Week 6 - End of 1st quarter is almost here!

Tuck Everlasting-Quizzes

   We finished Chapter 8 on Thursday, and will read through Chapter 11 in Week 7.  We will have a vocabulary quiz on Monday. Don't forget to have your child study, they should have been studying all week. We will learn ten new words after quiz on Monday and have one final vocab quiz on Tuck Everlasting next Monday, October 6th.

Personal Narrative

   We have been working hard this week on our personal narratives, we will wrap these up on Monday. Students will work on revising, editing, printing, and illustrating a picture for these narratives. Students will also have a chance to share their stories in class this week during authors chair. If your child chooses not to share, they do not have too. I can't wait to read all of their stories. :)

Game of Life

   We played the Game of Life this week. I will send the games home with your child this week. It took us a little longer to finish because we added up everyone's scores so that we knew who our winners were. We had three categories, a tribe(table) winner, highest winner at each table, and an overall class winner.  The students had fun with this. :) Here are some pictures from our game.

End of Quarter Auction

   We will be having an end of the quarter auction in week 9. This is a fun incentive for your child because this is where they finally get to spend their Mac Bucks that they have been earning. They earn Mac Bucks for many different things such as good behavior, working hard, academics, going above and beyond, etc.  I am asking parents to please bring in any items that they think the class would enjoy bidding on.  These items don't have to be big, they can be small items, such as toys, candy, school supplies, homemade items, food, drinks such as Gatorade, or anything you know your child enjoys.:)

I think that wraps up week 6, I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Game of Life, Tuck Everlasting, and Typing Club

   Last week we started reading the book Tuck Everlasting. We will read this book for the next few weeks in our reading block.  Students will have a vocabulary quiz from this book for the next few Mondays.  You should have seen them come home with a vocabulary organizer this week, I had them put it in with their reading logs, in their binders so they will always have it with them. Be looking for these organizers for the next few weeks and encourage them to study :) Our quizzes will be first thing Monday mornings.

   In projects we did a lot of fun activities where the students were able to work with their new groups and get to know each other better.  They all came up with new tribe names and made posters, they came up with some really creative names. 

   The Game of Life project will begin this week. Thank you to all the families who are letting us borrow their games and also a big Thank You to the Bake family for donating one for our classroom! We will start playing the Game of Life on Monday and Tuesday and then we will learn all of the Economic Vocabulary on Wednesday and Thursday. This vocabulary quiz will not be until the end of the four week project. I promise I will be better in letting you know ahead of time when we will be having quizzes and tests. 

   We also started Typing Club, students will get to work on their typing skills a couple times a week for a short amount of time in their writing block. Typing Club is a free website where your child could practice this at home as well.  They have to get three stars to move on to the next level. If you have any questions about setting this up at home please let me know. 

   Also in Writing, we have started brainstorming and using a quick sketch method to plan out our personal narratives. We will begin our rough drafts this week on their chrome books. We have been learning to pick the "seed out of the watermelon." This means that we are writing a personal narrative on one small part of a big story.  You should ask your child what "seed" they are writing about:)  

   I cannot believe we are already going to start our 6th week! Time is Flying! I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Hello all!

Here is a little overview of what we were doing in week 4 .

Week Four Overview

 In Reading, we continued to practice building Read to Self stamina, we made it to 20 minutes. I was able to assess each student individually and will be placing them in reading groups in the next week. 

 In 4th and 5th grade Writing, we were still working on parts of speech, we are going to start writing narratives this week.

 In Projects, we finished our United States Regional Map Project, I was very impressed by all of the presentations. We will be working on Tribes Projects this coming up week and starting our Economic Project the following week.  If you have any "The Game of Life" games, please drop them off anytime this week.

Picture Week

  School Picture Day is this week, September 15-17th. Our Picture day is on Wednesday, the 17th at 2 pm.  Students must wear school uniforms.  I sent an order form home with your child on Friday, there was also an email sent out to you where you can print out the order form yourself if you wish. Please send a separate payment for each student, meaning if you have two students, please send two checks. If your child is going to be absent on the 17th, please contact the office right away, so they can fit your child in on another day(Mon or Tues).

   

Class Representative

Last Thursday, we had an assembly, where we listened to the middle school give speeches as they were running for student council.  Both 5th Grade classes have the opportunity to elect one student from each class to represent their class. These students will attend the student council meetings.  We will be having a little class election of our own this week to elect one student as our class representative. This is a great opportunity because next year, your child will get to run for a student body officer if they wish to do so.

Wrapping up United States Regional Maps/Planning our very first walking field trip!

Projects

   Our regional map project is wrapping up this week, everyone has been working very hard on these, ask your child to tell you what they have learned about their region. 

   We have been working a lot on team work and what it takes to contribute and be a good team member.         Students will present their projects on Wednesday to all 5th graders.  We will hang our maps and charts in the hallway on Thursday to show off all of their hard work.  

   

Reading and Writing

   In Reading, we are still working on building stamina and I have started assessing each student individually so we can set their reading goals.  In both 4th and 5th grade Writing, we have still been working on the parts of speech, we will start actually writing very soon. 

GO Time

   GO time is something we do every afternoon.  GO time is a time where we get ready to go home, students gather all of their belongings, complete their jobs for the day, and when they are done, they are asked to read quietly.  I am going to start letting them have snacks during this time, so if you would like to send an extra snack for your child you can. 

Monday Folders

   Monday folders will come home this Monday, please initial the grid on the Monday folder to let me know that you have received your child's graded papers.  

Parent Journals

   Parent journals will continue as normal this week, so please expect those on Thursday.

Field Trip

   On, Thursday, all 4th and 5th graders will be going on a walking field trip to City Hall for the 911 Ceremony.  I will need a couple parents to come along with us.  I have not yet been to this ceremony, but I know Mayor Ken Tedford will be there and in the past, the Governor has been there as well. Please email me if you are available to come and we can go over the details. We plan on leaving the school around 9:15 and returning between 11:00 and 11:30.  Please remember to make sure your child has comfortable walking shoes.  

New Project

   We are going to be starting a new Economics project soon, to start this project off, we wanted to have the students play the game of life as the entry event.  If anyone has this board game and would be willing to let us borrow please let me know. All 4th and 5th graders will be doing this project and all of us teachers are very excited about this new project. Students will learn how to manage and budget money.

   I think that is all I have for this week, looking forward to another great week!