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

Headlines 3/16

We are in the last week of third quarter and are winding down our units while we prepare for next semester!  Thank you for all your help with Field Day; the students had a wonderful time and we earned the Silver Medal!

Math: This week we are taking some time to cover concepts that we may not get to before AZMerit.  We are simply introducing the concepts and doing some practice work.  We will cover these more in depth later in the year. I will be sending math tests home today for students to make corrections, they are more than welcome to get help during recess and before or after school.

Writing/Grammar:  We are taking a break from writing and grammar this week and doing some review of sentence diagramming.

Literature: We are continuing our study of fables this week and using them to write summaries, find themes, and use context clues to understand unknown words.

Science:  This week we are doing a fun activity on plant cells.  The students are becoming teachers by using research given to them to study and then present to the class.

History:  We are continuing our reading and discussion of Feudal Japan and ancient Russia this week. 

 Announcements:

• I apologize for the late notice, but there is no tutoring this week.  However, I will be available before and after school to help students make corrections to their math tests.
• Please send in a reusable grocery bag with your child on Thursday to store their desk materials in over spring break.  Our classroom will be receiving a much needed deep clean!
• We will be celebrating our achievements this quarter with a small class party on Thursday.  If you are able to send in a snack or drink to share with the class please let me know.   

Important Dates:

• Half Day: Thursday, March 17
• Spring Break: Friday, March 18-Monday, March 28

Wish List:

If you are out shopping over break, we are in need of dry erase markers, Kleenex, and glue sticks!

Headlines, 3/9

I am so sorry for the tardiness of this blog post!  It has been a busy week and I have had a few computer issues, so we are back on board today!

Math: Today we began our review of decimals.  Students should work on the review tonight and tomorrow we will go over this in class.  We will be taking a test on Friday, however tomorrow night students may use a 3 x 5 note card to create a study aide to use during the test. They will hear more about this tomorrow.

Writing/Grammar:  I have been so pleased with the wonderful presentations students gave and am looking forward to reading their research papers.  I am very proud of the hard work our class put forth on this challenging project!

Literature: This week we are reading fables while we discuss using context clues with unknown vocabulary as well as writing clear and concise summaries.  The roots test is tomorrow!

Science:  We began our unit on plant cells this week by discussing each organelle and it's function within a cell.

History:  The students began the unit on Russia this week by learning about it's culture and history.

 Field Day!!

Field day is Friday and we are all very excited!  I know many parents had questions so here is all I know!

• Students may wear athletic clothing and do not need to be in uniform, although please be sure that the length of shorts is within dress code.  Our color is purple so we are encouraging students to wear purple items of clothing, and of course, please be sure clothing is free of pop culture.  However, they may wear clothing with sports teams on it.  They must have athletic shoes to take part in field day activities!  
• We will provide a cooler for water bottles, so please be sure your child has their water bottle to take on the field.  There will be plenty of cold water available for refills.
• There will be a snack time on the field and we have two parents who have graciously offered to bring those for the class, thank you!
• We will be eating lunch in the room around 11:00, and will head out to field day activities at 12:00.  Please be sure your child has a sack lunch!

Important Dates

• Roots Test:  Thursday, March 10
• Field Day:  Friday, March 11
• Half Day: Thursday, March 17
• Spring Break: Friday, March 18-Monday, March 28