Class Update 4/25/16

Important Reminders:

MAP Testing is ongoing for the next two weeks. Students have been working very hard so far, and I am proud of their efforts! Thank you so much to all of the parents who donated snack mix items for testing. The students are loving it!

Bowling Field Trip forms were sent home last week. If you have not done so, please send signed permission slips and payment in as soon as possible. Thank you!

Our school-wide Literacy Festival will be on May 6th. Students will have an assembly with an author and illustrator. They will also get to choose a free book to read over the summer!

An ice cream truck and bubble bus will be visiting Long on May 12. Students should bring $1.00 if they would like to purchase an item from the ice cream truck.

Friday, May 13 school will be closed for a teacher professional development day.

Field Day is coming up on May 20th. We are in need of many parent volunteers to help with activities that day. Please use the following link to sign up if you are interested in volunteering: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4caead2ba7fc1-long

Class Updates:

In math, we have been learning all about customary and metric measurement. Students have been studying benchmark measurements and practicing to convert back and forth between the different units. We have also continued our study of geometry. Take a look at some of our "Geome-tree" Posters that show how quadrilaterals can be classified. We will have a test over geometry once MAP testing has finished.

In reading and writing, we are beginning a new unit on poetry. Students will spend time reading and analyzing a variety of poems. They will be looking for examples of figurative language and determining themes. The children will also practice writing several types of poems, including haiku, free verse, simile and metaphor poems, acrostics, and more. Each child will create an anthology of their work. Today we tried out using alliteration.

In social studies we will be learning about the original 13 colonies. Students will be completing a project were they "create" a colonist. They will need to make their colonist have a job, living conditions, and a name consistent with the time period of the early colonists. After conducting research, they will then write a journal entry from the colonist's point of view about how life was during that time.

Class Update 4/5/16

Important Reminders:

5th Grade Party Forms for t-shirts and party money are due by April 15th.

MAP Testing dates for 5th grade students are April 19, 20, 21, 27, and 28, and May 3, 4, and 5. It is a tradition for the students to get a special trail mix snack on testing days, which the kids really look forward to. Please look for an email from me this week detailing items that can be donated for the snack mix. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help provide items!

Early Dismissal will take place on April 20th. Students will be dismissed at 1:40. Please make sure your child knows how they will be going home that day in case it is different from their usual routine.

Class Updates:

In math, we have wrapped up our unit on fractions and will now be covering geometry and measurement concepts. This week, the children are reviewing the attributes of polygons. Students worked on sorting a variety of shapes to determine which were indeed polygons. We also looked at the difference between regular and irregular polygons. Specific emphasis will be given to how triangles and quadrilaterals can be classified based on their sides and angles. Other geometry topics will include exploring three-dimensional shapes, including being able to describe their faces, edges, and vertices. In measurement, students will be working with both customary and metric measurements. They will be practicing how to covert between different units of measurement in both systems. Please look for a yellow Measurement Study Guide to be coming home soon so that students can learn the benchmark measurements needed to help them with this skill.

In reading, we are reviewing all of the skills and strategies learned throughout the year. The children continue to work hard in their book clubs, as well. Take a look at a some of the completed point of view posters that groups of students created together. They had to infer what was happening in the picture, consider the perspectives of each character, and then write the story from various points of view. I am proud of the groups' cooperation and creativity!

In writing, students are working on composing their DARE Essays. As part of the requirement for DARE graduation, each student must write an essay explaining what they have learned in the DARE program and how they can use what they have learned to be safe and responsible adults in the future. We are having our last DARE lesson this week, and graduation will take place the last week of school. Here are some pictures of our last writing celebration where students were able to share their argumentative pieces with each other. After reading several pieces, the students awarded each other with certificates, such as best "Attention-Grabbing Hook", and "Strongest Evidence".

We are finishing our second chapter covering European explorers in social studies. Students have a Chapter 4 Test tomorrow. The children have been learning about explorers from England and the Netherlands, including Francis Drake and Henry Hudson. Students have studied the hardships the people of the earliest North American settlements of Jamestown, Plymouth, and the Massachusetts Bay Colony had to overcome. As promised, here are some pictures of completed Explorer Poster Projects: