This week in fifth grade...May 18-22

Fifth Grade News and Events May 18-22

There are several  important dates and events to put on your radar at the end, so scroll all the way down to read them all, but FIRST!

GREAT JOB ON THE STATE FAIR!

It’s a whole family event and undertaking, so good work to all who made this event possible.  Our visitors had a great time and learned new things, plus enjoyed all the delicious treats.

Thank you for supporting your students in this event.  Their binders came home today with final scores.  The score is out of 200 possible points.

States and Capitals Final Test is this Friday.  All fifty states are on the test.  We are reviewing in class, but a little extra work at home might be necessary if your student is feeling concerned.   There is a second chance test opportunity but I encourage students to go for broke on this one and get it done!

Spelling Lesson 33-- the penultimate test (next to last!)

Reading- We are enjoying the adventure in Hatchet.  Students are creating mini-drawings and a chapter title for the chapters in this book, since the author only numbered his chapters.

Students should be reading every day at home and working through the four books expected this month.

Progress reports came home on Friday. Please sign and return.

Science -The states of matter

Bible- We talked about the reasons for discipline today and read Hebrews 12:5-6 and 9-11. What a great group- they really understand that although discipline seems hard at the time, it really is a sign of love to be corrected on our course in life.   Bible Verse this week is Isaiah 46:4:

“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

We’ve been talking a lot about how our relationship with God is something we never outgrow and that He loves and cares for all our needs- physical, nonphysical and even  discipline- throughout all our days.

Language arts - Determiners: all the weird words that describe nouns!  (Articles, possessives, numbers, demonstratives, etc.)

UPCOMING DATES:

May 22 Volunteer Appreciation  I am pretty certain you have all volunteered in some capacity this year!  Come get a light breakfast al fresco in front of the office.  We’d love to honor you!

May 25 Memorial Day, no school

May 28- Movie in the Tab! 6:00 PM  Also, final Passport testing.

JUNE 2  9:30-1:15  Final class field trip to Sprinker Ice Arena in Lakewood/Tacoma area.   Cost is $15 approximately:$10 for ice time and skate rental (unless you have your own skates), and  $5 for a fast food lunch (unless you want to pack your own).   We need 1 more driver but must keep our group below fifteen to avoid a higher fee to skate.  In the interest of developing some middle school management skills, we’re going to try letting each student pay for their own skate and manage their lunch funding.  We’ll plan in class, but you may want to converse at home as well.

June 4 - Pastors and Pastries Your pastor has been invited to Cornerstone to hear Richard Yancey, one of our parents and a missionary on furlough this year, speak on “How to Love Our Muslim Neighbor”.  Please extend an invitation to associate pastors,  pastor’s wives, youth pastors if you think this would be lovely for them as well.  (It will.)

June 5 8th Grade Graduation in the Black Hills Center at 7:00 pm.

June 6 Work and Worship at Black Lake.  Clean up and spruce up for Summer!  Volunteer hours!  Free lunch!  8:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Tuesday June 9 Field Day 12:00-2:45

Wednesday June 10 Last day of school- I am always sad to say goodbye! Awards ceremony at 8:40-11:00 am and potluck that evening on the Point at 6:00 pm.

Weekly Report! State fair!

Hello, parents!  I cannot believe that it's the second week of May!   I am really looking forward to the State Fair on Wednesday.   Kids are also excited to see how their work looks among their peers and to taste one another's recipes.

Please email or call if you have questions.  I have model boards in the classroom to demonstrate. Students may also bring their boards to school if they need to show me something.


We will set up in the gym in the morning (open at 7:45)  and go to chapel.  Immediately after chapel, we will return to the gym and hear brief readings from each student's notebooks and show off our work to one another.  We will pause to receive guests from the school and community. Parents are organizing lunch; please send $5 with your child if they would like to participate in lunch. (Each student told me today that they were planning on eating pizza, and two have brought money, so I had them write themselves a reminder.)  It will be a very fun day- please stay if you're able to a while and check out the whole fair.  We'll start taking down about 2:20 ish.

READING:
We finished reading Number the Stars and are beginning Hatchet on Tuesday.  A reminder about personal reading goals: students are responsible to turn in four mini-book reports ( 1 per book) this month.  Many of them are on their second or third report, but a few have not turned in one yet. Checking in with your student would be a good idea on this!  All their number the stars work is due on May 12.

Social Studies- state fair prep and questions, states and capitals the LAST FOUR!  Whoohoo!  I think this group has done a fantastic job of working through these.

Bible- The verse will be an oral test this week due to State Fair.  1 Peter 4:16

This verse is particularly relevant as students are hearing reports of persecuted Christians today in our world.  We discussed what it means to be called by the name of Christ and why anyone would count it good to be persecuted for Christ. We continue as well looking at Scripture that talks about what God does to meet our non-physical needs and why. Good, deep stuff!

Science:  We will look at the states of matter till the end of school.  We are also practicing taking notes in preparation for middle school science.  I will give them a couple of simple quizzes to show them how it works.

Language Arts- We are investigating plural nouns and will be moving to nouns as determiners next.  We will also write a short compare and contrast paper for two novels this week and next.

Spelling Lesson 32 is due Friday and its test will take place then.

UPCOMING MAY DATES

May 13 State Fair
May 14 Spring Program Tab at 6:30
May 22 Volunteer Appreciation
May 28 Toy Story Movie in Tab

May 4-8, 2015

News from Fifth Grade

May 5, 2015

Bible:  1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

We’ve been talking about bringing glory to God in all we do, and this is a short verse for a long week of work.  We’re now moving this week to discussing how God meets all our needs, both physical and nonphysical.  We very quickly found the difference between wants and needs!!

Language

Nouns

Studying plurals...ahhh, the the fun of the English language. Box= boxes; ox= oxen?  We’ll check out all the oddities as well as the ones that follow the rules.  We’ll also be starting a brief paper in class comparing and contrasting two very different books we’ve read.

Reading

Number the Stars will be finished this week.  We aren’t doing a test but instead are doing a guided reading that digs deep and incorporates scripture.  We’re also working on symbolism, personification, and connotative meaning.  This is the first time most fifth graders see these literary concepts; they are catching on quick.  It’s been a good introduction.  They’ve learned a lot about history through this little book, too.  We’ll start Hatchet next week by Gary Paulsen, a very different book.

Reading logs are gone this month.  In preparation for moving on to a more self-directed reading level next year, students will still attempt four books this month and fill out a little mini-report sheet on it. The mini-reports are 25 points each.   There are four different types of reports and I have others if they don’t feel their book is a good fit. The goal is to read and respond to four books.

 I want to tell you how diligent and incredible most of this class has been about becoming more purposeful readers.  (Some of them already were serious book lovers.)  They are digging into books with enthusiasm and I am running out of suggestions for some of them.  Time to delve into Miss Molinaro’s library!

Science

We will be making paper people for each system to finish up our human body systems unit.  Then we will finish out the year with a study on matter. Reproductive health talks will take place this week on Friday for guys and next week on Monday for the ladies.

Social Studies

STATE FAIR is almost here!  They are excited and ready to show off what they’ve learned!

There is nothing due this week for state notebooks, but students may be bringing home some components from their notebooks to improve or fix.   All changes are due this Friday.

We have a few parents coming in this Friday and Thursday to make color copies of each child’s state bird, flag, and flower.  The students can then use those color copies on their display board for the state fair.  

We’ve been discussing: costume ideas with a nod to keeping it simple but effective, how to deal with food, game ideas.  We’re getting our acrostics done to add to our display boards.  I brought two solid yet different examples to school to give kids an idea. Feel free to come take a look if you’d like.  

Regarding lunch on the day of the State Fair---the students would like to get pizza and sodas along with cookies and fruit.   I am all for it, but I will logistically not be able to do it while supervising the state fair.  I can collect funds in an envelope and hand off the cash to a parent if one is willing to organize it!  Any volunteers would be appreciated on this task.

Spelling

Lesson 31

States and Capitals

#40-46 test Friday. NY, NJ, ME, DE, PA, and CT.

MAY DATES

May 7     National Day of Prayer

May 8     Mom’s Day Lunch

May 13   State Fair

May 14   Spring Program

May 29  Movie in the Tab - “Toy Story”

State Fair Booth Expectations

State Fair Booth Expectations

The Fifth Grade State Fair will take place on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.   This is your student’s big day to shine!  The whole school and community guests will join you to celebrate your hard work and accomplishments of your state studies over the past semester.

In order to produce a booth that you will be proud to display, we have a list of expectations to follow.

DRESS:  Choose a costume that emphasizes your state’s attributes.  For example, Washington is known for its forests, mountains, ocean shores, technology and recreational opportunities.  A good costume for Washington State might be:  a skier, a logger, a hiker, a fisherman, a computer coder, a fisherman, or a Starbucks employee.  We will also create i.d. “badges that we will wear identifying us as state tour guides for our states.

DISPLAY BOARD must include the following:

1. Creatively lettered name of state across the top
2. Color copies ( I will give them to you)  of your state bird, state flower, and state flag.  Use them on your display board, putting a contrasting background is really top-notch.
3. State Nickname, creatively displayed with fun font or neat, creative lettering.
4. Acrostic poem that we created in class that highlights interesting things about your state.
5. State trivia cards scattered neatly in front of the board on the table
6. Must see  places- at least two (one must be natural, the other can be manmade)

FOOD: prepare your state recipe to share throughout the day with each person that visits your booth.  It only needs to be a small taste, like a teaspoonful.  Provide disposable tasting cups and utensils if needed.  Bring a serving utensil to dish things up if needed or pre-serve into small cups (like dixie cups.) Wash your hands often.  Something to protect the floor would also be helpful, like a tarp or vinyl tablecloth.

ACTIVITY:  Prepare a simple game that highlights your state. Lasso a cow, make a paper lei, pan for “gold”.  Past activities have included lobster pot toss,  spear a “fish” (chopsticks and swedish fish), and other fun interactive games.

POSTER: Your economy map will be somewhere of your choosing to accent your booth.

LOGISTICS:

Parents and students arrive early the morning of May 13 to set up.  Parents will help their child.

Each child will have ½ of a conference table to set up his or her display.  Additional props should be included in your area to make your exhibit appealing.  Examples throughout the years include: cardboard palm trees, stick horses in a barrel, a bale of hay, cow hides, buffalo hides, fancy fabric, flowers, fishing gear...you get the idea!  Stick to props that represent your state.

To make this grand finale project manageable, you need to start sooner rather than later.  Set up a small area in your house and begin collecting things for your booth, assembling your display board.  Add a few things at a time, ask family and friends to help.  Borrow what you can, but don’t feel as if you must spend unnecessary money to decorate.  Kids always pull together something amazing.  Let others know what your needs are in our class, too.  Someone may have your perfect prop in their living room!

SCHEDULE:

8:00 -8:45 Parents help set up in the gym.

9:00- 10:00 Students present from their notebooks.

10:00-10:20 Recess and Snack

10:25-11:00 Continue oral presentations

11:00 Math class

11:40 Recess

12:00 Pizza lunch- please send $5 to cover the cost of pizza, soda, and cookies

12:25-2:30 Classes, parents, grandparents, and community members stop by to visit the state fair.

2:30-2:50 Parents help children clean up and disassemble exhibits.

Please mark your calendars, set aside time, and invite friends and family to come and visit the state fair.  They’ll be impressed at the achievements your child has attained in this project!  All are welcome.  We will have a check in sheet for guests at the fair.

Parents-- I need about two parent helpers for the day and one-two beforehand.

BEFORE:  Make color copies in school office for students’ state birds, flowers, and flags

         Place pizza order, pick up cookies, fruit, and beverages for state fair day

DAY OF:  Help students maintain booths, help students organize their lunch, help set up and   

take down.

…………please cut and return portion below with signature……………………………………....

I have read and understand the expectation for state fair booths and schedule of May 13, 2015.

___________________________________________

I would love to help with the state fair.

Before_________________________    During___________________________

Specific time