Headlines 5/10

I am sorry I did not get the blog out yesterday.  My computer is very sadly under the weather.  I am hoping that a quick trip to IT will alleviate the symptoms!  We are doing our best to stay focused and continue our learning this week, with only a couple more weeks to go, we have a lot to accomplish!  

I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you for making Ms. Porcelli and I feel so loved and appreciated last week.  From the wonderful lunches, the coffees, treats, special gifts, and beautiful photo album, we were completely spoiled by you!  It is a true blessing to work in a community that is so kind and encouraging, and it makes teaching here a joyful experience.  I am humbled by the devotion you each have to your children, our school, and the community.  

Math: Our test over angles was very challenging for the students.  This test required a great deal of critical thinking as well as knowledge of the properties of angles.  We will be allowing students to make corrections to their quizzes and raise their grades, and we will be providing help and support in tutoring today and Thursday.  If your child did not do well, please encourage them to attend.  For the remainder of the week we will be reviewing for the cumulative Singapore Assessment.

Writing/Grammar:  The students did very well on the grammar quiz yesterday!  This week we will be using our strong writing skills to complete a character study from Across Five Aprils.

Literature: This week we will continue reading Across Five Aprils.  We will be using the text to discuss how Jethro has changed over the course of the book.  We will be finishing the book next week and students will receive a participation grade for their vocabulary journal.  Also, please encourage your students to begin studying for the roots quiz now!  We will be taking the test Tuesday, May 26.

Science: This afternoon we will be testing over the Endocrine System, and from there we will begin our next unit covering the Nervous System.

History:  We are continuing our study of The Civil War this week by discussing how both African Americans and women helped the war effort, as well as studying the battles of Vicksburg and Gettysburg.

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, May 25, 5:30 pm: Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony
• Friday, May 27, 9:30-11:00 am: End of Year Celebration

Headlines 5/2

We are back at it this morning after a lovely three day weekend.   Apparently I was a bit gung-ho last week in my countdown of school days, we NOW have 20 days left of the year, and are working hard to make every moment count!

Math: We are beginning our week with a review of angles.  This unit is not particularly difficult, but does involve quite a bit of problem solving and using the properties we have learned in class.  We will be reviewing in class today and tomorrow with a test either Wednesday or Thursday.

Writing/Grammar:  This week we will fine-tune our skills in writing showing paragraphs and will be reviewing compound and complex sentences.  We will have a short grammar quiz on Friday.

Literature: We are enjoying reading Across Five Aprils, and are adding to our list of vocabulary.  This week we will be using our reading as a springboard for writing.

Science: We will begin the week by learning about the Thyroid Gland and discussing how fight or flight works within the body.  Today the students will begin the Endocrine Study Guide to prepare for the test on Thursday.

History:  We are continuing our study of the Civil War this week by discussing the Emancipation Proclamation as well as learning about some of the major battles fought in the war.

Important Dates:

• Friday, May 8, 11am-1pm: Prep Tour 
• Wednesday, May 25, 5:30 pm: Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony
• Friday, May 27 9:30 am-11:00 am: Yearbook Signing Party (more info to come!)

Headlines 5/25

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  It is hard to believe we have only 20 days of school left!  This morning we talked about how we can enjoy our last few weeks together by working hard and showing respect to teachers and classmates.  

Math: This week we will continue our study of angles by learning how to find the sum of angles of quadrilaterals, parallelograms, and trapezoids. Because of the short week we will not be having math groups on Wednesday.

Writing/Grammar:  We have heard some wonderful examples of writing showing paragraphs.  We will continue to practice this important skill this week and will also be reviewing how to diagram and label compound parts in a sentence.

Literature: We have read up to chapter 5 in Across Five Aprils and have had some excellent discussions based on the book.  Last week I began asking students to work on their vocabulary at home, and we are reviewing it in class.  We will continue to read and discuss in class this week.

Science:  Last week we introduced the Endocrine System and learned about glands and hormones.  This week we will learn about many of the glands within the human body.  Our human growth and development classes will be Wednesday and Thursday.

History:  The class has enjoyed some excellent conversations as we study the civil war.  There will be a short quiz tomorrow based on the study guide that was completed and reviewed in class.

Important Dates:

• Wednesday and Thursday, April 27-28: Human Growth and Development
• Friday, April 29: No School
• Wednesday, May 25, 5:30 pm: Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony

Headlines...A little late!

This week has gotten away from me and I am just now sitting down to blog.  I apologize for the inconvenience.  The class worked very hard on AZMerit last week and we all took a collective sigh of relief to have finished successfully.  This week we are moving forward in all the curricular areas as we have much to cover before the end of the year! 


Our class has been a little antsy this week, as the end of the year is quickly approaching.  Unfortunately this makes learning a little difficult, and we still have a great deal of material to cover.  We have also seen an increase in missing and incomplete assignments.  I have encouraged our students to practice the virtue of perseverance by remaining focused and working hard while at school.  Please reinforce with your child the importance of this at home as well.  


I am looking forward to a strong finish!

Math: We began our unit over angles this week by learning about the different types of angles and practicing measuring using a protractor.  This can be a very abstract concept for students to understand, so it may be helpful to point out to your students where angles are seen and used in real life.

Writing/Grammar:  This week we are enjoying learning how to write paragraphs that "show,  not tell."  The class is learning to use specific language in their descriptions.  We will continue this for the next couple of weeks in our writing.

Literature: We have been enjoying reading Across Five Aprils and connecting the book to our unit in History.  We are doing most of our reading in class and are keeping track of vocabulary in our journals.

Science:  Students should have completed their animal cells posters, and we began presenting these to the class today.  We also took the animal cell test.  Next week we will move into the Endocrine System.

History:  We are continuing our study of the Civil War.  We will have a short quiz next Tuesday, with a study guide coming home tomorrow.

Important Dates:

• Friday, April 22: Fine Arts and French Night
• Wednesday and Thursday, April 27-28: Human Growth and Development
• Friday, April 29: No School!

Headlines 4/11

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the cooler weather and rain!  We started the week by taking the first portion of the AZMerit Reading and Math tests.  The class did a great job and we will finish part two tomorrow.  Please be sure that your child is well-rested and has a healthy breakfast so they are fueled and ready to test in the morning.

Math: On Wednesday we will begin reviewing data analysis, and will be having math groups! Our test over this unit will be on Friday morning.  

Writing/Grammar:  We were not able to conclude our review of noun jobs last week, so this week we will review the noun jobs and take a short quiz on Thursday.

Literature: We have been enjoying reading Across Five Aprils and connecting the book to our unit in History.  We are doing most of our reading in class and are keeping track of vocabulary in our journals.

Science:  We began our unit on animal cells this today.  We will be completing a poster in class and will need old (school-appropriate!) magazines.  If you have some you can donate, please begin sending these in tomorrow.

History:  This week we are studying the causes of the Civil War, specifically economic differences between the North and South.  Students should be keeping track of their vocabulary in their foldable.

Important Dates:

• Monday, April 12 and Tuesday April 13: .AZMerit Testing Math and Reading Monday
• Friday, April 15: Half Day, 12:00 Dismissal
• Friday, April 22: Fine Arts and French Night
• Friday, April 29: No School!

Wish List

We need Kleenex and old magazines!

Headlines 4/4

Our class worked very hard last week, and came back from the break ready to learn and grow.  After a few technical issues (Grrrr.....), the AZMerit writing portion went well.  Our students were prepared and confident as they tested.   

Math: We will continue our study of data analysis this week by looking at graphing and reading data.  We will be having math groups on Wednesday from 8:45-9:45 to prepare for the math portion of AZMerit.  If you would like to volunteer please let me know!

Writing/Grammar:  This week our focus will be on grammar.  We will be learning about indirect objects, appositives, and reviewing noun jobs.  On Friday we will have a short quiz over diagramming sentences, with a focus on noun jobs.

Literature: Tomorrow we will begin reading Across Five Aprils.  For this book we will do most of the reading in class, and will concentrate on vocabulary and simply enjoying the text!  

Science:  The students did an excellent job presenting their information about plant cells to the class last week.  Study guides should have been completed over the weekend, and today we will review these together. The quiz over the material will be on Friday.

History:  We have learned about slavery and the implications it had on the United States last week.  Today we have a special reading activity with our first grade buddy class where we will be reading and discussing Brer Rabbit.

Important Dates:

• Monday, April 12 and Tuesday April 13: .AZMerit Testing Math and Reading Monday
• Wednesday, April 6th:Spring Concert,students should arrive by 6:30.The attire for concerts will be as follows:
  Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.
  Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, and black dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment. Please follow the Archway Arete dress code for guidelines on jewelry.
• Friday, April 15: Half Day, 12:00 Dismissal
• Friday, April 22: Fine Arts and French Night
• Friday, April 29: No School!

Wish List

hank you for all the dry erase markers, diagramming sentences is so much more fun in multi-color! The only thing we really are in need of right now is tissues.

Headlines 3/29

I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful break.  I know that I enjoyed time with my family, beautiful weather, and not setting an alarm!  Ms. Porcelli and I are looking forward to a strong fourth quarter as we prepare for fifth grade commencement and  move toward Prep! 

Math: We began our unit over data analysis this morning by introducing mean, median, and mode.  We will continue this week by learning to represent and chart data on different types of graphs.

Writing/Grammar:  This week we are preparing for AZMerit by taking a practice writing assessment.  We will be walking through the steps of the writing process and using a rubric to score our writing.

Literature: Next week we will begin Across Five Aprils, please be sure to have the book in class by Monday!  This week we are focusing on different types of text structure by reading passages from our Core Knowledge curriculum.

Science:  The class is very excited to present their science presentations to their peers this week.  We will begin these tomorrow and will continue learning about plant cells.

History:  We began our unit over The Civil War today.  This is a lengthy and very interesting unit that the students really enjoy.  An email from Ms. Porcelli came home today, regarding the book we will be sending home periodically, so please be sure to read it.

Important Dates:

• AZMerit Testing: Writing, Monday, April 4th
• Spring Concert: Wednesday, April 6th