Updates and announcements

I love second quarter because our students really start to get comfortable in the classroom, they start taking academic risks, and the routines are perfected. We also have so many fun activities and classroom celebrations! We will be working closely with 2A throughout the quarter with buddy reading and Socratic discussion practice.

Our Read-a-thon is tomorrow! Please remember that students may dress up if their costume was approved by me (all proposals so far have been approved). Students should bring in a flashlight, pillow, and their favorite book to read in our blanket forts.

Friday is a half day due to teacher training.

Our week in learning

This week, students will start block for Writing and Grammar. They will be reviewing diagramming and classifying skills, as well as be introduced to pronouns.

We will start reading Where the Red Fern Grows this week. They will be working on a comprehension packet for each chapter that they read for homework.

There will be a weekly roots quiz on Wednesday.

Poetry recitations will take place next Wednesday, November 1^st. (Narcissa)

This week, students will continue their study of the Animal Kingdom and will be assigned a take-home quiz on Monday, due in homeroom on Thursday. They will also learn about the Fungi Kingdom and complete a take-home quiz over the weekend. Students will fill out portions of their Classification study guides concurrent with the day’s lesson each night. Study guides will be collected for points at the end of the Classification unit.

This week in History, students will begin learning about the Reformation. We will be addressing this topic as a historical event-not labeling “good” and “bad”. Students will be learning about the objective corruptions within the Catholic church at this time, then the Counter-Reformation, and lastly, the Reformation’s effect on science. This week, we will discuss the Counter-Reformation and the revolution in science that occurred with Copernicus and Galileo during the Reformation. Study guides will go home on Monday, October 30th and due Monday, November 6th. The Reformation test will take place on Tuesday, November 7th. We will also learn about the Northwest region of the United States. Please note that there will be a 50 states location test before Thanksgiving Break. The study guides for this 50 states test will go home on Wednesday, giving students 3 weeks to prepare.

This week in Math, students will finish our first fractions unit. We will review on Monday and take their test on Tuesday. We will jump right into our next unit on Wednesday, so there will be no math groups on Wednesday. Our next unit is continuing with fractions, focusing on multiplying and dividing fractions. Open tutoring is on Mondays, 3:05-3:40.

Updates and announcements

It was so great getting to meet with all of you last week to talk about your wonderful children. I hope everyone enjoyed their three-day weekend. Mine was spent sewing baby quilts.

We will be starting block scheduling this week! Students are very excited to be switching classrooms. They will have Science with Ms. Canfield and Writing/Grammar with Ms. Speagle. Classroom teachers are still responsible for assigning and reporting grades. Ms. White will be with them while they switch classes.

With the second week starting, students will be calling home when they have late homework assignments. For example, if an assignment was due on Monday and it is not turned in by Tuesday at recess, they will call home to inform a parent that they have a late assignment and it is now a zero in the gradebook. Please note that this is NOT to burden parents, or to have parents bring in the assignment, it is just to inform the parent. Students will always leave a message if needed.

The Science Fair is this Wednesday! Please come to see your child’s hard work on display.

Our Read-a-thon celebration will take place on Tuesday, October 31^st. Be on the lookout for a sign up from our wonderful class parents.

Our week in learning

This week, students will start block for Writing and Grammar. They will be reviewing organization of a well-constructed paragraph.

We will start reading Where the Red Fern Grows this week. They will be working on a comprehension packet.

There will be a weekly roots quiz on Wednesday.

Poetry recitations will take place next Wednesday, November 1^st.

In science this week, students will begin their classification unit, studying the animal kingdom and several different phyla and classes. They will learn the traits of different kinds of animals and how scientists distinguish them from one another. Additionally, students will put their roots skills to work learning species’ scientific names in Latin. There will be an open-note take-home quiz on Friday.

This week in History, students will begin learning about the Reformation. We will be addressing this topic as a historical event-not labeling “good” and “bad”. Students will be learning about the objective corruptions within the Catholic church at this time, then the Counter-Reformation, and lastly, the Reformation’s effect on science. This week, we will focus on other important people of the Reformation, including Zwingli, Calvin, and briefly, Henry VIII. We will get to have an enrichment day going over Henry VIII more in-depth after the unit is finished. On Wednesday, students will take the Midwest, Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain Region location quiz. We will also learn about our own Southwest region of the United States. Please note that there will be a 50 states location test before Thanksgiving Break.

This week in Math, students will continue with our fractions unit. We will work on converting measurements and solving word problems. Our unit test will be next week. There will be math groups this Wednesday, 8:00-9:00.

Updates and announcements

We are back and excited to begin our second quarter! I hope everyone had a wonderful Fall Break! I got to spend mine cuddling with my cats, quilting, and cooking.

This week is all half days due to parent-teacher conferences. I look forward to seeing all of you and getting to share the wonderful ways your child has grown this year.

Please send in “Where the Red Fern Grows” with your child this week.

Our Science Fair will be next Wednesday in the gym.

Our week in learning

This week, students will work on reading comprehension skills with short quizzes, which we will go over in class.

Next week, students will begin reading “Where the Red Fern Grows.” Expect to see a homework comprehension sheet for each completed chapter.

In grammar, students will learn roots 26-29 and take a short quiz on Friday. They will review classifying and diagramming throughout the week. Next week, students will begin studying possessive nouns.

This week in science brings our much-anticipated science fair presentations. Students’ diligence and perseverance has paid off with the result of wonderfully-constructed science fair projects. All this week, students will present their projects to classmates in their home rooms during approximately 5-minute long presentations. Please note that everything your child needs to present his or her project should already be at school - the trifold board and written essay. Other components of the projects should not be brought to school; however, students may bring additional pictures they wish to share.

On October 25, our all-school fifth-grade science fair will take place. All students’ projects will be submitted to qualify for awards! You are invited to come with your child and explore the fifth-grade projects, but attendance is not necessary for your child’s submission.

This week in History, students will begin learning about the Reformation. We will be addressing this topic as a historical event-not labeling “good” and “bad”. Students will be learning about the objective corruptions within the Catholic church at this time, then the Counter-Reformation, and lastly, the Reformation’s effect on science. This week, we will focus on the changes happening in thought due to the Renaissance, the printing press, and the birth of Protestantism with Martin Luther-detailing indulgences. On Wednesday, we will continue our U.S. geography study with the Rocky Mountain region.

This week in Math, students will continue with our fractions unit. We will work on identifying and comparing “benchmark” fractions, multiplying fractions by whole numbers, and converting measurements to be expressed as a fraction of a smaller unit. There will be no math groups this week.

We made it! Our students have worked so hard this quarter! I have a few updates for you before the break starts.

*I have documentation from all students who have their science fair posters finished! You will not get an email confirmation unless they did not complete the poster.

*Science packet grades are on the last page of the packet. Students may want these while they prepare for their presentations after Fall Break. Science Fair essays will go home to parents at Parent-Teacher conferences.

*Parent-Teacher Conferences are after break. Please sign up for a 30 minute slot to meet with me and Ms. White. Here is the link to the sign-up:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b4aadae2baafb6-parentteacher

*Specials Parent-Teacher Conference Sign up: 2-5 Specials Conference Sign-up

*Ms. White and I have been working tirelessly to get your child’s quarter one grades complete before they leave for Fall Break. All work from quarter one, including the history test, history notebook grade, science fair essay grade sheet, roots test, science notebook grade, and open note science test, are coming home today. One quick note-the grades assigned to the field trip paragraphs refer to their handwritten final drafts, not the typed final draft. Please review the contents of their signed folder.

Have a wonderful Fall Break!

Updates and announcements

What a quarter! We are in our last week before Fall Break and students are persevering toward the finish line. I am quite excited for our week off to get some quilting done.

Our first celebration of the year is on Friday! Your donations of either time or supplies will make our celebration special.

Parent-Teacher conference sign up will be going out on Friday.

Our week in learning

This week in language arts, students will finish up their final drafts and begin typing and publishing them within the class.

In literature, students will finish out the Voyage of the Dawn Treader with a test (they will be expected to put main events of the story in chronological order) and discussions about the characters and their journeys.

Friday, we celebrate the end of the quarter and the end of our book!

Please bring in Where the Red Fern Grows after fall break. :)  

In science, students will learn about Mendeleev’s ordering of the Periodic Table - so precise that he even guessed where undiscovered elements would fit on it! Students will learn about atomic properties and their relations to the Periodic Table, and watch two videos about the mystery of the Periodic Table, relating historical discoveries to our modern-day understanding of chemistry. On Friday, students will take an open-note matching quiz on the chemistry unit. Science Fair packets and projects are due on Friday, October 6!

This week in History, students will finish the Renaissance Unit. Study guides were due today, Monday, 10/2. The Renaissance test will be on Tuesday, 10/3. We will be learning about the Great Plains region of the United States this week. We will set up their Reformation foldables on Thursday.

This week in Math, students will continue with our fractions unit. We will work on adding mixed numbers, word problems, multiplying fractions. We will have math groups this Wednesday 8:00-9:00.