November 8, 2007

Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

Tomorrow 5A has the 8:30a.m. prayer service. Please join us if you can. This weekend we honor all our Veteran’s. Students have brought in pictures of their family Veterans. I hope you enjoy your holiday. Here is a brief curriculum update.

Camp: April 2-4. We will have an informational meeting in January

Math
Friday: Investigation 3
Tuesday: Lesson 32, Angles, Polygons
Wednesday: Lesson 33, Rounding Numbers Using a Number Line
Thursday: lesson 34, Rounding Numbers Using a Number Line

Religion
This week we practiced for our prayer service and we had our first Faith Family class. Next week we will begin learning about the Sacrament of Baptism.

Science
Students are learning the sources and effects of air pollution. They will discuss how air quality can be protected. Students will take a test on Chapter 2 next Wednesday (11/14). Students will begin Chapter 3, Climate, by making a model of the earth spinning on its axis. They will investigate how the tilt of the earth’s axis causes different amounts of direct sunlight to reach different parts of the earth.

Social Studies
This week we will continue learning about Chapter 4. We will have our Chapter 4 test next Friday 11/16. We will be starting Chapter 5 next week, which elaborates about the European Explorers of the 15th & 16th C.

Reading
5th graders will continue reading Hatchet. Most of this reading is done in class, with follow-up vocabulary and comprehension activities completed as homework. Book Reports are due on Tues. Nov. 13th. Homework passes will not be accepted for this long range project.

Language Arts: Students practice changing singular nouns to the plural form. We explore the correct usage of possessive nouns. 5th graders compose various descriptive paragraphs, using these parts of speech effectively. The 4-square organizational model used will help students write using topic and ending sentences. Our “6-Trait” focus is on “Organization & Conventions.” Due to the Veteran’s Day holiday on Monday, students do not have a spelling assignment or test this week.

Have a great week!

Ms. Semandiris

Kalo Mina! (Good Month)

November 1, 2007

Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

It was so wonderful meeting all of you during conferences. The students in 5A have been doing a wonderful job. I hope that Halloween went well for all of you. I went to see my Godson, Dino, who is 19 months old. He was a fireman! He loved taking his boots off and then having me put them on again.

Don’t forget to turn in your Sally Foster Gift Wrap orders. We have until Friday. The following is a brief curriculum update:

Math
Friday: Lesson 28, Measuring scales
Monday: Lesson Multiplying by Multiples of 10 and 100.
Tuesday: Lesson 30, Interpreting Pictures of Fractions and Percents
Wednesday: Test # 5
Thursday: Investigation 3: Fractions: Thirds, Fifths, and Eighths

Religion
Tomorrow we will have our Chapters 2 & 3 test. Next week we will be practicing and working on our prayer service for Friday November 9th. We will work on this on Monday as well as Wednesday. Prayer Service 11/9 – 8:30am

Social Studies
The fifth graders have begun Chapter 4, Why Europeans Left for the New World. The students will be able to explain several factors that led to European exploration of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries. They will be able to categorize eight artifacts of exploration, as new technology that encouraged exploration, or as “new” products from the Americas. We will be doing a partner activity in class. Students will pretend to dive to the bottom of a shipwreck and retrieve several different artifacts from the exploration era.

Science
Students are learning how water resources are used. They are investigating how pollution can spread into underground water by building a model. This model will simulate how rain can spread pollution from its source to areas of water storage. Next, students will learn how land resources are used and how they can be conserved.
Reading: Next Book Report due-date: Friday, Nov. 2. Rough draft of the book jacket is due. This will be checked off rather than collected, as students will need them to refer to while working on their final book jacket, which is due Tues. Nov. 13th.
Hatchet: We continue to read the story, Hatchet. There will be a test covering Chapters 1-5 on Tues. Nov. 6th. Students will receive a study guide this week with vocabulary and study questions.

Language Arts: This week, the students have been composing persuasive essays. We have completed the pre-writing activities, which have included using a web for generating descriptions and a 4-square graphic organizer for sequencing ideas. Our main focus is in developing good topic sentences and having each paragraph in our essays stay on-topic. The students will complete their final drafts in class and publish these with illustrations. A grading rubric has already been given to each child.

Spelling: Homework is due on Monday. Our test will be on Monday, Nov. 5th. Students have a longer list of core words with common prefixes. They can review “quick-word lists 1-4”. Students are writing any missed “quick-words” in their yellow handbooks for independent study. I have given them a list of strategies called “sticky-spelling tricks” which they may find useful. These are to be completed independently and are not meant as a ‘turn-in homework assignment.’

Reading: Next Book Report due-date: Friday, Nov. 2. Rough draft of the book jacket is due. This will be checked off rather than collected, as students will need them to refer to while working on their final book jacket, which is due Tues. Nov. 13th.

Hatchet: We continue to read the story, Hatchet. There will be a test covering Chapters 1-5 on Tues. Nov. 6th. Students will receive a study guide this week with vocabulary and study questions.

Have a great week!

Ms. Semandiris