Week of December 12-16

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/    
 
ELOQUENCE DAY:  Last week a note about Eloquence Day was sent home and attached to an email. This week 5th graders will be spending some time practicing proper etiquette and manners for eating, speaking, and behaving at a formal dinner. On December 21st we will go to a restaurant and practice what we have learned. This will be our Holiday Party!

HOMEWORK:                                                                                                                                                     
WRITING:  A few students who are not finished with their first Snowman story know this needs to be completed. 
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  MATH:    The test over Multiplying and Dividing Fractions will be Tuesday. We have been reviewing all concepts in the and especially focusing on word problems, thinking about what would make sense if we put ourselves in the situation, and checking to see if our answers make sense.
 If students receive a 1 or 2 on any standards, we will be reviewing often, and they will have the opportunity to retake those standards. 

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing:  Students who want to share their story this week will be able to do so.
  Each student researched charities, chose one they would like to donate to if their name was drawn, and created a slide describing what the charity does to help others.
 
READING: We are reading a variety of nonfiction working on text structure, comprehension strategies, finding and citing text evidence, and vocabulary strategies. Students have received some grades for standards and I have been meeting with students to discuss strategies they need to work on. This coming short week we will be working on grammar concepts and reading picture books to discuss character, theme, and plot.
 
SCIENCE   This past week we investigated magnets and reviewed the concepts of contact and no-contact forces. Students have had the study Stacks to study for over a week and studying these will help with the test on Monday.

Studies:- Mrs. Custer

This week we learned the history of the early Western African empires of Ghana and Mali.  We read a book called Sundiata in order to learn more about the great Lion King of Mali.  The test on Africa will be at the beginning of January.

Word Study  There will be no word test this week as it's a short week.

Week of November 28th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/     

HOMEWORK:                                                                                                                                                     MATH:  Complete Lesson 3-8-We went over how to do this.
                 Math facts should be every day practice! 
READING:  Students should be reading daily. They know this is an ongoing homework assignment.
 
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER PROJECT: 
DUE DECEMBER 8
 Students have chosen books and I checked to be sure these were at an appropriate reading level for them. I have gone over the next assignment and given it to students. They have 4 options to choose from for this report. They have had ample time for this and have choices. They know that work that isn't quality will need to be redone for homework.
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  MATH:    We began dividing fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by fractions. We are really discussing why it important to know math vocabulary and be able to create and look at a visual representation of a math problem to fully understand. Memorizing the steps to solving isn't enough when we need to problem-solve. We will continue to practice and review all concepts learned.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing:  Students are writing a narrative about a snowman. Our focus is on sentence fluency. We practice writing various types of sentences on the iPads- sentences beginning with an -ing or -ed verb, a prepositional phrase, adverb, etc. Students have an organizer with examples and are required to use a certain amount as well as a minimum of 1 simile to challenge themselves in writing.

READING: Students will bring home their Guests unit test on Monday or Tuesday after we review it. We are reading a variety of nonfiction through Christmas. We have been working on text structure, comprehension strategies, finding and citing text evidence, and vocabulary strategies. Building vocabulary and learning to use resources and strategies to understand new vocabulary is very important in terms of reading comprehension.

 SCIENCE   Test will be sent home on Monday. The class did very well again! In 5th grade, science tests are no longer multiple choice, but rather drawing and explaining concepts.
 
Studies:- Mrs. Custer
Students took their test on Friday. Please contact Mrs. Custer if you have questions.
lcuster@hamiltonschools.us

We finished our unit on Native Americans and early European explorers this week.  We move on to an introduction to Africa next and 3 of the early empires of Western Africa, which will lead us to slavery and how that effected the world at this time in history.

Word Study  The skill this week is contractions. it + is = it's. The spelling list is on the blog. I will also add a practice site to the Spelling Tab. The test will be Friday.