WEEK OF April 21-April 25

April 29th- Outdoor Discovery Center Field Trip
May 9th- Track and Field Day - RAIN DATE: May 16th
June 2nd- Dunes Field Trip - RAIN DATE:  June 3rd 

Outdoor Discovery Center trip TUESDAY, April 29th.
We will be going to the ODC with Mrs. Custer's 5th grade class from Sandyview in the morning on Tuesday, April 29th. There is no cost for this. This trip is focused on our systems unit.
 DRESS: Dress in layers! Wear pants! It will be cool in the morning. Students may be getting into some brushy areas and will not want to get scratched. Students may bring a small drawstring bag if they feel they need to put extra layers in this to carry around.


A Track and Field Day note went home yesterday. This a fun day to be with your child. 
  LUNCH: Students can bring their own lunch but it is easier if they choose to have hot lunch. We will need to take a count for this next week. If your child is already signed up for hot lunch that day, they are all set. If not, if they tell me they will eat hot lunch, it will be taken off their account as usual. If your child doesn't have a ticket, just send in the money for lunch.
    Parents: If you come that day, you will not be able to eat lunch with your child in the cafeteria at the middle school. Sorry! There is barely enough room for all 8 classes and teachers. You would have time to run home or eat in the bleachers, etc.


DUNES FIELD TRIP:
A note came home about this yesterday. You will receive a note from our committee next week to sign up to join us and volunteer. This is a favorite field trip and a great way to finish off the elementary years and still focus on some curriculum as this ties into our systems science unit. We will need your assistance to make sure this field trip can happen. Please read the note carefully next week. I will also attach it when I email the blog.



An FYI: If an adult wants to accompany us on the Dunes ride in the morning, we can only have parents. We really need to stay with 1 parent per household. There are only so many seats available for the entire group. You will receive more detailed information about this trip later.



HOMEWORK:   
Math Homework- Homework this weekend is a math review page. Some students have some reading or writing work to catch up on.
There are video tutorials and a practice activity for volume in the math tab!
 
MATH:   
There are video tutorials and a practice activity for volume in the math tab!
     Students took the test over Dividing Whole Numbers and Decimals. We have started our Measurement unit and worked with finding the volume of a rectangular solid and some students have learned how to  compound (2 or more solids together) We have been working on review math as well as concepts for the upcoming Delta Math test.


  PRACTICE: Aside from homework, please give your child a couple long division problems daily for practice in order to become more fluent. Practicing math facts is also VERY important for passing timed tests and getting through daily work more quickly.  

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  We are continuing to read The Fighting Ground.
  We have been doing whole class work to work on reading comprehension strategies as well as breaking into groups and pairs to focus on those strategies and student reading goals.

WRITING:                    
  We began our poetry unit last week. We are also reviewing parts of speech as we work on these as many of them are focused on a particular part of speech such as verb, adj, and adverb.

We will be having a POETRY BRUNCH the week of May 5th. I will send the date out on Monday for sure. We will need parents to donate brunch items and would love to have you come to watch students read their poems and act out the poetry of authors who have written poetry books!

SCIENCE:   
The classification system and physical and behavioral adaptations have been the focus of science the past 2 weeks in our Systems unit. Friday students were able to observe hermit crabs. We will be doing more observation of these animal looking at physical and behavioral adaptations. We will begin to discuss heredity this week as well.


SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 28 test on Friday and it will come home on Monday. List 29 will go home Monday.  You can also find lists under the spelling tab. The skill is     The proofreading part of the test is an important skill. If your child has been needing more practice with this, that is something that they have been working on in class.

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City

May 9th- Track and Field Day
June 2nd- Dunes Field Trip  

MEAP INFORMATION: Your child should have brought home their MEAP scores in an envelope on Friday.  I also sat down with each student this week and went through their scores with them. We discussed goals for math and reading and wrote these down. We also talked about the improvements and goals that students have reached this year so far. 

Responsible Kids: This year I have really loved how many students have been emailing me questions about homework, telling me when they have forgotten HW and wanting to be responsible for this, and a couple times even telling me that I forgot to send the HW!

The HIV/AIDS lesson will be Tuesday: An informational page will come home with your child.
  
  


HOMEWORK:   
Math Homework- Homework this weekend is finishing up math from Friday- dividing decimal by whole numbers.

MATH: 
     Students took the test over Multiplying Whole Numbers and Decimals. I was very impressed with the kids- they really caught on to dividing by 2 digit divisors! We will continue practice with this for fluency and to be confident. This week we focused on dividing decimals by powers of ten and whole numbers. Next week we will get into dividing decimals by a decimal and review.

  PRACTICE: Aside from homework, please give your child a couple long division problems daily for practice in order to become more fluent.

My fusion page has quite a few math games and tutorials. Here is the link:
Fusion Page 

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  We began our genre unit, The Fighting Ground. The picture book, Katie's Trunk, is the first book in this unit. This story gives a Torie's perspective, pre-Revolutionary War. This is the last of our genre units and goes along with our social studies unit about the Revolutionary War.
  We will be doing whole class work to work on reading comprehension strategies as well as breaking into groups to focus on those strategies and student reading goals.

WRITING:                    
  The newspaper articles have been fun for the kids to do. The google form is set up like a newspaper with room for 3 articles and a picture/caption for each. 2-3 students can work on a page all together in real time, working and online chatting about their articles and giving editing advice.  I can also have their pages all open on my computer and do the same. I look these over nightly as well to add comments and ask questions. Our goals have been using alliteration in the headlines, using quotes and quotation marks correctly, and writing from the voice of a reporter- not writing it as a narrative story, such as "One sunny day.." 
These are due on Thursday.

SCIENCE:   
  Students took the Objects in the Sky test on Monday. Students have completed their research and projects about the Body Systems (Skeletal, Muscular, etc.) which is our current unit. Presentations will begin on Tuesday. I have been really proud of how students have been checking their work against the rubric for their particular project. This is an important skill!
 
SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 25 test on Friday and it will come home on Monday. List 26 will go home Monday- (Yes, I forgot lesson 25!)  You can also find lists under the spelling tab. The skill is synonyms. 

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City

March 24th.................Marchall Music comes- musical apptitude
March 24th................ Puberty Lessons begin
March 26th................ 5th Grade MS Orientation
                                             Parent Meeting 7:00


_________ 
May 9th- Track and Field Day
June 2nd- Dunes Field Trip
 
Puberty Lessons: We will begin Monday, March 24th and go through Thursday, March 27th.  Students are automatically included in the lessons if the letter isn't returned saying you don't want your child participating.
  AN FYI: Students are encouraged to discuss this subject matter with their parents. Your child will bring home homework for some of the lessons. This will need to be signed and returned the following day. I discuss only what the curriculum states. If students ask questions beyond this that can't be answered, I let them know that I can't answer.




HOMEWORK:   
Math Homework- There are 6 division problems from their workbook, Pg 39.
                           (Odds only) 
Writing Homework: Students are to complete their interviews by Monday in order to begin writing on Monday.

MATH: 
     Students took the test over Multiplying Whole Numbers and Decimals. We are beginning our Division unit next and will be reviewing past concepts.
     PRACTICE: Aside from homework, please give your child a couple long division problems daily for practice in order to become more fluent.

My fusion page has quite a few math games and tutorials. Here is the link:
Fusion Page 

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  Our reading will focus on nonfiction for the Body Systems part of our next science unit. We will also be reading informational material about animal characteristics which is also part of our next unit.Students are also reading in their own books daily.
 We will begin reading The Fighting Ground after Spring Break. This is the last of our genre units and goes along with our social studies unit about the Revolutionary War.


WRITING:                    
  We are now beginning our newspaper articles which has always been a favorite. This week students will need to decide who they would like to interview, write questions and have interviews done in order to begin writing their articles. These articles will be written on a google doc form that looks like a real newspaper set-up.  Students will also write another newspaper article of their choice alone or with a partner. This may be true or made up, but must appear to be true.

SCIENCE:   
  Students will take the test on Monday- I pushed it back from Friday. Students are also working in their groups researching and doing their projects about the Body systems for the next unit. (Skeletal, Muscular, etc.)
 
SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 24 test on Friday. List 25 will go home Monday-  You can also find lists under the spelling tab. The skill is words spelled with the /j/ sound. 

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City

DATES: 
Friday March 21st..............Jr. Achievement                   
Friday March 21st.......................11:40 Dismissal 
Friday March 21st...........PTO Fun Night
_________ 
May 9th- Track and Field Day
 June 2nd- Dunes Field Trip
 
Puberty Lessons: We will begin March 24th. Please return the form by March 21st if you have not already done so. Students are automatically included in the lessons if the letter isn't returned saying you don't want your child participating.

Mrs. Blowers out: I will be out on Monday for a discussion of Language Arts Standards with middle school teachers and on Thursday for a conference.




HOMEWORK:   
Math Homework- Lesson 40/41 and finish up work. As always, if your child has difficulty on a problem, just skip that one and we will discuss it at school.

Tuesday Gym: We have been going to the gym on Tuesday mornings since we don't have a special to burn off some energy. Students who have late work the previous week know they will miss some or all of this time.
Once it gets nice out we'll head back outside for our special activity. 

MATH: 
   We will be reviewing and doing the study guide in preparation for taking the test over our unit, Multiplying Whole Numbers and Decimals on Thursday. Some students may be ready earlier. Our next unit is Dividing Whole Numbers and Decimals.

My fusion page has quite a few math games and tutorials. Here is the link:
Fusion Page 

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  Our reading will focus on nonfiction for the Body Systems part of our next science unit and we will begin reading The Fighting Ground. This is the last of our genre units and goes along with our social studies unit about the Revolutionary War.


WRITING:                    
  Most students have completed their biographies and these will be graded by the end of the week. These have been more difficult to write. Students must learn how to write notes NOT sentences from the information they read in order to write the piece in their on words. We have been discussing how they should not use a word from the book in their writing if they don't understand it. They should be asking or looking it up. 

  We are now beginning our newspaper articles which has always been a favorite. This week students will need to decide who they would like to interview, write questions and have interviews done in order to begin writing their articles. These articles will be written on a google doc form that looks like a real newspaper set-up.
 
SCIENCE:   
We completed lessons and will be working on and studying the study guide for the test that will be on Friday. We have also divided into groups and begun research for their projects about the Body systems for the next unit. (Skeletal, Muscular, etc.)
 
SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 23 test on Friday. List 24 will go home Monday-  You can also find lists under the spelling tab. The skill is possessive nouns.

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City

DATES: 
Wednesday March 12th.........Understanding Wildlife Assembly
Friday March 14th.................Junior Achievement  
Friday march 14th............Released Time
 

Friday March 21st.............11:40 dismissal
Friday March 21st............PTO Fun Night ------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIELD TRIPS:
May 8 or 9 will be Track and Field Day- PE teacher will let us know and I will communicate this to you at that time.
June 2nd is the Dunes Field Trip
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Congratulations to Collin VanDer Hulst! His story was one that was chosen to be acted out at our Brainstormers Assembly on Monday!
 

CONFERENCES:
  Thank you for attending your child's conference! 
 
Puberty Lessons: We will begin March 24th. Please return the form by March 21st if you have not already done so.

Visitor:  Thursday Mrs. Spotts, 6th grade science teacher, will visit us for the day as part of a "student for a day" project some middle school teachers are doing.




HOMEWORK:   
Reading Homework - Read the article about pennies and write 3 statements for and against keeping the penny using information from the article.
Math Homework- "Take a Drive" E 2-4 

MATH: 
   In our Multiplying whole numbers and decimals unit we have been working with powers of tens with whole numbers and decimals. We will review this and be working on multiplying whole numbers and decimals. 

My fusion page has quite a few math games and tutorials. Here is the link:
Fusion Page 

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  We have wrapped up Book Club and will be focusing on nonfiction until our next genre unit. Students will continue reading in their own books and working on goals. We will also practice strategies learned during our next Read Aloud.
 

WRITING:                    
  Students chose a person from history to research and write a biography. Students read a book about their person of choice. Students are finishing their drafts, revising, and editing. They will be able to type, write, or present their biographies in another way.
 
SCIENCE:   
We worked on the study guide for the quiz on Monday. Students have been working on projects about planets and the sun in Infotech and will present these this week.
 
SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 22 test on Friday. List 23 will REALLY go home Monday- I have not done well remembering this for the past 2 weeks!  You can also find lists under the spelling tab. The skill is homographs.

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City

DATES:
Monday March 3rd..............BRAINSTORMERS ASSEMBLY
Monday March 3rd..............Conferences
Tuesday March 4TH............Conferences
Friday March 7th.................NO SCHOOL

Friday March 21st....................11:40 dismissal
Friday March 21st...................PTO Fun Night


FIELD TRIPS: As I mentioned in an earlier email, these are trips that may be attended by all parents IF you have a WISH volunteer form completed.


May 8 or 9 will be Track and Field Day- PE teacher will let us know and I will communicate this to you at that time.

June 2nd is the Dunes Field Trip

April 25th will be a school day, NOT a day off.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------


CONFERENCES:
 You may bring you 5th grader with you if you wish. Students are welcome to attend!


Middle School paperwork:
If you have not returned this packet of information, please do so by March 10th.


Puberty Lessons:
We are hoping to hand out parent permission forms at conferences for these lessons. These will need to be returned by the date that will be on form. There will be an opportunity for parents to view materials soon. (March)






HOMEWORK:  Reading Homework - if Section7 and the comprehension page of book club books were not finished Friday, this was to be homework for Monday.
                                
MATH:  Check out the Math Tab for fraction tutorials!!
   We took the Multiplying and Dividing Fractions unit test on Friday. Some students will need to complete this on Monday. I will share these at conferences. We will begin our unit on Multiplying whole numbers and decimals next week. We have already spent time on this since the first month of school.

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  Students continue working in their book clubs. It is taking longer with all of these days off. We have also been working with nonfiction texts as well. We should wrap up this book club round this week.

WRITING:                    
  Students chose a person from history to research and write a biography. Students are reading a book about their person of choice. Additionally they will research a website as a source. They have a notes outline to use as well as a checklist of standards we are focusing on. One of these is sentence fluency. We practiced with a couple activities focusing on sentence fluency and the students have a graphic organizer to refer to as they incorporate this into their writing. Most students have begun drafting and these are due on Wednesday.

SCIENCE:   
We reviewed recent concepts and learned about the tides. Next week we will play a jeopardy review game and take a quiz over moon phases, tides, eclipses, and seasons.
 
SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 21 test on Friday. List 22 will go home Monday. You can also find it under the spelling tab. The skill is adding suffixes.

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City

DATES:
 
Wednesday Feb 24th..........Beach Day
Friday February 28th........5th grade field trip: Symphony /Aquinas visit
Monday and Tuesday March 3 & 4...CONFERENCES.
Friday March 7th.........................NO SCHOOL


Friday March 21st....................11:40 dismissal
Friday March 21st...................PTO Fun Night

April 25th will be a school day, NOT a day off.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------



HOMEWORK: Math and Reading Homework is due on Monday.
                                
    Junior Achievement:  Julie Burch was in on Friday to present a third lesson for junior achievement. Friday we discussed what kind of skills are in demand -what businesses want from their workers. Students learned that these are the STEM skills: Science, Technology,  Engineering and Math. Businesses also desire workers who have good communication skills, are creative, and are able to work with others.


MATH:  Check out the Math Tab for fraction tutorials!!
   This week in math, students have been reviewing multiplying and dividing fractions. We will continue to review and complete a study guide this coming week. The test will be on Thursday. The math tutorials under the MATH TAB would be beneficial for students needing help.

READING -   
Click on the "Reading" tab for practice comprehension passages
  Students continue working in their book clubs. They are reading and discussing their novels with each other and me. I have been pleased to see how involved they are and how they are asking me to confirm their thoughts by giving me their ideas and evidence! Wow! Students have some focus comprehension questions, vocabulary inferencing work, grammar work, and strategy practice.
    We will be focusing on nonfiction as well each week.

WRITING:                    
  Students chose a person from history to research and write a biography. Students are reading a book about their person of choice. Additionally they will research a website as a source. They have a notes outline to use as well as a checklist of standards we are focusing on. One of these is sentence fluency. We practiced with a couple activities focusing on sentence fluency and the students have a graphic organizer to refer to as they incorporate this into their writing.
 
SCIENCE:   
We have been learning about why the moon has it's different phases as well as about the solar and lunar eclipses. A total lunar eclipse occurs during the night when their is a full moon and the Earth blocks the sunlight reflected by the moon. A total solar eclipse occurs during the day when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, and its shadow blocks the light coming from the sun.

 

SPELLING:
  Students took the lesson 20 test on Friday. List 21 will go home Monday.
You can also find it under the spelling tab. The skill is the homophones their, there, and they're.

If your child wants to play games/do practice tests, go to: Spelling City