the roles of men and women of that era, and about various items that people used. I'll read the sequel as a read aloud later. 
Thursday was an anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. We read some articles about this event. We used our information to discuss who was at fault from the evidence and lessons learned from this tragedy. We'll finish this on Monday.

Writing:
We are reading and writing some poetry this week and next. We're focusing on imagery and word choice. I will send a note about this, but we would like to invite you to a Poetry Brunch on April 27th at 9:45. Students will read some of their poems and we will have a little brunch! 


Have a wonderful weekend!