Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend! Wish it could stay like this all year round :)
Important Dates
Smile ~ School Picture Day is this Tuesday, September 29th! Picture order forms went home on Friday. It would be best if you sent in the order form on Monday, but they can be sent in as late as Tuesday. If you did not receive the order form, please let me know. Some students have asked me if they can arrive in their comfortable clothes, then change into their "picture outfits" before pictures are taken. Your child will NOT have time to change before pictures are taken, so please have your child arrive to school in their "picture outfits". If they want to bring a change of clothes for after pictures are taken, they will be allowed to change before they go out to recess.
Re-enactment ~ Thursday, October 8th - Our 5th graders will have an opportunity to take a step back in time to 1776 and visit a frontier camp! Traditionally, we have had this Re-enactment on the Olive field, but we had to move the event due to the construction. This year, we will be traveling to the field next to our administration offices on Dunton by bus. This is such an exciting experience for the 5th graders as they get to meet with and learn from several re-enactors from that time period. From militia members to school teachers, they learn what life was like on the frontier at that time. Shortly after they visit our field, we begin our social studies unit on the Revolutionary War. Permission slips went home this week - please just sign and return the form with $3 before Friday. Thank you!
Math
Unit 1 Assessments were taken on Friday, and they will be sent home on Monday to be signed and returned. I have students attach their Self-Assessments to the test, and I have them record the score they believe they will receive after they complete the test. It's a great opportunity to reflect on their study skills, and their ability to monitor their learning. Take the opportunity to discuss the score they received, and they score they thought they earned. I was impressed with the number of students who hit their number perfectly :) We will started Unit 2 - Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication Algorithms on Monday with a pre-test on Monday. We will also review the Common Core Packet. They are not graded, just reviewed for correct answers. The packets will be returned to students to correct errors and must be turned in corrected by Friday. A new Autumn Common Core Packet will also go went home this week. This packet is due at the end of Unit 2 ~ about two weeks from now, so please have students working on that packet regularly so they don't get caught having to complete it all at the end. Learning to break down larger assignments is an excellent way to prepare for the years to come!
Science
We had a busy week in science this week! Students continued their study of the nervous system early in the week as they learned more about reflexes, such as the blink reflex and pupil dialation. Ask your child how they discovered these reflexes work without even thinking about them, then ask them if they can tell you the difference between a reflex and a reaction. With a reflex, our nervous system takes information in through one of our senses, sends it to the spinal cord, then immediately back to the muscles - it does not have to travel to the brain to make a decision. With a reaction, our nervous system takes information in through one of our senses, sends it to the spinal cord, which takes it to the brain to make a decision. The brain makes a decision about what to do, then sends that message down through the spinal cord, out through the nerves and to the muscles.
Later in the week, we spent more time in the skeletal system as they were allowed to explore cow bones. They discovered bones are made up of compact bone, spongy bone, and bone marrow. Students were excited as they were allowed to explore these bones in more detail with proscopes (I included pictures below). They also discovered how important calcium in our bones and we discussed the importance of eating a calcium-rich diet and exercising regularly to keep our bones healthy. Your children are quite engaged in these science lessons! Their enthusiasm is contagious :)
We are midway through the Human Body unit, and they will be taking a mid-unit assessment on Monday. We spent Thursday and Friday reviewing for the quiz, and I will post the completed Review for students to study this weekend. They can also log on to Spelling City to practice the vocabulary from this unit.
Reading
We continue to practice routines in our Schoolwide curriculum, and we are growing in our ability to have a conversation about what we read. I continue to be impressed at the depth with which your students discuss characters and events in the stories we read aloud. We also had some problems we've needed to solve in how we manage our materials - you would have been so proud of how your children worked as a team to solve the problems! They brainstormed ideas, discussed pros and cons, then voted on the best solutions - then they got to work reorganizing my room and some of the routines. Way to go, 5-2! They continue to be expected to read 20 minutes per night and record their thinking in their Reader's Notebook. Please be sure your child allows time in their schedule to read! This week, we will add a Reading Log to the expectation, where they will record the number of pages and minutes they record every night.
Writing
We had some fun in writing this week! We took a field trip to the corner of Arlington Heights Road to sit quietly and listen while recording the sounds they heard in detail to increase their ability to focus on sounds in their writing. Then we moved from focus to showing with a dramatic demonstration of emotion. We discussed the importance of showing emotions in our writing instead of telling them, so I did a little acting. In the first scene, I came in the room and stubbed my toe, then said, "Ouch, I'm in pain." I asked them to describe me in a few sentences. In the second scene, I "got into character" as they would say, and howled and hopped around the room after I stubbed my toe, eventually falling to the ground wailing in pain. They had much more fun showing my emotion in those sentences after my standing ovation. If the teaching thing doesn't pan out, you may find me in Hollywood ;)
We worry about what a child will become tomorrow,
yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher
As always...if you have any questions or concerns at all, please don't hesitate to contact me! Enjoy your weekend!
Cheers ~
Theresa Fowler
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