Headlines 3/27

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I was very excited to welcome my new nephew Brighton Mac to the world on Friday. A brand new baby is the perfect way to bring in Spring, so here is a little glimpse of his sweetness!

We begin AZMerit this week with the writing assessment on Friday. Please be sure your student is at school on time and has had a healthy breakfast. We have worked hard to prepare for this test and I have confidence that our class will do very well!

ELA

In Literature we will continue,reading  Across Five Aprils. We will will have a class debate about fighting in the Civil War and will continue looking at vocabulary in context.

We will be taking the  AZMerit writing test on Friday. To continue preparing we will be sharing our practice essays with the class and will look at sample persuasive essays.

We will have a quiz over roots 76-79 on Wednesday and will introduce our new poem, Barbara Frietchie. This is a long poem so students will be reciting this in groups on Wednesday, April 12th.

Math

This week the students will learn how to interpret a set of data in many ways- mean, median, mode, histograms, tables, and pie charts.  There will be no math groups this week!

Science

We are studying the human body. There is a skeleton quiz on Wednesday!

History

This week, students will take their Westward Expansion Before the Civil War test. The study guide is due Monday, 3/27. The unit test will be on Tuesday, 3/28. Students will also finish learning about US Geography with the West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii. A study guide for the 50 states map test will go home on Wednesday, 3/29, due 4/5. The test will be on Wednesday, 4/12. We will start our unit on the Civil War this week. We are discussing slavery throughout the unit, with an emphasis on the life of a Civil War era American slave this week. This may be sensitive content for some students, so please have a discussion at home if needed.

Headlines 3/21

I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and was able to relax and enjoy time with family. I must admit, the alarm seemed to go off awfully early this morning!  

Today I spoke to the class about preparing for sixth grade and practicing being a self-advocate in our behavior and study skills. We will accomplish a great deal this quarter!

French and Fine Arts night is Friday, April 7, see the following for more info. It should be a wonderful evening:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxSuyHM9YtLNS3E5NlFvYWRKaVU/view?usp=sharing

ELA: This week in Literature we will begin our next book, Across Five Aprils. Our focus for this book will be integrating our study of the Civil War in History with the novel. We will also be concentrating on vocabulary and defining words using context clues.

In Writing this week we will be preparing for the AZMerit writing test by using all of our block time today to use the writing process to write a five paragraph informative essay.  In order to give students immediate feedback on their writing each teacher will be conferencing individually with students about their essays. Our hope is that this gives them confidence in their writing abilities!

We will use the remainder of the week to review parts of speech, noun jobs, and add predicate adjectives to our diagramming.

Math:

We will finish Unit 11 this week by solving rate problems. We will have math groups on Wednesday and will take the unit test next Monday. If you are able to help with math groups, please let me know. We love having you in our classroom!

Science:

This quarter, we will be learning all about the human body. We will start with the skeletal system this week. There will be a quiz on the human skeleton during the following week.

History:

This week, students will finish learning about westward expansion before the Civil War. Students wil cover the Mexican-American War, and settlers moving further west, such as the gold miners and the Mormons. The study guide is going home Tuesday, and it will be due Monday, 3/27. The unit test will be on Tuesday, 3/28.

Headlines 3/6/17

I can't believe this is the last week of the third quarter. The students have been working hard the last eight weeks and I have been so impressed with their diligence and perseverance.

Our focus this quarter has been becoming a self-advocate and I continue to see the students making improvements in their maturity and level of responsibility.

Last week we had a class conversation about appropriate playground and social behavior. We came up with a list of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviors for our class. I reminded students that we keep our hands to ourselves in line and on the playground, and to be respectful of others' boundaries. We also discussed how to solve problems with others in a constructive way. I am hoping this will help some of the issues that have arisen in the last few weeks!

Here is everything we will be doing this final week!

ELA

This week in Literature we will be using the character studies we have completed to complete a “Most Dynamic Character Award” writing prompt. Students will be writing a persuasive paragraph based on who they believe has changed the most in The Secret Garden. Please be sure your student has the novel, Across Five Aprils, which we will begin when we return from Spring Break.

In Grammar and Writing we will be reviewing similes and metaphors and will use these to describe the virtues.

The Tyger, by William Blake will be recited Wednesday, March 8th.

Science

This week we will continue studying the life of the famous botanist, George Washington Carver.

History

This week, students will continue learning about westward expansion before the Civil War. Students will cover the expansion of canals, invention of railroads, the Trail of Tears, Manifest Destiny, acquiring of Texas, and the settling of the Oregon territory. There is also a geography quiz over the Midwest, Rocky Mountain, and Great Plains regions on Wednesday, March 8th. Students will also be learning about the Southwest region in Geography.

Math

Last week we began learning about finding averages, this week we will begin learning about rate. Math groups are back on this week on Wednesday from 8-9! Please let me know if you are able to help this week. Thank you!

Headlines 2/27

Happy Monday! We have a busy week ahead and a lot to look forward to. I have had a lot of questions about the forecast for tomorrow's field trip. The last forecast I saw is giving a 30% of rain tomorrow.  The Renaissance Faire is a rain or shine event, so I suggest bringing a rain jacket, and umbrella just in case it does rain. 

Have a wonderful week!

ELA:

We will finish reading The Secret Garden this week and will begin a writing assignment based on the character studies we have been working on throughout the book. Our next book will be Across Five Aprils, which we will begin when we return from Spring Break.

In Grammar and Writing we will add the noun job of Predicate Nouns and will add this to our diagrams.

Our  Greek and Latin Roots quiz over roots 51-75 will be Friday, March 3rd.However, we will still be having our weekly quiz on Wednesday. Students were given the review sheet on Friday, and this should be complete by Tuesday.

The Tyger, by William Blake will be recited Wednesday, March 8th.

Math:

After the unit assessment over decimals Monday , we will begin our next unit covering averages and rate.

History:

This week, students will continue learning about westward expansion before the Civil War. Students will cover the exploration of Lewis and Clark, the resistance of the Native Americans and Tecumseh, as well as advances in transportation.

Science:

This week we will be studying the life of the famous botanist, George Washington Carver.

Headlines 2/19

I hope everyone is enjoying their rainy three day weekend! We had a busy week, enjoying Great Hearts Day and Field Day. We were the silver medalists, and we won the most important event, The Tug-of-War!! Thank you to all of you who volunteered your time and resources this week. We are so appreciative of the support you give us.

It's hard to believe we are already in the seventh week of the third quarter and spring break is right around the corner. We have our explorer presentations this week and will be wrapping up our final roots for the quarter.  Enjoy the rest of your break and I will see our well rested scholars on Tuesday!

ELA

This week we will be using part of our Literature time to give our Explorer Presentations. All of the students have signed up for a time slot and should bring their presentation boards the day of their speech.

We will be typing our final drafts of our explorer essays in class and will be reviewing grammar concepts we have covered this year.

We will have our weekly quiz over Roots on Wednesday.  Students should study these nightly! This week we will finish up roots 50-75. The test over these will be Friday, March 3rd.

We introduced our new poem, The Tyger, by William Blake,these will be recited Wednesday, March 8th.

Math

We will finish up our study of decimals this week. We will learn how to multiply and divide a decimal by a decimal, will review, and will take our Unit Test next Monday, February 27th. Our review date falls on a Friday, so will have Math groups on Friday rather than Wednesday. If you are able to help out, please let me know!

History

This week, students will finish the Age of Exploration unit. We will review their study guides on Tuesday. The study guides are due on Wednesday 2/22, and the test is also on Wednesday. Students will be getting their study guides on Monday, 2/13 due on Wednesday 2/22. We will study the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions in Geography. Students will begin learning about westward expansion before the Civil War on Friday, starting with Daniel Boone.

Science

The class will be working on a Written Assessment this week. The students will receive the prompts on Tuesday and brainstorm/plan. On Thursday they will complete the actual assessment. Though they will be allowed to use their notebooks when planning, the assessment will be closed note. The assessment will be graded on breadth of content knowledge and grammatical proficiency.

Headlines 2/13

Happy Monday! We have a fun and active week ahead and are looking forward to enjoying celebrating friendship and fitness!

Great Hearts Day is tomorrow, thank you to parents who have offered to bring in snacks. We will have a normal day until noon, and will spend the remainder of the day in activities celebrating the virtue of friendship.

Friday is Field Day. We are Macedonia and our color is blue. Please encourage your child to wear a blue shirt that day and comfortable shorts or pants. They are welcome to wear athletic clothing and shoes that is free of pop culture references, but brand names are fine! Be sure to bring a water bottle that day and I would suggest sending in a small bottle of sunscreen to apply before we head outside. We will be eating lunch in our classroom that day, so please be sure to send in a sack lunch.

We still need one rolling cooler for our water bottles. If you have one you could share, please just shoot me an email. 

That was a lot of info, so please let me know if you have any questions!

ELA

We are enjoying reading and discussing  The Secret Garden; we will continue this novel study for about two more weeks.

Students should have completed an outline of the body of their paragraph at this point. This week we will be completing our rough drafts and peer and self-editing and will be ready to type essays in class the following week.. Students should be working on their projects at home. We will begin presentations on Tuesday, February 21st. Please let Mrs. Anderson know if you have any questions regarding these!

We will have our quiz over Roots 62-65 on Wednesday.  Students should study these nightly!

We introduced our new poem, I, Too, by Langston Hughes last week. We will recite these poems on Friday, February 17th (Note the date change!).

Math

We are continuing our study of decimals this week and will be practicing multiplying decimals by decimals. As we prepare for AZMerit, we are aiming to complete this chapter in a timely manner and therefore will not be having math groups this week. We will keep you posted on the next time they are scheduled!

History

This week, students will finish learning about the Age of Exploration. We will learn about Sir Francis Drake’s journey around the world, the French and Dutch explorers, and the growth of slavery during the Age of Exploration. Please note that the topic of slavery is very serious and we will be discussing the brutality of the middle passage. This chapter will be discussed with homeroom teachers on Friday. Students will be getting their study guides on Monday, 2/13, due on Wednesday 2/22. The test will also be on Wednesday 2/22. We will go over the study guide on Tuesday, 2/21.

Science

This week in science we will be reviewing plant anatomy, taking a quiz Tuesday, and then learning about Photosynthesis for the rest of the week.

Headlines 2/6/17

Can you believe we are already half way through third quarter? We have already accomplished so much, and continue to work hard.

Last week our class discussed what it means to be a self-advocate and make pro-active choices that encourage our success. To that end, today, we reiterated the importance of completing homework on time, and studying for tests and quizzes. We have had a large amount of late work and students grades are being affected by not turning work in on time.

This might be a good time to check in with your child and make sure they are keeping their work organized, studying for tests and quizzes, and completing their reading logs each night.

Thank you so much for the extra donations of glue sticks and markers; they are very much appreciated!

A Sign-up genius for Great Hearts Day will be coming out soon, so stay on the lookout for that, and don't forget that Friday is a half day!

Have a wonderful week and thank you for all your continued support as we work together to educate your young scholars.

ELA

We are enjoying reading The Secret Garden and identifying character traits as we read. We are continuing our study of characters this week.

Students are beginning their explorer reports today. They should have their materials in class each day to research. If you need me to print out resources for your student, please email me the link and I will be happy to help! We will complete outlines on Thursday and Friday. Although we have a timeline of due dates, these may be adjusted to ensure that as the majority work is done in class. We will keep you updated on all due dates as we progress,

We will have our quiz over Roots 62-65 on Wednesday.  Students should study these nightly!

We introduced our new poem, I, Too, by Langston Hughes last week. We will recite these poems on Wednesday, February 22nd.

Math

This week we will continue our study of multiplication and division of decimals and learning to convert fractions into decimals. There are no math groups this week.

Science

This week we will be learning about the different kinds of seeds that develop into angiosperms. There will be a unit test on Friday the 10th. The students will receive a study guide on Monday and should study all plant notes throughout the week.

History

This week, students will continue to learn about the Age of Exploration. We will be covering Christopher Columbus, Spanish encomiendas and slavery, and Magellan’s voyage around the world. Take note that we will be discussing the slavery of African people during the Age of Exploration this week and next week. Students will continue their study of United States Geography with the Midwest.