Week of March 3-7

Good morning!!

Upcoming Tests

There will be a math test over all fraction concepts this Friday.

CPR Kits/OC EMS Visit

This week we will be starting a new science unit on the human body systems. To support the kids learning with this unit, I have invited Oldham County EMS to come visit our school next Tuesday to teach the kids the basics of CPR. Along with this visit, Oldham County EMS has donated a CPR training kit with a CPR dummy and a training DVD to each 5th grade student here at Harmony! These kits will come home today. Oldham County EMS has requested that each child watch the video and practice at home for homework. They should also train others in the household based on what they've learned. Along with these kits, each child will receive a white paper that needs to come back no later than next Tuesday, March 11. These forms are very important because OC EMS got a grant for these CPR kits and this paperwork shows how they are using the kits. This is a very cool opportunity for your child to begin learning about life-saving methods! Please be sure to have them watch the DVD, practice with the kit, and allow them to train someone else in the home.

District BOB Competition

Tonight is the 5th grade District BOB Competition! Good luck to our District BOB competitor, Audrey!!!

MAP Testing

We will be doing spring MAP testing over the next few weeks in the areas of Reading, Language, and Math.

Progress Reports

Progress reports will go home next Wednesday, March 12.

Conferences

If you have not already signed up for a parent-teacher conference, please do so this week. I will be hosting conferences from 2:40-5:00pm on March 12, 13, and 17. I added the 2:40 slot because spots are filling up quickly, so be sure to sign up soon!

Here's how to sign up in 3 easy steps:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/dVfLKp
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Here's what we're learning this week!

Social Studies: We will begin an economics unit this week in preparation for our field trip to BizTown on March 25.

Math: In math, we will review and wrap up our study of fractions with a test on Friday.

Word Study: During word study, we will finish up our unit on contractions and begin studying Greek and Latin roots.

Writing: This week the kids will begin drafting a fictional historical narrative that takes place during the Civil War.

Science: During our usual reading time this week, we will begin a new science unit over the human body where we will focus on the different systems that work to sustain human life.

Have a great week and, as always, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to call or email me. :o)

Week of February 3-7

Upcoming Tests
Math test on Friday over adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers (A study guide will come home tomorrow with problems for your child to practice.)
On Thursday afternoon, I'm going to ask kids to study using 1 or more of the following websites: http://www.quia.com/cb/62195.html
http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/math/add_and_subtract_unlike_fractions/quiz3230.html
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/fractions/add-sub-unlike-denom.htm

Capitalization Quiz on Friday (The kids will be asked to write me a letter applying their knowledge of the capitalization rules.)

Orchestra Field Trip
Please be sure to return your Orchestra field trip permission form and money at your earliest convenience.

Visitor
A friend of mine, Jamie Strang, will be coming to visit us for a little bit tomorrow morning. She will be observing myself and Ms. Poteet as she is seriously considering returning to school for an education degree.

BOB
The BOB competition is coming up soon...dates to be announced. Please encourage your child to continue reading BOB books and taking quizzes onwww.bookadventure.com to assess their comprehension of each story. You can also quiz your child by asking them to name the author of each BOB title.

This Week's Learning Plan
Math: Today I showed the kids how to use quick common denominators to solve addition and subtraction problems with fractions and mixed numbers. This skill requires them to simply multiply the denominators by each other to make a common denominator. For the remainder of the week, we will review adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers and we will test on Friday.
Social Studies: We are now exploring the beginnings of government as we explore the U.S. Constitution.
Word Study: Several kids are still making errors in capitalization so we are going to continue practicing the capitalization rules with an assessment on Friday.
Writing: This week the kids will choose a Civil War battle or person of interest to begin gathering more research about in order to develop an essay on this person/battle's role in the Civil War.
Reading: We will be reading the final section of our literature circle books this week, completing our final jobs, and writing a reflection to culminate the experience.

Week of January 27-31

Here is some important news from Mrs. Whitley's room for this week!

 

 

Upcoming Test

Capitalization Quiz on Friday

 

 

Homework
Please remind your child to record their book title and pages read in their agenda every night. This is taking the place of reading logs this month due to the summaries they must write for literature circles.

Please have your child do XtraMath each night. If they have already finished XtraMath, I've moved them to a faster program. Please have them do this at least 2-3 times a week.

 

 

Field Trip Form

There will be a field trip permission slip in the Wednesday folder this week for an Orchestra field trip coming up in March. Please return your child's field trip form and money at your earliest convenience. I will also need to chaperones. If you would like to chaperone, please check the box at the bottom of the field trip form and return it to school as I select chaperones based on first come/first served.

 

 

Classroom Guidance

This Friday Mrs. Hammons and Mrs. Clark will be coming to our classroom to do a lesson on Cyberbullying. This lesson is so valuable as our children are gaining more and more access to technology. Please ask your child about the lesson Friday afternoon so they can share their new knowledge with you.

**This week's learning plan is similar to last week's since we missed much of last week due to snow.

Math-Fractions
We are starting a new study of fractions with a focus on fraction computation beginning with adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers this week and next.

Social Studies-Declaring Independence
This week we will learn about the Declaration of Independence and we will begin studying the Revolutionary War.

English Language Arts
We will continue reading about slavery and segue into learning about the Civil War. This ELA unit is called America in Conflict. The kids will learn a great deal about the Civil War through reading and writing, beginning this week with researching a person or a battle from the Civil War for an essay.

Word Study-Capitalization

I've noticed that a lot of the kids are struggling with the capitalization rules, so this week we will have a few lessons on capitalization rules the class is making mistakes on followed by a quiz on Friday.

Reading-Literature Circles
Literature Circles will coninue throughout this week and next. Please discuss your child's book with him/her at home to help with comprehension of the story.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. Have nice week!!

Week of January 20-24

Good afternoon and happy MLK Day!  Here's what's happening this week in 5th grade!

Math Test!!  
There will be a test over fraction concepts on Wednesday.  A study guide was sent home Friday to be completed over the weekend.  Please remind your child to bring their completed study guide to school tomorrow so we can review and I can better address any areas of confusion.

Homework
Please remind your child to record their book title and pages read in their agenda every night.  This is taking the place of reading logs this month due to the summaries they must write for literature circles.  If your child has passed XtraMath, I have told the kids they no longer have to do the program.  However, I am going to encourage that kids begin practicing again a few times a week.  I have moved all that have passed onto a slightly more challenging program where they have to answer each fact in 2 seconds rather than 3.  If your child has not passed XtraMath, please encourage them to do it every night.  Learning math facts is so important in 5th grade!  As always, there will still be other homework such as a math or language arts sheet a couple of nights a week.  Please support your child throughout the winter by checking their agenda each night and reminding them to do their assignments.  Your support makes such a huge difference!

This Week's Learning Plan (...assuming there are no snow days!  Fingers crossed!  I'm ready for spring!)

Math-Fractions
We will review fractions and test on Wednesday.  Then we will begin a new unit on fraction computation beginning with adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers this Thursday and Friday.

Social Studies-Declaring Independence
This week we will be examining reasons the colonists declared independence and we will begin learning about the Revolutionary War.

English Language Arts
We will continue reading about slavery and segue into learning about the Civil War.  This ELA unit is called America in Conflict.  The kids will learn a great deal about the Civil War through reading and writing, beginning this week with researching a conflict or person involved in a conflict relative to the Civil War for a short essay.

During word study, we will also learn important terms related to slavery and the Civil War to deepen the kids' understanding.

Reading-Literature Circles
I have been very pleased with the kids' work on literature circles thus far!  So far, everyone is keeping up with their reading, their literature circle job, and their summaries!  Please feel free to discuss your child's lit. circle book with him/her at home as this well help with comprehension.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.  Have fabulous week!!

Week of January 6-10

Welcome back and Happy New Year!!  This week's update is short and sweet, but if you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email.  I hope you had a nice Winter Break!!

BOB Books

Please have your child bring back the BOB book he/she has checked out tomorrow.  Everyone has one checked out and we will be using many of these books for literature circles starting this week.

Upcoming Test

We will have a test over the tensions leading to the Revolutionary War (chapter 10) this Friday.  Your child may begin studying using the History Alive tutorial as early as he/she likes.  However, it will be homework on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here's what we'll be learning about this week!

Math:  We will continue studying fractions as the kids will learn different strategies for renaming fractions as decimals and percents.  They will also learn to find the fractional part of a whole.

Social Studies:  We will continue the study we began before break about colonial tensions and acts imposed upon the colonists by the British government.  These acts eventually lead to the Revolutionary War.

Writing:    We are beginning a new ELA unit entitled Conflict in America.  During this unit, the kids will read and write about the Civil War.  To segue into this, we will begin studying slavery this week.  The kids will learn about the different writing perspectives and verb tenses as they begin writing slave journals during their study.

Reading:  In support of the Battle of the Books competition and numerous 5th grade reading goals, we will also kick off literature circles this week.  The kids will be reading BOB books in groups and completing various activities including book discussions to demonstrate their comprehension of their assigned novel.

Week of December 16-20

 

           

Upcoming Test!

There will be a test and an extended response question over Colonial Williamsburg this Monday. Please encourage your child to take the chapter 9 tutorial at www.tutorial.historyalive.com. Due to the snow days, our teaching of this unit has been a little condensed, so I will allow the kids to use their books and their notes. This will also help them with the important skill of locating information in a text.

Donuts with Santa

I hope to see many of you at our Donuts with Santa event tomorrow! I know my own children are so excited and it is fun to see the students outside of class!

Calling all catalogs!

If you have any catalogs at home that you don't need, please send them to school by Tuesday. We are still collecting catalogs to use for our holiday shopping spree project this coming week!

Movie Time!

Both boys and girls are invited to bring a special snack on Tuesday. The girls will be watching a movie with Mrs. Hammons related to what they've learned during Lunch Bunch and the girls will be watching "Sign of the Beaver" related to our recent study of Native Americans with the 5th grade teachers.

 

 

Holiday Activities

• WOW! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! We have such supportive and caring families! Our child will receive everything on his wish list and it is all because of you! The kids are excited and we will be wrapping the gifts this coming Wednesday!
• On Thursday, we will have our school-wide Sing-a-Long and the kids are invited to wear their pajamas!
• Our Winter Party is this Friday at 1:00pm. If you are a certified volunteer, you are welcome to attend!

Building Visitors

I want to make you all aware that any and all visitors to our building must provide ID upon entering. If you or another family will be visiting the school for lunch, volunteering, or any other circumstance during the school day, please be sure to have a photo ID ready when you enter the office.

Book Fair

I want to thank all of you for your support of our Book Fair this week. An extra thank you to those who purchased books for our classroom! I try to be selective and choose books that will support the kids' learning. :o)

BOB

Most of the kids are very excited about the BOB books this year! Please encourage your child to read his/her BOB book at home each night. This is such a postiive and educational competition. I have set the students up on a website called Book Adventure in order to take quizzes on BOB books and any other chapter books they finish, but for some reason their logins are not working. I will do my best to get to the bottom of this ASAP, so the kids can assess their own comprehension of the books.

Our Learning Plan for the Week!

Math: The kids will do a few more fraction lessons and then we will dive into our Christmas shopping spree project!

Social Studies: I will assess their understanding of colonial Williamsburg Monday and then we will begin a new unit on tensions leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Writing: The kids will finalize, publish, and celebrate their feature articles on creative thinkers!

Reading: We will continue learning how to compare and contrast story topics and themes in two literary passages as well as begin exploring how to effectively answer reading open response questions by lifting lines from the passage.
 

Happy Holidays!!!

Week of December 2-6

    Happy Holidays!!! 

I hope you all enjoyed the break and had a lovely Thanksgiving!  

Husky Helping House

If you were able to shop for our Husky Helping House kiddo, please feel free to go ahead and send in his gifts.  We will also be in need of wrapping paper, tissue paper, and boxes if you have any you can spare in the coming weeks.  Please be sure to send in all gifts no later than December 10th.  If you signed up to donate money, please send that in by December 2nd, so I will be able to go shopping for the remaining items for our kiddo.  Thanks so much for your support!  This is one of the kids' favorite Harmony traditions!

Lunch Bunch

Starting this week Mrs. Hammons will begin hosting Lunch Bunch with all the girls in our class.  This means that for the next few weeks, Mrs. Hammons will bring the girls up to eat lunch in her office and learn about life in the girl world and how to handle girl bullying.  Please chat with your daughter about what she is learning at Lunch Bunch because these lessons can be very helpful especially with the coming transition to middle school.

Upcoming Tests

Thursday~Test over colonial regions (chapter 7 of History Alive)

Friday~Test over division

*Please help your child to prepare for these tests.  Study materials will come home for math and the tutorial will be available for social studies at www.tutorial.historyalive.com.

Here's what we'll be learning this week!

Math:  We will learn the different ways to represent remainders in division and how remainders are used or ignored in the real world.

Social Studies:  We will review what we've learned about colonial regions and the kids will make a billboard advertising their assigned colonial region to demonstrate their understanding.

Word Study:  As we wrap up division, we will segue into measurement, so this week our focus will be learning the meaning of measurement terms.  I found a great website with flash cards and review games to help the kids with the metric system.  Please check it out.  http://quizlet.com/6006969/metric-system-prefixes-and-root-words-flash-cards/

Writing:  The kids have been researching for a feature article about a famous creative/inventive thinker and this week we will begin drafting those articles.

Reading:  This week, we will continue learning about Renaissance thinkers through reading as we compare and contrast depictions and story elements in two different texts about da Vinci and Galileo.

Have a great week, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me!  :o)