December 1st, 2014

5th Grade Newsletter
December 1, 2014

Upcoming Dates:

• December 2-5-- Benchmark testing (Please try to be present these days)
• December 9- PTO Meeting 6:30 pm
• December 11- Skate Night at the Zone
• December 12- Holiday Show (during school)
• December 17- Singers Field Trip
• December 18- AR goal
• December 18- Christmas Party
• December 19- No School

MATH:

Ms. Blankenship - This week we will be working on multiplying 4 digit numbers by 3 digit numbers and dividing with 2 digit divisors. We will also continue to practice order of operations. We will be benchmark testing on Friday, so please make sure your child is at school. Students will be bringing home copies of every lesson we cover to help them review. If you are not getting these, please let me know. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at bblankenship@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext. 4321.

Mrs. Watson- This week we will be working on multiplying and dividing whole numbers. We will be extending what students learned in 4th grade to multiplying 4 digit by 3 digit numbers and dividing with 2 digit divisors.We will also be practicing learned skills such as order of operations and decimal operations. We will be benchmark testing on Friday, so please make sure your child is at school.  If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at swatson@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext 4319. You can also check out our class webpage to explore the topics we’ve been covering in class.

SCIENCE:
This week we will continue through our Weather and the Water Cycle Unit.  We will begin learning about the different cloud types as well as begin discussing some of the weather instruments used by meteorologists.  

On Thursday, we will be doing our benchmark testing in Science.  My room will be used to Math Benchmark test on Friday.

HOMEROOM PARENTS: I am needing a volunteer to watch my classroom on Tuesday, December 16th from 10:30am to 1:00pm for the christmas teacher luncheon that the school has each year.  I will only need one or two parents to volunteer so if you are available, please let me know.

ELA:
Mrs. Shultz:  www.mrsshultzsclasswebsite.weebly.com

*Homework has been sent home for the week with the reading logs. I still have SO MANY students not returning the logs. The homework is due with the reading logs on Friday. This is homework and for a grade.

This week, we begin our focus on different types of literature (such as graphic novels) and why authors choose to present their work in these different forms. Our focus in literature circles will be main idea and details. We are reading the book Who Was Leonardo DaVinci? This week, we will be working on writing with compare and contrast.  Students should be at 72% of their goal by the end of this week. This quarter, that translates into about 16  points. Please be here as much as possible and let me know what I can do for you! Please remember, if you would like to contact Mrs. Shultz you can do so by writing a note in the red folder, calling me at x4292 or emailing kshultz@stjschools.org.

Sandusky:  We will be benchmark testing on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I will be sending home graded research papers sometime later this week after I have a chance to go over them with students . We are starting Unit 3, "How does literature provide insight into a culture?" With this we will be reading the book Sign of the Beaver to learn about settler and Native American cultures. If your child is absent they will have to read the chapters and answer the questions outside of class. It is important that your child stays caught up. We will continue with our read aloud Midnight Magic. Book logs are due Friday.  Feel free to contact me at: bsandusky@stjschools.org, or 573-265-2300 ext: 4294 (my plan time is 2:00-2:50, if you call during school hours I may not be available to pick up, but you can leave me a message.)

Engelbrecht: This week we are continuing with Unit 3 Clues to a Culture. We will be reading The Sign of the Beaver  in literature circles.  Our read aloud is Walk Two Moons. Students should be at or above 80% of their AR goal by Friday. We will focus on types of conflict and point of view. In writing we will begin the brainstorming for our opinion writing. We will be focusing on root words in language. Tuesday and Wednesday we will be benchmark testing for ELA. Waggle will be used for review.  Waggle can be accessed from home as well if students would like to do some extra review.  READING LOGS THIS WEEK! Due Monday!! Remember reading logs are worth 5 points and students that turn them in every week this month qualify for the Pizza Hut Book It program.   If you have any questions please email me at lengelbrecht@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext: 4293. Have a great week!

Week 5

	PE 1	Art	Music1	PE 2	Computers	Music 2
Monday	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship
Tuesday	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders
Wednesday	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz
Thursday	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky
Friday	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht

November 10th, 2014

5th Grade Newsletter
November 10, 2014

Upcoming Dates:

• November 11th -Veteran’s Day Assembly 1:30pm Elementary Gym
• November 11th- PTO Meeting (Mash house)
• November 13th- Skate Night at the Zone 5:30pm
• We have had a great response to tshirts and want to make sure that everyone has a chance to place their order! Please turn your order form in to your teacher by Wednesday, November 13th! If you need an extra form, you can pick one up from Mrs. Bauman in the office or ask your teacher for an additional copy!
• November 14th- Family Movie Night (PTO)
• November 14th- 2nd mid-quarter

Homework:

MATH:

Ms. Blankenship - This week we will continue our unit on Place Value and Decimals. We will be covering powers of 10, place value, and reading and writing decimals. Students will be bringing home copies of their lesson to help them review. If you are not getting these, please let me know. This week we are also reviewing order of operations. Students will have homework this week over order of operations, and a quiz next Monday. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at bblankenship@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext. 4321.

Mrs. Watson- This week we will continue our unit on Place Value and Decimals. Students will have homework over order of operations. It is due Thursday. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at swatson@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext 4319. You can also check out our class webpage to explore the topics we’ve been covering in class.

SCIENCE:
This week begins our Unit on Weather and the Water Cycle.  This unit covers the 4 main steps of the Water Cycle as well as describing each step, weather instruments, layers of the atmosphere, types of precipitation, and local and prevailing winds.  This unit is expected to last through the month of November and possibly into December.

ELA:
Mrs. Shultz:  www.mrsshultzsclasswebsite.weebly.com

*Homework has been sent home for the week with the reading logs. I still have SO MANY students not returning the logs. The homework is due with the reading logs on Friday. **I have noticed several very low grades between my two classes in reading. This is due to the lack of return on reading logs. PLEASE make sure your student is completing and returning their weekly reading log. This is homework and for a grade.

We are continuing our study of short, fictional texts. Our focus in literature circles will be main idea and details. We will not start another chapter book until next week. Book logs are due on the last day of each week. Students are only required to read up to that point. Late logs are accepted for the grade, but not for the contest.  Students should have their reading time signed each day. There is no set amount, but 20 minutes a day is suggested. Students should be at 42% of their goal by the end of this week. This quarter, that translates into about 8.5  points. Please be here as much as possible and let me know what I can do for you! Please remember, if you would like to contact Mrs. Shultz you can do so by writing a note in the red folder, calling me at x4292 or emailing kshultz@stjschools.org.

Sandusky: Last week I sent home papers with students who had a ‘0’ in the gradebook. Anything highlighted can be made up and returned (due by Wednesday at the latest), but if it was circled it can no longer be made up. This week we are diving further into L5.2 (Interjections, Prepositions, and Conjunctions).We will be wrapping up our informational text with this unit; students were assessed to see if they could infer, compare and contrast, summarize and formulate the main idea with supportive details from this type of text. We will be moving onto historical fiction, looking at books from the time of the Revolutionary War. We are continuing with our daily “Creative Thinker” (ask your child who they learned about each day), and we’ve begun a new “App of the Week” that allows students to explore artists, inventors, and artwork from the Renaissance Period. Book logs are due Friday.  Feel free to contact me at: bsandusky@stjschools.org, or 573-265-2300 ext: 4294 (my plan time is 2:00-2:50, if you call during school hours I may not be available to pick up, but you can leave me a message.)

Engelbrecht: This week we are continuing with Unit 3 Clues to a Culture. We will be using Waggle for review over skills taught in unit 2.  Waggle can be accessed from home as well if students would like to do some extra review. Our read aloud is Island of the Blue Dolphins. Students should be at 50% of their goal by Friday.  In reading we will be inferencing and reading nonfiction text. READING LOGS THIS WEEK! Due Monday!! Remember reading logs are worth 5 points and students that turn them in every week this month qualify for the Pizza Hut Book It program.   If you have any questions please email me at lengelbrecht@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext: 4293. Have a great week!

Week 2

	PE 1	Art	Music1	PE 2	Computers	Music 2
Monday	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky
Tuesday	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht
Wednesday	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson
Thursday	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship
Friday	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders

November 3rd Newsletter

5th Grade Newsletter
November 3, 2014

Upcoming Dates:

• November 11th -Veteran’s Day Assembly 1:30pm Elementary Gym
• November 13th- Skate Night at the Zone 5:30pm
• November 11th- PTO Meeting (Mash house)

Homework: We are working on a letter to a Veteran for morning work. Students can work on this at home if they do not finish in class. We are asking that every child bring in the address of a Veteran that they know. If you know of more than one, please send in those addresses as well for those who do not know of one. We will be mailing letters and invitations in the next few weeks.

Information regarding opportunities in relation to our Service Learning Project (Veteran’s Day) will be coming home as well. Students can choose to write an essay for extra credit, or draw a patriotic image with the chance to have it published on our programs.

MATH:

Ms. Blankenship - This week we will begin our unit on Numbers and Base Ten. We will be covering powers of 10, place value, and reading and writing decimals. Students will be bringing home copies of their lesson to help them review. If you are not getting these, please let me know. Job applications are due Wednesday. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at bblankenship@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext. 4321.

Mrs. Watson- This week we will begin our unit on Numbers and Base Ten. We will begin with place value and decimals. Students will also be updating their data binders. if you would like to check out your student’s data binder, you may do so on Friday and return it on Monday. If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at swatson@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext 4319. You can also check out our class webpage to explore the topics we’ve been covering in class.

SCIENCE:
Tuesday, students will be taking their assessment over Characteristics of Living Things.  This test will be done online through a program called ClassMarker.  Students used this same program to take their last Science Benchmark test, so they should be familiar with the online testing that will be used.

Wednesday, we will have guidance counselor visits from Mrs. Hauck.  On Thursday, we will start our unit over Weather and the Water Cycle.

ELA:
Mrs. Shultz:  www.mrsshultzsclasswebsite.weebly.com

*Homework has been sent home for the week with the reading logs. I still have SO MANY students not returning the logs. The homework is due with the reading logs on Friday.

We are continuing our study of short, fictional texts. We hope to take two big AR tests this week and begin center-styled independent work with Mrs. Weatherly and I focusing on instruction in small groups. Book logs are due on the last day of each week. Students are only required to read up to that point. Late logs are accepted for the grade, but not for the contest.  Students should have their reading time signed each day. There is no set amount, but 20 minutes a day is suggested. Students should be at 42% of their goal by the end of this week. This quarter, that translates into about 8.5  points. Please be here as much as possible and let me know what I can do for you! Please remember, if you would like to contact Mrs. Shultz you can do so by writing a note in the red folder, calling me at x4292 or emailing kshultz@stjschools.org.

Sandusky: Creative Thinker papers were due today, November 3rd. This week we will be taking our URLs that we found our information on, and turning them into MLA citations to create a bibliography. Our focus this week is informational text, we will be comparing two books about Galileo and Leonardo da Vinci. Students will be determining the objectivity of each book, along with the point of view, main idea, and presentation of information. Students will also be learning about conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions this week. Book logs are due Friday.  Feel free to contact me at: bsandusky@stjschools.org, or 573-265-2300 ext: 4294 (my plan time is 2:00-2:50, if you call during school hours I may not be available to pick up, but you can leave me a message.)

Engelbrecht: This week we are continuing wrapping up Unit 2 Inventive Thinking and beginning Unit 3 Clues to a Culture. In language we will be finishing  finishing conjunctions and reviewing personification. In reading we will be reading Trickster Tales from different cultures and discussing character traits and theme. We will be using Waggle for review over skills taught in unit 2.  Waggle can be accessed from home as well if students would like to do some extra review. Our read aloud is Island of the Blue Dolphins .  READING LOGS THIS WEEK! Due Monday!! Remember reading logs are worth 5 points and students that turn them in every week this month qualify for the Pizza Hut Book It program.  I will be having gallbladder surgery on Tuesday, so I will be out for the rest of the week. Mrs. Kemnitzer will be my sub.  If you have any questions please email me at lengelbrecht@stjschools.org or 573-265-2300 ext: 4293. Have a great week!

Week 1

	PE 1	Art	Music1	PE 2	Computers	Music 2
Monday	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht
Tuesday	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson
Wednesday	Siders	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship
Thursday	Shultz	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders
Friday	Sandusky	Engelbrecht	Watson	Blankenship	Siders	Shultz