Greetings families

 Due to various scheduling conflicts,  all P.E. classes will take place outside for the next several weeks. As the temperatures heat up, please send a water bottle to school with your child/ren.  We will be sure to give students water breaks during P.E. If your child requires sunscreen, please apply it before school starts. Students may also wear a hat (free of pop-culture) during P.E. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions. Have a great day and Go Chargers!

 Best regards,

Coach Gethings and Coach Warren

Updates and announcements

We have an exciting quarter ahead of us! Most of our exciting and fun things happen after AZMerit. It will be a wonderful reward for a job well done. Just a preview, we have a second field trip to the Capitol in May, a tour of the Prep side sometime at the end of April or May, and Fifth Grade Promotion on May 22^nd!

Thank you for your patience with the slightly increased homework. We are doing our best to make sure students are not overloaded, but still practice enough to feel good for the AZMerit. We want our fifth graders to feel confident in demonstrating the fifth grade state standards, or things all fifth graders should know by the end of fifth grade.

Our week in learning

Students have learned all of the idioms in our curriculum! We may use this time to catch up on some that we missed.

Students will learn about the roots hyper, hypo, super, and sub. There will be a routine roots quiz over these next week.

Students will recite “Jabberwocky” on 4/3.

In Literature, we will read through chapter 3 in “Across Five Aprils”. Students should be mindful to keep up to date on their journal entries.

In Writing and Grammar, students will continue working on reading passages and answering questions for comprehension. This week, we will focus on scientific texts, analyzing informational texts, analyzing texts across genres, and review fictional texts. Also on Friday, students will take a practice AZMerit Writing test on the computers. This is their final practice run before their AZMerit Writing test on 4/5, so no help will be given.

This week in science, students will continue learning about the different bones in the human body in preparation for a quiz on Friday. The quiz will only be over location on the skeleton, not over the functions. We will also study different types of joints in the human body and where they are located. We will end the week by beginning our study of muscles in the human body. Students should be prepared for a brief quiz over muscles next Thursday.

This week in History, students will discuss various aspects of the War after its inception. Topics will include President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Generals Lee, Jackson, and Grant, and the everyday life of soldiers during the War including the invention of the draft and the Union’s inclusion of African American soldiers.

In math, we will finish a unit on Data Analysis. This week, students will continue learning about pie charts and review. Their test over Data Analysis will be on Thursday. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. We will have Math Groups most weeks until the end of the quarter. Math groups will be on Wednesday, 8:00-9:15.

Updates and announcements

I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Spring Break! Mine was spent cuddling with my cats and working on several small quilting projects. I am at that time in my life when many of my friends and colleagues are having babies, so many adorable baby quilts are in the works.

Be sure to check your email for a family survey from Great Hearts.

The tutoring schedule will be the same this quarter up until AZMerit, then we will reevaluate the needs of our students.

Our week in learning

This week, students will learn about the idiom “What will be will be”.

Students will learn about the roots ana, duco, ago, and pendo. There will be a routine roots quiz over these next week.

Students will learn about the poem “Jabberwocky” on 3/20. The recitation will be on 4/3.

In Literature, we will start learning about the dialect in “Across Five Aprils”. Students will start reading on Wednesday, 3/20. Please send in the copy of the book as soon as possible.

In Writing and Grammar, students will continue working on reading passages and answering questions for comprehension. This week, we will focus on informational texts regarding articles, persuasive texts, and historical texts. We will review the essay outline format and there will be a short quiz on Friday. Also on Friday, students will take a practice AZMerit ELA test on the computers.  

This week in science, we will be starting our unit on human anatomy with the skeleton. Students will begin by learning about the different types of tissue that make up bones. We will then study the different bones in the human body.

This week in History, we will continue our unit on the American Civil War and see how the War began with the battles of Fort Sumter and Bull Run. We will discuss the Union’s strategy, put forth by General Scott, and its attempted execution in the east by General McClellan. We will discuss figures such as General Robert E. Lee and the different goals of the Union and Confederacy that determined many of their actions early in the War.

In math, we will start a unit on Data Analysis. This week, students will learn about mean, median, mode, histograms, line graphs, and pie charts. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. There will be no math groups. Math groups will be sparse this quarter due to AZMerit prep

Updates and announcements

Our field trip to the Renaissance Fair is tomorrow! Students should bring only a backpack to school to hold their lunch, water bottle, and sunscreen. They can also bring a camera and up to $20 for souvenirs or snacks. STUDENTS MUST BRING THEIR OWN PACKED LUNCH. Students are not to buy any weapons, including the wooden swords.

Our week in learning

This week, students will learn about the idiom “Well begun is half done”.

The roots test over #51-75 will be on Wednesday, 3/6.

In Literature, we will finish reading “The Secret Garden”.

In Writing and Grammar, students will review the rubrics with their pets essay on Monday. Students will begin working on reading passages and answering questions for comprehension. This week, we will focus on fiction regarding poetry, drama, and analyzing fiction.

Due to the Renaissance Fair field trip, this is a very short week of science! On Monday, students will be outlining their paragraphs about George Washington Carver. Students will write their final paragraphs on Thursday, and have time to present their writing to their peers on Friday. There will be plenty of in-class time for writing, but unfinished outlines or paragraphs will be assigned as homework on Monday and Thursday, respectively.

This week in History, students will finish learning about the precursors to the American Civil War. Topics include the political differences that began separating the United States into North and South and the life of Abraham Lincoln before he was President. On Monday, students will be given a study guide for the quiz they will have on Friday. This quiz will cover items related to the American Civil War before the War began.

In math, we will finish a short, fun unit on Percentage. Students will solve word problems involving finding percentage of a whole and interest rates or percent discounts with increase and decrease. The test for this unit will be on Friday, 3/8. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. There will be no math groups. Math groups will be sparse this quarter due to AZMerit preparations.