It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

It was nice to see everyone during conferences in November and spend some time looking at the progress your kids are making.  I hope everyone had a good time celebrating Thanksgiving with their families.  It is hard to believe we are approaching Christmas break!  

In our classroom, students worked hard during November to learn our songs and parts for the Christmas County Spelling Bee.  The program was a success and I think the students enjoyed it.  We have some very talented students in our classroom and it is so much fun to see them growing and using the gifts and talents that God has given them.

With our Christmas party coming up, we will be drawing names this week for secret pals to exchange gifts with.  This year we will be exchanging one gift on the day of our party.  The price should be $5-$10.  Please have students bring their gifts to exchange on the day of our party, December 20th.

What have we been doing?

• Reading:  We finished reading the novel Mississippi Bridge and students completed a story mapping project.  We then went on to look at six different accounts of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Students analyzed the accounts and how they were similar and different depending on the author's perspective of the event.  During the next couple of weeks before break, we will be working on stories in our reading curriculum.
•   English/Writing:  We finished our study of Adjectives and Adverbs.  Now we are learning about Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases.  We read the book The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups which tells us about the REAL reason we have rules such as "Eat your vegetables!"
  
  Students are currently working on writing reasons for their own top secret rules.
• Science:  We completed a research project on Big Cats and Their Habitats.  Each student chose a big cat to learn about and then created a Google Slide presentation to tell about their subject.  We are still working on Life Science and looking at unique features of living things and their habitats. 
• Health:  During November we had Music instead of Health so that we could focus on learning our songs for the Christmas Musical.  Now we will be going back to our unit on Digital Citizenship and will be learning safety with online contacts and friends.  We are using resources found at Common Sense Education

Have a great week!

First Quarter Flies By!

We have made it to the end of 1st Quarter!  The last day of the quarter is Friday, November 2.  Please check in with your child and log in to Jupiter Grades to make sure that they are up-to-date with all of their work.  All work for this quarter must be turned in by Friday.

Friday Folders - every Friday a folder goes home with your child that contains homework and tests that have been graded.  Also, any notices, letters, or important information from the office goes home in those folders.  If you have not seen any of these papers, please check in - the abyss - I mean the backpack!

Next Friday, to celebrate the end of the quarter, we will be having a DOJO Reward in our classroom!  We will have a game day.  Students are welcome to bring a board game or group game from home.  No video games please.

October has been a busy month in our classroom.  Here are some of the things we have been doing:

• English/Writing - we are continuing to work on our autobiographies during Writer's Workshop.  We have been working through each of the steps in the writing process (pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing).  Writer's Workshop has worked well for our class, it allows each student to work at their own pace through the writing process. 
• Reading - we are currently doing a novel unit on Mississippi Bridge by Mildred D. Taylor.  We are learning a lot about what it was like during the Great Depression and the struggle for equal and civil rights of African Americans in the south during that time.  This ties in well to discussions about racial tensions that we still face in our society today.
• Science - we are still working through our units in Life Science and are currently looking at how scientists work to classify living organisms.  Last week we used specific criteria to attempt to classify a Mystery Creature!  After comparing and contrasting it to other similar creatures, the Mystery Creature was revealed - a tarsier!  Ask your student about what organism it was most closely related to - tree frog, fruit bat, or lemur (or Yoda).  :)  
• Health - we are still learning about Digital Citizenship.  We spent several class periods talking about gender stereotypes in media.  Our first lesson on this subject caused quite a reaction.  We split the back of the classroom into three sections - boy, girl, or both.  Then I read off a list of statements, colors, occupations, and ideas. Students went to which section they felt the statement most represented.  We then came together to discuss our ideas and why we reacted the way that we did.  Our discussion had rules:  everyone who wanted to could share, no one was allowed to interrupt or cut someone else off, no loud outbursts were allowed, and no judgements of others.  This was a good practice for hearing others out without jumping to conclusions about what they are saying.  We then talked about where our opinions come from and looked at how media can have an influence on our thinking - sometimes in an obvious way and sometimes in a not so obvious way.

Have a great week!

Alive...Or Not?

We have completed one week of our Yeast Labs in Science and are trying to determine if yeast is alive.  It was a very interesting week as we did experiments with yeast in conjunction with the five characteristics of living things.  We have completed four of our labs and will be finishing up the fifth lab this week.  Students have been looking at yeast and deciding if it acquires materials, adapts, responds, and is made of cells.  Next we will look at whether yeast develops and reproduces.  Then we will ask ourselves, after all of our observations, is yeast alive?

Last week ended with our annual Jog-a-thon and everyone was very excited.  All of the students did a great job running or walking their laps in the back field. 

We have all been adjusting well to our schedule and transitions are running smoothly.  

I am trying something new with our 5/6 English this year.  We cover grammar on Mondays, Wednesdays, and part of class on Friday.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays we are doing Writer's Workshop.  Students work through the writing process during this time at varying rates and they may be working on different writing assignments.  I am finding that this works well since some students work more quickly than others.  It means that they can continue on to the next assignment and not have to do busy work while waiting for their classmates to finish.  I am also able to spend time conferencing with students individually about their writing as they are working through the process.  So far we have written a short narrative about "The Best Part of Me" and have looked at how to properly write paragraphs.  This week we will be moving on to writing another type of narrative - an autobiography.  Every Friday we do a picture writing prompt we call "Friday Write".  This is to get us thinking creatively, using our imagination, and attempting writing on various topics.  It is a favorite time in class each week...ask your child about it!

I hope you have a great week!

Welcome Back!

We had a great first week of school!  It was a pleasure to see the 6th Graders again and to greet the new 5th Graders into our classroom.  

Our schedule this year is keeping us busy and moving all the time.  Students are getting used to switching classrooms and having several different teachers during the day.  This year I will have the 5th and 6th Grade together for Homeroom, English/Writing, Science, and Phy-ed/Health.  I will teach the 5th Graders for Reading and the 6th Graders for Math.  If you have questions or concerns about these subjects, please feel free to contact me.  

Students will have Mrs. VanSomeren for Social Studies and Mrs. Ruis for Bible.  Ms. Brue will teach the 6th Grade Reading and Mrs. Ruis will teach the 5th Grade Math.  If you have any questions or concerns about these subjects, please contact the appropriate teacher.

Some information you may want to know:

• Student Planners - We will be using our planners differently than we have in the past.  Instead of writing in our planners what we did each day, students will be using them as...well, as a planner!  :)  We will be using them to keep track of upcoming assignments and break larger assignments down into segments.  I do not require parent initials in the planner, but I told the students that they can bring it home if parents request to see it - just please send it back on the next school day.
• Reading Requirements - Students were given a calendar to keep track of reading minutes for September.  They are also required to write four summaries of their reading throughout the month on the back of the calendar. As stated in the Parent/Student Handbook, students in upper grades are expected to read at least 20 minutes per day (600 minutes per month).  Please help remind and encourage your child to be reading.  Students will also have quarterly Accelerated Reader (AR) goals set for them and part of their reading grade will be based on completion of that goal.  Access to AR will be given to students during the school day so that they can complete quizzes on the books they are reading throughout the quarter.
• Quarterly Book Reports - Students will be required to complete a book report each quarter.  In 5th and 6th Grade we do book reports based on genre.  This quarter we will be doing an Informational Text (Nonfiction) Report.  Students were given instructions and there is a link to the information on my school website page. 
• Class DOJO & Jupiter Grades - During Meet and Greet students were given a sheet with login information for our Class DOJO account and Jupiter Grades.  I will post positive behavior points that students earn throughout the week in Class DOJO.  At the end of each week, students will be given DOJO Bucks for the points they have earned.  They can save their bucks and spend them on coupons, rewards, or at the monthly DOJO Store. Students may also be charged a "fine" from their DOJO Bucks during the day if they are making poor choices (talking after being warned, leaning on chair, disruptive behavior, etc.).  They will pay fines directly to me from their bucks they have collected.  If a student continues to make poor choices after being "fined", the incident will be logged into Jupiter Grades and parents will be texted or emailed a notice of the incident.  
• A Final Note for 5th Grade Parents - 5th Grade can be a tough year for students.  There is a big focus on responsibility and learning to take ownership of work and choices.  The expectations are that they will keep track of their work, begin to learn to manage their time, and hand assignments in complete and on time.  This is harder for some students than it is for others but is a necessary transition for them to make in order to be successful as they move into the upper grades.  I have watched my own three children go through this transition and I will tell you that it can be rough, but there is hope!  :)   If at any time you feel that your child is struggling and really not getting it, please contact me.  I am more than happy to sit down with you and work on a plan together to help your child succeed.

 These are just a few things about our classroom that you may want to know.  Please attend the Mandatory Parent Meeting on Monday, September 17, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM to find out more about our classroom.  Thanks!