October 11, 2007
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
I hope you enjoy your long weekend. I am looking forward to my classes tomorrow. I am also opting for the extra catechetical class that is until 5pm. There should be some great learning going on.
I am keeping several tests and papers for conferences. Each student will have his or her own portfolio.
Math
Monday: Test 3
Tuesday: Investigation, Fractions, Halves, Fourths, and Tenths
Wednesday: Lesson 21, Problems About Equal Groups
Thursday: Lesson 22, One-Digit Division with a remainder
Friday: Lesson23, Recognizing Halves
Religion
This week we are continuing to work through Chapters 2 & 3. Students turned in their beautiful Cinquain Nature Poems yesterday. We have been working on the study guide for these chapters during class. The test for Chapter 2 & 3 will be on Monday, 10/22. The Chapter 1, Religion test grades will be posted on powerschool by this Sunday. I am saving them for your childs portfolio to share at conferences.
Social Studies
This week the fifth graders have been working very hard on Chapter 3. We are learning about the 7 different Native American cultural regions. Students are working in class on their interactive notebook. We will have test on the chapter on 10/29 for 5A and 10/30 for 5B.
Science
Students will take the Chapter 1 test on lessons 1-4 on Wed. October 17th. Students will experiment with crystal formation to determine how the rate at which crystals form affects their size. Students will begin Chapter 2, The Earth’s Resources. They will explore the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources by examining and classifying different resources. They will then discuss weather the resources can be used up or replenished.
Language Arts: Students complete their descriptive advertisement assignments. We continue to explore Ideas & Content as we write paragraphs. Students will take a grammar/writing test next Friday, October 19th. The grammar portion will involve identifying and using nouns and adjectives correctly. Students will also be given a writing prompt, which will require them to compose a descriptive paragraph. They will be assessed on their correct usage, mechanics, attention to detail and conventions.
Reading: There will be a Unit 1 Test today for 5B. Due to the Magazine Sale Assembly, 5As Unit 1 Test will be Monday, Oct. 15. To prepare for this, the students have made Vocabulary flash cards in class. This is a great study strategy that can be transferred to other content areas. This Unit Test gives students an opportunity to apply our recently practiced Target Skills of Sequencing, Character and Cause and Effect to a given short story.
Reading
If students finish reading their Newbery books before the next due date, (Oct. 22), they can pick up the paper for the rough draft of their book jacket. As some class time is being given to read and to work on book jackets, students should always have their Newbery book with them for class.
Have a great weekend!
Ms. Semandiris
Please fill out the Pre-Conference Form (orange paper), which was in the Boomerang today! Thanks!!!
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
Please look in the Boomerang envelope for your Parent Homework! We have enclosed a pre-conference form that will help us plan for conferences later in October.
Here is a brief curriculum update for the next week:
Math
Friday: Test # 2
Monday: Lesson 17, Multiplying by One-Digit Numbers
Tuesday: Lesson 18, Multiplying Three Factors-Missing Numbers in Multiplication
Wednesday: Lesson 19, Division Facts
Thursday: Lesson 20, Three ways to show division
Religion
Tomorrow the rough draft of the cinquain nature poem is due. Please make sure your child brings it to school. They should have written the rough draft right on the rubric. We are working on Chapters 2 & 3. A study guide for these chapters was handed out on Wednesday. We will be working on these in class. We will have a test on Chapters 2 & 3 next Wednesday. 10/10. The final draft of the poem will be due on 10/10 too!
Science: Students are learning how weathering changes the earths surface. Students will use chalk, small stones, water and vinegar to make models that show how chemical and physical weathering occurs. Students will also learn how rocks reveal changes on the earth. Students will take the Chapter 1 test on lessons 1-4 on Wed. October 17th.
Language Arts: The fifth graders are working on parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. We practice descriptive writing, focusing on Ideas & Content. Students write paragraphs describing specific nouns (people, places and things). We use the Six Traits Writing Rubric to assess our work.
As usual, the spelling homework is due and the spelling test will be on Monday.
Social Studies
The fifth graders will take the Chapter 2 test tomorrow 10/5. Next week we will be working on Chapter 3, Native American Cultural Regions. Students will be working towards the following objectives in this lesson:
? to list seven cultural regions into which scholars often divide native Americans
? identify selected environmental factors that promoted cultural diversity among Native American groups.
? Describe selected examples of cultural adaptations made by the Kwakiutl, Pomo, Hopi, Yakima, Sioux, Algonquian, and Seminole tribes.
Students will work in pairs to learn about each region using the textbook and their interactive notebook. Students will then be given several pictures of artifacts and they will have to use the information they learned about each region to decipher which environment produced each artifact. The test on this chapter will not be this week. We will have this test the week after conferences.
Reading
This week the 5th graders were assigned their First Trimester Book Report. They are to select a Newbery Award or Honor Book from any year. (I would ask that they not pick Hatchet or Number the Stars, as we will be reading these together in class.) The students each have a copy of the directions and rubric for the Book Report. The link to these can be found on my website as well. Students should have selected their book and reported their choice to me by Monday, Oct. 8.
Have a great Week!
Ms. Semandiris
September 27, 2007
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
We have been working very hard this week in the fifth grade. I have a few reminders: 1. Please read and sign your childs Homework Assignment Notebook each night and make sure that you have looked at completed homework. 2. Make sure that your child has all homework/assignments in binder before bedtime. 3. Make sure your child has a Homework folder in the front of their binder. (I think everyone has one now.) 4. Pick a time each week that you and your child can clean out binder and organize it.
I hope these reminders help you organize your child. At school, I check Homework/Assignment notebook daily and sign. If I see your signature too, then your child gets a Thank-you card!
Math
Friday: Lesson 12, Lines, Number Lines, Tally marks
Monday: Lesson 13, Multiplication as Repeated Addition-Adding and Subtracting Dollars and Cents
Tuesday: Lesson 14,Missing Numbers in Subtraction
Wednesday: Lesson 15, Making a Multiplication Table
Thursday: Test #2
Religion
Next week we will be learning about Chapter 2, Worshipping God. The objectives for this chapter are: to express thankfulness for creation, to recognize how human work can give glory to God, to identify the connection between stewardship and Gods providence and to practice skills of stewardship. Please see web page for nightly homework.
Social Studies
The Fifth Graders will begin Chapter 2, Native Americans and Their Land. After this chapter students will be able to demonstrate the following things:
? explain how one Native American group believes the world began.
? to trace the migration routes of Native Americans into North America.
? Describe some of the natural environments that Native Americans encountered in North America
? Identify some of the ways the Inuit adapted to the environment in the Arctic.
? Students will be learning new vocabulary, working in their interactive notebook as well as performing Act it Outs in class to master these objectives. Please help your child by having them read the chapter to you or you can read the chapter to them. Please see your childs Homework Assignment Notebook and my web page for nightly HW. The test for this chapter is Friday, October 5th.
Science
Students will take a short quiz on lessons 1 & 2 next Wednesday. Reviewing the lesson 1 and 2 study guides will help them prepare for this quiz. In Lesson 3, students will discover how weathering, erosion, and deposition change the earths surface.
Reading
This week in Reading we have been enjoying the story Faith and Eddie, and focusing on the Target Skill of Character. The students have been practicing the new vocabulary while working on their oral reading fluency and summarizing skills. Our work during the week prepares them for the Selection Test, which will be given on Friday. I have finally updated my website, so feel free to check it weekly for homework updates. Please try to review corrected homework with your child in order to maximize the learning. The students have been in training during the month of September, trying to remember to bring all necessary materials to Reading Class. Beginning Oct. 1st, materials infractions will be given out to students who come without the necessary supplies. Thank you. Mrs. McFaul
Language Arts: Students compose rhyming Color Poems in class, incorporating interesting nouns and descriptive adjectives. Our spelling list (see my webpage) focuses on the prefixes un- and non-. The spelling test is on Monday; the assignment is also due Monday.
Have a great week!
Ms. Semandiris
September 20, 2007
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
The fifth graders are in full swing here in 5A. It was great to meet all of you at Open House last week. I hope that you found the information informative and helpful for you and your childs transition into fifth grade. The following is a brief curriculum update.
Math
Friday-Lesson 9, Practicing the Subtraction Algorithm
Monday-Lesson 10, Missing Addends
Tuesday-Test #1
Wednesday-Investigation Story Problems
Thursday- Lesson 11, Story Problems About Combining
All math assignments should be done in pencil and work must be shown for credit. I have explained in detail how a homework assignment should look so hopefully all will go well!
Mrs. Kirmeyer’s
Parents can check my webpage under Specialists on the Holy Rosary site to see what is happening for the week.
Religion
This week we will be continuing to work on Chapter 1. Students are learning about Longing for God. We have had some wonderful class discussions about the difference between longing for material things and longing for things that money cannot buy.
A study guide has been assigned and will be completed in class Monday. We will have a test on Chapter 1 on Wednesday 9/26
Social Studies
The Fifth Graders have been working on Chapter 1, Geography of The United States. We have been working in pairs to work through the Social Studies notebook pages for Chapter 1. Students have been answering several sets of questions using their text and writing the answers on the maps. We will have a test on Chapter 1 on Friday, 9/28. Students should reread the Chapter (several times) know the vocabulary and be able to recall the words as well as be familiar with all the map work we did in class. There is an Internet Tutorial for all tests on the History Alive website. There is a link on my web page.
Social Studies Notebook:
Students will be bringing these home today. I suggest getting it whole punched at a store such at Kinkos and then storing it in your childs binder. They will need this notebook for every Social Studies class.
Science
Students are starting a unit on Earth Science. In this unit, they will explore the layers that make up the earth and discover how weathering, erosion, and deposition change the earth. Later students will learn about the water cycle and how land and water together affect change in the climate. Students will create models to investigate how the separate continents may have fit together as one continent. Students will learn what evidence shows that continents have moved. They will learn about the theory of plate tectonics. They will also discover how plate movements cause earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain formations.
Language Arts: Students will explore different forms of poetry. We will integrate basic parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives) into the poems. Students took their first spelling test on Monday. The dictation section of all spelling tests will be scored using the rubric below. Remember, the new spelling words are given every Tuesday and the homework is due the following Monday, the same day as the test.
Dictation Rubric
Score Quick Words/Spelling Words
5 No errors
4 1-2 errors
3 3-4 errors
2 5 errors
1 more than 5 errors
Please feel free to access more information about L.A. at Ms. Corrigans webpage under Specialists on the HRS website. Information about this weeks spelling list and assignment is archived there, as well.
Reading: The Fifth graders have been reading from the Scott Foresman Reading book, and focusing on the Target Skill of Sequencing. We practice daily to develop oral reading fluency and summarizing skill using sequencing words. The students took their first Selection test today. Next week we will use several stories to focus on our Target Skill of Character, with another Selection Test on Thursday.
Reminders:
Monday 9/24/07 – Individual Picture Day – Free Dress or Uniform…you pick!
Have a great week!
Ms. Semandiris
September 4, 2007
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
It was so wonderful meeting all of the new fifth graders today! They did a wonderful job today and I am looking forward to a fantastic school year. At Open House we will have an opportunity to meet and go over curriculum goals as well as procedures for the fifth grade. I will be posting nightly Homework on my website for your convenience. I look forward to meeting all of you at Open House!
Ms. Penny Semandiris