December 11, 2008
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
Tomorrow is the last day to donate to the Adopt a Family fund. Mr. Schreck and I will be going shopping over the weekend to buy all the gifts. Please consider donating if you have not already.
We will have our first Thank-you auction next Thursday. Please bring in a couple of items $2.00 or less. The dollar store is a great place to pick up some deals. The kids are really excited for this!
Tomorrow, students will receive first trimester report cards. The following is a curriculum update for the following week.
Religion
On Tuesday we will have our Chapter 14 test. We will be using Wednesday to review the different Gospel accounts of the Birth of Christ. Thursday we will the class period to have our class Thank-you auction.
Math
No Math Monday-Penance Service
Tuesday:Lesson 43, Writing Quotients as Mixed #’s
Wednesday:Lesson 44, Measuring Lengths with a Ruler
Friday: No Math ½ Day. We will use this time for a Christmas Activity.
Social Studies
Tomorrow the fifth graders will take the Chapter 6 test. Next week we will be moving into Chapter 7, comparing the Colonies. We will begin this lesson and continue it after the Christmas break. At the end of this lesson, students will be able to distinguish among New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies. Work collaboratively to create a billboard to promote the favorable aspects of a colony and list key features of the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia.
Reading
5th graders have been asked to bring in one or two Christmas storybooks to use next week during Reading. We will be using them to map out the elements of plot. Please encourage your 5th grader to remember to bring a Christmas book to school.
Language Arts
Students choose a writing form (narrative, persuasive, expository or descriptive) and a publishing style to represent an ordinary Christmas topic in a new and creative way. This is an opportunity for students to have a bit more freedom and choice in the way they write, prepare and present an assignment. Students have been given a rubric that explains the assignment and grading criteria. I have included this rubric on my web page. We work on the drafts in class this week. Some students may need to finish publishing and illustrating these at home. The final drafts are due on Tuesday. Our spelling assignment is due on Monday; our test will be on Monday, as well.
Science
Students are experimenting with magnification. The will investigate transparent cubes spheres and cylinders to see which ones magnify newsprint. Next students will learn the functions of parts of a microscope. They will learn how to adjust light and how to focus the microscope.
Have a great week!!!
Ms. Semandiris
Information Skills/Library
All fifth and sixth grade classes
The library catalog is now online and accessible through the Holy Rosary School website. After an introduction and some initial practice using the catalog during class, all the students will be required to demonstrate some of the attributes of this software for an adult at home as a homework assignment. Within the next month, all four homerooms will be introduced to the new Destiny software.
Access the software from the opening page: www.holyrosaryws.org
Look at the quick links down the right hand side.
Choose the fourth link for the online library catalog.