5-2 Updates ~ 10/19

Hello 5-2 Families ~

Hope you had a restful weekend...great weekend for board games and football :)

Important Dates

Open House ~ Wednesday, October 22nd at 6:30pm - please plan to enjoy us for an evening at our annual Open House!  Students have fun showing their parents around the classroom and building, and it's a great chance for a chat :)

Halloween Party ~ Friday, October 31st at 1:10pm - Our Room Moms have been very busy planning an exciting party for your children - a great big thank you to Mrs. Ferrazza, Mrs. Borland, and Mrs. Burda!  I will email a letter and post a letter on this blog about the foods that will be served at the party, along with our food policy.  You should have seen a permission slip come home about lunch on Halloween Day - please return this permission slip as soon as possible so that I know your child's plans for that day.  Our Annual Halloween Parade begins at 1:30pm, with the party immediately following.  We look forward to seeing you all along the route!  Pleae refer to the Olive Blog for more information on rain plans, as well as halloween costume expectations.

Math

My math class began to work on geometric concepts in unit 3 this week.  For practice, they should be working on Khan Academy ~ Properties of Shapes at home when they have time.  I will also introduce them to another excellent resources for building Common Core Standard Skills this week - LearnZillion.  They should be working on the LearnZillion skills throughout this unit as well.

Science

We finished our Human Body unit this week with a Final Unit Assessment.  I was SO pleased with their scores on this assessment!  It looks like many students learned from their struggle with the mid-unit quiz, and worked to develop their study skills - an important 5th grade skill!  I will be sending home these scores for a sign and return this week - please look for them.  You will only receive the written portion of the test, but the score includes their mimio test results as well.  If you would like to see their mimio test results specifically, please email me and I will send you an electronic copy.

Social Studies

We begin our study of the Rising Tension in the Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War tomorrow in an exciting way!  Though I would love to share details with you....I can't spoil it!  Just be sure to ask your child about it tomorrow afternoon...it's one of my favorite days of the year (hehe!)

Reading

We wrapped up Unit 1 in Treasures this week learning the strategy of cause and effect and focusing on theme in stories about dogs.  Theme is a challenging literary element to identify in complex text, so we will work on it often this year.  Next week, we will take a break from our Treasures program since it is week 6, and turn our attention to dramas.  They will learn a little about the structure and history of dramas, and then get to participate in a character building play - should be a fun week!

We will also be working on applying all of the skills and strategies we focused on in Treasures Unit 1 to short stories and poems as a way to review for the Unit 1 Assessment on Friday.

In addition, we will start rotating for Target Time this week - some students will begin the rotation this week, and all the students will begin the rotation next week.  Target Time is a 30 minute block in our afternoon where we will focus on each student's greatest need, and provide additional instruction - it may be re-teaching or enrichment depending on their needs, but all students will enjoy rich instruction, as well as have the opportunity to experience different classrooms and instructors.

Writing

We took a break from our WEX curriculum on Personal Narratives this week and learned to develop strong, descriptive language with a study on poetry this past week.  Students wrote Acrostic and Cinquain poems about autumn - we will further our study of poetry by writing Diamante and Haiku poems this coming week.  Students will be able to choose their favorite poem to polish up for final publication later this week - hopefully we will have them published for Open House!

We will begin the process of writing our final Personal Narratives this week.  We will work slowly through the process for about 2 weeks, focusing on how to pull a Personal Narrative together into a polished piece with an engaging introduction and reflective conclusion, then they will be expected to write a Personal Narrative independently while being timed.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.  Have a fantastic week ~

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Cheers ~

Theresa Fowler

5-2 Updates ~ 10/11

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

What an absolutely beautiful day we had for the Re-enactment Day!!  The field was transformed into a Revolutionary War-time frontier Thursday night, and the students had such a great time learning as they visited the Tavern, the school or learned what it was like to be in the militia or a trapper at that time.  Each student was assigned to summarize one persona's presentation ~ they took notes and pictures on iPad as they traveled from station to station.  This weekend, they've been asked to log on to Edmodo and reflect on their experiences from the Re-enactment. Reflection is an important skill we will be focusing on this year as they learn how to look back at an experience, make connections, and think about how the experience impacted them as learners.  Next week, they will integrate the information they learned on the field with the on-line biographies of each persona to create a presentation with pictures.  We will be blogging our presentations - stay tuned!  The kids are excited and now ready to start our Revolutionary War Unit in two weeks!!  Check out the pictures I've posted below :)

Important Dates

Columbus Day ~ Monday, October 13th - No School!  Enjoy!!

Open House ~ Wednesday, October 22nd at 6:30pm - please plan to enjoy us for an evening at our annual Open House!  Students have fun showing their parents around the classroom and building, and it's a great chance for a chat :)

Midterms

Midterms were a little delayed this week as a result of catching up from our day off, and my district meeting on Tuesday...but they did make it into their hands on Friday afternoon. 

Please review this mid-term with your child some time this weekend.  I have already discussed the reports with the kiddos, letting them know that I do send these home in the middle of the term so they know how their performance is impacting their grades.  They still have plenty of time to change any grade they are not pleased with.  If they are not happy with their grades, please encourage them to meet with me to discuss how they can improve their grades.  It is important as they move forward in their education that they learn how to advocate for themselves, that they understand how their daily performance impacts their grades, and that they seek support to achieve the grades they want to earn.  I have also told them that they may ask for a midterm report from me at any time to check on their grades.  It should never be a mystery to them how they are performing, and their Progress Report should never be full of surprises!  If you have any concerns at all, please don't hesitate to contact me yourself.

Math

My math class will be taking their Unit 2 Assessment on Wednesday, October 15th.  We will have one more day of review on Tuesday, as well as a study session at lunch.  Please encourage your student to attend if they are struggling with the content. They brought home a review on Friday. Please have them pull this out this weekend to review the skills - I try to remind them not to save all the studying for the night before a test!

Science

Students had a great time this week learning about how our body uses the respiratory system to bring oxygen to the muscles so we can move. Their experiment had them breathing through a straw and a coffee stirrer while doing different activities to focus on how our body's need for oxygen increases as our activity increases.  It also promoted a great discussion on the effects of asthma on our respiratory system. 

We will shift our focus to the digestive system on Tuesday, when they will learn that this system breaks down food to provide nutrients to our muscles.  They will learn how salivary amalyze (the enzyme in our saliva) begins to break down different foods in our mouths.  As part of the experiment, your child will be eating the following foods:

Orville Redenbocker popcorn

Keebler club crackers

Brownville bread

Carrots

Apples

Nestlé Chocolate Chips

Please let me know if your child cannot have any of these foods due to allergies. 

We will be reviewing the Human Body unit this week as well, and taking the Final Unit Assessment on Friday.  I will be assigning a review packet on Wednesday, as well as some vocabulary activities on Spelling City.  Please help your child prepare for this test by carving out some time for them to review the vocabulary and concepts for this unit each night.  They can start reviewing on Spelling City this weekend!

Reading

We are in the middle of Unit 1 Week 5 in reading - we started it last week and will finish up this week. Their packets and spelling activities are due on Thursday when we will be testing.  We are focused on identifying the problem and solution in a fictional story, and using those to identify the author's message, or theme, that can be found in the story. We have been discussing how the author is very intentional in the choices they make as to how a character acts, what happens to them in the story, and how they choose to solve the problem. It is in these literary elements that we can find the message the author is trying to put forth in their writing. 

Writing

With the short week and the re-enactment, we only worked on WEX for a couple of days this week.  We will spend a few more days adding strong verbs and showing to our writing this week, as well as dialogue, then students will begin work on their Final Personal Narratives next week. 

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.  Enjoy your long weekend ~

There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.

 One is roots; the other, wings.

~ Hodding Carter

Cheers ~

Theresa Fowler

Happy Birthday, Rob!!

Happy 11th Birthday, Rob Borland!!

5-2 Updates 10/04

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

Yet another storm blows through Arlington Heights on a Friday and knocks the power out!!  Twice in a few weeks is a first...let's hope the trend doesn't continue!  I do hope you were able to enjoy unexpected day off with your child, though :)  

Well, it definitely felt like fall was in the air today...brrr!  Now that the weather is turning colder, please be sure that your child has appropriate outerwear.  We will be going outside for recess everyday, unless it is raining.  They need to be dressed warm enough to be outside for 30 minutes at a time.  It’s also a good idea to label ALL outwear – gloves, hats, scarves, coats, boots – with their names.  It would amaze you how many items end up unclaimed in the lost and found!

Mid-term Grades ~ It's hard to believe, but we're already halfway through the first trimester!!  I will be sending home mid-term grade reports this week for you to sign and return.  The purpose of these grade reports is not only to communicate their progress to both you and your child, but also to continue to encourage your child to take ownership of their grades.  If your child is not pleased with their grades, please encourage them to come to me to discuss how to improve their grades.  

Tenth Inning ~ We had our first Tenth Inning Celebration on Tuesday of this week...and the kids had a blast!!  I've included some pictures below.  Students were able to choose from a variety of activities:  indoor games, movies, arts & crafts, and online games.  We are so proud of those students who earned the reward of our Tenth Inning celebration!  An additional bonus of a Tenth Inning HW pass was given to those students who didn't receive any strikes at all during the month of September!  We started a new month, which means a clean slate for everyone...hoping to see everyone at the end of the month celebration :)

Important Dates

International Walk to School Day ~ Wednesday, October 8th - Encourage your child to walk to school on Wednesday in celebration of International Walk to School Day!  Our staff will be at a number of pick-up points throughout the neighborhoods, looking forward to walking to school with your children :)  See the Olive Blog for pick-up points, and join us for the walk!

Re-enactment ~ Thursday, October 9th - Permission slips came home last week. If you have not returned it yet, please sign and return as soon as possible.  The Re-enactment is an interactive demonstration of life during colonial times set up in our field.  It is conveniently scheduled near the beginning of our Revolutionary War unit, and serves as an excellent introduction to the unit.  Students will have the opportunity to interact with pioneers living on the frontier during this time period to gain a unique perspective of what life was like during the Revolutionary War.  Always a favorite for the 5th graders!  

SIP Day (No School) ~ Friday, October 10th

Columbus Day (No School) ~ Monday, October 13th

Team Building with the Principals ~ Tuesday, October 21st at 9:10 - another favorite activity of our 5th graders!  Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Mrs. Perri will be treating our kiddos to a special team building activity - they keep the details quite secret until then...can't wait to see what they do with them!

Open House ~ Wednesday, October 22nd at 6:30pm - please plan to enjoy us for an evening at our annual Open House!  Students have fun showing their parents around the classroom and building, and it's a great chance for a chat :)

Math

My math class continued to work on computation in unit 2 this week, as well as making magnitude estimate.   We will finish up the unit this week, and start our review for the Unit 2 Assessment on Thursday.  We'll have one more day of review the following Tuesday (I don't like to test after a long weekend), then our Unit 2 Assessment is scheduled for Wednesday, October 15th, which means the Autumn CCP is due the next day - Thursday, October 16th. Please continue to encourage the students to practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication with decimals and their multiplication facts, as well as log on to Khan Academy as a way to prepare for the assessment.  They have assigned missions on Khan they should be completing for each unit.

Science

Students took their first science test this week on lessons 1-6 in the Human Body - please look for those tests to come home for a sign and return.  This was our first content area assessment this year, and an excellent opportunity for students to start improving their study skills.  If your child is not pleased with their test score, please encourage them to request a re-test.  Studying for a test is a specific skill many students struggle to learn in 5th grade, so we discuss often how we can intentionally prepare for an assessment.  We discuss what studying looks like, and the resources we can use: re-reading the chapter, creating flashcards, creating quizzes, reviewing the graphic organizers.  As the content gets more complex, students need to spend more time with the information independently, and this doesn't come naturally for some students.  Please encourage them to spend time studying prior to assessments!  If they need any additional help, please encourage them to come see me :)

Reading

This week we focused on the strategy of summarizing as we read non-fiction stories about space.  Students learned to identify the main idea in each section or chapter, and bring those main ideas together to form a summary.   They were asked to apply these skills to their Clements novel, and write a summary this weekend of the portion of their novel they have read thus far.  Summarizing is a challenging skill for 5th graders to master, and we will work on this consistently throughout the year. 

Your child should also be finished with their Clements' novel, and we will be wrapping up our discussions on the novels this week.  After the novel, we will be moving on to Reader's Theater with students - an excellent way to engage the students in fluency reading with expression!  They do love to act!

Writing

We continued to focus in our writing - this week we focused on setting and sound.  We took a walk to the corner of Arlington Heights Road and Olive to enjoy a beautiful day, while listening to the many sounds in our community.  They recorded as many sounds as they could, then took their lists in to create an entry detailing what they heard and saw.  I've posted some pictures of this activity below.  One of the most important skills to develop in young writers is observation - the more they notice, the more developed their writing will become!  You can help your child develop their sense of observation by pointing out sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes as you experience life with them.

 “Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. 

Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.” 

~ Rosaleen Dickson

As always, should you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to contact me!  Have a delightful weekend :)

Cheers ~

Theresa Fowler