News 12/15 Merry Christmas

News from 5th grade

December 15-19  

Merry Christmas!

Hello, parents, I’m trying to condense information to “just the facts.”  If you have questions about school wide events and schedules, please contact me.

Bible

We’re reading the Christmas Story straight from the gospels. We’ve been through John and Matthew.  It’s neat to see the deeper truths of Christmas with these kiddos!

Verse  for Wednesday: John 1:14  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Reading

Read every night 20 minutes. Reading logs due 1/5/15.  Students will have a Christmas break reading assignment: “The Indian in the Cupboard.” It will count towards their reading goal for the month.  We will have class work relating to this book when we return.  It will benefit them best if they read it over two weeks rather than trying to get it all in over two days.

Language Arts

Taking notes for a paper over Ben Franklin, whose biography we continue reading in class; Spelling test 15 this Friday---  Grammar: homophones  and helping verbs.

Social Studies

Early colonies, states and capitals. Students  are tested on these each Friday.  Spelling and location count for three points apiece.

1. Olympia Washington   2. Salem Oregon   3.Sacramento California  4.Juneau, Alaska

     5.   Honolulu,  Hawaii  6.Boise, Idaho   7.Carson City, Nevada    8.Salt Lake City, Utah

     9.  Helena, Montana    10.Cheyenne, Wyoming  11.Denver, Colorado  

     12.Phoenix, Arizona     13. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Science

Cell Division and Heredity, parts of the cell.

OTHER

We are taking our collection of donated socks to the Union Gospel Mission on Thursday morning at 8:30.   Please be on time.  We’ll be back by 9:30 for Passport. **Christmas Party this Friday morning. We have cocoa and cookies already coming.  Students would also love popcorn or fruit.  Movie and small gifts for all are on the agenda!

News 12/9/2014

NEWS FROM FIFTH GRADE

December 8-12

Merry Christmas!  May the advent of the celebration of Christmas be full of hope, joy, peace, and light in our lives!

READING

Students are reading a novel of their own choosing for silent reading.

Homework:  READING 20 minutes per night.  Students should still have a goal of reading 20 minutes or more even if they are tracking books read or pages.

We’re discovering a lot about Benjamin Franklin-- he was a very talented man who overcame a lot, but he also had flaws and made mistakes that changed his life in ways he regretted.  We talked about how choosing to make right the wrongs we do in life is a way of showing honor and virtue.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Spelling: Lesson and test 14 this week.  

Grammar- Students got acquainted with contractions and learned a little about what makes a proper contraction versus slang. (Hint: if the syllable or sound is completely gone, you’ve got a winner.)  In Colonial English, they often used ‘d instead of -ed on an ending of a verb, like endeavor’d.  

SCIENCE

We finished illustrating a side by side comparison and contrast of a plant and animal cell.

US HISTORY and SOCIAL STUDIES

Early colonies

THIS WEEK’S STATES AND CAPITALS TO LEARN: Spell them correctly and locate them on a map.

1. Olympia, Washington
2. Salem, Oregon
3. Sacramento, California
4. Juneau, Alaska
5. Honolulu, Hawaii
6. Boise, Idaho
7. Carson City, Nevada
8. Salt Lake City, Utah
9. Helena, Montana
10. Cheyenne, Wyoming

BIBLE

Mark 1:2-3  It is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way- a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ “

GENERAL INFORMATION

MUSIC- Fifth graders have a great part to play in this year’s Christmas program.  Bring scripts to school and work on them at home per Miss Mazzuca’s request.

PE is Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday-- please help your fifth grade student remember athletic shoes and good clothes for running and jumping. Showering nightly is a great idea at this age and deodorant is a critical school supply.  Water bottles are also helpful.

Our next class service project will be a warm sock drive.  Both of my older kids volunteer with homeless ministries in the Olympia area, and clean warm socks are a frequent need that they see going unmet. This is a small gift that will make a big impact.  We have a very good start!  Our cart is half full!

I’d like to take the socks to Union Gospel Mission on December 18 as a class. Please consider donating or driving that morning. We’re going to have treats and a movie that morning!  If you’d like to bring cookies, cocoa in packets, cups, capri suns, fruit, chips, or crackers, let me know.

PIZZA FRIDAYS! $2 per slice. ORDER by Wednesdays.

Christmas Program is December 12, 2014 at 6:30 pm.

Auction is coming! We’ve found a great project and are working on the details.  Cost per kid should be minimum and the project is very fun.

God bless and have a great week!

Mrs. Steele

December News

NEWS FROM FIFTH GRADE

December 1-5

Merry Christmas!  May the advent of the celebration of Christmas be full of hope, joy, peace, and light in our lives!

READING

Students are reading a novel of their own choosing for silent reading.

Homework:  READING 20 minutes per night.  Students should still have a goal of reading 20 minutes or more even if they are tracking books read or pages.  New reading logs should be in their binders on Tuesday.  I didn’t have enough copies of the preferred log!

We are reading an excellent biography of Benjamin Franklin and learning how to read a bio whilst taking notes.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Spelling: Lesson and test 13 this week.  

Grammar- Students got acquainted with contractions and learned a little about what makes a proper contraction versus slang. (Hint: if the syllable or sound is completely gone, you’ve got a winner.)  We also looked at how words change over time.  The word “one” in English has a very interesting story.  

SCIENCE

We talked about the parts of a cell today and looked at the differences between plants and animal cells.

US HISTORY and SOCIAL STUDIES

Week 7- Dividing up the New World- Land, loot, and labor along with the great exchange that occurred between the Old and New World.

THIS WEEK’S STATES AND CAPITALS TO LEARN: Spell them correctly and locate them on a map.

1. Olympia, Washington
2. Salem, Oregon
3. Sacramento, California
4. Juneau, Alaska
5. Honolulu, Hawaii
6. Boise, Idaho
7. Helena, Montana

Deuteronomy 32:4

He is the Rock, his works are perfect,

   and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong,

   upright and just is he.

GENERAL INFORMATION

MUSIC- Fifth graders have a great part to play in this year’s Christmas program.  Bring scripts to school and work on them at home per Miss Mazzuca’s request.

PE is Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday-- please help your fifth grade student remember athletic shoes and good clothes for running and jumping. Showering nightly is a great idea at this age and deodorant is a critical school supply.  Water bottles are also helpful.

Technology is Friday just after PE.  Art will begin this quarter, our first class will be November 21.

Our next class service project will be a warm sock drive.  Both of my older kids volunteer with homeless ministries in the Olympia area, and clean warm socks are a frequent need that they see going unmet. This is a small gift that will make a big impact.  I’d like to take the socks to Union Gospel Mission on December 18 as a class. Please consider donating or driving that morning.

Clarifying about Christmas party fifth grade style: Each child brings 12 of the same item and an empty gift bag.    Here’s how the small gift extravaganza works--He or she has twelve classmates.  Each child puts their empty gift bag on a table along with everyone else’s empty bag.  Then the children takes their small gifts and places one into each of their classmates bags, skipping themselves.  They receive twelve different gifts from their classmates.  

PIZZA FRIDAYS! $2 per slice. ORDER by Wednesdays.

Christmas Program is December 12, 2014 at 6:30 pm.

Auction is coming!  Get your game on~ because that’s our theme!  I have a couple of fantastic ideas but need some help getting them into play.   Care to help?  

There's a meeting tomorrow in Mt. Hood for procurement training 101! 2:30 pm.