Week of September 26-30

I would like to thank our chaperones, Mrs. Lossin and Mrs. McLellan for joining us on our field trip and I would like to brag on the kids for not complaining about the rain even once!  We had a wonderful time on Friday visiting Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing where we had the opportunity to experience history firsthand. The kids got to discover what it was like to make hand-made bricks, they got to live the life of an archeologist analyzing artifacts found at the dig site, and they got to tour the old house and learn a great deal about how people lived in the 1800’s.  I think it’s safe to say we all had a fantastic time and learned a lot!  The staff at Riverside always take pictures on this field trip for us.  If you would like to see pictures please go to www.riverside-landing.org and type in our school log-on code:  HarmonyE9232011.

…And now begins a whole new week!  Here is a quick preview of what’s coming up.

·        Mrs. Hammons is coming in for classroom guidance Tuesday and Thursday.

·        Pack activity for team building and perseverance on Thursday

·        Husky Hustle on Friday during Related Arts

·        Harmony’s Fall Festival on Friday night 6-9pm  (For the silent auctions, Mrs. Coomes and I are hosting a girls' night and a boys' night after school in December.  Anyone in our classes may sign up for this event.  Just check out the auction tables.)

*Please remember to collect all pledge donations for the Husky Hustle and turn those in by Friday.  For every $50 your child collects, he/she can be entered in a daily drawing to win a $25 Visa giftcard.

Upcoming Tests:

Facts Test over 7’s on Friday

Word Study Quiz over subject, predicate, and the different types of sentences on Friday

Here is a sneak peek at what we’re learning this week!

S.S.:  This week will involve a study of the Native American culture regions including a project where students will work in groups to create a mural of their region.

Math:  We will briefly review of probability and analyzing data followed by several days of multiplication strategies for calculating products of whole numbers and decimals.

Word Study:  Well continue a view of subject, predicate, and different types of sentences.

Writing:  By Wednesday I am hoping everyone will be revising and typing autobiographies.

NOHS Creative Writing Class Visit

         Below you will find a slide show of our shared reading with Mr. Rauh's Creative Writing class from NOHS.  They came over to read children's books that they had written themselves with us.  We had such a good time with them and the kids LOVED it!  In fact, they now want to go visit the high school, so we are working on planning a trip over there later this year to learn some strategies for revising creative writing from the high schoolers!

Check out these glogs!

Dear Parents,
     Below you will find the links to the United States regions glogs created by your kiddos!  These glogs are online posters that include pictures, text, videos, and graphics that the kids researched to make appealing presentations about the U.S. regions!  They look great and they took a lot of hard work!  Please check them out and leave a comment below!  Thanks!
~Mrs. Whitley  :o)

Southwest Region Glog by Brennan
West Region Glog by Trent & Brandon
Northeast Region Glog by Hayden & Logan
Southeast Region Glog by David & Connor
Midwest Region Glog by Lilly & Allison
Southwest Region Glog by Alex
West Region Glog by Mckayla & Mackenzie
Northeast Region Glog by Abby & Maria
Southeast Region Glog by Bella & Sophie
Midwest Region Glog by Jeffrey & Ali
Southwest Region Glog by Ainsley & Jillian
Northeast Region Glog by Marlee & Claire
Southwest Region Glog by Tyler & Kyra

Week of September 19-23

Field Trip
We are going to have a fun week culminating with our field trip to Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing!  This is one of the best field trips we take because the kids will get to have hands-on experiences digging with archeologists,  touring the old plantation house, andmaking their own bricks (like the builders of the house did).  This is such a cool field trip and the kids love it each year.  Please remember to dress your child appropriately.  Right now the weather is predicted to be 68 and sunny, so I would encourage you to send a light jacket since we will be there early in the morning.  Please also pack your child's lunch and send your child in clothes that can get dirty as we will be digging in the dirt.  :o)

High School Visitors
If your child didn't mention it, Mr. Rauh's class came to visit us on Friday to share children's books they'd written.  It was a fantastic visit where the kids got to learn about the writing process first hand from more experienced writers!  Thank you again, Mr. Rauh!

Watch for updates later this week!  I will be linking the students' glog posters that they created about the U.S. regions and I will be posting pictures from our visit with the high schoolers last week! 

Upcoming Tests:
Multiplication Facts Quiz over 6's on Thursday
Social Studies Test over the 1st Native Americans on Thursday

Here is what we're learning this week!
Social Studies:  1st Native Americans (Who were they and how did the adapt?)
Math:
Word Study:  Different Types of Sentences
Writing:  Collecting and drafting autobiographies
Reading:  Reading the story "Charles" from a Junior Great Book & applying the thinking strategies  Estimation and Computation Strategies

Week of September 12-16

Happy Monday!  This week we are wrapping up a few units and beginning some new topics of learning and discussion.  It should be a fun and busy week!

Release Form:  As many of you know, I am working hard this year to earn my National Board Certification.  Today I sent home a student release form asking your permission to videotape your child during lessons I plan to use for my for this process, which requires that the teacher videotape and analyze her teaching.  If you don’t mind allowing me to tape your child for this, please return the form to school as soon as possible.  I would like to record my first lesson this Thursday. 

Math Facts:  On an important note, I’ve been noticing during math class that the kids really need a lot of practice with their math facts.  We’ve had isolated multiplication facts tests so far over the 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s.  The 2’s, 3’s and 5’s were unannounced because I wanted to see if they knew them already.  On each of these tests I’ve had kids who demonstrated a need for further practice.  Thus, this week we are taking a break rather than plowing forward with 6’s and just doing retakes of 2’s and 3’s.  

Please encourage your child to learn his/her math facts.  You can quiz them orally in the car, over dinner, in the morning or they can get on the computer and practice on fun websites like www,funbrain.com.  I’ve even suggested to the kids that they call each other and quiz one another to practice.  Learning these facts is so important and helpful to them in 5^th grade because we do a LOT of work which requires the kids to find factors of numbers such as tonight’s homework over prime factorization.   Any support you can offer in helping your child learn their multiplication facts through the 12’s will be greatly appreciated!

PhotoStories:  Today I told the kids they will be making PhotoStories soon using the autobiography they are going to be writing.  Soon they will come home asking for help putting photos on a jump drive or CD because we will be using these photos to combine with their written autobiography and make a PhotoStory.  If you do not have photos on your computer, that is totally fine too.  We can allow the kids to use pictures from the Internet to represent important events.

Upcoming Tests:

Math Test over Number Theory on Thursday, 9/16

Retake over 2’s and 3’s multiplication facts

This week we are learning…

Social Studies:  We will be finishing up glogs over the U.S. regions and presenting, as well as beginning a new unit over the first Native Americans.  Check back later this week to see your student’s finished U.S. region glog!  I will be linking them to the blog.

Math:  Prime factorization including factor trees, factor strings, and writing the prime factorization of a number using exponents.  A review sheet will come home Tuesday to help your child study. 

Word Study:  The parts of a sentence and what makes a good sentence will be our focus this week.

Writing:  We are starting autobiographies this week. 

Reading:  This week we will go over the thinking strategies of visualizing and synthesizing and review all of the thinking strategies that we can use to improve our reading comprehension.

Week of September 5-9

Happy Labor Day!  I hope everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!  Though we only have a 4 day week, we have lots of great activities planned.

Here is just a preview of what's coming up this week...
1) We will begin creating glogs to teach about the 5 U.S. regions in social studies.
2) We will also have a "quiz" over capitalization where the kids have to write me a letter demonstrating their ability to apply the capitalization rules and we will begin a competition to see who can use capitalization correctly in their daily writing.
3) Finally, on Friday Mr. Rauh, creative writing teacher at NOHS and dad to one of our students, is bringing his high schoolers to read us picture books they've created!

Upcoming Quizzes and Tests
Be ready to apply those capitalization rules by Thursday!
Prepare for a multiplication mad minute over your 4's on Friday!

Reminders:
Our first field trip will be September 23rd to Riverside Farnsley-Moremen Landing.

What We're Learning This Week
S.S.:  The kids will begin researching their assigned U.S. region in pairs and creating glogs to share what they learned.
Math:  We will continue to work on all aspects of number theory from divisibility rules to prime and composite numbers to the use of exponents to square numbers.
Word Study:  We will continue to practice the capitalization rules.
Writing:  This week culminates our study of the 6 traits, but we will continue to collect in writer's notebooks with the intent of using the 6 traits of writing in every seed.
Reading:  The metacognition thinking strategies will remain our focus in reading as we learn to attend to our thinking while we read in order to deepen our comprehension.

On a final note, if you happen to be in the building, please stop by and check out our bulletin board courtesy of Mrs. Lossin and Mrs. Purdy.  In a word...AMAZING!  Many thanks to those creative moms!