October 7th, 2013

5th Grade Newsletter

October 7, 2013  

Upcoming Dates:

• 10/8; McTeacher Night to support DARE
• 10/8; Benchmark Testing--Do your best to be at school!
• 10/11; End of 1st Quarter, AR Goals due
• 10/17; Early Out Parent Teacher Conferences
• 10/18; No School
• 10/21; No School

Specials Week 3

Cursive- Week 8

HOMEWORK- Students will be able to label the oceans of the world:

Veteran’s Day Service Learning Project- If you have a Veteran in your life, we would love to see pictures of them in uniform. We will be putting together a slideshow to show at our Assembly on November 11th. The easiest way to get us the photos is to take a picture of the picture (camera, iPad, phone,etc.) and email it to either bsandusky@stjschools.org or ruffman@stjschools.org. If you send in an actual photo please know that we will do our best at getting it back to you, but cannot guarantee it will make it back home.

McTeacher Night- PLEASE come out and support the 5th grade DARE program on Tuesday October, 8th from 4-8 pm.  The proceeds made from this go to supporting our DARE Program for this year. We look forward to serving you with a smile! :)

MATH: This week we will be taking our end of quarter assessment covering all topics that the students have learned so far this year.  We will also be taking our benchmark assessment which will help show a prediction of how the students will do on the 5th Grade MAP test.

Writing is an important component of math, and we encourage this every day by doing journal prompts at the beginning of class. We are using the Read-Draw-Write problem solving steps to complete our journals. Our expectations for journals are as follows:

1. Write the entire word problem in your journal.
2. Read and Underline key words. Circle the question.
3. Draw a model/picture/chart/graph.
4. Write a number sentence.
5. Write a solution statement.
6. Explain how you got your answer (like you are explaining to a kindergartener).

ELA: Mrs. Kemnitzer and Mrs. Shultz: **Bookorders are due on October 11. We have completed Unit 1 by taking our posttest and answering our essential question, “How and why do we play with language?” This week, we will continue some review over capitalization and punctuation. We will complete a personal narrative with editing and we will take our first quarter benchmark assessment.  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: Book orders sent out and are due on October 10th. Students will be working on their Personal Narratives this week. In order for students to participate fully in class, rough drafts are due on Tuesday of this week. If students do not finish in the time given to them in class, it will be assigned as homework. Final narratives will be completed by Friday.Tuesday students will be taking a Benchmark Test (much like the Acuity tests they took in 3rd and 4th grades). We will also be working on Language 5.1, which consists of verbs and verb tense. Students will be introduced to perfect tense this year, and in the past it’s taken awhile to master this concept, L5.1 will be a standard you will be seeing for the next few weeks.

Engelbrecht:This week we are still working on comma usage and verb tense.  We are also publishing our personal narratives.  Students will be doing research on inventors. In Reading we will be starting the book The Invention of Hugo Cabert.

Congratulations to our Students of the Month and our Artist of the Month!

September 30th Newsletter

5th Grade Newsletter

September 30, 2013  

Upcoming Dates:

• 10/8; McTeacher Night to support DARE
• 10/11; End of 1st Quarter, AR Goals due
• 10/17; Early Out Parent Teacher Conferences
• 10/18; No School
• 10/21; No School

Specials Week 2

Cursive- Week 7

HOMEWORK- Students will be able to list their mayor: Dennis Wilson, governor: Jay Nixon, and president: Barack Obama.

Veteran’s Day Service Learning Project- If you have a Veteran in your life, we would love to see pictures of them in uniform. We will be putting together a slideshow to show at our Assembly on November 11th. The easiest way to get us the photos is to take a picture of the picture (camera, iPad, phone,etc.) and email it to either bsandusky@stjschools.org or ruffman@stjschools.org. If you send in an actual photo please know that we will do our best at getting it back to you, but cannot guarantee it will make it back home.

MATH: This week we will expand on our previous lessons by comparing decimal fractions to the thousandths using like units (5.NBT.3).

Writing is an important component of math, and we encourage this every day by doing journal prompts at the beginning of class. We are using the Read-Draw-Write problem solving steps to complete our journals. Our expectations for journals are as follows:

1. Write the entire word problem in your journal.
2. Read and Underline key words. Circle the question.
3. Draw a model/picture/chart/graph.
4. Write a number sentence.
5. Write a solution statement.
6. Explain how you got your answer (like you are explaining to a kindergartener).

ELA: Mrs. Kemnitzer and Mrs. Shultz: Students can turn their extra credit packet in as late as Tuesday morning. We have moved our post test to Tuesday. This week, we will wrap up Unit 1 by asking our essential question, “How and why do we play with language?” We will do more work with capitalization and punctuation because our informal assessments are showing a need. On Friday, we will introduce Unit 2.  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: In regards to the capitalization post test we took last week it looks like we need more practice in that area, so we will be reviewing L 5.2 further which covers capitalization, book titles, and punctuation. Students either brought or will bring home homework in regards to titles it is called, “Alltown Students Shine”. The rest of this week we will be wrapping up Unit 1, and answering the essential question “Why (and how) do we play with language?”. Students will be doing some extensive work with their data binders, rating the new standards coming up for Unit 2, answering the essential question, and adding artifacts. Please remember, Reading Logs are for a grade. They are due by Friday and are worth 5 points. I’ve been pushing kids to check their AR statuses while they are in my room, so they should know how many more points they need to earn to reach their goal.

Engelbrecht:This week we will continue to review punctuation and capitalization.  Students are still really struggling with this skill. We will also be working on our personal narratives, past tense verbs, and beginning Unit 2 (Renaissance Thinking) .

SCIENCE: In Science, we will continue our unit on Force and Motion.

September 23 Newsletter

 September 23, 2013  

Upcoming Dates:

• 9/26; Memorial Library Visit- Meet a Veteran
• 9/27; No School, PD Day
• 10/11; End of 1st Quarter, AR Goals due

Specials Week 7

Cursive- Week 6

HOMEWORK- Students will need to be able to identify the 7 continents below on a blank map. Spelling will not be counted, but teachers will be checking for capitalization at the beginning of the the continent’s names.

Veteran’s Day Service Learning Project- If you have a Veteran in your life, we would love to see pictures of them in uniform. We will be putting together a slideshow to show at our Assembly on November 11th. The easiest way to get us the photos is to take a picture of the picture (camera, iPad, phone,etc.) and email it to either bsandusky@stjschools.org or ruffman@stjschools.org. If you send in an actual photo please know that we will do our best at getting it back to you, but cannot guarantee it will make it back home.

MATH: This week we will expand on our previous lessons by having students read, write, and compare decimal numbers through the thousandths. Students will learn how to write decimal numbers in standard form, expanded form, and unit form.

Writing is an important component of math, and we encourage this every day by doing journal prompts at the beginning of class. We are using the Read-Draw-Write problem solving steps to complete our journals. Our expectations for journals are as follows:

1. Write the entire word problem in your journal.
2. Read and Underline key words. Circle the question.
3. Draw a model/picture/chart/graph.
4. Write a number sentence.
5. Write a solution statement.
6. Explain how you got your answer (like you are explaining to a kindergartener).

ELA: Students will be completing a Performance Task on Tuesday of this week. This assignment is going to take the entire class period and drive part of our instruction for the next few weeks. It is a very involved process, so we are asking if at all possible for your child to be here that day. If it has to be made up they will be missing another class period (and instruction) to do so.

***Extra Credit and Test Practice--we are sending home a study guide/test practice for our Unit 1 Posttest. Students will earn extra credit in both language and reading if they complete these 13 questions before their Unit 1 test.

Mrs. Kemnitzer and Mrs. Shultz: Be looking for a study guide for our unit 1 post test. We will take the test on Monday the 30th. This week, we will review capitalization and punctuation. We will also be practicing a “performance task” which will simulate what they will experience in testing at the end of the year. Grades will not be taken on the results of the task, but on effort in completing it.  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: This week we are reviewing parts of speech and capitalization. We will be participating in the Performance Task and Unit 1 Post Test this week.

Engelbrecht:Next week we will be reviewing theme, working on a performance event, and introducing verb tense. We will be testing over Unit 1 on Wednesday and Thursday. These skills will be tested: conflict, summarizing, theme, context clues, figurative language (idiom, simile, metaphor, and personification), punctuating titles, homonyms, synonyms, and antonyms.

SCIENCE: In Science, we will continue our unit on Force and Motion.

September 16, 2013

5th Grade Newsletter

September 16, 2013  

Upcoming Dates:

• 9/27; No School, PD Day
• 10/11; End of 1st Quarter, AR Goals due

Specials Week 6

HOMEWORK-Thank you for helping your student with last week’s task. This week, we would like students to know the following information by Friday. Students should know and be able to write their home address city, county, state, and country. Please discuss this during the week as we will be checking in with students on Friday again to see their progress!

MATH: This week we will expand on our previous lessons by having the students multiply and divide with powers of 10 using exponents as well as converting between powers of 10 and exponential powers of 10 (i.e. 9.2 x 102 and  100 = 102).

Writing is an important component of math, and we encourage this every day by doing journal prompts at the beginning of class. We are using the Read-Draw-Write problem solving steps to complete our journals. Our expectations for journals are as follows:

1. Write the entire word problem in your journal.
2. Read and Underline key words. Circle the question.
3. Draw a model/picture/chart/graph.
4. Write a number sentence.
5. Write a solution statement.
6. Explain how you got your answer (like you are explaining to a kindergartener).

ELA:

Mrs. Kemnitzer and Mrs. Shultz: This week starts the second half of the quarter. We will be working on our BINGO boards with less paperwork these next four weeks. Students are beginning to understand how it all works and I think we are learning some valuable information along the way. We will be reading Casey at the Bat and Baseball Saved Us. We are also continuing to build our writing stamina.  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: Parents- I am now sending out newsletters via email, if you have given me your email and are for some reason NOT receiving them, please jot me a note with your address attached to make sure that I have the correct one. Last week when I sent it out I received several ‘mail failure notices’ back.

We are focusing on standard L5.2 this week which encompasses punctuation and capitalization. We have been using our Data Binders to chart our understanding and can ‘see the end’ of Unit 1! In our writing this week we are using a rubric for elaboration and craft, grading our own work, and choosing a section to work on in our own writing.

Engelbrecht: This week we are focusing on paragraphing and elaborating in writing. In reading we are reading biographies and working on summarizing and theme. I am sending a record each week with the AR tests and percentage of goal reached in the Monday folder student should be around 50%, unless they are reading a chapter book. In Language we will be reviewing capitalization and punctuation.  We will also be reviewing the skills taught in the previous weeks.

SCIENCE: In Science, we will continue our unit on Force and Motion.

March 11th

5th Grade Newsletter

March 11th , 2013

Upcoming Dates:
3/12/13- End 3rd Quarter
3/15/13- DARE Graduation 8:30 a.m. (New Gym) Invitations are included in this week’s newsletter. Please note that we will be leaving immediately following the ceremony for our field trip. If you would like pictures, please be prepared to take them directly following the program. All students will receive a new DARE shirt that morning to wear as a group.
3/21/13- 5th Grade Music Program. (New Gym) Students should dress nicely. Students should arrive no later than 6:45 p.m. Program starts at 7:00 p.m.
3/22/13 Spring Pictures (forms and information will come home soon)
3/25-29; Spring Break **Due to our 2 snow days... the last day of school has been pushed to Monday, May 20th**
Parents- The St. James School District will have a proposition on the April ballot of this year. It is called Prop KIDSS. For more information please click on this link: Prop KIDDS, or feel free to contact your child’s teacher with any questions you may have.
DARE- Permission slips are enclosed in the newsletter for those who have graduated from DARE. One essay winner from each homeroom will be chosen to read at the DARE Graduation on March 15th. Please make sure your child is here promptly on the day of graduation, as we will begin early. The earlier your child can get here that day the better. :)
Meurer/Siders—Math: Students will be taking the Math Acuity test this week in all subject areas.  On Monday, we will do some practice questions in preparation for this week’s Acuity test.  Students will be given time this week to complete the math homework while in one of the rooms waiting to take the Acuity test.  After we get back from Spring Break, we will be in full force REVIEW for MAP!! The year is quickly slipping away!
Richards—Science: We will continue our work on CHANGES TO EARTH'S SURFACE. Students will be choosing a mountain to investigate for a project we will be completing next week.
Sandusky—ELA:Monday we will be looking over the types of literature and analyzing author’s craft. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are all Acuity testing dates. It is extremely important for your child to be here during these times, as the data gives us information on what we will need to be teaching or reteaching in preparation for the MAP test. DARE Essays were due on Friday, and the winners will be chosen by homeroom. In order to get in some instruction this week students will have packets on already taught information going out on Tuesday, that will be due by Friday. They are welcome to take them home, but are designed for students to work on during ‘holding tank’ times.
 Shultz-ELA: On Monday, anyone who has not completed their Native American project or their DARE essay will be given time. I will have a few students retest for STAR and we will begin our intensive study on answering constructed response questions. Next week is our benchmark testing and I will be using the information from that test to determine what our students need more help on. Therefore, it is extremely important for students to be here all week and be ready for testing. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Kemnitzer-ELA:
Reading- Since we will be Acuity testing Tuesday through Thursday, and our DARE graduation is Friday, we will start our new unit on next Monday. It is very important for students to be here next week for testing.
AR- Students should have completed  their 3rd quarter goal at this time.  Please make sure that your child is reading at least 30 minutes a night.  The end of 3rd quarter is March 12.
Writing-  Dare essays should be finished on Monday.
Language -No assignments next week.
Spelling -No spelling words or test this week.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Kemnitzer

March 4th

5th Grade Newsletter

March 4th , 2013

Upcoming Dates:
3/7/13- EARLY DISMISSAL, High School Girls Basketball in Columbia at 5 p.m.
3/12/13- End 3rd Quarter
3/15/13- DARE Graduation 8:30 a.m. (New Gym) More detail to come home soon!!!
3/21/13- 5th Grade Music Program. (New Gym) Students should dress nicely. Students should arrive no later than 6:45 p.m. Program starts at 7:00 p.m.
3/22/13 Spring Pictures (forms and information will come home soon)
3/25-29; Spring Break **Due to our 2 snow days... the last day of school has been pushed to Monday, May 20th**
Parents- The St. James School District will have a proposition on the April ballot of this year. It is called Prop KIDSS. For more information please click on this link: Prop KIDDS, or feel free to contact your child’s teacher with any questions you may have.
DARE- Permission slips are enclosed in the newsletter for those who have graduated from DARE. One essay winner from each homeroom will be chosen to read at the DARE Graduation on March 15th. Please make sure your child is here promptly on the day of graduation, as we will begin early. The earlier your child can get here that day the better. :)
Meurer/Siders—Math: Students will see their Decimal test results by the end of the week. We have already had our Geometry Pre-Test, students will work this week on Geometry skills- our post test should take place next week over Geometry. Students seem pretty knowledgeable with geometry skills! This week students will also complete STAR math testing and a Pre-Test for Fractions, this will be our last pre-test of the year!! After we get back from Spring Break, we will be in full force REVIEW for MAP!! The year is quickly slipping away!
Richards—Science: This week we will begin Chapter 11 over "Changes to Earth's Surface."  There will be no homework or tests this week.  Students can bring in pictures of landforms for extra credit this week.
Sandusky—ELA:Students will be working and completing their DARE essays this week. I will give them plenty of time to complete this work during class, but if your child happens to be absent or is not using class time wisely it will be homework. It’s very important for kids to try to be here everyday this week because we will be doing a lot of in class things with this essay that can’t be made up at home. Final Essays are due Friday, I must have them to grade over the weekend or it’s possible that your child may not be entered into the DARE Essay contest. If there is time with our essays we will look into text features and comparing and contrasting. Spelling Words this week (first 14 off the Spelling Bee list): abbreviation, actively, advertise, allowance, angel, application, astronomy, auction, avowal, bandage, barren, borrow, bristle, butcher, candidate.  
 Shultz-ELA: We are completing our Native American studies projects this week. DARE essays have also started. Feel free to work on those at home! The end of the quarter is March 12th--3rd quarter AR goals must be met by then. We are working hard to wrap up unit three and breaking down words to better understand them. If you are reading with your student, you might ask them to note words with prefixes and suffixes and to use that information to determine the meaning of the word!
Kemnitzer-ELA:
Reading- My students will be finishing up Unit 3 with some in class activities,  and sharing their essay information with the other students in class. The Indian tribe essay will be worth 50 points.  The points will be split up between their Language grade and their Reading grade.  We also will be Star testing this week.
AR- Students should have completed 90% of their 3rd quarter goal at this time.  Please make sure that your child is reading at least 30 minutes a night.  The end of 3rd quarter is March 12.
Writing- Students will be working on writing  a 5 paragraph essay about the material they learned in DARE class.  These essays will be judged so 1 student from each homeroom  will be chosen to read their essay at the DARE graduation.  These essays must be written at school.
Language - The students will be testing on verb tense and subject verb agreement on Wednesday.
Spelling - The spelling test  this Friday will cover words with 2 new prefixes: cir,circum and re.  The words are: circulate, circulatory, circumference, circumstance, circumscribe, restrict, reimburse, reassure,regain, recede, replenish, circuit, regress, retract, circumvent. The spelling and vocab test will be on Friday.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Kemnitzer

Feb. 11th Newsletter

5th Grade Newsletter

February 11th , 2013

Upcoming Dates:

2/14/13- Valentine’s Day Parties, Homeroom Teachers will send home more information
2/15/13- No School, Teacher Professional Development Day
2/18/13-No School for President’s Day!
3/21/13- 5th Grade Music Program. (New Gym) Students should dress nicely. Students should arrive no later than 6:45 p.m. Program starts at 7:00 p.m.
Parents- The St. James School District will have a proposition on the April ballot of this year. It is called Prop KIDSS. For more information please click on this link: Prop KIDDS, or feel free to contact your child’s teacher with any questions you may have. Thank you to all parents who attended Parent/Teacher Conferences last week. If you were unable to attend- please contact your child’s teacher! It is NOT too late!!
Six Flags Forms- Due February 22nd, this is an EASY way for students to earn a FREE SIX FLAGS TICKET!! Students have to log 360 minutes (6 hours) of reading, and turn the form in. In Mrs. Sandusky’s class students are already reading two hours a week!
Music Solos-Fifth Grade Opportunities:
All students that are interested in auditioning for a solo for the upcoming concert are encouraged to practice on the following dates in Mrs. Uffmann's room from 8:00 a.m.-8:15 a.m.
For the Rodgers and Hammerstein solos  rehearsals will run from Monday, February 11,-Thursday, February 14. Auditions will be held Friday morning, February 15, starting at 7:50 a.m.

Meurer/Siders/Richards—Math: Students are working on multiplying and dividing decimals this week!
Sandusky—ELA:
Book orders are due Tuesday February, 12th! Students will be completing their Native American research papers this week. This is a large part of their language grade! Monday we will be working on rough drafts, if they’re not finished it’s homework, Tuesday we will be peer editing and doing an analytical grid, Wednesday we will be working on the final draft. If final drafts are not finished they will be homework, due Thursday (beginning of class). If we have time on Thursday I’m planning on having the students create a Google Docs presentation on their tribe. Students have been told about the new ‘rule’ in Mrs. Sandusky’s room. Whenever they are completing constructed responses they are expected to write in complete sentences. However, if they miss capitalization, punctuation, or spell a word that is on the same page wrong, I will be taking a half point for every mistake on all assignments.
Book Logs will be due Thursday, with 2 hours. Spelling is going to look a little different this week, instead of giving letters we’re going to focus on two prefixes. The spelling words will be: subway, subject, submerge, subset, subterranean, translate, transfer, transform, transparent, transplant. I’m going to give the students time to look up other words that begin with these prefixes to see who can come up with the biggest list, there will be a prize!
If you’re not getting my weekly/homework emails please send me an email at bsandusky@stjschools.org and I’ll add you to my list!
  
 Shultz-ELA: Book orders are due on February 13th. You can order online at Scholastic.com/bookclubs with our class code of GR6VY.  This week we are continuing our practice of looking for specific information in non-fiction texts. As part of their grades and assignments, I am requiring them to “prove” their answers, by returning to the text to point out where they found their answer choice. We are also continuing with root words, prefixes, and suffixes as part of our spelling and as a way for students to determine the meaning of a word.
Our speech paragraphs will not be returned until next week, as I will be out on Monday. Our newest writing project will be a group research project on a Native American people of their choice. If you have internet access, you can find this project by going to my class page, going to the 5th Grade ELA tab, Unit 3, Activity 4. Students will be writing a 3-5 paragraph essay with citations and a short slideshow presentation.
Kemnitzer-ELA:
Reading- Students will be enjoying Native American art and music this week as we complete two activites in Unit 3. They will be discussing and writing how the culture of a nationality is presented  through their music and art.   We will continue to learn about prefixes and suffixes. There will be no homework this week.
AR- Students should have completed 50% of their 3rd quarter goal at this time.  Please make sure that your child is reading at least 30 minutes a night.  The end of mid-quarter is February 15.
Writing- Students will be writing a Valentine poem and responding to cultural questions from Indian pictures and music.
Language - The students will be taking a short quiz on verb tense and prefixes on Wednesday.
Spelling - Students will not have any spelling words or test this week.
Have a happy Valentine’s Day!
Mrs. Kemnitzer