5-2 Updates ~ 10/10/16

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

I certainly hope you have enjoyed this long weekend, and the beautiful fall weather!  It was perfect for visiting a pumpkin patch or picking apples :)

We were SO disappointed to have had to cancel the Historical Re-enactment on Thursday!  With the storms predicted for the day, it was just too dangerous to have the kiddos outside.  Unfortunately, we cannot reschedule this event - the actors are all volunteers, and the date is set up well in advance so they can make arrangements to participate.  I did send home the $3.25 bus fee with your child on Friday - if you sent in a check, I sent it back home with your child.  If you sent in cash, I returned cash to you....though many of the students smiled at the thought of putting cash in their pockets.  I reminded them that you knew the money was coming home ;)  

Mid-term Grades ~ As you know, midterms were sent home last week for a sign and return.  Thank you for returning them promptly!  Seeing their grades is having the intended impact on many of your children - I am impressed with the motivation I now see in some of the students to change their grades.  Several of you also reached out to discuss your child's grades, and I appreciate the ability to collaborate with you on how to best support your child.  If you ever have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

To reiterate a few important points I shared with some of you via email:

Reading grade - since we are in the Launching unit and establishing routines and behaviors for our Reading Workshop, this grade is primarily made up of behavior grades, not comprehension grades. The scores come from the Reading Notebook Rubric and the Conversation Rubric.  In other words, the grade shows how your child is performing in a Reading Workshop, and not necessarily how well they are comprehending.  With that said, it is important to note that these behaviors are critically important as they move to comprehend the complex 5th grade texts this year.

It is also important to note that the reading grade is comprised of formative assessment grades - these are feedback grades to let the students know how they are performing according to expectations.  I believe it is important to help students understand how they are meeting expectations and how they can improve before we get to the end grade.  They all know they will be scored again at the end of the unit - this will be their summative grade, which will replace their formative score in my grade book.

Important Dates

Service Learning Club ~ Wednesday, October 12th ~ Permission slips for Service Learning Club went home two weeks ago.  This club meets at lunch on every other Wednesday at lunch, sometimes more frequently, to plan activities that support our community.  Some of our past events include planning the Veteran's Day Assembly, fundraiser for the Buddy Foundations, blankets for children in the hospital, and the Fill the Nest food drive.  If you would like your child to participate, and they did not bring home a permission slip, please let me know and I'll send them another one.

Open House ~ Thursday, October 20th at 6:30pm - please plan to enjoy us for an evening at our annual Open House!  Students have fun showing their parents around the classroom and building, and it's a great chance for a chat :)

Math

We continue to work on computation skills in Unit 2 in my math class.  Our Unit 2 Assessment is currently scheduled for Friday, October 14th.  Please continue to encourage your child to log on to Khan Academy to continue practicing adding and subtracting with decimals.  If they've mastered these skills, they can continue to work on their mission to enrich their math skills.  Many of your children also need to improve the automaticity of their multiplication facts.  Please ask your child to log on to Facts Dash via the EverydayMathOnline site for an engaging way to practice their math facts!

Social Studies
We will wrap up our Social Studies unit on Tuesday with the Unit 12 Assessment.  Students were given organizers to study, with the key posted on Edmodo, and I encouraged each of them to take their History Alive books home.  Hopefully, each of them have spent some time this weekend reviewing for the test.

Science

We will begin our Human Body unit this week! The Human Body in Motion Unit gives students a view inside their bodies to see how they move. They discover that movement, like all bodily functions, requires many parts of the body to work together. Students explore the skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory, respiratory, and digestive systems to uncover the specific role each plays in bringing about movement. They come to appreciate the complex intricacies and dependencies between parts of their bodies and learn what they can do to maintain and protect these parts. 

Calling all x-rays!!  We start with the skeletal system, and it's always fun to hang up x-rays to aid in our study of bones and joints.  I always hang up x-rays and share stories from my own children's adventures to the ER and orthopedic surgeons, it's just as entertaining and educational to hear all of your stories!

 

Reading

In our short reading time this week, we practiced writing and sharing excellent Book Reviews - your children are very passionate about what they read and are excited to share reviews with their friends!  I'm impressed with how many were able to "sell" their books to others.  We also spent time reading about the Re-enactment Personas and prepared questions to ask during the Re-enactment.  Next week, we will continue our Launching Unit by focusing on story elements and characters in the fictional stories we read.

Reminder: the Book Review T-shirts are due on Friday, 10/14.  Students should come to school with the actual book and their t-shirts worn over another shirt.  They will wear their t-shirts all day to advertise their books to staff and students - any time someone sees their shirt and wants to know more about that book, they will be stopping your child for a quick Book Talk.  Then, in the afternoon, all of the students will do their Book Talk in front of the class.

I have met individually with each of your children to discuss and score their Reading Notebook and the Conversation Observation Checklist.  We have discussed what they are doing well in reading, and specific ways they can improve their notebooks and participation.  I have also shared their reading level with them individually - I've written it on the back of their Reading Notebook.  Ask your child what their reading level is, or you are always welcome to email me for their level.  Just as a point of reference, 5th graders should be at a level S at the beginning of the year.

Writing

We continued our work on focusing in writing this week - focus on a moment, on a object, on a setting, and even on sounds.  We spend some time this week sitting outside in silence, just listening to the sounds.  As they listened carefully, they recorded the sounds and describing words on their lapboards, then used their notes to write a journal entry when we got back to the classroom.  Your kiddos enjoyed the peaceful moments so much they didn't want to go in!  They asked if we could do it every day - perhaps we'll add some regular meditation to our day :)  Look for pictures below.

This week, we will take a break from our WEX Personal Narratives to practice developing strong, descriptive language with a study on writing poetry.  Students will practice writing Acrostic, Cinquain, Haiku, and Diamante poems about autumn.  They will be able to choose their favorite poem to polish up with a leaf rubbing for final publication next week - hopefully we will have them published for Open House!  Your child will need to bring in a few leaves next week for the leaf rubbing :)

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.  Hope you enjoyed your long weekend ~

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.

 One is roots; the other, wings.

~ Hodding Carter

Cheers ~

Theresa Fowler