Fifth Grade Track 4
Knowledge is Power
Hello all! Tomorrow is the big day! TRACK IN! Luckily it is a two day week for us, so we’re easing back into the groove!
Thank you all so much for the wonderful gifts that you gave my family and me for the holidays! We enjoyed the tasty treats and goodies, as well as the gift cards and gifts. Thank you for your generosity and support throughout the year.
Also thank you to the parents who came in on the 18th to help with our book swap and cupcake celebration. It was a lot of fun, and I really don’t think it would have been as successful without you guys.
Third quarter is going to be the best yet! We will start off with an exciting science unit – Motion and Design – which is has an engineering and physics focus. In writing we will be back to writing narrative stories, so start thinking about putting all your creative ideas to work. I’m especially looking forward to working on Literature Circles throughout the quarter for reading. I’ll update you a bit on math later in the week.
If you would like to schedule a conference, please email me at akaiser@wcpss.net
See you all soon!
Wow! We already have most of our books for the exchange and lots of yummy stuff for decorating cupcakes on Friday! Thanks moms and dads for all your support of our classroom! If you haven’t sent the book in, please do it tomorrow! Our celebration will take place after lunch around 2:00.
Keep in mind the science retest is tomorrow! If you want to raise your grade, study study study!
Please don’t forget next Friday is not only our track out day and report cards will be sent home, but also it is our class celebration. Many students have brought in books for our exchange, if you haven’t please send them in by Thursday, so I will know if I need to bring in any extras. Please let me know if your child will not be participating or if you will not be able to purchase a book for whatever reason.
Also, we would like to decorate cupcakes. I will be providing plain cupcakes, but will need lots of fun toppings. If you are able, please let me know if you can send in a container of frosting, sprinkles, small candies, etc.
Artapalooza will be held April 24th, 2010 from 5-8 here at Olive Chapel. We will start collecting contributions for the baskets when we track back in, so please stay tuned for further information.
I appologize that I have not been better about keeping up with the blog. It had locked me out for a while and I hadn’t had a chance to spend the time I needed to figure out the problem. Everything’s fixed and working again, so we should be allright now!
Next week will be super busy! Tuesday we will have a Math test over Unit 4 – Geometry and on Wednesday we will have our Science re-test on weather.
Don’t forget that the memory boxes for the Biography project are due tomorrow (as are the cause and effect charts). Next week we will be working on the biography contract posters and letter.
Report cards will go home on Friday, Dec. 18th. Please be sure that your child has theirs. Last time we had some who left them here over the break, I don’t want that to happen again! I will be here till between 4:30 and 5, so if you can please check as soon as you get home.
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/index.html
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/revolut
http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm
http://www.earlyamerica.com/independence.htm
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/revolution/revolution.htm
Hello all! I know everyone is excited and anxious about the spring field trip to DC and you all want to know if you’re chaperones or not. Please be patient, I’m still waiting on a few parents who have filled out the volunteer clearance information to be cleared. I should have the final list next week. The deadline for the first payment ($80) is next week. This information was on the yellow sheet that went home before trackout. Chaperones will also need to pay $160.oo, but we don’t need that next week. If you are chosen as a chaperone, I will send an information sheet home with your child. Please know that as a chaperone you will need to ride the bus, be staying with children in the hotel room and be responsible for them throughout the trip. I realize that some of the other classes have already announced their chaperones, but to be fair, I really feel I need to wait on the clearance for these last couple of parents. We only have 13 spaces, and there are 22 parents who have volunteered, so it will have to be a random drawing. Thank you all for being patient throughout this process!
In classroom news our new behavior system has been a great success! They’ll be bringing their treat bags home today, and they’ll get new ones on Monday for the month of November. We’ve had much better reports in all of our specials, transitions in class have gone smoother and the overall chattiness of the class has decreased! YAY!
We have 2 projects coming up in the next few weeks. We are finishing up our Weather brochures and starting a Revolutionary War research project next week. The Revolutionary War project will due before Thanksgiving and an in-class assignment once again. Some research can be done at home but the project itself will be done completely at school.
I’ve met with many of you for conferences in the past few weeks. If we haven’t already had our first conference, I’d like to have one before Thanksgiving. Please let me know what works best for you, and I’ll do my best to accomodate you.
Thanks for all your support!
http://www.boatsafe.com/kids/weather1.htm
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
http://www.wildwildweather.com/
http://www.fema.gov/kids/dizarea.htm
(Emma’s link) http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/floods-profile.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/disaster/flood.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/floods-profile.html
Welcome back track 4! We’ve had a great couple of days. Most of the kids have really come back focused and ready to go! I decided to try a “Treat Bag” reward system this quarter. I’ve stapled a treat back for each child on our bulletin board in the classroom. Whenever a student or students are caught doing what they’re supposed to be doing, they’ll get a treat placed in their bag. They’ll get to take the bags home at the end of the month.
I need your help to collect treats for the bags. If you are able, please send in individually packaged candies, small erasers, fun pencils, stickers or small toys.
This quarter in science we will be focused on weather. Students will need to go to the library and check out some books on weather or do some research on the internet at different times during the quarter. There will be quite a bit of book work as well, some of it will come home as homework.
Currently in math we are focused on comparing and ordering decimals from the tenths place to the thousandths. From decimals we will move to geometry and graphing.
In language arts we will be conducting research and writing pamphlets and essays, as well as writing friendly letters.
Please let me know if you’d like a conference. Please email me at akaiser@wcpss.net
Parents,
While many of the CROP-QV posters were very nicely done, many were rushed through, incomplete or just sloppy. I think it is important for students to take pride in their work, and produce a quality assignment. Neatness was a factor in the grade, but it was not a huge component. If you and your child think that the poster is of the quality that should be displayed, please send them back in and I will hang them in the hallway. If you’d like to take part of the track out and have them to recreate this project, taking their time and putting a bit more effort into it, I’d be more than happy to put it up when we return.
