Miss LaLonde’s

Fifth Grade Mews January 7, 2011

Greetings Crossroads Families!

Happy 2011!The students have done a phenomenal job of coming back to school and remembering what its like! I hope you all had a relaxing break!

No Purple Homework Sheets this week!

January Character Trait: Initiative

Habit of Mind:Creating, Imagining, Innovating/questioning and Posing Problems

It’s Cold Outside!Please send your student with proper winter gear! This includes gloves and a hat/hood/ear muffs! I don’t mind keeping a box in the room for winter gear if you’d like.

GradesFriday, January 21, marks the last day of the second marking period. Grades will be posted soon after!

MathAll three math classes are beginning the year on Chapter 3 in our textbooks. Chapter 3 focuses our learning on fractions and number sense.

Reading

As we continue to explore Literature Circles, students will have the opportunity to make their choice from a selection of books. Their choice with determine the 2 to 3 other students who will be reading the same book and discussing it as well. An addition to reading will be to keep a journal called a Read and Response Journal. A Read and Response Journal helps students to “talk” about what their reading through writing and helps prepare them to meet for a Literature Circle Discussion. Their response journals give them an opportunity to share feelings, reactions, and to ask questions about the different elements in their book (such as characters, plot, settings, etc.)

The students have a packet with information about how to write an entry and what should be included when they write. We discussed what to include and practiced this week.

This will only be homework if a student does not complete their entry during the given time in class.

Independent Reading/ARAs part of nightly homework, students are to read from their AR books. They need to be reading for at least 20 minutes every night. Students are working to meet a goal and sometimes a suggested time to read doesn’t necessarily mean its right for everyone. Please encourage your student to meet their goal (whether it’s a book project, reading Bingo, or an AR goal) as well as to discover the enjoyment of reading. We want students to know what its like to make a goal, reach for it, and make it!

SpellingWe will start up with spelling again on this coming Monday, January 10th.

WritingWe are beginning a new unit in writing on Tall Tales. We will be reading some tall tale stories next week as well as discussing the elements of what makes a tall tale. We will be working on our own writing assignments

focused around Tall Tales. Each student will be given an assignment sheet with many possible assignments. This allows all students to pick something they not only would feel comfortable completing but they will be excited to write about!

Social StudiesSocial Studies is on hold for the current marking period and will be starting again on January 22!

ScienceWe are working on completing our unit on the Earth, Moon, and Tides this week and next. Look for the test to be towards the end of next week. This has been a challenging but fun unit and I know each student has had light bulb moments!

Look for information coming soon for the science fair!!!

Family Science Night

We are excited to offer our first Family Night on Thursday, January 20th in the elementary gym and cafeteria from 5:00-7:00 p.m. This is a night for ALL elementary students and their families. This is a FREE night of family fun with hands-on and minds-on science activities! Students will be able to explore magnets, fossils, birds, make their own play putty, and many other science stations. Every child

that participates will also receive a FREE BOOK! The class with the most participants will also receive a prize!

Important Dates

January 20: Family Science Night

January 21: End of Semester!

January 27: Awards Assembly at 2:30pm

February 1 and 3: Parent Teacher Conferences

Questions to Ask Your Child:

What has been your favorite thing to learn about the Earth/Moon/Tides so far?

What did have you done for service/stewardship?

Name two jobs for your Literature Circle discussion groups.

What is divisibility? (math)