Thursday Thoughts

It was so great to see a packed house for our Parent FOCUS meeting this morning.  We hope you gained some valuable information.  Thank you so much for making the effort to be here!

5th grade:  Word Work test is tomorrow!  Study, study, study!  They must know the meanings!
5th grade:  We have been doing a lot of work with non-fiction during our small group guided reading sessions.  We've been reading all about Human Cells.  Those currently in science are liking the reinfocement.  Those about to begin science will have a strong foundation.  We've also been reading about past Hurricanes and what it's like to be a Hurricane Chaser.  We've tied this into the current Hurricane Isaac.  Ask them what they know!

4th Grade:  We've been working hard to make inferences as we read.  Not only that, but they have to support their inferences with evidence.  Ask them how they "Show Me the Evidence!"  We've been using Historical Fiction to learn this (On the Banks of Plum Creek), and next week we'll be using a Biography on Lou Gehrig to do more with it.  Finally, we'll compare and contrast the two pieces of writing. 

5th Grade ELA: Word Word/Spelling

Just a reminder about Word Work.  They have 15 words each week that they must know the meanings of and how to spell.  Spelling is probably easier than mastering the meanings.  They are not assigned WW "homework" in that there is something to turn back in to me.  They do have homework NIGHTLY though; they must STUDY the meanings and spellings each night.  I think many students are not studying because there is no paper to turn in. They need to learn NOW that studying every night is their homework.  Fifteen minutes nightly will reap huge rewards!  Thank you for reinforcing this! 

Social Studies

Keep working on those Time Line Projects... they are due Thursday!

Marble Madness Pictures!

Marble Madness Competition

FOCUS students had a great time competing with their marble runs.  All the students did a "marbleous" job!  (The children made me write that!) Congratulations to Bill and Andrew for having the slowest time!!!  They really knew how to use obstacles and barriers to slow their marble down!  Pictures to follow!

SS students need to work on their timeline projects this weekend!  Be creative!  They are due Thursday.

Thank you to all the parents who came out last night for Curriculum Night! 

Science Fair Club

I am so excited to welcome these friends to The Science Fair Club!  Our first meeting will be Thursday, October 4 at 7:40 in my classroom.  Look for a letter in your Friday Folder! 

Allan Hendricks

Alice Ao

Bill Ao

Lauren Lee

Brian Rueda

Jungseok Lee

Owen Peterson

Deborah Yang

Marianna Abraham

Abigail Garland

Joseph Cho

Sophia Tu

Yumin Whang

Graciela Aguilar

Maheen Lakhani

Ian Yelle

Krishan Patel

Ansh Malbari

Yeonsung Lee

Yeonho Lee

5th Grade ELA students: Homework, Superwriter Book:  pages 33, 35, and 37.  Study for Word Work Test! 

Test Tomorrow in SS!

Study your graphic organizers from class!  They will help you greatly on the SS test tomorrow!  Test is on all of chapter 1!

Tonight's Homework

5th Grade ELA homework for tonight, Tuesday, is to complete their writing graphic organizer and complete Divide and Conquer word work sheet.  As always, read, read, read!

5th Graders doing Word Work...practicing spelling with scrabble tiles, bananagram tiles and very tiny alphabet soup pasta!

Welcome!

Hello, Parents!  I'm so excited your child is part of our classroom community, where reading, writing, and thinking are our FOCUS!!!

So you've found our classroom blog...this is new for me this year, and I think it's going to be lots of fun! 

As you know, my classroom involves 4th Grade AC Reading, 5th Grade AC Reading and ELA, 5th Grade Gifted Social Studies, and 5th Grade FOCUS. 

I'll try to post as often as I can for each group.  I'll post things we've done during the day, long term project due dates, and homework. I'll also try to give you insight into my teaching philosophies and an idea of what your child's day looks like when we're together.  Hopefully, I can give you some conversation starters that will help you get past the answer, "nothing" when you ask your child what they did in school that day.  You'll see very little paper evidence of what we do all day, so I'll try to post lots of pictures.  You'll notice I used the word "try" quite often.  My first priority is planning challenging and exciting lessons for your child.  I'll update as time allows.  Thank you in advance for understanding!

I'm looking forward to a wonderful year with your children!