October 28th Newsletter

5th Grade Newsletter

October 28, 2013  

Upcoming Dates:

• 10/31- Halloween Party-Parade at 2:00 p.m.
• 11/1-5th Grade Girl’s Champion Basketball Game (10:00am)
• 11/ 11- Veterans Day Assembly 1:45 p.m.

Cursive- Week 11

HOMEWORK- Identify and label the states surrounding Missouri. There are 8 states.

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 in Math we will be reviewing for  and taking our End of Module Assessment. The test will be on Wednesday, October 30. 2013. The students all have a study guide that they should be using to study at home. In class, we will continue to review the topics that will be covered on the test. These topics include: place value; reading, writing, and comparing decimals to the thousandths place; ordering and rounding decimals; adding and subtracting decimals; expressing decimals in word, standard, expanded, and unit form; and multiplying and dividing decimals by powers of ten (using a place value chart). This test is very important and students should be studying at home as well as reviewing at school. 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.

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: (These steps are useful when solving word problems as well)

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: Attendance is important! We have begun our first literature circle focusing on a historical nonfiction piece about the Gold Rush.  This week, we are also introducing prepositions and reviewing conjunctions. Please take time each week to ask your student about their progress on the BINGO so that they do not find themselves struggling at the end.  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: Continuing with Perfect Tense activities, students will have a chart that they will be doing as homework along with their AR books. This will be a type of ‘Scavenger Hunt’, it has to be filled up by the time they turn it in on Friday. Book Logs are still being handed out on a weekly basis, two hours each week at home for independent reading, which must be signed and returned by Friday. Students have been working on an infographic about their inventor in order to help with the information gathering process of their Research Paper. We have NOT started typing our papers yet. We will be introducing standard RL 5.9 (reading informational and fictional pieces on the same topic and comparing the content) with Leonardo DaVinci as our subject. Currently our unit focuses on the Renaissance Time Period, so if you or your child have any time encourage them to check out that awesome piece of our history!

Engelbrecht: We are still working on verb tense this week we are really focusing on Perfect Tenses.  We are beginning our research papers about an inventor or creative thinker. In Reading we will be continue reading the book The Invention of Hugo Cabert and identifying author’s purpose, author’s viewpoint, author’s point of view, theme, and figurative language in a story. Book logs are due on Mondays, students must read a total of two hours at home every week and have a parent sign the log.  This will be worth 5 points if it is not turned in by the following Monday students will receive a zero.

Week 6

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

October 22,2013

5th Grade Newsletter

October 22, 2013  

Upcoming Dates:

• 10/25-Picture Retakes
• 10/31-Halloween Party
• 11/ 11- Veterans Day Assembly 1:45 p.m.

Specials Week 5

Cursive- Week 10

HOMEWORK- Please help your student to learn from his and her mistakes. A graded paper is a lesson also! As you look through your red folders, please discuss missed items with your student. If there is ever a question about why something was missed or what the correct answer is, this is a great opportunity to talk with the teacher. We welcome students asking us questions as part of the learning experience!

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 in Math we will be working on multiplying and dividing decimals as well as rounding, comparing, and ordering decimals. We will also be reviewing all decimal operations taught up to this poin.

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: A big thanks to everyone who joined us at parent teacher conferences! We have started studying conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections this week. Our unit 2 essential question is “How does creativity change the world?” We will be working on a research paper for most of the unit on a creative thinker (approved by the teacher). We will also begin literature sets this unit. A lot is going on! Attendance is important! Our first literature circle will focus on a historical nonfiction piece about the Gold Rush.  Please take time each week to ask your student about their progress on the BINGO so that they do not find themselves struggling at the end.  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: We will be continuing with verb tense L 5.1 this week. We will also be continuing with the  informative/research paper on an inventor or creative thinker. Students will be spending quite a bit of time on this project, and we will be breaking it down into smaller pieces. In order to understand what the finished piece should look like we will be reading a piece of historical non fiction in literature circles for text features and formatting.

Engelbrecht: We are still working on verb tense.  We are also continuing with research papers about an inventor or creative thinker. In Reading we will be continue reading the book The Invention of Hugo Cabert and identifying setting, flashback, foreshadowing, conflict, and mood. This week we are starting a book log students must read a total of two hours at home every week and have a parent sign the log.  This will be worth 5 points if it is not turned in by the following Monday students will receive a zero.

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

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.