February 2013

5th Grade Happenings

Happy Weekend! Boy! We have been busy with our state report!

Upcoming events:

1.State Report:

We are working hard to complete our state report by this Friday, February 8^th.  Please be sure to check in with your child to make sure they are on track. 

·      Begin editing in class Mon., Feb 4^th   

·      Continue editing Tues., Feb 5^th 

·      Rough drafts due Wednesday, Feb. 6^th 

·      Final paper due Friday, February 8^th

·      Speeches and posters due starting Feb 11^th

·      A list of each child’s scheduled date for speeches will be posted on our class blog next week. They should be working on their posters now.  Please help your child with checking their state report calendar regularly to stay on target.

*** Please help your child edit their report on Tuesday night. It is important that they get used to doing it first before asking for help. ****

2. Language Arts:  We finished reading The Cay, a book about a two strangers—a blind boy and an older man--stranded on an island that grow to look beyond race and respect one another for who they are. We are making a storyboard for this book. Please ask your child for their view on this wonderful book.

3. Social Studies: We are studying about the first British Settlements (Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth) in the United States.  We will finish up the chapter and have a test later this week.

4. Science: Our topic right now is Mixtures and Solutions.  We are learning about separating mixtures and saturating solution.

Science-O-Rama:  We will be doing a practice science experiment as a class.  They can use this as a guide for their own project.  Those that do a science fair project will receive extra credit.  It is highly encouraged!  Science-O-Rama – March 14th

5. Valentine’s Day: 

We will be passing out valentines on 2/14 to each other.  If your child would like to bring valentines, please be sure that there is one for every child in the class.  We will be decorating collection bags in class prior to 2/14.  Bags will be provided.

6.  Outside Reading for the 2nd Trimester is due March 2^nd  

         A = 3000 pages                    Please check for requirements.

         B = 2000 pages                            

         C = 1600 pages

Have a great weekend!

January 2013

5th Grade Happenings

Happy Friday!!!  I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!

Upcoming events:

1.  State Report:  We have about three weeks until state reports are due.  All note cards are completed.  Our outline is due on Wednesday! The students have had a lot of time in class to complete them, but if they have not, they must do them by Wednesday**** We just started on our posters today. Our final report with map, flag, and written report is due on Friday, Feb. 8^th The week after the written report is due; we will have our state report speeches and the poster is due. They will be a 3- 5 minute talk about their state. Please help your child with checking their state report calendar regularly to stay on target.

2. Language Arts:  We are reading the book The Cay, a book about a two strangers—a blind boy and a older man--stranded on an island who grow to look beyond race and respect one another for who they are. We will be discussing the idea of themes in a story such as survival, prejudice, and Please look for comprehension questions and vocabulary

3. We are studying Mixtures and Solutions.  We will be choosing an element to do a project on later this week.

4. LASD film Festival: If your child is interested in submitting a short film please free to submit it to lasdfilmfestival13@gmail.com.

5. Congratulations to Cole on coming in 2nd place for the school Geography bee!

6. Outside Reading for the 2nd Trimester is due March 2, 2012

         A = 3000 pages                    Please check for requirements.

         B = 2000 pages                            

         C = 1600 pages

Due dates:

Outline due Wed. Jan 23^rd

Final report completed Thursday, Feb. 8^th

Report Speech and poster due week of Feb. 11^th

Have a great weekend!

Thanks,

Mrs. Jones

December 2012

December calendar

Nov. 22

5th Grade Happenings

Happy Thanksgiving!  It was a pleasure to meet with each of you over the last few weeks.  I am really lucky to have such a wonderful class and such supportive parents.  So thank you!!!

Upcoming events:

1.  State Report: We are going to be choosing our states on Tuesday. Our first assignment will be writing business letters to the Department of Tourism for our states. We will be sending home two calendars for our state report, one for parents and the second for your child’s binder.  Please keep one posted at home as a daily reminder to stay organized.

2. Language Arts:  We have wrapped up persausive writing for the first part of the year and are moving on to summary writing.  We will also be learning how to format and write a business letter to the Dept. of Tourism for our states.  We are continuing to read the Sign of the Beaver. This coming of age novel takes place in early colonial America and goes along with our studies in history.

3.  Social Studies:  We are studying European Explorers. We are will be starting Chapter 4.  Our next project is on a European Explorer of their choice. Please help your child review by using an on-line tutorial at http://tutorial.teachtci.com/.   We are also continuing to memorize our States and Capitals. We will be having a test on the states and capitals Tuesday, December 18^th.

4. Science:  Water Planet - We are now focusing on weather and meteorology.  Please watch a weather forecast with your child to point out different terms such as high pressure, low pressure, offshore winds, . . .

5. Field trip: DeAnza College – Fujitsu Planetarium Thursday, Dec. 6^th

                          we leave at 9:00  and arrive back by lunch time

5. Winter Concert: Dec 14th at 1:00 P.M., please remember to dress appropriately for our concert.

6.  Outside Reading for the 2nd Trimester is due March 1, 2013

         A = 3000 pages                        Please check for requirements.

         B = 2000 pages                                

         C = 1300 pages

November Calendar

Oct. 26, 2012

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5th Grade Happenings

Happy Fall!! Boy, have we been busy!  I am excited to share with you that we will be using a few online resources for student assessments this year. Our math program, Envision, offers an online component for student testing at www.pearsonsuccess.net, in addition we have our reading Houghton Mifflin resources online at www.thinkcentral.com.

The benefits of using the online resources are numerous!
*Students have access to both textbooks and practice books online.

(No more worries about forgetting the book at school!)

*Students have online games, activities and enrichment opportunities to extend their learning.
*For digital tests, students become more familiar with the digital assessment experience.
*Students will be more prepared for future assessments that are digital in nature.
*Online resources are an environmentally friendly approach-we reduce our use of paper for copying!
*Time saver for teacher grading and paperwork! Grading is automated!
*Quicker feedback for students-as soon as they finish a test-they can see their score!

There will be reduced paperwork coming home...so how do you keep informed about your student’s progress?
*In order to see copies of tests and assessments, students and parents can go to the specific websites and login to their student’s account.
*Student usernames and passwords for these resources are the same as their Google  and Khan Academy accounts.
*I also will be sending home information occasionally for you to sign off on student scores-however these will not show the assessment in its entirely.

ENVISION MATH WEBSITE: www.pearsonsuccess.net
READING: www.thinkcentral.com

Upcoming events:

Language Arts: 

1. With Halloween coming we have composing poems for our collection.  This coming week, we will be presenting Halloween and Fall poems that we have memorized.
2. We have finished reading in our Houghton Mifflin book, Theme 1: Natures Fury!  We were able to take the online version of the Theme 1 test. Our next theme will be Give it all you got!  Before reading the next theme, we will be reading Sign of the Beaver as a class.

Social Studies: We are studying Early People of North America.  Your children have completed Native American Regions projects.  They worked in small groups to make at least 2 artifacts from their region.  For their presentations, each group made a powerpoint to help guide their talk. Here are their powerpoints:

The Great Plains Indians:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tXuVZgmp5DaQRMXPQJ9yn8vroVwyUdB6p1vhxIYAvbQ/edit

Plateau:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AZPkRAUmcRsd6G-siU4-VkAQtPo_ctKYA_AFhpgddMk/edit

California Intermountain:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13LZZg5kpaLK9635SP3fJEWD7zBSkPYqSUV8mIxJ-3to/edit

Southwest:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15GH1OPlQsvDKC5KZIbdZVtgKtxw3F2jCL2HSwxPDQqQ/edit

Northwest Coast:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1X_kOTI33bVOZnKhpCRwXmYdZAN2iFyB9QihEJC7lJfI/edit

Southeast:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17d7lkzt37LGwQvj8F6Sfm_E2NwaJ6qywM66sNCjMohA/edit

Please help your child review by using an on-line tutorial at http://tutorial.teachtci.com/.   We are also continuing to memorize our States and Capitals. We will be having a test on the states and capitals after Thanksgiving. A fun website to practice is

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html

Science: We are studying Evaporation, Condensation, and Uneven Heating on the Earth’s surface and how it relates to our weather. We are lucky enough to now have one more field trip to the KRON 4 television station in San Francisco to take a tour and meet a meteorologist on Thursday, Nov. 15^th.  As I finalized details on this exciting trip, I will share details.  I do know that we will need drivers and be leaving close to 8:15 and be back during lunch. Please watch a weather forecast with your child to point out different terms such as high pressure, low pressure, and offshore winds to get us ready for this terrific experiment.

****Congratulations to our Student Council Class Representatives:*****

                           Maria and Shawn

Field trips:

Tuesday, Nov. 6^th  NASA  leave at 8:30 back by lunch – bring a snack

Outside Reading is due this Friday, NOV 2^nd

Number of pages:

                                             A =  2400 PAGES

                          B =  1600 PAGES

                          C =  1200 PAGES

          (Plus and minus grades are given at my discretion.)

        

B. Book requirements:

                  1. One (1) double-page book

                           (Newbery, Newbery author or my approval)

                  2. Fiction or non-fiction book about an artist

                  3. One (1) mystery, science fiction OR fantasy

                  4. Fiction or non-fiction book about astronomy

                  5. Fiction or non-fiction book about Native Americans

****Keep an eye out for the test packet to be signed this week!

I look forward to taking advantage of these online systems and moving to more digital resources this year! Thank you for your support as we are using more technology and improving our practices! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

                                                      Technologically yours,

                                                                Andrea Jones