Class Update 11/15/14

Important Reminders:

This coming week will be our Blue Ribbon School Celebration Week. Students are encouraged to participate by doing the following activities:
     Monday - wear green and gold
     Tuesday - crazy socks and crazy hair day
     Wednesday - wear blue
     Thursday - dress for success day
     Friday - students will receive their blue ribbon shirts and have a special assembly

The Cookie Dough Fundraiser is going on through November 20th. Information was sent home with students on Wednesday. Thank you for helping to support our school!

On Friday, field trip permission slips were sent home for our next trip. We will be going to Busch Stadium to take part in their CAPS Program, which integrates the game of baseball with hands-on activities linked to the curriculum. The field trip will be on December 2, and there is an $11.00 fee to help cover the cost of the program and transportation. Please send signed permission slips and money back to school with your child as soon as possible. Thank you!

School will be closed from November 26 - 28 for Thanksgiving Break.

Class Updates:

In math, we have started Chapter 4, which focuses on long division using two-digit divisors. The children are learning how they can use multiples and compatible numbers to help them with solving more challenging problems with division. Chapter 4 is short, so we will be having a quiz on Friday, November 21.  Below the kids are working on some real world problem solving skills, as they figure out how to divide a large pile of found "money" equally among a group of people.

In reading, we will be practicing making inferences, which require students to use information from the text, as well as their background knowledge to comprehend the story. Reading groups are continuing to ask inferential questions about their books before, during, and after reading as well.

Students have completed their first drafts of their informational reports on Native Americans, and are busy conducting research to add facts, summaries, paraphrasing, and quotes to their writing. The children are also working hard to make references to geography in their reports and explain the importance of how geography affected the lives of Native Americans. Another goal for students is to add their own thinking into their writing to draw conclusions based on the research they have done. We will soon be redrafting our reports to include all of the new findings and elaboration students have been able to find.

In social studies, most students have now completed their Story Jumper books on Native Americans. Many groups have also presented their books to the class. We will be finishing up presentations this week, as well as beginning Chapter 3 on the Age of Exploration. Students will receive a new set of vocabulary cards that go with the chapter to begin studying at home. Take a look at some pictures of our Story Jumper presentations:

We recently took a field trip to Cahokia Mounds where children learned about early Mississippian Mound Builders. The kids had a great time climbing to the top of Monk's Mound!

Is it November already?

Hello families!

I just realized that I listed all of the dates in my last post for October instead of November. My apologies! All dates should be November. I guess my brain wasn't quite ready for November yet!

Class Update 11/2/14

Important Reminders:

Our Cahokia Mounds Field Trip is Friday, October 7th.  Please make sure students wear comfortable walking shoes that day. It is also important that children be dressed for the weather. A few students still need signed permission slips to be turned in before Friday in order to be able to attend. Please return permission slips with $4.50 to cover the cost of the trip as soon as possible if you have not already done so.  I will be sending a follow-up email on Monday to parents who volunteered to attend the field trip.

The 5th grade music program is coming up on Sunday, October 9th at 4:45 PM. The students have been working hard to practice for the program. Here is a link to a video of one of their songs!
5th Grade Groh Video Link

Our annual Veteran's Day Assembly will take place on Tuesday, October 11th at 9:00 AM.

Wednesday, October 12th is an early release day. Children will be dismissed at 1:40. Please make sure your child knows how they will be going home that day if it is different from their normal routine.

Class Updates:

In math, we have continued to practice long division, as well as estimating quotients. Moving forward, we will continue to work on long division with increasingly more complex problems. The students will also examine interpreting the remainder in word problems.

In reading, we will be working on the skill of making predictions about what we read, based on evidence from the text. We had a successful celebration of our personal narrative unit in writing. The students were able to read pieces from all four 5th grade classrooms and leave positive feedback for each other. 

Our next unit is on informational writing. The children will be making cross-curriculum connections to what they are learning in social studies about Native Americans in this unit. We have covered how to take notes and paraphrase. In addition, we have reviewed the difference between facts and opinions.  The children have started the pre-writing process by brainstorming what they already know about Native Americans.  This week we will begin the drafting process.

In social studies, students have been working in pairs and trios to complete the research phases of their Native American projects. Most groups have now started to create their digital books on Story Jumper. Students will continue to design their books this week.

We recently took part in our annual Ability Awareness Day. The students heard four presentations about learning disabilities, physical motor disabilities, the CHADS Coalition, and spinal cord injury. Children were able to participate in a variety of hands-on activities that allowed them to better appreciate what differences we all have, and more importantly what we all have in common. Be sure to ask your child about what they learned!

Thank you to all of the parents who helped put on our classroom Halloween Party! The children had a great time - take a look at some of their costumes!