This week in 5th Grade

Good evening!   First, I'd love to thank whichever family it was who purchased lunches this week at school for me.  I appreciate it-- it's such a treat to have lunch prepped for me (and I usually bring leftovers, so it's even more special!)

Bible 1 Peter 2:12 - this is a review verse.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.

 THIS WEEK...We're talking about what it means to be a Christian in a world that increasingly finds it difficult to live with us.  We continue to pray for specific countries, and today for Nepal and North Thurston High School in particular.  We're also reading about a young lady in Papua New Guinea who is a believer but has a friend who participates in ancestor worship.  We spend a lot of time talking about what sets Christianity apart from every other belief system...grace and love and hope.

READING
We're about 1/3 of the way through Number the Stars.  Today we enhanced our reading and looked through pictures of Denmark and specifically Copenhagen where the story is set.  We also talked a little about the history of Scandinavia just to get a feel for what Annemarie's life was like and how it was very different from ours. Students saw some prehistoric art, Viking ships,  armor and arms, crown jewels, a royal castle, Copenhagen 's bicycles, an Industrial Revolution factory, and lots of buildings.  Most of them stayed awake. :) They liked Tivoli Gardens,  home of the world's second oldest roller coaster.  (Scary old. I rode it.)

Reading logs are due Thursday, but I'll also accept them Friday due to passport being moved to this week. 

HISTORY

Students were fairly close to finishing their governor shields if they chose to do that rather than a report.  Those came home to be completed if they weren't done. We'll watch some edited "How the States Got Their Shapes " over church and state, dialects, and natural resource booms like the California Gold Rush. 
 Our states and capitals this week are 40. Albany, New York  41. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 42. Trenton, New Jersey.  Most students did fairly well on the 1-39 states Review.  We'll be done soon with the 50 states and taking our final test over the whole set. 

SPELLING
Lesson 30, a review- Due Friday.  Encourage your kids to finish strong!

LANGUAGE ARTS
Nouns- all the ways we can classify nouns: plurals. 

SCIENCE- Finishing the basics of the human body this week.  Three states of matter will be next. 

PASSPORT this Thursday. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS and BIBLIOGRAPHY (2 sources only, MLA, handout went home Friday)
due 4/30 as well. 

 5th graders received a lot of compliments over the part few weeks and earned a HOT COCOA RUN this Thursday at 8:30.  We'll be back in time for Passport.  They've earned a treat.  Bring about $1.75   and we'll drive over to our friendly neighborhood Starbucks for  kids' hot cocoas.  We could use about 6 more seat belts and a mom or dad to drive us as well.

MOM's Day Lunch  May 8. 

Table of Contents and Bibliography

Table of Contents    Due April 30, 2015

1. Your assignment this week is to create a list of your notebook content in a numbered list with page numbers after it.
2. You should have 13 components on your table of contents.
3. Capitalize each word appropriately.  Use plain font.
4. Double space the entries.
5. Title it: Table Of Contents.  You may capitalize all the letters or just the first one.  Using the bold choice will also make it stand out.
6. Use your assignment sheet to help you remember your table of content order.
7. You will not include your title page, economy map,  or binder cover assignment on your table of contents.
8. There are two ways to achieve a well-aligned, neat table of contents.

• Method 1: Type each component’s name, press tab key (beside the letter “Q”) 8 or 9 times, type the word Page, type its page number.  
• Method 2: Type each component’s name, hold down the period key located one key to the right of the letter “M” and watch the ruler at the top of the screen.  Some word  programs will tell you when it is perfectly aligned, others do not.  Stopping at 5 ½ inches on Google Docs worked well for me.  This looks very nice, but it can require more work.  If it is frustrating or misaligned, choose method 1.

example Method 1

State Flag page 1

State Bird page 2

 example Method 2

State Flag……………………………………………………………………….page 1

State Bird………………………………………………………………………..page 2

     9.  You may use a simple computer generated border.  Do not draw borders by hand.  Do not

use stickers or embellish with photos or clip art.  Keep it clean and simple.

    10. You’re done!  

 Bibliography --  Uses MLA and only two sources must be cited.    Examples came home Thursday.

News this Week April 20-24

NEWS FROM FIFTH GRADE

Week of April 20-24

 

It was wonderful to see you all at conferences.  Your kids are incredible and smart!  But you know that!

Bible Verse :

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

We’re talking about what it means to glorify God and what that might look like in our own lives.  We also spent some time identifying countries in the Middle East where Christians are undergoing severe persecution.  Although some kids are aware of current events,  we spoke more generally about what it means to be persecuted for Christ.  Each kid has a country to pray for this week.  They were so mature and thoughtful about how to pray:  they spoke about praying for those who persecute Christians, for the Christians to be strong and unafraid, for the Spirit of God to fall upon those who are persecuting so that they may know the truth of the gospel...and more.  Beautiful souls, your kids. They completely understand that glorifying God can mean being in a difficult place in order to be a light for Christ.

READING:

It was a “difficult topics” day today as we started the new book, Number the Stars.  There was a homework assignment to read the afterword (I know, seems backwards, but it’s more of a foreword) with your child and sign the slip acknowledging it was done. We read it together in class along with a fairly straightforward and clear explanation of what happened in World War II.  We pulled out maps and discussed how the Axis powers were overtaking the world, colored in maps of Europe that showed which areas around our book’s setting would have been Nazi-occupied.

The Holocaust is a hard thing to know about; yet the book itself is a story of great and hopeful courage and the difference which it made for most Danish Jews.  I visited Copenhagen (where the book is set) last year and walked down many of the same streets in the book, visiting the important sites, and seeing the brass markers  among cobblestones where resistance fighters met their  defiant end.  I brought back maps, tickets, photos, and such. It’s an amazing historical fiction story, based on the real experiences of the author’s best friend in childhood.  Told through the eyes of a child, it is a very appropriate way to begin learning some difficult parts of history.

In Social Studies, we are working on reviewing states 1-39 from the list.   As we learn, we are watching a series called, “How the States Got their Shapes.”  It is rated PG, and there are occasionally a salty word or PG situation, but it is very well made and extremely interesting.  It pulls together history, geography, and politics in a cohesive manner that is appealing to kids. The minor PG bits are far outweighed by the excellence of the rest. Tomorrow: Area 51!

In Science class, we are conducting a review of the scientific method as students participate in or assist an older student with their science fair project.   Your student will study a middle schooler’s project to see if it truly passes for an experiment.  SCIENCE FAIR is Wednesday Night at 6:30 in the Gym.  

Language Arts is subject/verb agreement and then plural noun oddities.

Spelling Lesson 29 Due Friday, Test Friday

Review States and Caps 1-39 this Friday.

Blessings and hugs,

Mrs. Steele

Conference Week

Greetings!  I hope you had a lovely spring break.  Fifth grade students wrote very humorous and entertaining accounts of their spring break.  It's always interesting to see  what they find meaningful as a kid.  It's often surprising!

This week is entirely different from normal.  We will have NO spelling, Bible verse, states and capitals, or reading.  We will write a little, work on the governor's report that we ran out of time to assign on the infamous ice cream/teacher pie day, and take ITBS tests.  We will also have parent teacher conferences.   I am looking forward to seeing you all and talking about the great progress your child has made.  We'll also talk about state fair and getting ready for middle school.

This year is flying by.  I cannot believe how fast it's gone until I think about how much your children have grown up and learned this year.

Thank you for letting me be their teacher.  It is always a privilege.

Upcoming Events

April 18 Cornerstone Skate Night  Roller Drome 5:00

April 22 Science Fair  Daytime and Evening  Visitors welcome  6:30-8:00