Mrs. Woods is Guest Blogging!

Hey everyone!

I quickly wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! I have missed everyone a great deal and am excited to come back in January.

I've had a lot of fun being at home with Reilly and getting in lots of snuggles! I know that Mrs. Auter has taught you so many things and I can't wait to see what all you've learned. I know it is going to be hard to leave him when I come to school the first day, but am excited to see your smiling faces!

I really enjoyed watching our LA class present The Broken Doll yesterday with our reading buddies. Everyone did a great job! Way to go!

If I missed seeing you yesterday, make sure you pop over and say hi to me on Friday, Rei and I will be back for the Celebrate the Seasons Celebration! If I don't see you, stay safe over break and I'll see you next year! :)

Love,

Mrs. Woods

Winter Weather Wednesday
Tomorrow is our Mini-Mall. Students must have a permission slip signed by a parent and teacher to be able to sell at the mall.

Language Arts: We had a great time presenting "The Broken Doll" with our Reading Buddies to the kindergartners and 1st graders. Everybody did a fine job! Homework: Study for spelling test on Friday. Grammar test will be over identifying helping verbs.

Math: Math Box 7.7 and S.L. 7.7

No Social Studies Homework

Tuesday, December 15

Lang. Arts - Spelling Test on Friday - Study words!

Math - Math Box 7.6

Social Studies ( Grannan) - No homework.

Monday, December 14

Wow! Where has the time gone?? This is my last week to fill in for Mrs. Woods. She'll be back following winter break. I sure have enjoyed the students and our time together.

Language Arts : We do not have a weekly packet this week, however, the students do have homework tonight. Grammar, pgs. 77-78

Math: Journal page 231 and SL 7.6

Social Studies: Vocabulary for Chapter 4 was handed out. No homework.

Thursday, December 10
Lang.Arts - Spelling test tomorrow. No Weekly Packet.
Math - Finish Journal page 226. Math Box 7.5 and SL 7.5
Social Studies (Grannan's Homeroom) - No homework

Windy Wednesday! (Be careful out there.)

Language Arts: We met with our 1st grade Reading Buddies today to practice a play we will be performing (very informal) next Wednesday morning, 12/16, at 9:30 in the LGI to the other 1st grade classes. Parent of my LA students are welcome to attend. Again, no homework (except to keep studying spelling words!).

Math: Math Boxes 7.3 and 7.4, plus SL 7.3 and 7.4

No Social Studies today - We had Art Smart!

Tuesday, Decemeber 9

Lang. Arts - No Weekly Homework Packet this week.

Math - Math Box 7.2 and SL 7.2

Social Studies (Grannan's Homeroom) - No homework

Monday, December 7

Dr. Pepper is looking for a home over winter break. If you are interestedin taking care of him (all supplies provided), please let Mrs. Auter know. Thanks!
Language Arts - No Weekly Homework Packet this week! However, students do have a spelling list of words to study for a test on Friday, and they will still be taking the test over our story from the purple reader.

Math - We complete journal pages 211 and 215 together. Pages 212-214 were assigned for homework, as well as SL 7.1

Social Studies (Grannan's Homeroom) - Chapter 3 test tomorrow - study vocab., reread Chapter 3, go over Interactive Journal notes

December 3 Thursday

Language Arts - Weekly Packet is due tomorrow. Study for spelling test, grammar test and Black Cowboy Wild Horses reading test.

Math - No homework

Social Studies (Miss Grannan's homeroom) - Study Guides for Chapter 3 were given to help students study for the test that will be next Tuesday, Dec. 8

Tonight is McTeacher Night and Northpoint Night at Explorations! Hope you can come out and support our school.

Language Arts: Students should be able to complete their Weekly Packets. We spent a lot of time in class discussing the story.

Math: Unit 6 Test is tomorrow. Students have a Unit 6 Checking Progress packet to use for studying.

Social Studies (Miss Grannan's Homeroom): No homework.

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving with your families! It's hard to believe, but we only have 3 weeks before winter break. Let's work together to ensure our students finish strong.

Lang. Arts - We are reading Black Cowboy Wild Horses A True Story this week. Please be sure your child reads this story at home (preferably with an adult). The comprehension skill for this week is making inferences; paying attention to the details of the story will help your child answer the comprehension questions correctly. Vocabulary Words are: vastness, enthusiasm, horizon, ravine, presence, swerved, flickered, and suspended. The spelling skill is the VCCV pattern (vowel, consonant, consonant, vowel). The grammar skill is also difficult - identifying and correctly spelling plurals and possessives. No new RIT words this week. We will be reviewing assonance and figurative language.

Math - We will be finishing Unit 6 tomorrow. The test will be on Thursday, Dec. 3. Homework for today: Journal pages 201-204 and SL 6.9.

Thanks to all who were able to attend the D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony this morning! We are very proud of our 5th graders. Our Homeroom essay winner was Allie Mason. Congratulations!

Lang. Arts - We met with our 1st grade Reading Buddies today and began working on a musical we hope to (informally) perform in December. Look for information about this fun event soon. Students should continue studying spelling words and RIT words, plus completing the weekly packet.

Math - We finished our sampling activity today and concluded that completing a sample survey of a large population really does work. Homework - Journal pages 186 and 187. S.L. 6.5

Social Studies - We are finishing Chapter 3 quickly. Today we concluded our discussion on the Age of Exploration and the Reformation periods. A study guide will come home Thurs. or Fri. Chapter 3's test will be on Monday, Nov. 23.

Tuesday, Nov. 18

I've been really giving the talk about doing your personal best in everything you do in Language Arts this week. Remind your student of the importance to always write neatly, always read directions and follow them (especially when taking a test), and to not settle for less than their best. They were shown an example of a flip book like the one they are to complete for their next reading project. When they are ready to begin their project, they are to ask for a flip book from me.
This week's vocabulary words: forbidden, hesitation, elegant, reluctant, blared, irrestible, mischieveous, gossiped
RIT words: conflict, protagonist, falling action, resolution, rising action
Grammar skill: possessive nouns

Math - No homework today!
D.A.R.E. - the 4th and 5th graders raised over $900 for the D.A.R.E. program!! Thanks so much for your support! Graduation is on Wed. morning at 8:15 am. All are welcome.

Students should prepare for the end of the week assessments in Lang. Arts tomorrow: Spelling Test, Grammar Test, Selection Assessment (Maya Lin) and RIT word Test.

Math - Complete Journal pages 179 and 180, plus S.L. 6.2 and 6.3.

Social Studies - Ask your 5th grader about diving for sunken treasure! Reminder: D.A.R.E. essays are due Monday. 3 paragraphs long (7-10 sentences per paragraph).

I got to see Mrs. Woods and Baby Reilly yesterday afternoon. Both are doing very well, and Reilly is definitely cute! Sure was nice to see her as "mommy."

In Lang. Arts today, students began researching a monument of their choice. The information collected will be used for a writing activity. Keep working on Weekly Homework Packet and study spelling words. Just a reminder that book orders are due Friday.

For Math we measured different ancient units of measurement (like a fathom and a cubit) in inches, centimeters and millimeters. Homework for today is SL 6.1 and Math Box 6.2.

We had D.A.R.E. today. Students are to be working on their personal essays to be handed in on Monday. Look for more information about Graduation Day (Wed. Nov. 18) soon!

Today in Lang. Arts, we practiced writing plurals and read more about monuments. Some of the students are having trouble finding information about monuments in our community. I mentioned that they could include statues/monuments at Notre Dame and/or downtown South Bend on their Weekly Homework Packet.

Math - Homework - Math Box 6.1 and Journal pages 170-172

Social Studies - Test will be handed back tomorrow. We began Chapter 4 today. No homework.

Monday's News and Notes
I hope everyone enjoyed the summer weather over the weekend!
Language Arts - We were very busy today. We warmed up by reviewing several language arts skills. Including titles, moods, and homophones. Next we had our spelling pretest. (Spelling City has been updated for the week.) We reviewed how to make nouns that end in f or fe plural. We dont' have new RIT words this week. Instead we are reviewing last week's words. Our reading story for the week is "Maya Lin: Architect of Memory." It is a nonfiction article that tells about the architect who made the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as well as the Civil Rights Memorial. Our vocabulary words for the week are dedicated, artifacts, site, exhibits and equality. Our comprehension skill is Main Ideas and Details. Our writing focus for the week is research. We are researching monuments.

Math - We took the Unit 5 test today - no homework!
Social Studies - No homework, as well - students completed Unit 3 test today.

Due to Double Specials and Mrs. Slater's presentation on bullies, we had very little Language Arts time today. The Weekly Packet is due tomorrow. Study for the spelling and story test!

In Math, students are to complete the Unit 5 Checking Progress to get ready for the test on Monday. Math Box 5.13 was also assigned.

We finished all Chapter 3's activities in Social Studies today. Tomorrow we will help each other study for the test on Monday. No additional homework was assigned.

"D.A.R.E. is fun!" Those were the words I heard today after students came back from their weekly D.A.R.E. class. This program has helped so many kids over the years, and we want to see it continue. A few days ago students brought home information about a read-a-thon that we're holding to try to raise money for the D.A.R.E. program. Be sure to look it over, and if you're able, make a donation. Any amount would be appreciated!

In Language Arts today, we met with our Reading Buddies and made cards for Mrs. Woods and Reilly. Students received back their Maniac Magee tests, which we went over in class, along with two quizzes. Homework for today: Spelling worksheet pgs. 41-42 and Grammar worksheet pgs. 39-40.

In Math today, we learned what school was like back in the 1900s. We practiced reading and interpreting different kinds of graphs. Homework: Journal pages 162 - 163 and S.L. 5.12.

Friendly Reminder ~
This is our first week back to doing the weekly reading packets for Language Arts after our novel study. So it's important the students get back into the habit of working on them throughout the week. The packets are due Friday. We're back to having spelling words, too! Students should remember to study for the test on Friday.
Math - We completed two journal pages in class together creating our own circle graphs from collected information. Homework for today: Math Box 5.11, Study Link 5.11 and WorkSheet (WS), pg. 80.
Social Studies - a Study Guide was handed out today. Chapter 3's test will be next Monday, November 9.

Have a great evening!

Welcome back ~
I hope that everyone had a wonderful fall break!

Language Arts - Today we are back to reading from our purple reader! Our story of the week is Rattlers. It is a nonfiction story about rattlesnakes. Our comprehension skill is identifying the main idea and details of paragraphs. The organization of the story is very helpful because each main idea is in the form of a question and is the heading for each section.

Our vocabulary words: species, survive, alert, vibrations, surroundings, prey, predators, and lunging. Our grammar skill is singular and plural nouns.

Here is our Rit Vocabulary and examples:
Appositives - When you are renaming someone or something. This information is often not needed. You put commas around the appositive. For example: My dog, Sadie is at the groomers. Sadie is the appositive.
Bias - A preconceived opinion about something. It is also the point of view you take in your writing. For example: Many students wrote a persuasive paper last week about drugs. Their bias was that drugs are bad.
Epiphany - A sudden moment of understanding that causes a character to change or act in a certain way. For example: After everyone sat with other people at lunch, Fred had an epiphany and decided to be nicer to his friends.
Gerund - It is a verb that functions like a noun. For example: Running is a Mr. L's favorite hobby. Running is a gerund.
Italics - A type of letter that is slightly slanted, usually used for titles and to emphasize special words. For example: We will have a test next Friday. Next is in italics to differentiate from this Friday.
Our writing focus of the week is persuasive letters. Each student is to write a letter to the editor. They need to back up their opinions with facts and may need to do a little research at home. This is due on Friday.
Weekly Homework was assigned and is due Friday.
Check out the spellingcity.com website. It's a fun and easy way to practice spelling words. Just type in your list under the "batch entry" tool and you can learn, test and play games all about your spelling words.

Math: We continued to practice using the percent circle to measure sectors of a circle graph. Homework - Journal pages 157 and 158, SL 5.9 and 5.10

Social Studies - We completed the chart that will be used as part of a study guide for the Unit 3 test coming up soon (Early next week). Look for the second part of the study guide to come home soon. No homework.

No homework in Language Arts, Math or Social Studies! Have a great fall break!

Dr. Pepper (our class pet) is in need of more bedding for his cage. If you are able to donate a bag, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Mrs. Woods had a healthy baby boy yesterday morning! Both Reilly and mommy are doing very well. They should be coming home from the hospital on Saturday.

In Lang. Arts today, we finally finished reading our book! Students took home an open book quiz over the last few chapters for homework. The test for Maniac Magee will be tomorrow (Thurs.). To review, students should look over vocabulary definitions and past quizzes to prepare for the test.

In Math, we reviewed how to change fractions to decimals and then to percents. Homework for today is to complete journal pages 147-151 and SL 5.7 and 5.8.

No Social Studies today. We had D.A.R.E.

Mrs. Auter's First Day

While Mrs. Woods is on maternity leave until Winter Break, I (Mrs. Auter) am very excited about teaching 5th grade. I know most of the students and their parents from when I taught them in 3rd grade. For those whom I have never met, feel free to stop by sometime. I'd love to meet you!

In Language Arts today, we read chapters 33-36 in Maniac Magee and took a vocabulary quiz. For homework, students should complete questions for Chapter 36 (and also complete questions for Chapters 33-35 if they did not complete them in class). The definitions for the new vocabulary words are due on Wednesday.

In Math, students practiced the three different ways of rounding numbers and writing fractions in decimal form. They are to complete journal pages 140-146 and SL 5.6.

There was no homework assigned for Social Studies today.

Bus Safety Day!

It was a great day to review our bus safety rules and drills this afternoon! We watched a very informative video on just what to do in an emergency while on a school bus, then went outside to practice safety drills and getting off the bus safely.

LA: We spent some more time with our Maniac Magee books, reading chapters 25-27 together as a class. Its been fun to watch the progression on the main characters and continue to watch them grow and change as we get closer to finishing up our novel.

HW: Chapters 25-27 are due tomorrow. Don't forget, typed writing is also due first thing tomorrow morning.

Math: We had a shortened math class today because of Bus Safety Day, but it gave us just enough time to review how to make equivalent fractions.

HW: Math box and study link 5.4 are due tomorrow. There were also problems on the board that need to be turned in tomorrow at the beginning of class.

Social Studies: Bus Safety Day

HW: None

It is bittersweet to let everyone know that tomorrow will be my last day until we return after Winter Break. Mr. Woods and I will be welcoming our new son into our lives on Tuesday morning! I can't even begin to say how much I am going to miss everyone while I am gone, but am looking forward to checking in with Mrs. Auter often to check up on everyone's progress. I know everyone is going to do their best, I'll miss you!

D.E.W. Your Best Tuesday!

We enjoyed D.E.W. time at 10:20 this morning! Don't forget...tomorrow is picture re-take day! If you are planning on having pictures re-taken, the original package of pictures must be returned.

LA: What a busy morning. We had a great time reading about Cobble's Knot in Manaic Magee, we took our next quiz and went over our chapters from yesterday! Students had a great time Dropping Everything and Writing (D.E.W) during Music with Mrs. Hill today--it was interesting to read just what was on everyone's mind at 10:20 on 10/20!

HW: Chapter 19-21 comprehension questions and journal entries are due tomorrow. We will also have a vocabulary quiz over the words from Part 1 in our novel tomorrow morning.

Math: More fraction fun today! It was fun to explore mixed numbers using pattern blocks with our partners today!

HW: Page 129, math box and study link 5.2 are due tomorrow. There was also an extra sheet assigned today!

Social Studies: Welcome back Home Room Friends! We jumped into chapter 3 today, which was about American Indians settling into different regions of the United States. Today, we specifically concentrated on the Northwest Region of the United States.

HW: None

Next week is RED RIBBON WEEK! Our theme this year is "All" Stars Say No To Drugs! The committee has some fun events planned for us...please take note:

• Monday is hat day!
• Tuesday is athletic gear day! Play to wear your favorite sweats suit, jogging suit or something of the sort. We will have a special visit from some of the Notre Dame cheerleaders and the mascot!
  
• Wednesday is jersey day! Don't have a jersey? That's okay, wear a t-shirt supporting your favorite sports team!
• Thursday is wear red day!
  

Monday, Monday!

We had a great Monday here at Northpoint!

Congratulations to our raffle winners from Friday night's Fall Festival! Way to go Sophia, Chris and Alexis!

LA: We had a great morning and got a lot accomplished today! We were able to read chapters 15-18 in our novel study, Maniac Magee, have a great discussion about some important literary terms, answer questions and start a typed journal entry.

HW: Finish discussion questions from chapter 15-18 if they were not done in class. There will be a quiz over chapters 12-21 tomorrow (we'll read 19-21 first!) and a vocabulary quiz over Part 1's words given on Wednesday. Vocabulary words are due Wednesday and the typed journal entry is due Friday.

Math: Fraction fun today! We jumped into unit 5 today, which is the start of fractions. We had a great time reviewing different reasons that fractions are helpful and just what we can do with them. We spent some time with partners today completing some fraction review.

HW: Page 124, math box and study link 5.1 are due tomorrow.

Social Studies: Today was Ms. Grannan's class last day in Social Studies. We finished up our 3-D land form projects. Watch for them to be on display soon!

HW: None

Fall Festival Friday!

Don't forget...tonight is the Fall Festival from 6-8! It's sure to be a great time for the whole family!

LA: We had a great morning. We were able to finish up presenting our reading projects, read 3 more chapters, take our quiz and enjoy some silent reading time!

HW: None

Math: We finished up our nine week review with some standard assessments today!

HW: None

Social Studies: We enjoyed our first Art Smart lesson today. Special thanks to Mrs. Demel for presenting and our helpers, Mrs. David, Mrs. Mason, Mrs. Ohlson, & Mrs. Meyer!

HW: None

Enjoy your weekend! Go Irish!

A Thinking Thursday Is What We've Had...

It's hard to comprehend how our days go so quickly by...we are always left with things we didn't get to....

LA: Although it was our short morning, we squeezed in a lot of learning. We made it through chapters 8-11 in our novel study, Maniac Magee. We had great discussions involving author's purpose, symbolism, similes, metaphors, colloquialism and unfamiliar vocabulary words.

HW: Journal entries for chapters 9-11, comprehension questions for chapter 9 (2), 10 (1 & 2), 11 (1,2 & 6) There will also be a quiz over chapters 1-11 given tomorrow.

Math: Today was the unit 4 test

HW: None

Social Studies: Yikes! We were busy until the last minute today! We had a great time staring our 3-D land form projects! Make sure to check out the display in the IMC coming soon with our finished products.

HW: None

Don't forget:

• We will have our first Art Smart lesson tomorrow
• Tomorrow night is Fall Festival
  

Wet and Soggy Wednesday!

It felt good to be in our jammies today! Thanks to everyone who sent in a donation to go to the Cancer Society!

LA: We plowed through more of our novel study this morning, really focusing in on chapter 7. We're having some great discussions regarding the topics that are popping up in the text of this book! We also had a fantastic visit with our first grade reading buddies and listened to the start of our reading projects! I'm very impressed with the quality of work displayed on these nine week projects!

HW: Read chapter 7, answer comprehension question and journal entry. Use context clues to define vocabulary words. (Trestle-5, musicale-6, bulging-6, scraggly-9, bellowing-7, hesitated-11, blundering-16, commotion-16)

Math: We took our unit 4 practice test today and went over the answers. Students were given ample time to ask questions and then work in their division packet.

HW: Division packets are due tomorrow. Unit 4 test will be given tomorrow as well.

Social Studies: DARE today-Officer Redman showed us some graphic pictures of what might happen to our bodies if we pick up bad habits like Meth and Marijuana.

HW: None

Don't Forget:

• The Fall Festival is Friday evening!
  

Happy Columbus Day!

I think the Fall weather is here to stay! Please remember to bring a hoodie or jacket for recess, it's kinda cool out there!

LA: We had a great morning! We started our first novel study for the year. We have chosen to read and study the novel, Maniac Magee. We will be completing almost all of the reading in class, due to some high maturity content. The book is filled with issues like race, segregation and peer issues. We have found that we can all handle these topics a lot better when we are able to talk them through as a class. We read all the way through chapter 3 today and had some great discussions. We were able to incorporate skills such as hyperboles, similes, self vs. man conflict, foreshadowing, symbolism and metaphors...all in three chapters! I'm so anxious to continue with this great learning tool in the next few weeks!

Even though we don't have a story this week...we still have RIT words. They are:

• Plot line-the order in which things happen in a story
• Allusion-A reference to a familiar person, place, thing or event
• Anecdote-The use of a short story to make a point
• End Rhyme-A rhyme that occurs in the last syllable in a line of poetry
• Lyric-A short poem that could be put to music
• Meter-The rhythm of a poem
  

HW: Journal prompts for chapters 1-3 need to be turned in tomorrow. We'll also be going over comprehension questions 1 & 2 from chapter 2, and questions 1, 2 & 4 from chapter 3. Make sure these are all done completely. All writing must be done in complete sentences. Reading projects are due Wednesday. Wednesday will also be the last day to take your AR book for this first nine weeks.

Math: Division, Division! We had a great time learning more about division strategies today. We even started to divide decimals into decimals!

HW: All of the rows and columns in the division packet with blue stars will be checked tomorrow. Make sure you show your work! Unit 4 test will be given on Thursday.

Social Studies: We took some time to finish up our chapter 2 summaries that we are writing in our own words. We also spent some time making a picture dictionary for a few of our vocabulary words that will be on tomorrow's test.

HW: Finish chapter 2 summary and Independent Student Notebook page 14 are due tomorrow. Unit 2 test will also be given tomorrow.

Things to remember:

• Wednesday is Pajama Day--plan to bring at least $1.00 to donate to the Cancer Society.
• Friday is the Fall Festival-ticket order forms went home Friday.
  

Wash Your Hands!

It's more important than ever that we are all practicing good hygiene. We're doing our best to remind our kids to wash their hands often! Please encourage this at home as well! There are many illnesses being shared and we can try to control as much as we can by not purposely spreading germs amongst one another!

LA: We took our normal assessments today, including spelling, grammar, selection and weekly! When we were done, we had a bit of a relaxing morning, due to so many kids being gone.

HW: None-Reading projects are due on Wednesday!

Math: We enjoyed our time at centers this morning and afternoon. We were able to review skills using Study Island, practice what we've learned in Accelerated Math and having fun playing a math game as well.

HW: None

Social Studies: We spent some time going over important concepts from chapter 2, shared the summary aloud and the students spent the remaining time writing their own summary to review chapter 2 for next week's test.

HW: Unit 2 test will be given on Tuesday.

Things to watch for in blue folders:

• Fall Festival ticket order forms

Things coming up that you'll want to make note of:

• Wednesday is Pajama Day-bring a dollar or more to donate to cancer research and wear your jammies and slippers to school!
• Flu Mist will be given to those students that have previously signed up on Tuesday.
• We will have our first Art Smart lesson on Friday.
• Fall Festival is Friday night!
  

Tuesday, Tuesday!

Once again, it's good to be back at school!

LA: We had a great morning today! We learned about making inferences and continued to work hard on our candy writing project! We can't wait to display them on the bulletin board outside our room!

Here is our information for the week:
This week's vocabulary words are - injury, slurp, mournful, shrieks, sympathy, decency, delivering, and bulletin board and this week's skill is- idioms. We are going to be working on the comprehension skill of making inferences. You make an inference by taking what the author tells you and adding in what you know to come up with new information that the author does not tell you. This week's story is Shiloh.

Our RIT words include:
Point of view - The person telling the story.
Personification - Giving a non-human object human like qualities. The door stood guard over the meeting.
Plot - The events in a story.
Blank Verse - An un-rhymed poem with regular rhythm.
First Person - When the narrator of the story is also the main character. Shiloh is told in first person because Marty is the narrator and the main character.

HW: Weekly homework is due on Friday. Don't forget your parent's signature.

Math: We had our unit 3 test today! Based off of those I've looked at, we rocked!

HW: None

Social Studies: We were able to act out a scene in our Social Studies book today! It was fun to take on the role of an Inuit Mother, Father or Young Girl.

HW: Read section 2.5 and complete the short summary on page 12 in your Interactive Student Notebooks.

There's A Lot Going On Thursday!

Wow! If you don't have plans for your Thursday night yet...you do now! Don't forget that tonight is the Culvers Give Back Night! 20% of Culvers profits will be given to Northpoint to use for our many awesome PTO programs! Consider going out for dinner! While you're there...hop across the street and enjoy a night of skating at USA Roller Rink! Tonight is the PTO sponsored Skate Night from 6-8!

LA: We introduced two new roots today in Vocabulary Vine. We also finished up our novel video, worked more on subjects and predicates and started to brainstorm for our upcoming writing project. Be sure to ask your child about what kind of candy they are creating!

HW: Don't forget that book orders are due on Monday! This is your chance to order the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book! We have to place the order by Tuesday though! Also-there will be a vocabulary vine assessment given tomorrow. There were study sheets passed out today.

Math: The students welcomed a guest teacher today for Math and Social Studies. I'm sure they had a great time learning about and exploring their geometry templates. They were to create some very cool pictures using just the template and a pencil! I can't wait to see them tomorrow.

HW: Math box and study link 3.10 are due tomorrow. Unit 3 test will be given on Tuesday.

Social Studies: Today was the unit 1 test. We will jump into unit 2 tomorrow.

HW: None

What A Wonderful Wednesday

Congratulations to our Students of the Month! Each Language Arts teacher chose two students to win this award! Keep trying if you didn't get it this month, I know you can do it!

Way to go Jacob, Tyler, Chris, Elizabeth and Madi!
I'm proud of you!

LA: We had a great morning! We learned two new roots in Vocabulary Vine! It's been exciting to see the words we learned last year in 4th grade circle around and become part of our roots of words we are learning this year. It's certainly keeping us on our toes! We also had a great visit with our reading buddies this morning. To wrap up our morning, we enjoyed the video to go along with our read aloud.

HW: None

Math: We explored tessellations today! It was a lot of fun to see just what polygons can tessellate, and which ones can't.

HW: Math box 3.8 and tessellation pictures are due tomorrow

Social Studies: We enjoyed another visit from Officer Redman today. We learned about the dangers of smoking and using tobacco.

HW: Unit 1 test tomorrow. Journal entries are also due tomorrow.

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• Market Day order forms
• Newsletter from Mrs. Stephan
  

It's Good To Be Back!

I missed everyone yesterday! It's good to be back today!

LA: We spent some time adding two new roots into our Vocabulary Vine boxes this morning. We also took our Unit 1 reading test, which filled up the rest of our minutes together.

HW: There is no weekly homework this week! Hooray!

Math: Polygons! We spent some time learning about polygons this morning and then found different ways to sort them out. It was exciting and fun to hear about the different ways everyone chose to sort their polygons...one person even coming up with concave vs. convex! Awesome!

HW: Page 83, math box and study link 3.7 are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies: We played a Jeopardy review game today using the questions that everyone wrote in class and for homework last night. A journal entry was also assigned.

HW: Unit 1 test will be given on Thursday-the journal entry on page 7 in the Interactive Student Notebook is also due Thursday.

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• Afternoon Adventures information and sign up sheet
• October lunch menu
• Culvers Give Back Night Information
• A special 5th grader magazine
• Skate Night information
  

Think-A-Lot Thursday

We sure used our brains today!

LA: We had to rearrange a few things today due to tomorrow being "No Child Left Inside Day!" We completed three of our usual assessments and got them out of the way so we can enjoy our fun in the sun in the morning!

HW: Weekly homework is due tomorrow! Don't forget the parent's signature stating that your child has read the story out loud sometime during the week. Also-we still have quite a few people who haven't brought in their candy box yet. We need these next week for a writing project!

Math: We took another time out today to recap what we've been learning about and time to review the important skills we've covered.

HW: None

Social Studies: We had a great review of geography land forms today. We also added what we know into our Independent Student Notebooks. In addition to that, we read about the physical features of the United States and started to fill out the map in our notebooks about those topics as well.

HW: None-Chapter 1 test is next Thursday! It's never to early to start reviewing!

Don't forget that tomorrow is "No Child Left Inside Day!" Dress accordingly and wear tennis shoes!

Wise Choices Wednesday!

Another fantastic day rolled through Northpoint today! Be sure to check out how great your child looks in their school pictures!

LA: So much to do on a long Wednesday! We squeezed in time for everything...and having time for Centers helped our cause! We were able to work with our spelling word sorts, how to properly read a chart, go over some RIT word examples and we're continuing to tackle run on sentences and sentence fragments! We were busy! We also enjoyed time reading with our first grade buddies and using our leveled readers today!

HW: Please bring in a candy box for Friday. Also-don't forget that weekly homework will be due on Friday morning!

Math: Protractors + Compasses=Tons of Fun! Today we worked with line segments and how to copy them using only a compass. It was a lot of fun getting reacquainted with these mathematical tools!

HW: Math box and study link 3.5, in addition to an extra practice page on measuring angles are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies-We took a time out for our second DARE session today! It was great to hear how important making wise choices are from Officer Redman, not only in everyday events but most especially when it comes to Drugs and Alcohol.

Don't forget:

• Friday is No Child Left Inside Day-dress accordingly!
  

A Trustworthy Tuesday!

Our Words of Wisdom on WSTAR each morning have been great reminders about how important it is to be trustworthy!

LA: We took some time to review our vocabulary words that go with our story today. We also added two new roots to our Vocabulary Vine boxes, in addition to working quite a bit with cause and effect! It was a great morning!

HW: Don't forget weekly homework is due on Friday...we also need candy boxes sent in by Friday! (Enjoy the candy at home!)

Math: Protractor fun today! Measuring angles proved to be a bit of a challenge for some of us, but we will have plenty of practice! We brainstormed everything we knew about angles and ran from there. We will be continuing to draw, label and measure angles throughout this unit.

HW: Journal page 72, math box and study link 3.4 and the extra angle worksheet are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies: Lots of Landforms! We talked about all sorts of different landforms today! We also reviewed latitude and longitude lines from our discussion yesterday.

HW: Land form picture dictionaries are due on Thursday...(DARE tomorrow!)

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• An important paper regarding some flu precautions for the upcoming flu season

Please don't forget:

• The 1st annual donation drive is currently happening at Northpoint. Please consider sending in a donation to our wonderful PTO for their many sponsored activities.
• We are still collecting Box Tops and Campbell's soup labels!
  

Another Monday Rolls Around!

Welcome back to another week!

LA:
We are reading a fantasy story this week that takes place in Mexico. It is called "Pipiolo and the Roof Dogs." Our vocabulary words for this story are: transformed, celebration, moistened, fragrance, cooperation, canceled, and theory. Our vocabulary skill is using a thesaurus and our comprehension skill is cause and effect. Our grammar skill is fixing run-on sentences.
Here are this week's RIT words:

• FABLE -A short, animal tale, most often told or written with a moral tagged on in the form of a proverb.

• EXAGGERATION -To represent something as greater than it actually is.

• ANALOGY - A comparison of certain similarities between things that are otherwise unlike.

• GENERALIZATION - A one sentence summary of a story that includes only the most important details.

• OVERSTATEMENT- The act of making something seem more important than it really is

Currently we are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We hope to be finished with it by this weekend. Once we are done reading this novel, we will be doing a writing project. We need your help. We are looking for any movie theater sized candy box that we can use and cover with paper. Wal-mart also sells this size candy box. We hope to have all the candy boxes in by Friday. Please do not send in the candy!

HW: Weekly homework is due on Friday.

Math: We had a great time learning about angle measurements using pattern blocks today! It's fun to experiment different ideas and see which one works out the best.

HW: Page 68, MB and SL 3.3

Social Studies: We had a great review this afternoon of absolute and relative location. We also learned about the continents and oceans that make up the world. Students worked in pairs to label some important things in their interactive student notebooks, as well as learning about lines of latitude and longitude.

HW: None

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• No Child Left Inside is Friday! Please see the note explaining this fun day from Mrs. Stephan!
  

It's Friday! Hooray!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Get out and play while you still can!

LA: We had all of our normal assessments today, along with DEAR and Read Aloud. We also visited the IMC! Now is a good time to make sure your child has picked out a book for their reading project if they haven't already started the process. Don't forget, reading projects are due October 14th. Also-at least one AR test has to be taken by that same date, about a book at his or her lexile level!

HW: Enjoy your weekend!

Math: We had a pop quiz today! The unit 2 test was also passed back, with great scores! Make sure you ask your child to share their good news with you!

HW: None

Social Studies: Welcome Ms. Grannan's class! We had a great time learning about relative and absolute location, and what the difference is between the two of them. We also shared our vocabulary words for chapter 1 today!

HW: Check out the parent letter that better explains our new Social Studies curriculum! The kids seem to love it.

Have a fantastic weekend! Go Irish!

Happy Constitution Day!

It's Constitution Day!

LA: We're continuing to expand our knowledge of Greek and Latin roots, be sure to ask your child what roots we added today! We also worked with some rhyme schemes and rhythms found in poetry! We're still working on mastering compound and complex sentences that use conjunctions as well.

HW: Don't forget that weekly homework (with a parent's signature) is due tomorrow!

Math: Today was the unit 2 test! Looking good so far!

HW: None

Social Studies: Today was my home room classes' last day in Social Studies. We enjoyed a video explaining how the constitution came about!

HW: None

Don't forget:

• Tonight is the welcome back picnic
• We are still collecting box tops and Campbells soup labels!
  

What A Wednesday!

We had a great day today!

LA: Today was our long morning, which provided us lots of time to get caught up on those things we haven't gotten to yet this week! We spent quite a bit more time with the conjunctions we are learning about and how to incorporate them into compound and complex sentences. We also revisited our RIT words and came up with examples to go with all of them. Reading buddies was a lot of fun, as we enjoyed the sunshine and breeze out in the courtyard with our first grade friends. We also had a visit from Mrs. Slater, who started to talk to us about conflict resolution, and how important it is to respect other people's perspective and also how quick we tend to be when we make judgements against people.

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday, with parent's signatures on top. Also-the 15 sentences using conjunctions is due tomorrow if it was not completed today.

Math: Today we spent our entire session working through and going over a practice test for tomorrow's unit 2 test.

HW: Study for the unit 2 test.

Social Studies: We welcomed Officer Redman in today for our first session D.A.R.E. We spent our time together getting to know him and learning about what he will be teaching us in the next 9 weeks!

HW: Tomorrow is the last day of Social Studies for this nine weeks! My class starts Health with Ms. Grannan on Friday afternoon!

Don't Forget:

• We are still collecting box tops...make sure you clip em' off and send em' in!
• We hope to see everyone at the Welcome Back Picnic tomorrow evening!
  

Go Out And Play On This Beautiful Day!

Who can believe this beautiful weather for the middle of September??? We better enjoy it while we can!

LA: We had a busy morning today! We started our 5th grade Greek and Latin roots in Vocabulary Vine, as well as working through spelling sorts and talking about how the main ideas of a story help us to come up with accurate summaries. We even squeezed in some time for our read aloud.

HW: Weekly homework is due on Friday! We got a great head start this morning coming up with information for our summaries.

Math: More estimation today! We had a fun time experimenting and finding out how many times we were able to tap a pencil on the table in 10 seconds, which helped us to figure out how many times we might be able to do it in an hour, year and so on!

HW: Unit 2 test will be given on Thursday! Math box 2.9 & 2.10, journal page 56 and study link 2.10 are all due tomorrow. Also-multiplication packets were given back today...if you want to correct any of the problems that were marked wrong, for a higher score, they must be rewritten on clean paper, stapled to the original packet and turned in by Thursday.

Social Studies: We finished up our 3-D land form projects this afternoon! They look great in the Library windows!

HW: DARE starts tomorrow!

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• A reminder about PTO's collection of box tops
• PTO Welcome Back Picnic RSVP form
  

Back To A Normal Week!

It's good to be back in our normal routine on such a beautiful day!

LA: Mondays are so busy as we introduce the skills for the week!
Spelling - We took our pretest this morning over words with the /ar/ sound in them. Students should know what list they are to study for Friday's test.
Grammar - We continue our study of sentences. Today we began looking a complex sentences using conjunctions. Today we introduced new conjunctions to go with those we learned about last week. They are: and, but, or, after, although, as, because, before, if, since, so that, until, when, whether and while.
Vocabulary - Our words are mission, disasters, environment, zone, gravity, maze, adjusted, and function. We continue to work with context clues to help us figure out meanings of unfamiliar words.
Comprehension - Our story this week is a non-fiction story about Space Camp. We will be working on the skill of finding main ideas and summarizing.
Our RIT words for the week include the following:

• Consonance - Is the repetition of a consonant sound in sentence. (dark deep dread crept in)

• Tone - Is the attitude the writer has toward the subject and audience he is writing for. For example the tone of this week's story is informative. The tone of the tall tale we read 2 weeks ago was humorous.

• Colloquialism - Is a common spoken expression. It is informal language. An example might be "What's up?" Often a colloquialism is regional. Do you call that fizzy beverage a coke (no matter the brand), a soda, or pop?

• Pun - Is a play on words for humorous effect. For example, a boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

• Climax - Is the turning point of a story and is often the part that is most intense. In the Davy Crockett story, the climax would be when the comet dives into the Atlantic Ocean to try and drown Davy.

HW: Don't forget weekly homework packet is due Friday. Also-if you have not turned in your 15, Maybe 16 Things To Worry About poem, it is due tomorrow.

Math: We took a time out today to review some multiplication skills. We are working on multiplying double and triple digit numbers. This is not coming easy to many of us. If you know you are struggling with basic multiplication facts, it's time to master them!

HW: Multiplication packets are due tomorrow if they weren't turned in today.

Social Studies: We had a great time working on our 3-D land form projects again with Mrs. Suddarth's class. Today we painted our landforms and prepared to assemble them, which we will be doing tomorrow.

HW: None

Don't forget:

• PTO Meeting on Wednesday at 10:00. There will be an Art Smart meeting immediately following.
• Northpoint is in the midst of their donation drive. Our PTO has chosen to do this instead of the normal fundraiser. Please consider making a donation to help support the many amazing PTO sponsored events.
• We are collecting Box Tops! Please send them in!

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• PTO newsletter
  

It's Been A Wonderful Wednesday!

Happy Birthday Darius!

LA: Good thing we have long Wednesdays with no specials...we needed it this week after missing Monday! We started out by continuing to review our Greek and Latin roots during Vocabulary Vine adn Triumph time. As a class, we worked on sorting out spelling words with the /u/ sound spelled a variety of ways. This was tricky for some of us! We also learned about Venn diagrams today, using our information from the story about coniferous and deciduous forests. We met with our reading buddies and enjoyed listening to them read to us from their "Just Right Book Bag" along with having a visit from Mrs. Slater to teach us more about bullying and what to do to prevent it from happening. Last but not least, we even squeezed in some time for read aloud.

HW: Don't forget that weekly homework is due Friday. There are not RIT words this week and only four questions on the comprehension section. It's been asked if the summary could be shorter due to the length of the story, but as we discussed in class, there are plenty of facts to keep us writing for 7-10 sentences!

Math: Heads or Tails? We had fun completing an experiment with pennies today, which will help lead us into a further probability discussion tomorrow! We started to touch on the subject today and can't wait to get back to it in more detail tomorrow!

HW: Journal page 45, math box & study link 2.6 and the extra sheet are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies: Today was review day! We spent some time reviewing chapter 2, completing a fun vocabulary word chart and writing summaries that will help us prepare for tomorrow's test.

HW: Chapter 2 test will be given tomorrow.

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• Welcome Back Picnic papers
• New Family Brunch (only if you're new to NP!)
  

It's Already Tuesday!

Wow! It was kinda nice being able to sleep in yesterday! I hope everyone had a great three day weekend!

Happy Birthday Baker!

LA: Even though today was our short day, we jam packed it full of our normal Monday stuff! Yikes! We were crazy busy this morning! Our story this week is Forests of the World, which introduces us to nonfiction articles for the year! It is a great informational piece of writing that we learned a lot from. We also took our spelling pre-test, please make sure your child is studying the appropriate list! This week in grammar, we will be learning how to combine simple sentences together to make compound sentences using conjunctions.

Story Vocabulary this week: quest, settings, reduce, buffet & major.

Rit Words for the week: Due to the short week, we have no RIT words!

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday. Please note-there are only 4 questions for the comprehension section this week! We had a long discussion this morning on the quality of our answers in the comprehension section as well. If answers are not written in complete thoughts, no credit will be given! Students know the expectations!

Math: Today was a fun, experimental kind of day! We are learning about landmarks in a set of data. Today we learned about maximum, minimum, range, mean, median, & mode. After we took some notes on these important things, we completed a reaction time experiment with partners. It was fun to calculate our reaction times and which hand has a faster reaction.

HW: Journal page 41, math box and study link 2.5

Social Studies-We took just a few minutes to review chapter 2 that we've been working on for about a week now. Unfortunately, President Obama's speech that had been pre-recorded for us froze half way through, so we weren't able to enjoy it all.

HW: Test over chapter 2 will be given on Thursday.

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• An informational sheet (yellow paper) about this year's fundraising campaign! This is a lot different than year's past, so please read carefully!
  

Thursday, Thursday!

We had a fantastic day today!

LA: Today was another one of our short days due to double specials. We worked through grammar-learning about commas in a series-and also a skills page, talking about plot and setting. We squeezed in time for examples of our RIT words, too!

HW: Don't forget weekly homework is due tomorrow--parent signature is required! We will have normal assessments tomorrow as well! Don't forget those book orders!

Math: We talked about number stories using addition and subtraction today. Partners worked well together plowing through a couple of journal pages! We seem to have a good grasp on this concept!

HW: Math box and study link 2.4

Social Studies-Lights, Camera, Action! We become actors for a short bit today and put ourselves inside the text of the social studies books! It was great fun to act out a scene in the book and treat it as though we were there.

HW: Finish summary on page 12 in the Interactive Student Notebook if not completed yet. Chapter 2 test has been moved to Thursday of next week!

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• Letter from Mrs. Stephan regarding a speech from President Obama.
  

What A Wednesday!

Whew! We have so much going on these days, it's hard to keep up!

LA: Today is our long morning, so it's always nice to play "catch up" for those things that we have had to put on hold from earlier in the week! We worked through grammar today, learning more about subjects and predicates, and adding in information about compound subjects and predicates this time. We also spent some more time with our spelling words and working with synonyms for those words.

We enjoyed time with our reading buddies from Mrs. McGann's class as well as a visit from Mrs. Slater, who will be joining us for the next 6 Wednesdays to talk about bullying and self confidence. In addition to all of those fun things, we even found time to partner share our story for this week!

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday. Normal assessments will be given on Friday as well. Don't forget that book orders are due in 2 days!

Math: Students got their unit 1 tests back today! We had a time for questions and answers about things that were incorrect on those tests! We then jumped right into unit 2, reviewing how to add and subtract decimals! We were shocked to see how many of us forgot to line up those decimals!

HW: Journal pages 32 & 34, math boxes 2.2 & 2.3, study links 2.2 & 2.3, and an extra sheet were assigned. Students were given lots of class time to work on these tasks! Unit 1 tests that received an N need to be signed and returned tomorrow.

Social Studies: Whew! We worked really hard today and made it through three lessons! It was great learning about the first Americans and how they made their migration routes over from Siberia! We also learned about some of the Hopi Indian origin stories.

HW: Students need to complete their 5-7 sentence summary about section 2.4 on page 11 in their Student Interactive Notebook if it wasn't completed in class. We are anticipating our next test, over unit 2, on Wednesday.

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• Market Day order forms
  

Say Cheese!

Everyone looked nice and spiffy for pictures today! I can't wait for them to come back so we can enjoy those smiles!

LA: We had a super short morning, not only due to double specials, but also pictures as well! We were able to work on our RIT vocabulary words and definitions, along with a spelling page.

HW: Weekly homework is due on Friday. Book orders are also due Friday.

Math: Today was the unit 1 test! There weren't many questions prior to the start of the test, so we're crossing our fingers for great scores!

HW: None

Social Studies: We jumped into chapter 2 today. We discussed how it feels to move to a new place, join a new club or change our environment. We even left our classroom for a minute so we could come in fresh with a new perspective. We had an interesting time learning about how people would change our space to make it more comfortable. This all kicked us off on the topic of the early Americans coming over from Asia. Chapter 1 tests were passed back today.

HW: If your child received a N on their Chapter 1 test, it needs to be signed and returned tomorrow.

Bring Your Smile Tomorrow!

Don't forget tomorrow is picture day! Say "Cheese!"

Happy Birthday to Jacob yesterday and Madi today!

Language Arts-
Today is the day that we introduce new vocabulary and skills. Homework packets also went home today. Be sure to record reading minutes every night. This is a recorded score. It does reflect on the report card if you don't read independently. Please don't forget that an unsigned weekly homework packet will result in an Oops Slip!

Spelling Test - Everyone took a spelling pretest and knows what words to study this week. The skill is long vowel sounds. This can be tricky. There are lots of ways to spell long vowel sounds.

Grammar - We learned about simple and complete subjects and predicates.

RIT vocabulary-
Alliteration - Using 2 or more words that start with the same sound.
Couplet - A two lined poem that often rhymes
Figurative Language - Many different strategies that help the reader picture writing in their heads.
Haiku - A three lined poem about nature. Line 1 has 5 syllables. Line 2 has 7 syllables. Line 3 has 5 syllables.
Oxymoron-A statement that contradicts itself. The teacher whispered loudly.

Story vocabulary - Students should be able to define these words: original, wring, advertisement, commenced, fireball, impress, elected and sauntered.

Our comprehension skill is summarizing using plot and setting. We are reading the tall tale "Davy Crockett Saves the World"

Book orders are due on FRIDAY! You may order online or traditionally!!!

Math: Today we took a practice test for Unit 1! Although some students did not finish the test before our time was up, we went over all answers and it is their job to complete it tonight. Please check their work with the given correct answers! There will be a short time for questions before tomorrow's test.

HW: Unit 1 test tomorrow!

Social Studies: Today was the unit 1 test!

HW: None

Things to watch for in blue folders:

• Lunch calendar for September!
  

The Weekend Is Here!

We survived our first full week of 5th grade!!!!

LA: Unfortunately, due to a Dr.'s appointment, I didn't get to see my LA friends this morning. Mrs. Weisser said they had a great morning however! They made it through all of their assessments, which is not an easy task! Hooray! They also had a fantastic time reviewing their Vocabulary Vine words by playing Splat!

HW: Have a great weekend!

Math: We took some time to review all of our factoring fun yesterday before moving onto square numbers and how to find the square root of numbers!

HW: Finish journal pages 19 and 21, math boxes 1.7 and 1.8, along with study links 1.7 and 1.8. Unit 1 test is Tuesday!

Social Studies: We had a great time playing a review Jeopardy game today using the questions that everyone worked hard to develop yesterday!

HW: Chapter 1 test is Monday!

Things to Watch For In Blue Folders:

• Appropriate birthday treat papers
• Newsletter from Mrs. Stephan

Have a fantastic weekend! Good luck to all our football players!

Boo To Indoor Recess!

Happy Birthday Alexis!!!

What a bummer that we had to have indoor recess today...I hope the clouds clear enough for a bit of outside time tonight!

LA: Another short morning due to our double specials. We had our Vocabulary Vine, where we continued to review the 4th grade roots we worked on last year, spent some time on spelling and proofreading and reviewed our story with plot and character discussions.

HW: Weekly homework is due first thing tomorrow! Don't forget the parent signature portion at the top! Also-if you did not finish your proofreading page from spelling, this is also due tomorrow.

Math: Whew! We flew through factors of all sorts today! We covered factor rainbows, factor strings and prime factorization! We were Factor Fools!

HW: Journal page 24-25, math box 1.9, study link 1.9 and the extra prime factorization sheet! We will be having our unit 1 test on Tuesday!

Social Studies: We had fun learning about the "Gold Rush" today from our books. It was interesting to read about the Wilson Family's journey out west in search of a better life. We even took some time to figure out what we might have done in the same situation.

HW: Journal entry (at least 7 sentences long) and 10 questions are due tomorrow. Don't forget, your 10 questions need to be made up of: 2 about latitude and longitude, 2 about the physical features of the United States, 2 about directions (may include cardinal, intermediate, relational or absolute), 2 about any of the geographic terms we have discussed in this unit and 2 of your choice. You must have all 10 written with answers for tomorrow's review game. Chapter 1 test will be given on Monday.

Don't forget:

• Tonight is Parent Information Night at 5:30! I'll be meeting with my homeroom families in the LGI, starting promptly at 5:30.
  

We've Been Here One Full Week!

Wow! I can't believe it's only been a week since we first said hello and welcome back!

LA: We had a great morning together today. Wednesday is our long day, with no specials, so we're always able to plow through lots of material! We learned more about characters and plot, spent some time with our spelling words, and shared our story together. A highlight of our morning included meeting our Reading Buddies that we are going to be spending time with this year. We are matched up with Mrs. McGann's first grade friends. It was fun to go visit and re-live our "little" days! I love hearing the 5th graders talk about how small things are...how soon we forget, and how quickly we grow up! We even squeezed in some time for a read aloud before we were off to math!

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday! Remember...there are many sections to this! Don't forget to read the story with someone older than yourself and get their signature. You also need to write your spelling words in cursive, review RIT and story vocab. words, answer the questions at the story and write your 7-10 sentence summary! If all parts of this are not done, you will receive and oops slip on Friday!

Math: Prime and Composite? What's the difference? Be sure to ask your child tonight! We took some time away from the journal to start the class to work on a "cheat sheet" that will help us in the future with prime and composite numbers. We then jumped right back into the journal and put our "cheat sheet" to use!

HW: Finish journal page 15, math box 1.6 and study link 1.6

Social Studies: Today we got to explore the physical features of the United States. We learned about everything from the Rocky Mountains to the Rio Grande river, and everything in between!

HW: Use the study guide to start to prepare for Monday's test.

Don't forget: We're hoping to see everyone at tomorrow's Parent Information Night, starting promptly at 5:30! Bring your questions!

What A Terrific Tuesday...

We had another great day today! It's hard to believe that we've only been for a week! We're into the swing of things!

LA: We had a busy morning! We were able to work through a spelling page, grammar page and skills sheet! We even squeezed in time to review our RIT words and added examples into our binder!

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday, when our usual assessments will be given!

Math: More review of factors, arrays and divisibility rules today! We were able to work with partners on figuring out some divisibility rules and applying them to our problems in our journal.

HW: Math box and study link 1.5 are due first thing tomorrow!

Social Studies: We had a great time reviewing our land form geography terms today both in our Interactive Student Notebooks and by playing a game of pictionary!

HW: Social Studies, chapter 1 test will be given on Monday. Be sure to prepare! Watch for a study guide coming home tomorrow!

Don't forget: Parent Information Night is Thursday at 5:30. We hope everyone can come to this very informational meeting!

Things to watch for in blue folders tonight:

• Say cheese! Picture package information was sent home today. Picture day is Tuesday!

Where Did Our Monday Go?!?!?!?

Whew! As the old saying goes, "Time flies When You're Having Fun..."

LA: We had one busy morning! Even with working hard, and taking very few breaks...we still didn't manage to get everything squeezed in! Yikes!

We started a new routine today. Every week we will have 5 words that we are learning in order to do better on our NWEA tests. This week's words with definitions and examples are:
*Simile- A phrase that compares 2 things using the words like or as. For example: The cheetah was as fast as a bullet train.
*Metaphor- A phrase that compares 2 things but doesn't use like or as. For example: The cheetah was a bullet train running through the jungle.
*Hyperbole- The use of exaggeration to make a point. For example: I have one million things to do before I go to bed.
*Idiom- A figure of speech or a group of words where the words don't match the meaning. For example: The cat got your tongue or It's raining cats and dogs.
*Onomatopoeia- A word that sounds like a sound. For example: Buzz, bang, crack
Please take time to review these this week with your child!

We also took our spelling pretest. Your child should have a list of appropriate spelling words to study. The spelling test will be given Friday morning. We also worked on our grammar skill of sentences.

We read a short story called "The Talent Contest." This story taught us our vocabulary words in context. Our vocabulary words for the week are slumped, soggy, capable, strands, gigantic, credit and luminous. The story helped us figure out our comprehension skill for the week. This week we will be looking at how character's thoughts and actions influence the plot (or the events of the story).

In addition to all of that, we also introduced this year's HOMEWORK! Weekly homework will once again be assigned every Monday, due the following Friday. This will take the place of last year's Fluency and Flow, although there are many similar parts. Each student should have their homework packet in their blue folders tonight. There are many sections. Please take some time to check it out with your child!

Section 1: Students must read aloud the weekly story to an adult (or older sibling) to practice their fluency in reading aloud. There is a spot on the top for a signature to verify this step was completed. If there is no signature, an Oops slip will be given.
Section 2: Students wrote in their vocabulary words from our story this week. The words will show up on their selection assessments at the end of the week. Please make sure your child is familiar with meanings to all of these words. Definitions can be found in the hard reading book, on the first page of the story.
Section 3: Students wrote in their RIT words of the week...although no formal assessment will be given on these words each week, students are still responsible for knowing what these words mean! These will help our NWEA scores!!!
Section 4: Students must write their spelling words in cursive on the provided lines.
Section 5: Students need to write a 7-10 sentence paragraph (in cursive) summarizing the story of the week.
Section 6: Students need to answer the questions at the end of the story, in complete sentences, and cursive.
Remember-all homework is due Friday morning at 8:05!
HW: Weekly homework is due Friday. Spelling test will be given Friday.

Math: We made it through lessons 1.2 and 1.3 today with ease! It was fun reviewing rectangular arrays and how to create them. We also had a great discussion on factors!
HW: Math box 1.1 (should have been previously done!), 1.2 and 1.3, Study Link 1.1 (parents just need to read!), 1.2 and 1.3 are all due tomorrow.

Social Studies: We took a few minutes to finish up Friday's card activity with our partners, then spent some time going over the answers together. We also read through section 1.4 and learned about many geography terms. We created pictures in our geography picture dictionaries to help us remember the meaning of the following words: sea, gulf, bay, lake, river, mountain, plain, peninsula, cape, island, valley, and delta. These will be words that students will need to review and know!
H.W.-Finish pictures in your geography picture dictionary...stay tuned for an announcement as to when the first test will be...it's going to be sooner rather than later!!!!

Things to watch for in blue folders:

• Parent Information Night reminder-see you Thursday at 5:30!
• Lego League information
• Welcome back to school picnic info
• Dr. Pepper supply sheet
  

The Weekend Is Here!

Even though we've only been here 3 days...I think some of us are ready for the weekend! We've had a wonderful start to our 5th grade year, it makes me so excited to see what great things each and everyone of my students is going to do this school year! I can't wait!

LA: We had a great time watching a short video titled, How To Do Homework Without Throwing Up, this morning. It gave us great tips on getting things done, which I'm sure will come in handy!
We also worked more on the poetry we started yesterday, learned some new procedures and went to IMC. Please check your child's green binder in the near future for their lexile range. This is where DEAR books should be chosen from!

Math: A test already??? Well...not really! It was just a pre-test for 5th grade to see where we all are and where we need to head! Most of us will be finishing this on Monday!

Social Studies: We're off to a roaring start! Today we were all over the place...working with partners to label maps, reading from the book, reviewing yesterday's vocabulary words and lesson...whew! It was a jam packed 55 minutes!

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

Day 2...And It Was A Great One!

We had another fantastic day in 5th grade today! We ran a normal day, going to our different classes...and no one even got lost! Hooray!

LA: It was great getting reacquainted with everyone in LA class, and welcome our new faces! We spent some time passing out books, getting binders organized and then jumped right into a poetry project! Writing a poem titled, Fifteen, Maybe Sixteen Things To Worry About gave us a great opportunity to express fears that we may be struggling with, both about school and other things!

Math: Whew...lots of new faces in math class! Not only did we pass out all the books and folders today, we jumped right into the first lesson and completed a Student Reference Book scavenger hunt that was a lot of fun!

Social Studies: Welcome back homeroom kids! We talked about the difference between absolute and relative location! We spent some time in the ELA working with grids like geographers! I think we are really going to like the new social studies program this year, it's very interactive and keeps us on the move!

Heads Up Parents: Parent Information Night is scheduled for next Thursday, at 5:30. Please plan to attend to learn about your child's 5th grade year!

Welcome 2009-2010 School Year!

Here we go again! It was so exciting to see everyone this morning! It's so good to be back after our summer vacation!

I hope everyone enjoyed their time off and made lots of great family memories! I can't wait to watch each student grow academically this school year...we are the leaders of the pack and I know everyone is going to be the greatest role model possible!

Our homeroom class had an amazing time visiting and getting reacquainted with one another today! We had some fun activities we completed that helped us get back into the swing of things.

We took some time to go over who goes where for what class...starting tomorrow. Please make sure you know who your child's teachers are, so you can communicate with the right person! If you should need to get a hold of me, my email remains kwoods@phm.k12.in.us or you can call me here at school, 271-8598.

I KNOW this is going to be an AWESOME year! I can't wait!

Our Last Friday Together

And what a day it was!

We were able to watch the practice 5th grade promotion...it was fun to see our friends as they prepare to become middle schoolers.

We also got a lot of cleaning done today...be sure to check back packs carefully, there were a lot of goodies sent home!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable, safe Memorial Day Weekend! See you Tuesday!

It's Good To Be Back!

Wow! What a great day to come back too! We couldn't have asked for better weather today for Field Day! Thank you to the Mason Family for the wonderful snacks and water bottles!

Don't forget tomorrow is Mini Mall!

I apologize for it taking so long...enjoy the pictures from last week's wax museum!

Thursday, Thursday!

Our days just keep getting busier and busier! Yikes!

LA: We had a great time watching The Sign Of the Beaver video today and comparing it to our novel. Special thanks to the Drye family for letting us borrow their DVD!

HW: Wax museum is tomorrow. Plan to bring clothes to change into for your character. Don't forget all novel study items are due tomorrow as well.

Math: We had a great time solving one another's rate problems today. Some of us gave us a real challenge.

HW: Finish up the rate packet.

Health: We read more about safety today with partners.

HW: None

What A Wet Wednesday!

We'd like to thank all of the special moms that gave up their day yesterday to join us for Connor Prairie. Mrs. Demel, Mrs. Donati, Mrs. Finnessy, Mrs. Drye, Mrs. Ohlson and Mrs. Meyer--we couldn't have done it without you! Thanks for making a difference for our students! We had a great time and learned a lot!

We were right back at it today with our normal (well...sort of!) schedule!

LA: We started our morning with LA MAP testing...I was very proud of the kids for taking their time! We also had a chance to finish our novel study, The Sign Of The Beaver, and finish up the last 2 graphic organizers, last 3 vocabulary words and 13 literary terms. It was a great morning!

HW: All novel study packets and tic-tac-toe items are due on Friday. Don't forget the final test over the novel will be given Friday as well.

Math: We worked with more rate problems today, including writing some of our own that we will get a chance to solve tomorrow.

HW: Math boxes 12.2 and 12.3 and study link 12.2.

Health: We did not have health today due to a scheduling conflict. This gave us plenty of time to write thank you notes to our chaperones!

HW: None

Please, please, please turn in your field day lunch slip if you haven't yet done so. Mrs. Silvus really needs the final count so she can order accurately!

Only One More Monday To Go...

Wow, what a day! We're ready to go to Connor Prairie tomorrow...we were full of great questions today...hopefully we got them all answered! Make sure you check out the bright orange piece of paper that went home today with last minute reminders!

LA: Today was our long morning...no computer lab because of MAP testing. We were able to make it through 3 more chapters of The Sign Of The Beaver. We are quickly becoming pros and finding all the literary terms and vocabulary words. We also filled out the graphic organizer for chapters 16-18 and took the comprehension check over chapters 16-19!

HW: Finish putting literary terms in packet (Ch. 17-2 imagery, Ch. 18-2 imagery, Chapter 19-2 similes), and doing vocabulary words. Students were instructed to write these down before leaving so there was no wondering what they were tonight. All homework is due Wednesday!

Math: Today we started unit 12, learning all about rates. It was fun to complete an eye blinking experiment...we proved that we tend to blink less while reading a book rather than just looking at nothing.

HW: Find the 4 medians for the physical activities we completed, and math box 12.1

Health: We started reading in chapter 8 all about safety this afternoon.

HW: None

See you bright and early in the morning...don't forget to check in!

What A Week!

Special thanks to all of you who made teacher/staff appreciation week so special! You're all so kind!

LA: Today was like a Thursday because it was snow make up day, therefore we just had a short time together before double specials! We went over our vocabulary words for chapters 11-15, took the comprehension check and also read through chapter 16 together, pointing out literary terms.

HW: Finish putting literary terms in your packet if it wasn't completed in class.

Math: Students continued to work on the end of the year assessment today.

HW: None

Health: Ms. Grannan's class took the chapter 6 test today.

HW: None

Special thanks to Abi L.'s family for hosting Dr. Pepper for the summer. We all said good bye today and are looking forward to having him rejoining us in August!

Happy Mother's Day to all our Moms!

LA All Day! Yahoo!

We spent our day together as a Language Arts group because of our Artist in Residence.

We had a great time learning about water color techniques and making vases of beautiful flowers! We even got to throw salt on our paintings and watch the reactions! It was great art lesson!

We continued to plug through our novel study, reading chapters 13-15 together. We also took some time to go over literary elements in the past couple of chapters as well as the ones we read today. Our packets are getting nice and filled up with rich vocabulary words, graphic organizers and literary elements! It's fun to see how much learning is happening!

Tonight's homework is to finish vocabulary words for chapters 11-15 and putting in literary elements from chapters 14-15. There is a comprehension check over chapters 11-15 tomorrow.

Things to watch for in blue folder tonight:
Field day lunch order--be sure to return this as soon as possible.

Don't Forget:

• The field day committee is still in need of workers! Plan to come help out for a bit!
• Field day t-shirt orders were due today. Please send them in tomorrow if you haven't done that yet!
  

School Supplies Surprise!

Many thanks for all the wonderful school supplies today! We've already broken open the Expo markers and tissue!

LA: Because of PBA day today, we had a very short meeting. We squeezed in a comprehension check over chapters 5-10 and also read chapter 11 together. We were only able to start looking for and labeling the literary elements.

HW: Continue to search for the 2 missing imagery examples in chapter 11, and read chapter 12.

Math: We started our end of the year test today. It was fun to recall everything we've learned in math so far this year!

HW: None

Health: Today, we talked about how to help others that may have a drug addiction problem. We also worked on the chapter review.

HW: No health tomorrow due to Artist in Residence...chapter review is due Friday as well as the chapter 6 test.

Don't forget:

• Our Artist in Residence will be visiting Northpoint for the next two days.
• Field Day t-shirt orders and money are due tomorrow
• Field Day helper volunteer forms are due soon
• Year book orders (for those who haven't already ordered one) are due soon!
  

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Ole'!

LA: We had a great time continuing to explore the literary terms in The Sign Of The Beaver novel study we are doing in class. Students are doing a fantastic job recognizing those elements quickly! We also completed the graphic organizer for chapters 8-10 together as well as the vocabulary for chapters 5-10.

HW: Comprehension check over chapters 5-10 will be given tomorrow. Finish putting in literary elements into packet if not completed in class today.

Math: Today was the unit 11 test.

HW: None

Health: Today we talked/reviewed about ways to say no and what that might look like to others.

HW: # 5 from the lesson check up needs to be completed. The list of ways to say no must have 10 examples and the list about why drug users are not cool must have 5 examples. Students also had vocabulary words to define.

Don't forget: Tomorrow is PBA Day! Sleep in, we'll see you at 10:10.

Special thanks to all those that donated items to the Cinco De Mayo Teacher Appreciation lunch toady...it was delicious!

The Smell Of Our Room Has Never Been Better...

Thank you so much for kicking off Teacher/Staff Appreciate week with a bang. The beautiful flowers sure made me smile and were a joy to look at all day long!

LA: Today was a novel study filled morning. Together, we read through chapters 5-7. Students did a fantastic job working with partners in finding examples of literary elements. We went over them whole group just to make sure we were all on the same page. We also took time to write a letter to either Ben or Matt's family, using Matt's perspective.

HW: Read chapters 8-10 and look for literary terms (Hint: Chapter 8-1 simile, 1 metaphor--Chapter 9-2 tones, 1 imagery--Chapter 10-2 imagery, 1 tone) The next Comprehension check will be given Wednesday in class. This will cover chapters 5-10.

Math: Today we spent our day reviewing for tomorrow's unit 11 test. It seems like adding and subtracting negative numbers might still be giving some of us issues...please review them tonight.

HW: Prepare for tomorrow's test...using your practice test is a great resource!

Health: Today, partners read about illegal drugs. This was a great review from our DARE program earlier this year.

HW: Chapter 6, lesson 3 check up, 1-4 is due tomorrow, written in cursive and complete sentences.

Don't forget:
Wednesday is our last PBA day! Sleep in!