January 20th, 2014

5th Grade Newsletter
January 20, 2014

Upcoming Dates:

• January 31st- Unit 2 Science Packets (homeroom)
• February 3-6; Parent Teacher Conferences
• February 7; No School
• February 11- 5th Grade Science Night (info coming soon)
• March 11th- Spelling Bee
• March 12- ALL AR GOALS DUE
• March 13- DARE Field Trip

Parents:

• Students will be going outside for recess unless the temperature is 20 degrees or below. Please encourage your child to dress weather appropriate, for they will be going out unless there is a doctor’s note.
• The Science Morning Work will be covering the physical sciences, it is a large unit, so students will be taking two weeks on the packet. Packets will be given on Monday the 20th, and due Friday the 31st.

Homework: Identify these states Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and  drawing a dot and labeling Washington DC.

MATH:

Mr. Siders - We will be finishing up our division unit this week.  Students will take their division test on Wednesday.  The test will cover dividing with 1 and 2 digit divisors (i.e. 346 divided by 8 and 476 divided by 38) as well as dividing a decimal by a whole number (i.e. 85.2 divided by 6).

Students should be bringing homework home today over dividing decimals.  Homework is due back by Thursday.  Late work will be marked off 1 point for each day it is late. Students who fail to turn in their homework assignment will receive a zero.

On Friday, students will take a pre-test over fractions, which will guide our instruction for the next several weeks.  Working with your child at home throughout this next unit would be extremely beneficial.

Ms. Blankenship - We are wrapping up our division unit. Students will take their test on Tuesday. The test will cover dividing with 1 and 2 digit divisors (346 divided by 8 and 476 divided by 38) as well as dividing a decimal by a whole number (85.2 divided by 6). Please go over your child’s study guide with them and help them prepare for this test.

On Friday, students will take a pre-test over fractions, which will guide our instruction for the next several weeks.  Working with your child at home throughout this next unit would be extremely beneficial.

Mrs. Watson- Students will have a multiplication test on Tuesday, January 21st. It will cover whole number and decimal multiplication. We will start our unit on division at the end of the week. We will also be learning about graphs and odd and even numbers.

If you have questions or concerns please email your student’s math teacher: nsiders@stjschools.org, bblankenship@stjschools.org, or swatson@stjschools.org. You can also visit the class web pages http://stjschools.org/fifth-grade/ for games and other sites to help review.

ELA: Mrs. Kemnitzer and Mrs. Shultz: Mondays are our library days. Please help your student remember any books from home he or she has through the week so that we can have new books to read. Students should be reading at home as often as possible. Practice makes perfect! Students should be at about 22% of their AR goal in order to stay on track to reach their goal. We have wrapped up our review of nonfiction text features (pictures, captions, sidebar stories, glossary).  This week, we will be reviewing context clues and cause and effect. Students will be finishing up the book Monday with a Mad Genius by Friday.  We will be taking a computer and written quiz on this book either Friday or next Monday. Please remember, if you ever have questions or would like to contact Mrs. Kemnitzer or Mrs. Shultz you can do so by writing a note in the red folder, calling us at 265-2300 x4292 or emailing dkemnitzer@stjschools.org and kshultz@stjschools.org.

Sandusky: If you are not receiving our newsletter via email, and would like to, please send me an email so I can add you to my list! This week we are working diligently on our Data Binders. It is important for students to have an idea of their current reality in the pursuit of their own education. They will be filling out goals for what they want to achieve in 3rd quarter. We are beginning Unit 3, and the first standard we will be working on is RL 5.1, inferences with fiction. Reading logs are due Friday! As always, you can contact me at bsandusky@stjschools.org.

Engelbrecht: In Language this week we are reviewing figurative language and focusing on personification.   We are also reviewing comma rules. Reading logs will be due on Monday, students need to read two hours at home and have a parent sign the log. Reading logs are worth five point every week. In reading we our read aloud is  Little House on the Prairie and Walk Two Moons in literature circle groups.  We will be focusing on making inferences and reviewing author’s purpose, making connections, and types of conflict.   We are also updating our Data Binders and writing goals for third quarter. If you need anything or have any questions please email me at lengelbrecht@stjschools.org.

SCIENCE:
Mr. Siders - This week we will continue our unit over Weather and the Water Cycle.  We have been tracking weather by identifying cloud types, types of precipitation, and whether their is large amounts of evaporation occurring.  We will be doing a water cycle expiriment this week and start discussing the different types of weather instruments.  Students will be taking a science quiz on Friday.

Ms. Blankenship - This week we will be starting our unit over Weather and the Water Cycle.

Mrs. Watson- This week we will begin our unit on weather and the water cycle.

Week 4

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