UPCOMING DATES:

Monday April 29.....Mrs.Blowers gone at a science training
Friday May 3.........Charlton Field Trip (I have 3 volunteers)
Tuesday, May 7......Moments with Mom
Wednesday, May 8.. 1/2 day dismissal
Friday May 10......Track and Field Day (note soon-volunteers needed & all parents welcome)
Tuesday May 14......Field Trip to Request Foods (no parents needed)
Friday May 31........Dunes Field Trip (info in April- volunteers to help needed & all parents welcome)

CHARLTON PARK: I have 3 volunteers. A note will come home the Monday prior (April 29th) as a reminder and about what is needed.
Note: The other classes dress up in pioneer clothing. Your child is welcome to, but Mrs. Custer and I don't ask that students do this. It is up to your child. 

TRACK & FIELD DAY:
A note about track and field day went home on Thursday. Students also received their shirts. It may be a good idea that they don't wear them so nothing happens to them or they aren't lost. They won't be replaced.  POETRY BRUNCH:
We were glad that many of you could come to the Poetry Brunch on Thursday! The kids really worked hard and looked forward to it. We also appreciate the donations of food and drinks that were made!

Math: 

Tuesday 5th grade teachers met with a math expert from the OAISD to again discuss changes in math curriculum that are to be fully implemented in a couple years. We have already been making these changes, but were going over Measurement and Geometry and discussing new tests. As a result, I am not giving the geometry test that I would have given this week. I gave a quiz over the material we have covered and talked with each student about his/her quiz. We are moving onto measurement and that new test will include geometry. I will continue to include geometry in our meaurement unit.

READING:  

  We are continuing nonfiction this week and moving into Book Clubs. Non fiction will continue to be included in our science unit. Students will be looking over several titles this week and choosing a book. They will work in groups of 2-4 reading, discussing, and completing comprehension activities.

WRITING:   

The class is looking forward to going back to work on their newspaper and interviews. We will jump in where we left off after a review of directions.

SCIENCE:

We continued our discussion of physical and behavioral characteristics of animals. We will be move to inherited traits this week.

Spelling: Lesson 25 spelling test will come home Monday. The lesson 26 test will be on Thursday. The skill is synoyms, something we also worked with in our poetry unit.

Enjoy the sunshine!!

Happenings from the week of April 15th - April 19th

I just realized today that I hadn't done the blog! So sorry. It's late, but here.

UPCOMING DATES:

Thursday April 25....Poetry Brunch  9:30
April 26...............No School
Friday May 3.........Charlton Field Trip (I have 3 volunteers)
Tuesday, May 7......Moments with Mom
Wednesday, May 8.. 1/2 day dismissal
Friday May 10......Track and Field Day (note soon-volunteers needed & all parents welcome)
Tuesday May 14......Field Trip to Request Foods (no parents needed)
Friday May 31........Dunes Field Trip (info in April- volunteers to help needed & all parents welcome)

CHARLTON PARK: I have 3 volunteers. A note will come home the Monday prior (April 29th) as a reminder and about what is needed.
Note: The other classes dress up in pioneer clothing. Your child is welcome to, but Mrs. Custer and I don't ask that students do this. It is up to your child.

Math: 
We have been reviewing geometry concepts all week. Students have dictionaries to practice and have been required to do so on spare time as well. Geometry has quite a lot of memorization at this level as I told students at the beginning of the unit. We have practiced by drawing on iPads and white boards, using playdo, and interactive sites. I am planning on another quiz on Monday- quizzes are one form of several formative assessments that I use to monitor who needs additional assistance. These are not part of the kids' overall grade. We will complete the study guide on Tuesday. 
The The test will be Thursday unless I find we need until Monday.
 

READING:  

 We are incorporating science topics into our nonfiction reading. Our science unit is Systems -focusing on how body systems and environmental systems work together. We also discuss plant and animal physical characteristics among other related topics. For example, last week students partnered up to choose an article about an animal and its adaptations. They wrote these down, and we are sharing them out. Students read about the Gulf oil spill and worked on causes and effects. We compared and contrasted 2 articles- one about prescribed fores and the other about a disastrous fires.We will continue with nonfiction this week.

WRITING:   The students are almost completely finished with their poems. They are practicing and preparing for the Poetry Brunch on Thursday and 9:30. Thank you to all who volunteered to bring food. I sent home a red slip of paper with your child about what to bring. See you Thursday at 9:30! Stay and have some snacks after. Recess is at 10:15 so they will go out at that time. We should be finished by then.

 

SCIENCE: The Forces and Motion Test will come home on Tuesday. We are studying classification and adaptions.

 

Spelling: Lesson 24 spelling test will come home Monday.The word list for Lessons 25 and 26 will come home tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Happenings from the week of April 8 - April 12

Happenings from the week of April 8 - April 12

UPCOMING DATES:

Thursday April 25....Poetry Brunch- note coming Monday
Friday May 3.........Charlton Field Trip (I have 3 volunteers)
Friday May 10......Track and Field Day (note soon-volunteers needed & all parents welcome)
Tuesday May 14......Field Trip to Request Foods (no parents needed)
Friday May 31........Dunes Field Trip (info in April- volunteers to help needed & all parents welcome)
   
  I was glad to see everyone back from Spring Break and spending time sharing about the time off. It's been a very wet week and we have been inside a lot! They have handled it well- we played basketball in the gym on Wednesday and many of the kids have finally started to choose playing board games when inside along with drawing and writing.

CHARLTON PARK: I have 3 chaperones for this trip. I sent a note home on Thursday showing the remaining field trips and the opportunities to be part of them.

Math: We began our geometry unit this week. We have studied types of lines & angles, classified triangles & quadrilaterals, and practiced measuring angles. We will review next week and test the following week. We are also reviewing fractions, decimals, multiplying and dividing numbers.  

READING: We compared nonfiction to fiction and again discussed reading strategies specific to nonfiction. Students are partner reading and taking turns summarizing the main idea of paragraphs as they read. 

    We began a nonfiction unit that centers on ecosystems- specifically factors affecting ecosystems positively and negatively. (This ties into our next science unit.) We focused on cause and effect and  compare and contrast structures. Students read an article about the effects of an underground coal fire that caused a town to be deserted. We also read about prescribed fires that are purposely set to encourage forest growth and compared the two articles as well as responded to various types of comprehension questions. Today students read in pairs about an oil spill and wrote cause and effects.

WRITING:   Luckily we were barely into our newspaper project because it works for all three 5th grades to have our Poetry brunch on April 25th. So we are postponing the newspaper unit and we began a poetry unit that focuses on grammar, metaphor, and simile. We discussed the importance of rhythm, rhyme, repetition, and imagery. A lot of eye rolls for poetry when I started on Monday, but they are having fun with it! 

POETRY BRUNCH: April 25th we will have a Poetry Brunch in the morning.This will be a time for students to share their poems with an audience and have a brunch. Students will keep poems and school until this event is over. 

A note will come home on Monday!

SCIENCE:We have been reviewing for the Forces and Motion test this coming week and getting a start on our next unit- Systems. 

Science Test:Tuesday, April 16th.

Spelling: Lesson 22 spelling test will come home Monday.The word list for Lesson 23 was sent home earlier this week. The skill is possessive nouns.

 Enjoy your weekend!