Week of February 1st

I simply cannot believe it is February! It is feeling less like winter and more like spring with these beautiful fifty degree days! Simply heavenly!

February Events

2nd: Spelling Bee

4th: PTA Meeting @ 8:30

5th: Class Celebration (BBQ and Boardgames!)

10th: Coffee with the Principal @ 8:30

11th: Valentine's Day Party @ 10:30

11th: Early Dismissal (out at noon)

12th-15th: No School

19th: Class Pictures

19th: Midterms for 4th and 5th graders

26th: Spirit Day: Flannel Friday

This week in reading we will being Unit 5:  Heroes Across Time. This is one of my favorite units we do this year. We will talk in-depth about the characteristics of heroes and research heroes of the past. This is the unit that each student will pick a hero to research and then "become" that person with our Wax Museum.  This will not happen until the end of March, so no need to panic yet. There will be a lot more information sent home in the near future. However, it is not too early for your child to start thinking about what person in history inspires them and that they would like to research and "become." Our theme vocabulary words this week are: tough, terrible, and challenge. We will work on the skills of using antonyms, prefixes/suffixes, generalizing, and adverbs. 

In Math, we will continue on with Chapter 7. This week we will dividing by 3, 4, 6, and 7. We will have a mid-chapter quiz on Thursday. Students should be able to use various strategies to help them solve division problems: drawing equal groups, repeated subtraction, using a number line, and using fact family knowledge. 

In Science, we are officially done with our Forces of Flight section. We will now begin to learn about Simple Machines. 

We will use our Social Studies time this week to wrap up our Unit 4 Inquiry Posters. I am hoping to finish and present them by the end of the week.

On Friday (February 5th) we will have our class compliment celebration. It took us several months to earn our 75 points. Devlin's parents have graciously offered to donate food for lunch (they own a food truck called "I'm Cravin' BBQ). The students will also have some time to play boardgames with theri friends. Hence, our celebration is being called "Boardgames and BBQ." Doesn't get much better if you ask me! :)

Code Word: Heroes

A Week In Pictures

I LOVED Madeline's shirt... All these kiddos share their sparkle with the world!

Audrey brought her Great Dane, Astro, to visit the class. He wasn't too sure about us :)  He could be one of the largest dogs I've ever seen, weighing in at over 120 pounds!

We did our third, and final, glider trial. Takoda and Devlin smoked us all :)

This week we entered the world of computer programing, using a site called Code.org. Students used the popular Minecraft game to learn how to code!

On Thursday, we did an art/writing activity with our buddies. It was good to see them again after several weeks "off."

I love that our class always stays away from the drama at recess. The boys/girls always find a game together, which make my heart smile daily. Lately, basketball has been the game of choice. 

I took this picture last week and forgot to post it. Takoda had to miss a week of school to attend his Grandpa's funeral. Everytime we would pull his stick, our hearts would frown. Man we missed him!

Week of January 25

 ** Report Cards go home today (Friday the 22nd)! Please be sure to return to the signed report card envelope on Monday. As always, if you have ANY questions or concerns, please call or email me!

The kids, and myself, were sooooo sad to see Miss Emily head back to college. I miss her help already :(

Loved Maggie's shirt - TGIF  :)

Grace taught the class a fun magic trick at the end of the day on Thursday.

Maggie made a cool camp out of construction paper and shared with the class. Sure love how creative that girl is!

We celebrated Ty's birthday on Wednesday with mini donuts and Me Stew. I love how helpful, humorous, and kind Ty is - we are so lucky to have him in our class!

The students played a fun basketball game in P.E. on Thursday with Mr. Pertuit!

This week in reading we will finish Unit 4: Digging Up a Story. We will reread a couple of the stories and review all the theme vocabulary words that we worked on during the Unit.  We will also work on the skills of ABC order, using pronouns, writing/completing analogies, and identifying the subject and predicate of sentences. We are now done with our cursive books, so everyday we will either write a cursive joke or quote in substitution of our cursive book! 

In math, we will take our Chapter 6 Assessment and then dive into Chapter 7, which digs deeper into division. So far, we have learned several different strategies that help us divide: repeated subtraction, bar model, drawing equal groups, and using our knowledge of fact families. 

In science, we will finish up with our Forces of Flight section of PLTW. The next portion of our science curriculum deals with Simple Machines.

We will use our Social Studies time to wrap up our inquiry research and start constructing our posters! Hopefully we will be ready to present to the class by the end of the week. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I plan on enjoying the warm weather by playing outside with Bennett (my husband will be out goose hunting - wish him luck!). See you all Monday!

Code Word: Report Cards 

Week of January 18th

Wow, can you believe Friday marked the end of the second quarter?!! I simply cannot believe we are half way through the school year!  Report cards will come home this Friday (January 22nd). We finished our winter NWEA testing last week and I was pleased with many of the scores.  We are doing well and showing growth, but still have a lot of hard work to do!! I will be sending NWEA/MAP testing information home in their report cards.

There is no school on Monday and it is a PIR day for the teachers.  I get to learn more about our new Go Math series.  

In reading, we are continuing on with Unit 4: Digging Up a Story. This week we will read a story called "Boy Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs" in our Theme Readers. We will focus on the skills of visualizing, writing and understanding similes, mood and tone in a story, and work on prefixes. Our theme vocabulary words this week are enormous and clue.

In writing, we will start a descriptive essay, really focusing on using great describing adjectives and descriptive adverbs. Hopefully we will be able to type our final drafts next week. When we typed our Expressions Poems last week, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly most of the students were able to type. And most were able to change font, size, and print on their own. Woo hoo! Sure makes my life easier :)

In science we will do our third, and final, glider trial. Takoda and Devlin blew everyone out of the water last time. Their gliders, carrying cargo, went over 20 feet! Wowzers!

In math we are finishing up chapter 6 on understanding division.  We will look at multiplication and division fact families and dividing by 1 and 0.  By the end of the week we will take our chapter 6 test. Please continue to make time to study multiplication and division facts at home. It really makes a difference.  

In social studies this week we will read and learn about Martin Luther King Jr. 

At home it is really important to make sure your kiddo is reading AT LEAST 15 minutes per night.  If they are reading more that is wonderful!  This helps so much to support growth in the classroom!! If they are in between chapter books, Raz Kids or Epic! are wonderful options for reading sources, too!

Code Word: Half Way!

Inquiry research, Health games, and the Geography Bee

Students are researching the topics of Pompeii, caverns, Egyptian mummies, and layers of the ocean for their Unit 4 Inquiry projects!

Mrs. Moore's fifth graders created games in health and then taught us how to play!

I always love watching the Geography Bee! And it was fun to have Jeff from Zoo Montana as this year's moderator. Ask your child what animal he brought with him :)

Week of January 11th

We had a great week back. A chatty week, but we still got a lot accomplished.

Most students showed wonderful growth on their SRI test. Remember that by the end of the year, our goal is for students to be at a score of at least 520.

This week, we will take our winter MAP/NWEA reading and math tests. We will take these again in the spring, as well. I think we will be amazed to see all that the students have learned these last few months, especially in math. Please make sure your child gets a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast. It really does make a difference and I appreciate your support at home!

In reading, we will continue on with Unit 4, which is teaching about the story of Earth. Many students have brought in fossils, which have been fun to analyze and study. So many questions left unanswered... Our theme vocabulary words this week are ancient and environment. We will work on the skills of making connections, completing analogies, and distinguishing fact and opinion.

In math, we will continue on with Chapter 6, which is diving into division. We have discussed division as equal groups, and will look at bar models, repeated subtraction, and using arrays this week. Students who have their multiplication facts mastered are breezing through these first few lessons. However, it is clear that some students need to be working more on recalling their multiplication facts fluently.

We probably won't have much time for social studies or science this week, with NWEA testing on the schedule. Hopefully we can fit in some PLTW time, though. Last week, students learned about the parts that make up a glider: fuselage (body), wings, and horizontal stabilizer.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend! Stay warm out there! See you Monday morning! :)

Code Words: MAP Testing