Week of February 21-25

I would like to extend a big congratulations to Elyse and Nick, our two District Level BOB competitors!  Best of luck to you two!  I know you will be a huge success!!

Monday is going to be a fun day.  Aside from a little necessary review to prepare for our math and science tests, the entire day will be devoted to celebrating our nation's presidents in honor of Presidents' Day!  Homework Monday night will be to complete the day's work packet on presidents...no reading log this week.  :o)

This week we will begin a new math unit.  It is unit 9 over coordinate graphs, area, volume, and capacity.  Please check out this link in order to read the family letter and get a strong overview of what's coming in math for the next couple of weeks.  http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/homework_help/5th_grade/

Just a friendly reminder that parent-teacher conferences are fast-approaching!  Progress reports go home Wednesday, March 2nd.  Conferences will be held the next night, Thursday, March 3rd from 2:40-6:00pm and Tuesday, March 8 from 2:40-6:00pm.  Please call the office at your earliest convenience to schedule a parent-teacher conference.  Please sign up if you can.  I love to meet with everyone and brag on the amazing things I see kiddos doing each and every day!

Upcoming Tests
Tuesday:  Math, Unit 8, Fraction and Mixed Number Computation

Friday:  Science Test over Body Systems

This Week's Guiding Questions:
Math:  How do I locate coordinate pairs on grids?
Reading/Science:  What are the structures and functions of the respiratory system and the digestive system?
Social Studies:  What is Manifest Destiny and what role did it play in westward expansion?
Word Study:  How do I learn the structures of the different body systems?
Writing:  How do I effectively develop my own autobiography?

Great Math Resources!!

Hello parents and students!  I just found two excellent website for Everyday Math!  The first one is a site where you can go to get the family letter which gives an overview of the coming unit, answers to homework pages (when I give Study Links for homework), and key vocabulary.  I've made some copies of this in the past, but I didn't receive much feedback and I would imagine most of you would prefer this online resource instead so you can quickly access it anytime you need to and it will save paper.  Here is the link.  Check it out and click on the family letter for Unit 9 in order to see what's coming up in the unit we are going to begin on Wednesday.  I hope you all find this helpful!

http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/homework_help/5th_grade/

I also stumbled across another website that you may find helpful as well.  This website is http://www.littletonpublicschools.net/Default.aspx?tabid=539.  You can click on the unit we are studying and get extra help and practice (even games!) for many of the skills taught in the unit.  For example, last night's homework that involved fraction word problems was pretty hard for a lot of the kids.  To give your child more practice on word problems related to percents you can click on Unit 8 on this website and then click the link next to word problems related to percent.  If your child is struggling to add mixed numbers with unlike denominators you can click on "Modeling Adding Unlike Fractions."

Please add these websites to your favorites and check them out when your child needs help on homework.  I think they are fabulous resources and I wish I'd known about them earlier in the year.  

February 14-18

News of the Week
A big thank you to the moms who helped to make our Valentine's Day party a huge success!  The students had a blast and I could tell that it made their week!

Parent-teacher conferences are fast-approaching!  Progress reports go home Wednesday, March 2nd.  Conferences will be held the next night, Thursday, March 3rd from 2:40-6:00pm and Tuesday, March 8 from 2:40-6:00pm.  Please call the office at your earliest convenience to schedule a parent-teacher conference.

This week is BOB Competition!  Today we had our class competition and the winners were Team Dynamite consisting of Clara, Nick, Lauren, Issac, and Lucy.  Tomorrow will be the school competition.  Best of luck to to the representatives from our class!

Upcoming Tests
Friday:  Social Studies, Chapter 14, The Constitution
Next Tuesday:  Math, Unit 8, Fraction and Mixed Number Computation

This Week's Guiding Questions:
Math:  How do I find the product of mixed numbers and how do I find the quotient of two fractions?
Reading/Science:  What are the structures and functions of the circulatory, nervous, and respiratory systems?
Social Studies:  What rights of U.S. citizens are protected in the Bill of Rights?
Word Study:  How do I learn the structures of the different body systems?
Writing:  How do I effectively inform as a purpose for On Demand writing?

Week of February 7-11

Well, literature circles are complete and the kids did a fantastic job on their presentations.  Stay tuned for videos to be posted later this week so long as the technology cooperates!  This week in reading we will begin an integrated science and reading unit over the human body.  Our class will begin learning about the different systems that work together to make the human body function.  Our new word study list will also be a study of these systems and their parts to further the kids’ understanding. 

            Also coming up this week is Volunteer Appreciation!  We’ve had several volunteers in our classroom this year that have been such a huge help.  If you’ve volunteered this year and have not yet RSVP’d to our Volunteer Appreciation this Thursday at 10:00am, please do so at your earliest convenience.  We appreciate all you do and you deserve to be recognized.  The volunteers in this classroom have truly made a world of difference this year!

            As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding what’s happening in our class, please do not hesitate to contact me.  We can help students best when we work as a team.  :o)

Upcoming Tests:

Word Study Quiz over Math Terms:  Tuesday, 2/8/11

Social Studies Test over chapter 14, The Constitution:  Thursday, 2/10/11

Here are this week’s guiding questions…

Math:  How do I multiply fractions, whole numbers, and mixed numbers?

Reading/Science:  What are the structures and functions of the muscular system and the skeletal system?

Social Studies:  What are the responsibilities of the branches and levels of government?  What is the purpose of the United States Constitution?

Word Study:  How do I learn the structures of the human body’s systems?

Writing:  How do I prepare my feature article for publication?

*Look below for a great video to help you review the structure of our nation's government!

Are you confused about the difference between branches of government and levels of government?  Watch this video to help you review!

A Human Tree Representing the Branches and Levels of Government