Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Week of December 12, 2011

Dear Parents,

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday! I am looking forward to spending time with family that lives in Southern California during the winter break. Hopefully everyone will be making some happy lasting memories with family and friends!

Thanks to Mrs. Daniele for making the popcorn for our class treat on Friday!
Thanks to the Hoffman family for volunteering to bring in bottled water!

Friday afternoon the students will be enjoying a movie in the 5th grade Movie theater!

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE CLASSROOM:

SPELLING: A regular week with spelling work due Thursday and test on Friday.
Word of the Week.....worth 2 bonus points!

ENGLISH/WRITING: We have been working on the traits of writing which includes IDEAS, ORGANIZATION, VOICE, WORD CHOICE, SENTENCE FLUENCY....
Each of these traits has been modeled and practiced.
Your child should be including each of these traits in their narratives!
The children should have a first draft completed and we will begin working on the last trait CONVENTIONS as we revise and proofread.
Due to the writing skills we have been working on, there have not been any grades for English during 2nd Trimester to date.
When we return from break, we will begin NOUNS in our English book, as well as, continue writing!
There has been a lot of enthusiasm about writing including our "trash can" words and W.O.W. words! Ask your child what those mean.

READING: We are continuing to work on fact/opinion and inference skills.
We will be using a variety of materials to practice and apply these skills.
I will be sharing "Stories With Holes" this week! Wait until your child shares these!!

SCOOPer READING: Your child has set their second trimester goal! I have had several book discussions already. I hope that everyone has read at least one book and completed an activity when we return from winter break.

SCIENCE: We are finishing Chapter 12 Oceans this week.

SOCIAL STUDIES: Kirk will be our class historian as he shares his knowledge and pictures from a trip his family took to "colonial" Williamsburg.

We are not starting the next chapter until we return!

We will be doing some holiday activities this week!

MATH:
MONDAY = Circumference (radius, diameter, and Pi)
We might get to the review for Chapter 23 on Monday.....?

TUESDAY = Chapter 23 test, if we reviewed on Monday! Otherwise, we will review on Tuesday!

WEDNESDAY = see above.....If we have taken the test, we will be reviewing graphing ordered pairs/coordinates.

THURSDAY/FRIDAY = More work with graphing ordered pairs/coordinates!









Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Week of December 5, 2011

Dear Parents,
I am glad I had the opportunity to meet with each of you and discuss your child's progress.
Please continue to keep in contact with any questions, concerns, or comments. It is always beneficial to work as a team to further your child's education.

Reminders for the upcoming week:

Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Project Challenge - 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Deadline for Movie Night Permission Slips

Thursday, December 8, 2011
All School Concert - Cadet Band & Choir - 9:00 a.m.
PARENTS ARE ALWAYS INVITED!!!

Friday, December 9, 2011
Fifth Grade Bowling - a.m.
Students may bring money to purchase snacks.

Movie Night - Zoo Keeper - 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. PV Gym

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR CLASSROOM:

SPELLING: This week is a lesson with homophones for both regular and challenge words.
Word of the week and definition = bonus point!

ENGLISH/WRITING: We will be talking about VOICE and WORD CHOICE which are important traits of writing. We will also be writing our first draft of a narrative. The students have done quite a bit of brainstorming and getting the details organized for their stories.

READING: We will start the week introducing and reviewing the reading skills of inferencing, generalizing, and recognizing the difference between fact and opinion.
We will be reading GRIZZLEY BEAR FAMILY BOOK in our literature books and filling out a generalizations chart while reading this selection.
There will be various materials used to identify and differentiate between a fact and an opinion.

SCOOPer Reading: Read, Read, Read!!! We have set our goals for the second trimester!
I am looking forward to the interesting book talks as I meet with students and the activities they complete for the book they have read.

SCIENCE: We will be learning how ocean water moves and waves!

SOCIAL STUDIES: We are finishing Chapter 6! TEST ON FRIDAY!

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: This is our last week and the culminating activity for the students is to perform a commercial to advertise a business! Mr. and Ms. Paleka have made this a fun and valuable learning experience.

MATH:
Monday = Problem Solving doing extended responses! This requires the students to show their work and tell how and why they have completed each step of the problem.
Tuesday = Chapter 23 Lesson 2 Perimeter
Wednesday = continuing perimeter and learning the formulas for perimeter
Thursday = NO MATH due to a cadet band and choir concert!