The Headlines, 1/26/15

The Headlines

We had a great week as we wrapped up a few of our units and started some new projects.  Our fifth graders continue to show focus and determination as they are becoming more independent.  I have been very impressed with both the writing and organization they are showing.

Math: We tested over Unit 5 last week and those tests should be coming home today.  As a reminder, test corrections are still due, however they are counted as a homework grade.  We began our unit on ratio and the students seem to have a firm grasp on this concept.  This is our last unit in Singapore 5A, so this week we will test over ratio and begin our next book!

Literature:  We have all enjoyed reading Where the Red Fern Grows, and the class is hard at work on their 100 point project.  We have set a due date on this for February 6.  They have had time in class to work on their project and they should also be taking the time to work at home. 

 Writing:  Our focus last week was on new noun jobs, such as those of direct address and interjections.  We also took some time to review other parts of speech.  This week we will be reviewing helping and linking verbs and will introduce transitive and intransitive verbs.

Science:   We will be taking our bones test tomorrow.  Today we will be reviewing in class and students should take their notes home to study tonight.  The next unit will be on muscles which we will introduce this week.

History:  Last week we learned more about the various rulers in England and began creating a newspaper article on the beheading of King James.  We will be peer editing these in class today and the final draft will be due tomorrow. 

Announcements:

·         As always there will be tutoring after school for Math on Tuesday from 2:45-3:15 and Grammar on Thursdays.

·         The field trip is Thursday, January 29^th.  We will be seeing “Sister Moses,” The story of Harriet Tubman at the Chandler Center for the Arts.  The bus will leave school at 9:30 and we will be attending the 10:45 performance.  We will then eat lunch at Tumbleweed Park and will arrive back at school at 1:30 pm.   Please be sure your child has a disposable sack lunch with them, we will not have access to school lunch! Both students and parent helpers will need to pay via the online portal at $20 per ticket. If this amount is not realistic for your family please let me know, there are scholarships available.  We do not want a child to miss the field trip due to finances.  If you would like to meet us there, you may purchase your ticket through the Chandler Center for the Arts.  If you have not purchased your ticket yet, please do so today. The payment portal can be reached here:

https://archwayareteclubs.wufoo.com/forms/field-trip-sister-moses-musical-harriot-tubman/

·         Also, Spring Break will be here before you know it and our Quintus camp is available!

Designed for parents who want or need options for their students during school breaks,       Quintus Camp is an enrichment camp with time for play, learning, projects, and activities - all in a fun "camp" atmosphere that will appeal to your grade K-6 student. With flexible packages for parents (ranging from half-days to full and extended days), Quintus Camp is the perfect choice for school break programming.  Quintus will run Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Archway Arete March 16th-20th. 

If you have any questions, or need a copy of the registration brochure, please email the Quintus Camp Director, Ms. Prestipino, at Quintus.Arete@GreatHeartsAZ.org

·        Last, but not least our class basket theme is “We Love Candy!”  Our class parents have been working hard organizing this and sent out an email with t a sign-up.  Please be sure to take a moment and check it out.  Donations are due by Tuesday, January 27^th. 

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0F45A8A92AA1FD0-funrun/

The Headlines!

I hope everyone had a restful three and half day weekend, and took some time to remember the amazing difference that Martin Luther King Jr. made in our country.  I am reminded of how privileged we are to live in a nation that celebrates the life of a man who helped make freedom accessible to all.

Math:  Last week we focused on finding the area of a parallelograms and multi-dimensional objects.  This required the students to solve multi-step problems using the skills they are already possess.  I gave study guides to the class on Friday; some of them were able to finish these, the rest should have completed them over the weekend.  We will be reviewing these Tuesday in class and will take the test on Wednesday.  Our next unit will be on ratios. 

Literature:  We have made it through chapter 8 of Where the Red Fern Grows.  Some of our reading has been done in class and we also have been working in Literature Circles.  The students should be working on their 100 point projects both at home and at school.  We will be spending one class period a week working on them as well.  These will be due when the book is completed.

 Writing:  Last week our focus was on conjunctions and how to combine phrases and clauses.  The students did well on their quizzes and next week we will be looking at other noun jobs in sentences as well as reviewing the noun jobs we have already studied.

Science:   We have discussed all the bones we will be studying and the students should have completed their notecards for all of these bones.  Next week we will be studying joints.  Our test over both bones and joints will be later next week, most likely on Thursday or Friday.  They should be reviewing their notecards at home this week!

History:  This week we continued our study of the Glorious Revolution, looking at the battles the English fought.  Next week we will study the impact of Puritan rulers.  We have also begun making vocabulary cards for this unit.  I recommend that they begin reviewing these at home.

Announcements:

• ·         As always there will be tutoring after school for Math on Tuesday from 2:45-3:15 and Grammar on Thursdays.

• ·         The field trip is Thursday, January 29^th.  We will be seeing “Sister Moses,” The story of Harriet Tubman at the Chandler Center for the Arts.  The bus will leave school at 9:30 and we will be attending the 10:45 performance.  We will then eat lunch at Tumbleweed Park and will arrive back at school at 1:30 pm.  Both students and parent helpers will need to pay via the online portal at $20 per ticket.  I will let you know if you are a parent volunteer! There may be extra tickets available, but you will need to contact the Chandler Center for the Arts to be sure.  The payment portal can be reached here:

https://archwayareteclubs.wufoo.com/forms/field-trip-sister-moses-musical-harriot-tubman/

• ·         Also, Spring Break will be here before you know it and our Quintus camp is available!Designed for parents who want or need options for their students during school breaks,       Quintus Camp is an enrichment camp with time for play, learning, projects, and activities - all in a fun "camp" atmosphere that will appeal to your grade K-6 student. With flexible packages for parents (ranging from half-days to full and extended days), Quintus Camp is the perfect choice for school break programming.  Quintus will run Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Archway Arete March 16th-20th. 

If you have any questions, or need a copy of the registration brochure, please email the Quintus Camp Director, Ms. Prestipino, at Quintus.Arete@GreatHeartsAZ.org

• ·        Last, but not least our class basket theme is “We Love Candy!”  Our class parents have been working hard organizing this and sent out an email with t a sign-up.  Please be sure to take a moment and check it out.  Donations are due by Tuesday, January 27^th. 

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0F45A8A92AA1FD0-funrun/

Important Dates:

Friday 1/30: Half Day, 11:45 am Release

Thursday Jan. 29: Field Trip

Saturday February 7: Fun Run and Family Picnic

Headlines 1/12

The Headlines

 

 We had a great week back at school and the scholars came ready to learn and focus.  We discussed how this was the beginning of their last semester of elementary school and the rest of our year will be focused on preparing them for their transition to Arete Prep!  They are rising to the occasion and I am proud of how hard they are working.

Math:  Last week we reviewed how to find the area of triangles and spent quite a bit of time finding the base and height of a triangle.  The students were given a short quiz to assess their progress and those will be sent home tonight for corrections.  We will also be discussing this in tutoring tomorrow, so if your child is struggling please be sure they stay tomorrow afternoon from 2:45-3:15.  This week we will move on to areas of parallelogram and multi-dimensional figures. 

 

Literature:  We began our study of Where the Red Fern Grows last week and are enjoying our discussions.  The kids seem to really identify with the theme.  We also discussed our 100 point project.  This will be the majority of the students grade for this book.  They were given an instruction sheet with various projects they can complete for up to 100 points.  This will be worked on in class as well as at home. 

 Writing:  We have begun looking at conjunctions and how they are used in writing. We will continue to look at these this week and will especially focus on how combining sentences and clauses makes our writing more fluent and interesting.

 

Science: We continued our study of bones, focusing on vertebrae, the scapula, and the upper body.  We are taking notes on these bones in class and it would be a great idea to begin reviewing these at home in preparation for the test which will be sometime next week.  We also will be studying the different types of joints and how they help our bones move.

 

History: We are deep into the study of England and The Glorious Revolution.  We are trying our best to keep all the kings and queens straight and how they impacted the people and religion of the time.

 

Announcements:

 

Some of you have heard that we will be going on a field trip at the end of the month.  We will be joining Archway Chandler to see a play based on the life of Harriet Tubman performed at the Chandler Center for the Arts.  This will be followed by a picnic in the park.  Each class may take two parent volunteers.  We would love to take more, unfortunately the show is sold out and we are limited in our attendance.  If you would like to join us, please drop me an email.  I will be putting these names in a hat and will be drawing at random in order to keep it fair!

 

Important Dates:

 



Friday, Jan. 16th; Friday Jan. 30th: Half Day, dismissal 11:45



 



 



 

Headline 1/5/15

The Headlines

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful winter break. I know I sure enjoyed sleeping in, relaxing with my family and eating way too much yummy food!  That being said, I am ready to see all of the students smiling faces and get back to a routine J

 

Math:  We started our unit on measurement and we will be continuing next week.  Specifically, we will be learning how to find the areas of various polygons and multi-dimensional shapes.  We will continue to have math tutoring on Tuesdays and I have asked some of you to send your child, if you could please email and let me know if they will be attending I would appreciate it. 

 

Literature:  Thank you so much for all of your donations to our Hobbit Literature Celebration.  The kids had a great time and it was the perfect way to end the semester.  Our next literature unit will be Where The Red Fern Grows. This is a beautifully written novel and a switch to a more realistic fiction genre.  Please be sure your student brings the book tomorrow, or let me know as soon as possible if you will need to borrow a copy.

 

 Writing:  I really enjoyed reading all of The Hobbit summary paragraphs, it is evident that our study of well-written and concise summaries has helped the students.  We will continue to practice this skill in class, but this semester we will also be completing a research paper. More details will follow in the next couple of weeks.  We will start looking at how to use conjunctions in our writing this week.

 

Science: We began our study of The Skeleton before break began and we will continue this week.  Specifically we will talk about bones of the upper body and bone strength.

 

History:  We will begin our study of The Glorious Revolution.  This is a very interesting unit and we will be learning about lots of different kings and queens and the geography of Great Britain.   We will also continue to add to our state books in preparation for the states and capitols test at the end of the year.

 

 

Announcements:

Thank you so much for all of your continued help and support in the classroom.  I felt extremely spoiled after our teacher luncheon and all of your generous gifts.  I am so lucky to be working in such a loving community.

 

Please take a moment to check with your student to see how they are faring in school supplies.  I have compiled our supplies into class bins and it looks like we are a little low on pencils and (of course!) glue sticks. 

 

Important Dates:

 

Wednesday, 12/17: Grammar Test

Friday 1/16; Friday 1/30: Half Days, 11:45 am Release

 

 

 

Headlines 12/12

The Headlines

 

It has been a super-productive week in 5B.  I know it was a very test heavy week, but the kids did remarkably well and I could tell there was a lot of studying that happened!

 

Math:  We reviewed and tested over Unit 4 this week and most of the students did well.  I will be sending the tests home next week and corrections will be due the following day.  We began Unit 5 on measurement and will continue that next week, looking at multi-shaped figures.

 

Literature:  We finished The Hobbit, and loved it!  Next week we will complete a final writing assignment in which the students will complete a story map, summary, and illustration for their favorite chapter.

 

 Writing:  This week we focused on prepositions used as adverbs and adjectives and reviewed our sentence diagramming.  This review will continue next week and we will take a grammar test next Wednesday.  I will hold a tutoring session for Grammar on Monday from 2:45-3:20, so please make sure your child attends if they are struggling in this area. 

 

Science: We completed our Mitosis unit this week and I am sure you all heard about our bone dissection!  Although it was a stinky activity, it was a pretty cool introduction to our unit on bones.  Next week we will begin looking at the bones of the upper body.

 

History:  We took the final test over The Reformation and started our first unit studying the 50 states.  We will be looking at The Northeast region.

 

 

 

                                                   Announcements:

Thank you to our class parents for setting up the Sign-Up Genius for our literature celebration.  If you have not had the chance to sign up check out what is left:

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0A45ABAB2BA6F94-5thgrade/21036496

 

Also, thank you so much to the parents who came in last minute and made our state books, we really appreciate your help and these will be great tools for the kids to use.

 

As you know the week before break can be a very exciting time for the kids (and teachers!).  However, we still have a lot of learning to do, so it is very important that the students come to school ready to learn and focus!  This may be a good reminder to share with your fifth grader J

 

Important Dates:

 

Wednesday, 12/17: Grammar Test

Friday 12/19: Roots Test

Thursday 12/18, Friday 12/19: Half Days, 11:45 am Release

12/22-1/5: No School, Winter Break

 

Wish List:

 

We are set right now!

Tax Credit Contest!

Thank you to all our families that have donated their tax credit already or have asked someone else to donate their tax credit to Arete!   Below is a table that shows where each section is pertaining to the contest.  This is a no-cost donation that supports our sports programs, clubs and other character building activities.   Please click HERE to schedule your tax credit donation for a later date or pay on-line today.  You may also print out a form, attach a check and send back with your child.  I will make sure it reaches Michele Wilson for you.

LET’S TAKE THE CREDIT AND TAKE THE LEAD!

Grade/Section	Class Size	# of Donations Received	Tax Credit Participation %
KA	31	5	16%
KB	30	6	20%
KC	30	7	23%
1A	30	8	27%
1B	31	3	10%
1C	30	6	20%
2A	30	2	7%
2B	30	6	20%
2C	32	1	3%
3A	31	1	3%
3B	30	3	10%
3C	32	6	19%
4A	30	2	7%
4B	31	2	6%
4C	30	4	13%
5A	29	1	3%
5B	30	3	10%
5C	28	7	25%

 

Headlines, 12/7/14

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and is preparing for the Holiday season.  We are working very hard in all of our subjects and expect to end 2014 with gusto!

Math:  We have spent the last week discussing how to divide fractions and ended the week with bar models.  For most students the algorithms were easy to understand, but we spend quite a bit of time looking at models to help learn the concept of the arithmetic.  We will test over Unit 4 on Wednesday or Thursday of this week and will be working on a study guide to take home.  Tutoring will be after school on Tuesday from 2:45-3:20.

Literature:  We only have a few more chapters to finish in The Hobbit.  The class is doing an excellent job of story mapping and using context clues to find meaning of new vocabulary.  We will he having a Literature Celebration on the 19^th and a sign-up genius will be sent out in the next few days.

 Writing:  We reviewed sentence diagramming last week and also began discussing adverbs.  Even though this can be a difficult skill to master, the kids are really starting to catch on.  We will look at prepositions next week.

Spalding:  Our words are becoming more difficult and we are beginning to see how important it is to know how the rules help us spell.  Students who receive a 100% on their pre-test do not have to take the Friday test!

Science: I hope everyone enjoyed their lessons in Mitosis, I saw some very creative work that was done!  We will be completing the study guide and reviewing in class tomorrow and will take the test on Tuesday.  We move on to Human Body Systems next, starting with the skeleton. 

History:  This week we spent quite a bit of time looking at Galileo as well as the counter-reformation in Europe.  Next week we will learn about Copernicus and will complete the study guide over the unit.  Our test will be Wednesday or Thursday.  The next unit will be over the states.

                                                   Announcements:

Thank you so much for all of your generous donations for our service project.  Our class had a total of 88 donations! 

The results of the homework survey have been reported and I thank you all for your feedback.  The majority of you stated that you spend an average of 60-75 minutes on homework each night and that you are available to help when needed.  The subjects that require the most attention are history, language arts, and math.  Most of you said that you felt you had the resources needed to complete work, however a few of you said that you would like to have more textbooks.

This is such useful information for us as teachers and administrators in guiding our planning.  Homework should not take more than 60-75 minutes, and I do not want it to be a time of stress for your family.  If it is taking longer than that, please feel free to stop and drop me a note.  I can help during recess and before or after school.                                              

Important Dates:

Tuesday, 12/9: Science Test

Thursday 12/18, Friday 12/19: Half Days, 11:45 am Release
Friday 12/19: Greek and Latin Roots Test

12/22-1/5: No School, Winter Break

A few pictures from our Oreo Mitosis Activity!