Monday, August 31, 2009

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!

Friday, August 28, 2009

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!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

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.



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

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!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

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!

Monday, August 24, 2009

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

Friday, August 21, 2009

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!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

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!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

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!