HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This will be short, but just wanted to mention a few things.

Thank you for the cards and gifts and candy canes! They are appreciated and thank you notes were either sent home with your child or will arrive in the mail.

Charity Project:  This is a concept that Mrs. Maxson started about 3 years ago when we worked at Hamilton El. This year we raised nearly $700. Sudney Wedeven's name was drawn and she chose the money to go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Thank you to all parents who donated candy canes and volunteered to sell them in the mornings.

Eloquence Day: I am so glad we could continue this event that was done at both Hamilton El. and Sandyview in the past! Thursday we practice manners and etiquette. I gave them a place setting and a soft cookie so could cut it and practice while we discussed. The kids were pretty excited about the whole event and it was fun.
Thank you to all parents who helped out with this event! We couldn't do it without you!

PHOTOS: I took some pictures and posted them in the "PHOTOS" section of the blog. Parents took pictures of all students so I may be able add more to this later!

Homework: Each student has an "RTI"packet that has specific items to each students that were not passed on the first Delta math test as well as review material. Your child knows he/she DOES NOT need to finish this packet. I simply said to work on a few per page or on the concepts they knew they needed more work on most...
The Delta tests six 4th grade concepts and is timed for fluency. We will take this test again in January.

Book Project: Students chose books for their book projects for January. They were given the opportunity to take the book home and begin reading over the break.
*This is not due until the end of January and they don't have the project yet.

 Writing: Students just finished a writing project. I will be grading these over the next few days. 
I will send the rubric and the paper your child wrote to you by email.

We read the article, "Are Extreme Sports Good for Kids?" and generated most of the information for this opinion piece as a class. We filled in and followed a specific outline. Then students wrote their piece. The next time your child will find the information and fill out the planning form primarily on their own.



Enjoy your extra time with your kids! :)

Both an invitation for students and a parent note went home with your child about the following events on Friday.

CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING:   Candy cane/ticket sales will begin Monday morning and go through Thursday. $1 per ticket/candy cane combination.
Last week's blog had information about the 5th grade having no gift exchange, rather students/teachers will be able to buy a ticket/candy cane as a gift for a friend or teacher. Money will be collected and the student whose name is drawn will get to choose the charity donations will go to.
 We talked about various charities on Thursday and the importance of giving to others.
  ELOQUENCE DAY!! 
  This will be Friday, December 19th. Buses will pick us up at 10:45 and we will return no later than 12:30.
  CLOTHING:

Come to school wearing Eloquence Day outfit. Students should bring additional clothes to change into if they have PE or if they just want to change for the remainder of the day.

  *Homework this weekend- Math- this is in their planners- students have different assignments so they'll need to check their planners.
  No December Book Project, but reading is expected daily homework.

MATH: 
 There are tutorials for cross-multiplying, fractions X a fraction, and fraction X a whole number, and dividing fractions and whole numbers in the math tab. 

We continue review of adding and subtracting fractions, multiplying and dividing fractions. This week we added in division of fractions and used play dough to make models. We will have a quiz on Monday over multiplying fractions.
 
   RETEST: Next week, I will be giving any student who received a '1' on any section of the "Adding & Subtracting Fractions" test a retake of those sections missed. After all the review we have done and now doing many of the same concepts in this unit in addition to the new, this will be a good time to take it again.

LANGUAGE ARTS
  We continue with book clubs reading Long Way from Chicago. We read an article about kids and extreme sports as well as watched a video clip. Students worked on comprehension questions and we are working on writing an opinion piece choosing whether they think extreme sports are OK for kids or too dangerous.

SCIENCE:

Students took the test on Tuesday. Scores are in Powerschool, but they will not be able to take the test home until all students have completed it. We have had many absent students in the 2 classes I teach.  This coming week we will be reading nonfiction articles about forces and motion.

 

Spelling: We took the skill and proofreading tests Friday. This will come home Monday.

CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING:  
Last week's blog had information about the 5th grade having no gift exchange, rather students/teachers will be able to buy a ticket/candy cane as a gift for a friend or teacher. Money will be collected and the student whose name is drawn will get to choose the charity donations will go to.
  Candy cane/ticket sales will begin next week and I will let you know an exact date in advance.

*This coming week I will be talking to students about various charities and having them tell the class about charities they are familiar with- I think it will take too much time to research and make it a writing project at this point as I had planned.

ELOQUENCE DAY!! Hamilton Elementary has had an Eloquence Day for years and Sandyview also joined in awhile back. This year we're bringing it to the middle school!

WHAT IS IT? Our 5th Grade Christmas Party. 
        *We teach the students table manners, how a table is set properly, etc. 
        * We seat students boy/girl at random and boys pull chairs out for girls.
        * We dress up! Girls in skirts or dresses. Boys in slacks and nice shirt, etc. What you'd wear  to church, but get as fancy as you want! I will explain this all to the kids this week.
     NOTE: This is meant to be fun, not stressful so please know that you should not feel the need to go shopping! For example: If your boy only has jeans, this is fine. We are hoping they have something other than a t-shirt.

WHEN IS IT?      December 19th
WHERE IS IT?   The Cafe' de Elequonce' - meaning we don't tell the kids where this event is held to keep it fun and we change it around on occasion. So if you find yourself being a parent volunteer- PLEASE keep this a secret from your child as they understandably find it very difficult to refrain from telling friends.

  *Homework this weekend- Math- this is in their planners-some students completed this Friday.
  No December Book Project, but reading is expected daily homework.

MATH: 
 There are tutorials for cross-multiplying, fractions X a fraction, and fraction X a whole number in the math tab. 

We continue with multiplying whole numbers and fractions and fractions by fractions. We have added in cross-multiplying and are also looking at comparing fractions. We will begin multiplying mixed numbers this week. We will have our first quiz on Friday. 
   RETEST: Next week, I will be giving any student who received a '1' on any section of the "Adding & Subtracting Fractions" test the opportunity to retake those sections. After all the review we have done and now doing many of the same concepts in this unit in addition to the new, this will be a good time to take it again.
  Reminder that if you have a can of playdough to send with your child for math, please do so.

LANGUAGE ARTS
  We continue with book clubs reading Long Way from Chicago. Students read their "Turkey" stories on Friday and we had hot chocolate. We will write a short opinion piece about a nonfiction article we'll be reading this week about kids and extreme sports.

SCIENCE:

We have been studying all week for the science test which will be on Tuesday. Students were to bring the study guide home Friday and study. We will review Monday as well. Wednesday we will be using computers to do some roller coaster activities involving forces and motion. Thursday we will go over test results.

 

Spelling:
This week's spelling words are in the spelling tab.
We took the skill and proofreading tests Friday. This will come home Monday. Students typically have a lesson, homework page (which often gets completed in class) This week's skill is contractions.

We will also focus on verbs and noun review.

Thanks for sending in kleenex! We will be needing that this winter!

TURKEY TROT:
This is an event put on by the Fuel-Up program that Mr. VanHekken and Mr. Sikma lead with student members. Tuesday afternoon students and teachers will participate in a walk/run outside to get moving and be healthy. Dress appropriately. If it looks like it will be poor weather, the event will be inside.
 
CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING:  
Your child brought home a note about there being NO CHRISTMAS GIFT EXCHANGE IN 5TH GRADE. We will instead be gifting a charitable organization. Details are in the note but in case you didn't get it:
     In place of gifts, teachers, students, and parents will be able to purchase a ticket(s) and mini candy-cane(s) for a teacher or friend (or themselves!) Each ticket/candy-cane combination is $1. The ticket with the gift receiver's name on it will go into a bowl, the candy cane to the receiver, and the dollar set aside for the charity. (Each teacher will buy a ticket for every student in his/her homeroom so each child has their name in the drawing.) 
     All 5th grade students will research a charity and write a persuasive speech persuading others to choose their charity as one of the charities we will donate to. We will then have the top 3 charities chosen. On the last day before Christmas Break, a ticket will be drawn. The person whose name is on the ticket gets to choose which of the charities the donation will go to. 
    We will let you know when tickets will be able to be purchased in December. If you have questions, please contact me or Mrs. Maxson as we have experience with this event.

  *Homework this weekend- WRITING.  (NO MATH)
Students should complete their drafts, edit and revise their "Turkey" story. If they want to type the draft in google docs I will look it over this weekend.  

Students should be reading each day in their book for their book project. * November Book Project: It is due December 1st.

There are 4 choices for this month's project. 

MATH: 

  We continue with multiplying whole numbers and fractions. We added in multiplying fractions by fractions and continue to review fractions as division as well as work on problem solving with fractions.

LANGUAGE ARTS  
  Falling a little behind in A Long Way from Chicago with the 2 snow days. We continue with this novel and working on reading comprehension strategies. Students have grades in for their 2nd compare and contrast. After practice with a first one, reviewing what is needed, and what the standards say, I saw improvement with this second one. 
  We began working on a short story about a turkey that needs to disguise itself in order not to become Thanksgiving dinner. Students have a page of directions, a planing page and the rubric that they will be graded with ahead of time as always. We have reviewed these and I am reminding them to continue to look at these as they write.

SCIENCE 

We have been studying magnetism as a non-contact force and done some investigations with this concept. We will discuss electricity as a non-contact force next week.

Spelling: We took the skill and proofreading tests Friday. This will come home Monday. Students typically have a lesson, homework page (which often gets completed in class) 

No Spelling Test next week.

Monday, November 10th & Friday, November 14th

KLEENEX: If you would like to donate a box, it would be appreciated by all the noses in our class! :)

If you click below you will be able to look at our class caption book.
Class Caption Book 


*Homework this weekend- There is math homework this weekend. It should be highlighted in planners. 
Students should be reading each day in their book for their book project.
* November Book Project: It is due December 1st.

There are 4 choices for this month's project. 

 Students received the paper for this last week and we went over each option. 

TCB: In order to earn the next TCB trip, students can't miss ANY homework assignments in ANY class, get sent to the office, or have numerous behavior issues or issues with responsibility. Students can lose this opportunity from any one or more teachers. I routinely ask students if they have their homework, to doublecheck, to highlight it in planners, to check their planner EVERY DAY at home even if they think there isn't homework, etc. 
  ADVICE TO PARENTS FROM ONE WHO HAS THROWN AWAY HOMEWORK TWICE AND LEARNED HER LESSON:  Don't throw any papers out for your children- they should know what can be thrown or not and should do it on their own to prevent mistakes. If they are unsure, they should hold onto the papers and ask the teacher of that class.  

MATH: I will add video tutorials to the Math Tab & email when these are ready.

Your child should have brought his/her PLace Value test home last week. Decimals come back again soon and PLace Value will be reviewed again. We began our unit on Multiplying and Dividing Fractions on Thursday. Wednesday we took a little review "quiz" just to see where we are with the basics of fractions that we have already been through. I will be assisting students that need it with review. Thursday we began multiplying fractions and whole numbers and did this with Skittles which made it fun, visual, and yummy! We will do a lot of drawing and explaining situations along with the basic algorithm. We will continue with multiplying whole numbers and fractions and move into multiplying fractions by fractions next.

LANGUAGE ARTS  
 Students will complete their compare/contrast piece about Auggie from Wonder who has a facial deformity and Ethan from a factual article we read who has a deformity of the hands and feet. We spent a lot of time looking over our previous compare/contrast piece and discussing ways to improve in several areas.  We began reading the book, A Long Way from Chicago and will be dividing up into groups for book club to read this novel. It is set back in the Depression Era so we spent some time going through a presentation about this time period to give students some background knowledge. This novel is always a favorite.

SCIENCE 

We spent time learning about flight and how lift, drag, thrust, and weight are all involved. We watched a good Bill Nye video that explained well. Then students had a coulpe days to desighn and test paper airplanes, redesign and test, and then we will have a final competition for fun on Monday. Tuesday we will begin our investigation of magnetic force.

Spelling: We took the skill and proofreading tests Friday. This will come home Monday. Students typically have a lesson, homework page (which often gets completed in class) 

The skill this coming week is prefixes and their purpose.

Grammar: we learned about prepositions this week and will learn more about verbs next week.

Week of November 3rd

FYI: I found out on Friday after school that we will have an additional student beginning Monday. Our class size is still 27 as we also had a student move.

CLUB TCB:  Don't forget Club TCB is Friday for all those attending. 

*Homework this weekend-
There is math homework this weekend. It should be highlighted in planners. Students should be reading each day in their book for their book project.
November Book Project: It is due December 1st.

There are 4 choices for this month's project. 

 Students received the paper for this last week and we went over each option.

MATH:   We have been reviewing all Place Value concepts preparing for Tuesday's test. There are 5 standards on this test- I think I said four previously. On each test I will write the grade next to each standard. There are three standards where a '3' is the highest score and two standards where '4' is the highest  score. Our next unit is Multiplying and Dividing Fractions.

 
LANGUAGE ARTS 
We finished reading Wonder as a class and discussed theme and plot. We wrote our information on a graphic organizer to keep in there Daily 3 binders as a reference. We will discuss characterization, summary, and retelling next week in reference to this book. I went over compare and contrast papers with students sharing examples of what I am looking for for each standard and how students can improve when writing their next compare/contrast pieces. We discussed the purpose of captions, practiced writing captions as a class, and then each student chose a couple of pictures and wrote their own. I am making this into an interactive flippable book. We continued our work on vocabulary in context and reading in read to self books.

SCIENCE Simple machines has been our topic this week. Simple machines make work easier by changing the distance and/or direction of the force. Students participated in investigations, interactive websites, and watched a Bill Nye video in order to learn about this concept.

 

Spelling: We took the skill and proofreading tests Friday. This will come home Monday. Students typically have a lesson, homework page (which often gets completed in class)

Grammar: we have been working on nouns, coordinating and correlative conjunctions, and interjections.

Monday Oct 27 and Tuesday October 28 .............. Conferences 
Wednesday Oct. 29th..............................................Field Day in afternoon (Rain Make-up Date)
Thursday Oct. 30 and Friday Oct. 31......................NO SCHOOL

 

PINK DAY: We had A LOT of Pink going on! I added a photo in that tab.

 CONFERENCES: Dates are above. Your child is welcome to participate in their conference with us!

FUNDRAISER: Tuesday is the next day to turn in the "tickets" kids have been bringing in.

CLUB TCB: I sent an email about "Taking Care of Business" last week. Responsibility is one of the most important values we can teach our kids. Students who are being responsible for homework and in-class work as well as making appropriate choices in school and on the bus will be able to go to the first Club TCB event. 

  Students are allowed 1 late homework assignment and no more. This is one for ALL classes combined. (same as in 6th-8th grade) If a student is sent to the office, has a bus issue, or has behavior issues that are frequently disruptive in any class, they will not have earned TCB. There are 3 for the year.

  * We have a Homework Hotspot. When there is homework, students come in, put in in the pocket that has their name on it (this way a no-name paper still gets counted!) and it is checked off right away on a clipboard. I then put it in my spreadsheet. I remind them in the morning and it's written on the board.

Orange Friday Folders: Please sign the yellow note in the folder so I know you have seen the notes, work, homework that is in it. Organizational habits now will truly help your child in the future. 

SNACKS: Please send a snack with your child each day. Many students are not bringing one with them and 3-4 hours since breakfast is a long time. I buy snacks for those who forget, so they won't be hungry when that happens.

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*Homework this weekend- This should be in planners and highlighted.
MATH: Lesson 15 both sides for some
                Workbook Pages 41 and 42 (Lesson 2-8) for others.

NOTE: It would be a good idea to have your child practice a couple 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication problems a few times each week.

  
Book Project Homework DUE THIS TUESDAY OCTOBER 28th. 

Your child knows there is a new book project for October and there have been repeated reminders  for them and offers of help if needed. This activity was discussed on Friday October 3rd and the the paper sent home Monday October 6th. Students were to be reading a chapter book (can't be nonfiction this time because of the assignment) in order to complete this project. 

NOVEMBER PROJECT will be sent home on Wednesday. Students will have 4 options from which to choose for this book project.

MATH:   Along with review, we have been working on multiplying decimals by powers of 10, comparing and ordering decimals, adding and subtracting decimals and problem-solving. We also began reviewing properties:

Commutative Property (4 + 9 is the same as 9 + 4) 

Associative Property- regrouping numbers in order to make the operation mental math or compute more quickly: Ex: regroup (4 x 9) x 25  to  (4 x 25) x 9

Distributive Property:4 x (9 + 6) = 4 x 9 + 4 x 6

Next week students will round decimals, take quiz 2, and begin test review. The test will be November 6 or 7. I will let you know once I see how we are progressing.

LANGUAGE ARTS 
Students have completed rough drafts and editing/revising of their compare/contrast of the middle school. Once I have conferred with them again they will be completing Final drafts by Wednesday. Students who finish before others may free write or do a project of their choice in an area of their own interest. The goal is to keep students engaged in reading and writing for our entire ELA time. Giving them some choice encourages this.
We have been practicing vocabulary strategies, making inferences, finding information from text, citing evidence to support our responses, and writing thorough responses as a group and in partners. This week students read a nonfiction article on their own and did some activities involving those strategies. Students are also having time to read their own book on their own.

SCIENCE We continued discussion about Newton's First Law of Motion and added in the Second Law of Motion. We watched some videos about this as well as performed investigations and had discussion. There will be a quiz over lessons 5-9 on Wednesday. *Note: If I feel that student need more time, I will move the quiz to the next week.

 

Spelling: We took the skill and proofreading tests Friday. This will come home Monday. Students typically have a lesson, homework page (which often gets completed in class), and a couple other review activities for spelling each week. 

There will be no spelling test this week, only review.