Newsletter for the week of September 5

Reading: This week in reading, we will be doing a variety of activities. The students will continue working on their fluency through lessons focusing on the elements of fluency: accuracy, speed, comprehension, and expression. I will also be conducting formal reading conferences with each of the students to listen to their fluency, and the students will be writing reflections in their response journals.  We will also be starting a mini research project.  This week the students will learn about relevant and reliable information.  We look over the questions and discuss them.  Then on Friday they will select their groups and their topic.  The focus skills being taught this week are ask and respond to open ended questions, making connections to real world situations or related topics before and during reading, making inferences and drawing conclusions.  These skills will be taught with picture books this week and they will carry over to the research project.  The students will also work on these skills with their independent reading book.

Grammar: We will be focusing on nouns and verbs this week.

Math: In math we are on unit 1.  The first lessons of this unit focused on number models and arrays.  Last week we focused on finding all the factors of a number and the divisibility rules for 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10. This week we will learn about prime and composite numbers and square numbers.  A prime number has exactly two factors and a composite number has more than two.  The students will also learn how to find the square root of a number.

Writing: This week in writing, we will be doing a variety of activities. The students will look at the steps of the writing process and establish a writer's workshop routine. During writer's workshop, I will read the book Fortunately, and the students will create their own Fortunately book.  Lessons on revising and editing will be incorporated into their Fortunately book.

Science: We have been working on our weather unit.  The students watched videos on storms, weather instruments, and hurricanes at the beginning of the unit.  Then they learned about the layers of the atmosphere.  The layers are troposphere, stratosphere, ozone layer, mesosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.  Last week we continued learning about the layers of the atmosphere and also learned about two of the weather instruments. The wind vane tells the direction in which the wind is blowing, and the anemometer tells the speed of the wind. This week the students will learn about the barometer.  The barometer measures the atmospheric pressure.

Social Studies: We will start social studies after we finish our science unit.

Spelling Unit 1:
master     ahead     build     front     meant     bread     ready     busy     quit     mother     above
does     advantage     business     sweater     plastic     balance     limit     among     dozen
activity     building     heavy     biscuit     purpose     astonish     symmetric     cyclical    
abandon     subsequent     expository     abundant     accomplish     mishap     extraordinary
atmosphere     exploration     weather     territory     troposphere

Important Dates:
No School Monday, September 5
No School Tuesday, September 6
Spelling Test Wednesday, September 7
Band & Orchestra Registration at Hill 4:00 - 8:00 on Friday, September 9
5P Math Test Wednesday, September 14
Curriculum night Thursday, September 15

Homework for Sept. 1

Reading - Read 20 minutes

Spelling - Sentences due on Wednesday & Test Wednesday

5P Math - Study Link 1.5 & Mathboxes page 11

5B Math - Quiz on Wednesday

5V Math - Quiz on Wednesday

Newsletter for Wednesday, August 31

Reading - Read 20 minutes

5P Math - Mathboxes page 15 problems 1, 2, 4, 5, 6

5B Math - Study Link 1.4, Quiz on Friday

5V Math Accel. - Study Link 1.4, Quiz Friday

Science - Quiz over the layers tomorrow

Homework for August 30

Reading - Read 20 minutes

Writing - What I have learned so far?

5P Math - Study Link 1.4, Mathboxes 1.4 problems 1, 3, 4

5B Math - Study Link 1.3

5V Math - Study Link 1.3 Mathboxes 1c, 2, 4

Science - Quiz over the layers of the atmosphere

Me in a bag due tomorrow

Homework for Monday, August 29

Reading - Read 20 minutes

5P Math - Study Link 1.3

5V Math - Study Link 1.2 & Mathboxes 2, 3, 5

5B Math - Study Link 1.2

Science - Quiz over the layers of the atmosphere on Thursday

Me in a Bag due on Wednesday

Newsletter for the week of August 29

Reading: This week in reading, we will be doing a variety of activities.  The students will work on their fluency through lessons focusing on the elements of fluency: accuracy, speed, comprehension, and expression.  I will also be conducting formal reading conferences with each of the students to listen to their fluency.  The students will also be writing reflections in their response journals, and they will present their Me in a Bag.

Grammar:  We will be focusing on nouns and verbs this week.  

Math: In math we are on unit 1.  Last week we learned about number models and arrays.  This week we will focus on finding all the factors of a number and the divisibility rules for 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 10.  We will  also learn about prime and composite numbers and square numbers.

Writing: This week in writing, we will be doing a variety of activities.  The students will learn why it is important to write about topics that are important to them.  They will also learn what makes a good writer, and why writing is crucial.  We will also look at the steps of the writing process and establish a writer's workshop routine.  During writer's workshop, I will read the book Fortunately, and the students will create their own Fortunately book.

Science: We started our weather unit last week.  On Wednesday and Thursday the students watched videos on storms, weather instruments, and hurricanes.  On Friday the students learned about the layers of the atmosphere.  The layers are troposphere, stratosphere, ozone layer, mesosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.  They will have a quiz over the layers on Thursday.  This week we will continue learning about the layers of the atmosphere and also learn about the weather instruments.  The wind vane tells the direction in which the wind is blowing, and the anemometer tells the speed of the wind.  The barometer tells the pressure.

Social Studies: We will start social studies after we finish our science unit.

Spelling Unit:
There are no spelling words for this week.

Important Dates:
Market Day Pick Up Tuesday, August 30
Me in a Bag presentation due Wednesday, August 31
Quiz over the layers of the atmosphere Thursday, September 1
No School Monday, September 5
No School Tuesday, September 6
Band & Orchestra Registration at Hill 4:00 - 8:00 on Friday, September 9

Homework 8-26

Reading - Read 20 Minutes

5P Math - Study Link 1.2

Science - Quiz over layers of the atmosphere on Thursday, Sept. 1

Me in a bag due on Wednesday, August 31

Welcome Back to School!

Welcome to 5P. This BLOG serves as the 5P newsletter, updated each week. Here you will find information about what we have done, will be doing in the coming week, spelling lists, and even links to websites that will come in handy. It was nice seeing everyone at "Meet and Greet" on August 17th. If you need the supply list go to the following link:http://watts.ipsd.org/uploads/About/SupplyLists2010-2011.pdf There will be a lot more information posted here as the year gets started. I am looking foward to working with your son or daughter and I intend to make their fifth grade experience educational, challenging, and FUN!

Homework 6-1

Reading - Read 20 minutes

5P Math - Test tomorrow

5G Math - Study Link 10.3 , Journal pages 376 & 377, Test Friday

Wear blue tomorrow

Permission slip for Box Top reward

Homework 5-31

Reading - Read 20 minutes

5P Math - Study guide due tomorrow, Study Link 12.6, Test on Thursday

5G Math - Test on Friday

Permission slip for winning the box top competition

Wear Green tomorrow

Citizenship Celebration is tomorrow afternoon

Newsletter for the week of May 30

Reading: This week in reading, we will be reading from the Time for Kids magazines.  Many comprehension skills will be incorporated into the lessons.   

Book Report:  The next book report, which should be a multicultural book, is due on Tuesday, May 31.  The presentations for this report should focus around a T-shirt.  The design of the T-shirt should focus around the main character.  The students need to include at least 10 descriptive words about the character and an illustration.  They will use the T-shirt to give the class a summary of their book.  On a seperate piece of paper, they need to tell why each of those descriptive words relate to the character.  There should also be a summary included.  If they cannot use a real T-shirt, then they can make one out of construction paper.

Math: In math we started unit 12.  This unit will focus on probability, ratios, and rates.  We did the first lesson which focused on factor trees, factorization, the greatest common factor, and least common multiple.  Last week the students learned about the multiplication counting principle and tree diagrams.  The third skill they learned about last week was ratios.  This week we will review for the test and take the test on Thursday.

Writing:  We will work on variety of activities in writing this week.  We will write a letter to Mark Scott, who is a former student, and was deployed this month.  The students will design their own school and write about their new ideas/inventions.  They will also write welcome letters to the incoming fifth graders.

Science: We finished our unit on microscopes.

Social Studies: We started chapter 15.  The first lesson focuses on the early stages of the Civil War and the advantages and disadvantage of the North and South.  The second lesson will focus on life in both the North and South during the Civil War.  In the third lesson, we will look at how the North won the war.  Then lesson four will focus on the end of slavery.

Spelling - We are finished with spelling for this year. 

Important Dates:

No School Monday, May 30
Wear red on Tuesday, May 31
Permission slip for the box tops celebration due on Tuesday, May 31
Book Report due Tuesday, May 31
Citizenship Celebration Tuesday, May 31
Wear green on Wednesday, June 1
Math test Thursday, June 2
Read in on Thursday, June 2
Wear blue on Thursday, June 2
Wear white on Friday, June 3
Last day of school Tuesday, June 7 - Dismissal 10:10

Homework 5-27

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on Tuesday

5P Math - Study Link 12.6, Study Guide due either Tuesday or Wednesday - This date depends on the weather and the Citizenship Celebration, Test is Thursday

5G Math - Study Links 10.1, 10.2, 10.4, Journal page 379

Wear Red on Tuesday

Library Books are due on Tuesday, May 31

Homework 5-26

Reading- Read 20 minutes, Book Report due Tuesday, May 31

5P Math - Ratio Sheet, Test on Thursday, June 2, Study guide due on Wednesday, June 1

5G Math - SMJ 385, Quarter Activity

Homework 5-25

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on Tuesday, May 31

5P Math - Study Link 12.5

Social Studies - Ws & Test tomorrow

Homework 5-23

Reading- Read 20 minutes, Book Report 5-31

Spelling - Contract & Test for Wednesday

5P Math - Study Link 12.2

5G Math - Journal page372

Newsletter for the week of May 23

Reading: This week in reading, we will be reading the story The Fun They Had.  We will focus on open ended questions, point of view, drawing conclusions, and looking at good word choice.  The focus words for this story are: dispute, nonchalantly, loftily, sorrowfully, and adjusted  

Book Report:  The next book report, which should be a multicultural book, is due on Tuesday, May 31.  The presentations for this report should focus around a T-shirt.  The design of the T-shirt should focus around the main character.  The students need to include at least 10 descriptive words about the character and an illustration.  They will use the T-shirt to give the class a summary of their book.  On a seperate piece of paper, they need to tell why each of those descriptive words relate to the character.  There should also be a summary included.  If they cannot use a real T-shirt, then they can make one out of construction paper.

Math: In math we started unit 12.  This unit will focus on probability, ratios, and rates.  Last week we did the first lesson which focused on factor trees, factorization, the greatest common factor, and least common multiple.  This week the students will learn about the multiplication counting principle and tree diagrams.  The third skill they will learn about this week is ratios.

Writing: This week during writing the students will present their power points on either a famous person or event.

Science: We finished our unit on microscopes.

Social Studies: We started chapter 14.  The first lesson focuses on the Northern and Southern regions of our country and how they began to grow apart.  The second lesson will focus on the slaves resisting slavery and the Underground Railroad.  In the third lesson, we will look at the struggle over slavery and Abraham Lincoln getting elected.  The last lesson will focus on the beginning of the Civil War.

Spelling Unit 30 Words:
canyon     tornado     breeze     cafeteria     coyote     tomato     barbecue     mosquito     plaza
pueblo     chili     alligator     rodeo     patio     bonanza     avocado     mesa     burro     enchilada
burrito     yucca     hurricane     chaps      arroyo     matador     abalone     cargo     chocolate
guacamole     iguana     ranch     saguaro     sombrero     platinum     tenement     monopoly
corporation     sweatshop     assembly line
There are only 39 words because plaza is on both lists.  

Important Information:

If your child submitted Read for Success, they will be getting the tickets in mid-May.

Important Dates:
Presentations for the famous person/event this week

Spelling test Wednesday, May 25
Read In Wednesday, May 25
Social Studies Test Thursday, May 26
No School Monday, May 30
Book Report due Tuesday, May 31
Citizenship Celebration Tuesday, May 31

Homework 5-19

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on May 31, Social studies worksheet which was done during reading

Spelling - Contract & Test due Wednesday

5P Math - Study Link 12.1

Homework 5-18

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on May 31

5G Math - Palidrome Sheet

Homework 5-17

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book report due May 31

Spelling - Contract & test due tomorrow

5P Math - Test tomorrow

Homework 5-16

Reading - Read 20 minutes, Book Report due on May31

Spelling - Contract & Test due Wednesday

5P Math - Practice sheet, Test Wednesday

Bring towels and water bottles tomorrow also wear gym shoes