Week of December 12th-16th

LOG CABINS were brought in on Monday. The pictures are below-take a look! I really enjoy the creativity that students are able to use with this project. The variety is what makes it interesting and fun! Students in other grades enjoy viewing them.

SPELLING BEE: We have our top 12 spellers! They will compete in the Scripps Spelling Bee on January 17^th in the gym. The top two spellers will advance to the regional competition representing our school. I was very pleased that most students chose to give this a try! Congratulations to our 12 competitors.

Allyssa Vandenberg
Karina Stork
Tori Folkert
Sydney Ruiter
Sam Sprik
Peyton Remick
Alex Murphy
Hannah Wettlauffer
Will Jordan
Bradley Osborne
Georgia Timm
Alaina Copeland

ELOQUENCE DAY:

We spent some time Thursday and Friday learning about and practicing manners. The kids thoroughly enjoy it- no matter what they say! J We dined at the Café de Eloquence here in Hamilton and used our manners-most of the time! We appreciate the assistance of all our parents cooks and servers! It was a fun event for all. Please check below for pictures! THANK YOU to all of our parent volunteers for making this event happen! We appreciate it!!!

5^th GRADE CHRISTMAS CHARITY EVENT: 5^th graders practiced the gift of giving by buying a ticket and candy cane for $1 with the money going to a pool for one of 5 charities we chose. Mr. Hoekstra drew Eddie Soerens' ticket and he chose to donate to St. Judes Children's Hospital. We raised $276 for this charity! Thanks to all!


     MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Eloquence Day:

Week of December 5th-9th

            Mrs. Blowers' Blog
December 12:  Log cabins are due.  Please do not bring them to school any earlier than 3:40 p.m. on Friday, December 9.  I will be here Monday, Dec. 12 by 7:40 a.m. if you would prefer to drop it off before the start of the school day. 

December 15:  5^th grade spelling bee begins.  We will have our first round of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in the morning- this a change in day we needed to make.  Any fifth grader who would like to participate is welcome to do so.  The top 12 spellers will advance to the next round in January-the top 2 spellers will advance to the regional Bee.

December 16:  Friday, December 16 will be Eloquence Day.  All fifth graders are expected to dress up for this event.  Dress as nicely as you can without going to purchase anything new. This is supposed to be fun a fun way to practice manners, not stressful worrying about buying new clothes! We will be dining at the Café de Eloquence here in Hamilton.  There is no cost for this event, as we will be using our read–a–thon money. 

Christmas Party:  The Eloquence Day lunch is considered our Christmas party.  We will not have a gift exchange.  Last week you received a note about a way in which you can honor teachers and classmates this year. Please read below:

         This year we are planning an opportunity for our students to be involved in supporting a charitable organization.  On Friday, December 9, students will be asked if there is an organization that they would like to suggest.  If there are more than 5 suggestions, the fifth graders will vote for the top 5.  Once the 5 organizations are identified, students will have a chance to purchase a “ticket” for a friend, teacher, or classmate.  Tickets will be sold for $1.00 each.  Every ticket will then be put into a large jar.  The last day to purchase them will be on Dec. 16.  On the 16^th, we will have a drawing and the name that we pick out will be the name of the person who will get to choose which of those five organizations will go to!  I would like to ask that if you would choose to honor me at this time of the year that you put your money toward tickets- I am looking forward to this opportunity to teach your children about charity and giving.  

 Students will be able to purchase a ticket for someone at recesses, put the ticket and donation in a jar, and receive a candy cane to give to the person in whose name they bought the ticket.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

MATH:
We have been reviewing concepts in our fractions unit (fractions as division, fractions as part of a set and part of a region, and improper fractions and mixed numbers.) We also worked with equivalent fractions, greatest common factor, and simplifying fractions. Students are expected to be able to perform the operation as well as draw the fractions to show their understanding. We have been using some websites to practice concepts this week.

READING:
We completed Sign of the Beaver and reviewed for the test that was on Friday. Monday students will present their book projects. We will also be reading some shorter non-fiction texts to continue to practice skills needed for this type of text.


WRITING:
Students completed their persuasive letters to either their parents or Santa. They put them in envelopes to deliver to you in hopes they will be able to persuade you to get what they would like for Christmas!


SPELLING:
Our skill this week has been using apostrophes to show possession and in contractions.


SCIENCE:
We began talking about and experimenting with friction as a force. We also used the spring scale to measure force in Newtons.


 

WEEK OF Nov 28-Dec 2

Report Cards went home today (Friday)

Homework this weekend: Work on log cabin and November reading project.

December 12:  Log cabins are due.  Please do not bring them to school any earlier than 3:40 p.m. on Friday, December 9.  I will be here Monday, Dec. 12 by 7:40 a.m. if you would prefer to drop it off before the start of the school day. 

December 13:  5^th grade spelling bee begins.  We will have our first round of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in the afternoon.  Any fifth grader who would like to participate is welcome to do so.  The top 12 spellers will advance to the next round.

December 16:  Friday, December 16 will be Eloquence Day.  All fifth graders are expected to dress up for this event.  We will be dining at the Café de Eloquence here in Hamilton.  There is no cost for this event, as we will be using our read –a – thon money. 

Christmas Party:  The Eloquence Day lunch is considered our Christmas party.  We will not have a gift exchange.  More information will be sent home soon regarding a way in which you can honor teachers and classmates. 

Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

MATH:
We began our unit on fractions and have learned about fractions as division, fractions as part of a set and part of a region, and improper fractions and mixed numbers.


READING:
We continue reading Sign of the Beaver, and work on vocabulary in context, context clues for comprehension, finding descriptive detail, and author techniques. We will also be reading some non-fiction pieces to continue to practice those skills needed for this type of text.

WRITING:

We have discussed persuasive techniques, examples of using persuasion, and read persuasive pieces. We also reviewed friendly letter form. Students began writing persuasive letters to either their parents or Santa. 

SPELLING:
Our skill this week is prefixes.

SCIENCE:
We have been performing activities showing balanced and unbalanced forces. We have played tug-of-war, arm wrestled, and made balloon rockets to show these forces.