Weekly News 9/29

NEWS FROM FIFTH GRADE                                                 WEEK OF SEPT. 29-OCT. 3

Thanks for coming to parent night last week!  I appreciate your willingness to play a game, listen to what our goals are for the year, and how we “do” 5th grade!  It means a great deal to teachers to have parents informed and to be able to touch base with you all regularly.  BLUE FOLDERS are in, look for homework and notes home along with finished work to stay with you. Planners should arrive this week.

READING

Students are reading a novel of their own choosing and our class novel study book, Shiloh.

We are also doing some weekly vocabulary games called word ladders alongside a quick reading comprehension practice to keep those skills sharp.  Ask your student what they are reading- see how many titles they have read so far this year.  I will be meeting with them to see what titles they have read so far this week in lieu of listening to them read.

Homework:  Read a minimum of twenty minutes nightly (bump it up!) at home starting in October. Please assist your student in making sure this is done. Reading records (this month is a calendar to track minutes) are due Sept. 30-TOMORROW!  Please total and sign your records. New calendars come home for October.  Some students want to transition to a new format, which is fine-- but most are sticking with the minutes on a calendar. If you’d like to place a Scholastic book order, please send it tomorrow.

Classtime:  Shiloh is nearly done.  If we earn our reward of donuts and a movie as we finish, we are planning to watch it in class once we’re done and compare the movie to the book. We’ll have a comfy cozy morning with pillows and blankets, probably on a Monday.  

LANGUAGE ARTS

Spelling: Lesson 4 came home today. Students should complete the packet and write the words for practice on a separate sheet of paper, stapled to the packet.  TEST is Friday morning and lesson is due upon arrival in class. The test is moving to cursive although students still may use print alongside on the test.  It may help to practice the packet in cursive as well.  

Language arts is busy with prepositions, practicing descriptive phrases (and illustrating, very fun!) and talking about our VFW essays.  We defined an essay today, talked about the word count, and talked about the theme.  We’ll begin writing those next week after some organization review.

SCIENCE

We are  still studying rocks, crystals, and the nature of minerals this week.  We’ll have our hands on some neat rocks and minerals in class this week, learning how scientists classify minerals and rocks.  

US HISTORY and SOCIAL STUDIES

Map skills review is still taking place.  We also began our weekly studies in US History.  I will send home a code to let your student access our content for further fun. It’s a good source, and we will supplement with many faith centered materials, including A Beka US History and many trade books. This week, we are studying cartography and different types of maps.

BIBLE

James 4:7  Test Wednesday.   If your child is new to Cornerstone, they may tell the verse orally to me for the first few weeks and practice writing it; October will be an appropriate time to begin writing it for those students.

GENERAL INFORMATION

PE is Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday-- please help your fifth grade student remember athletic shoes and good clothes for running, jumping and playing fun games!

MUSIC is Monday and Wednesday.  We will start TECHNOLOGY on Fridays starting this week if all goes according to plan.

CHAPEL is every Wednesday.  Please wear chapel clothes and bring your worship voices!

GLOW RUN  October 18, RAC in Lacey.

NO SCHOOL October 17  Teacher Inservice