Week of March 30-April 3

And our newest Leader of the Week is....

       Blake is amazing with other people!  Blake was chosen as our leader this week because of his keen ability to make others feel good about themselves!  He goes out of his way to use Habit 4:  Think Win-Win!  He accepts others regardless of their differences and he supports others when they need a friend.  Blake is a true leader in frienship!

Poems turned into Student Plays
The STAR by Landon and Abram
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat by Cody and Kahelu
Mother Wilma by Lily, Hadley, and Chloe
Life is But a Dream by Jake, Riley, Tommy, Cristina, and Gigi
Words as Free as Confetti by Matthew P, Kendall, and Margaret
The Queen of Hearts by Chelsea, Will, Blake R, and Gigi
Against Idleness and Mischief by Chelsey, Tyler, Karie, and Ethan
The Spider and the Fly by Peyton, Charlotte, and Thalia
The Voice of the Lobster by Matthew W, Blake W, Isabelle, and Lydia

Upcoming Test:

Math Test on Friday over Area, Perimeter, Volume, and Conversions

Spring Break

Enjoy your break next week!

Middle School Music Showcase

This has been moved to April 30th.

5th Grade Recognition

Mark your calendars for June 9th at 9:00am!

A Look at this Week

Reading:  This week we will focus on analyzing the lessons from our current read aloud, The Little Prince, and the kids will write their own chapter to add on to the story.

Writing:  During writing, we will finish up our literary letters and the kids will complete a transfer task in which they will be asked to write a real or fictional narrative that teaches a lesson.

Word Study:  Our focus this week will be parts of speech…nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.

Math:  During math this week, we will learn about measurement conversions and review area, perimeter, and volume in preparation for our test on Friday.

Social Studies:  We will begin preparations for our trip to BizTown.  This week the kids will begin economics lessons as they learn about the free enterprise system and financial institutions.  They’ll even learn how to use a checking account!

March 23-27

Good morning, parents!  It has been a great week!  Your kids are so sweet and I’m really cherishing my time with them here lately, as I realize it is coming to a close.  Summer and then middle school will be upon us before we know it.  If you have any questions regarding middle school, don’t hesitate to ask.  We will have a field trip to North in the near future so the kids can have a tour and learn more about it.

 

And our newest Leaders of the Week are...

 

Thalia and Matthew!!!

Thalia makes excellent use of the habits, Think Win-Win and Synergize!  Thalia is such a kind and friendly young lady.  She gets along very well with her classmates and she works well in partnerships and teams!  She is an awesome class citizen!

Matthew is funny and outgoing, but most notably, Matthew has recently made great improvements in his writing.  He has learned to use the habits of beginning with the end in mind and being proactive. He is a hard worker and he works hard to be detailed in his work!

 

Check out a few of the kids' Bill of Rights presentations on 16 of the Constitutional amendments!  They did a fabulous job!

American Rights

My Rights

My Rights #2

 

 Huskypalooza

Last chance to order Huskypalooza T-shirts!  The cost is $15 and orders are due no later than next Friday, March 27^th!

Scrimmage Testing

We had our first round of scrimmage teasting this week and I have to tell you, I am really impressed with these boys and girls.  They were all very hard working and serious about the task.  It’s also created an excellent opportunity for us to review some concepts we have studied for a while.

Accelerated Testing

Please note that the deadline to sign up for accelerated testing is this Tuesday, March 24!  If you don’t sign up, your child will not be considered for accelerated language arts, science, or social studies.

 Conferences

Last call for conferences!  If you would like to have a spring conference with me and you haven’t already signed up, please go to Volunteer Spot today.  The link is:  http://vols.pt/zUJYxE..  I will be hosting conferences from 2:30-6:00pm on Friday, March 27^th and Thursday, April 2^nd.

Early Release

Wednesday, March 25 is another Early Release Day.

Spring Break

It’s almost here…April 6-10! 

5^th Grade Recognition

Mark your calendar!!  Our 5^th Grade Recognition will take place on Tuesday, June 9^th at 9:00am!

BizTown

As of now, I only have 3 volunteers to chaperone the BizTown field trip on April 22^nd.  Only 2 volunteers will need to ride the bus and the others can meet us at BizTown.  I need approximately 6 volunteers total from our class in order to meet the requested 29 volunteers needed at BizTown for the entire 5^th grade.

Yearbook Orders

The last day to order yearbooks is April 3^rd!  Order yours today!  Simply go to http://harmony.picaboo.com.  
 

A Look at Next Week…

Reading:  During reading next week, the kids will be analyzing famous poems and then taking the message of those poems and turning them into plays which they will perform for each other at the end of the week.

Writing  During writing, we will work on analyzing book characters and what we’ve learned from them.  Then the kids will each choose one book character and write a letter to that character describing the impact the character had on his/her life.

Word Study  During word study next week, we are going to review the meaning of measurement terms and conversions.

Math:  Math next week will focus on calculating volume of both regular and irregular prisms.

Social Studies:  As we wrap up our study of government, we will focus on the various levels of government (local, state, federal) and what it means to be a responsible citizen.

 

Check out our blog to see our newest Leaders of the Week!

March 16-20

Good afternoon, parents!  I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful day!  Everyone was very cheerful and upbeat today.  We even enjoyed lunch outside at the picnic tables!  Tonight is a light homework night and I told the kids that part of their homework is to play outside! 

PE

We started a new PE rotation today.  Please make sure your child comes to school in the proper clothing for PE.  Thanks!  :o)

Accelerated Testing

Please keep in mind that the deadline to sign up for accelerated testing at North Middle is next Tuesday, March 24^th.  Testing dates are Saturday, March 28^th and Monday, March 30^th.  These tests are for science, social studies, and language arts only.  Math placement will be administered here at school near the end of the year.

BizTown

This Wednesday, you will receive a field trip permission form in your child’s Wednesday folder for an upcoming Economics-based field trip to BizTown.  This is an amazing and authentic experience that is coming up for our kids to run businesses in a realistically modeled town!   For this trip we will need LOTS of volunteers-29 for the whole 5^th grade, so if you’ve been looking to chaperone a field trip this year, please sign up!  It’s really a neat experience and a lot of fun!

Conferences

If you would like to schedule you a spring conference, you are invited to do so.  Just go to Volunteer Spot and choose a time.  Don’t forget to enter your name.  The link is:  http://vols.pt/zUJYxE.  I am requesting that all parents who would like a conference, please schedule one no later than this Friday, March 20^th.  If you do not schedule a conference, but I feel that one is needed, I will contact you.

Scrimmage Testing

This week, we will have our first round of scrimmage testing in preparation for the KPREP Test at the end of the year.  Please make every effort to have your child here on time this Thursday and Friday in order to take the scrimmage test.  We will begin right after Related Arts.

A Look at What’s Coming Up This Week

Reading:  In ELA, we have moved into a new unit called Exploration.  Last week, the kids read and analyzed stories to find the moral.  This week, we are analyzing stories with tyrants to compare and contrast how different characters react to the tyrants.  Today after reading an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland, the kids gathered several different lessons learned from Alice as we examined her reactions to the Queen of Hearts.

Writing:  As a part of our Exploration unit, the kids will be exploring abstract artwork (Dadaism and surrealism) to interpret the artwork and write a story from it.  They will also be creating their own Dadaist or surreal artwork and authoring a story to go with it.

Word Study:  For word work today, we examined the prefixes for the metric system and brainstormed words we knew that started with those prefixes.  This helped the kids to learn their meaning.  Later this week, we will study conjunctions.

Math:  During math, we are working on measurement and data analysis.  This week the kids will work with stem-and-leaf plots, line plots, and they will also learn to calculate area and perimeter.

Social Studies:  The focus in social studies this week is on the Bill of Rights as we learn the meaning and value of many of the amendments.  

Aesop's Fables Activity

Click on the link below to read 2 or more of Aesop's Fables.

http://aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?sel&TheDogandtheWolf

http://aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?sel&MercuryandtheWoodman

http://aesopfables.com/cgi/aesop1.cgi?sel&TheWolfinSheepsClothing2

As you read each fable, answer the following in your ELA notebook:
Who were the main characters?

What was the point of view?

What were the most important events?  List these sequentially.




What was the theme/message of the fable?