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Nicholson
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November 2009
November 15, 2009
Week of November 16
Character Word: Service to Others
Coming up this week:
One more week before the break. I hope all of you have a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving! Be safe if you are traveling.
Monday Nov. 16: 4 1/2 week progress report and academic alerts go home today. Sign and return. Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions.
Book Fair starts today through Friday.
Tuesday Nov. 17: Terrific Kid Ceremony 7:30 in the media center. Congratulations to Matthew!
Book Fair Family Night: 5:30- 7:30
Wednesday Nov. 18: Specials: Music
Thursday Nov. 19:
Study Skill Workshop for Parents. 7:30 am and 6:30 pm
VIP lunch for 5th grade: 12:40
Friday Nov. 20:
Spirit Day and Chick-fil-A biscuits ($3)
PROGRESS REPORTS/ACADEMIC ALERTS
Progress reports will come home on Monday for all children. These are just to let you know how your child is doing at this time and where they might need to work harder. If your child has a "D" or an "F" in any subject, they will also bring home an Academic Alert. These include specific strategies for your child and you to do to help your child. They also include strategies that I am doing in the classroom. Your child still has 4 weeks to improve those grades. Please sign and return these forms. Thank you for your support!
MATH
This week we will tackle adding and subtracting mixed numbers with unlike denominators and then move on to multiplying fractions. A great website for adding and subtracting mixed numbers is Fishy Fractions. (under Math websites). Don't forget to practice those basic facts.
Writers Workshop
We will be writing a fantasy short story next. This week we will discuss point of view, as well as look at two benchmark papers to discover what makes a great story. We will brainstorm for ideas for our story and then focus on how to develop a main character.
Grammar and Spelling
In grammar this week we will distinguish between plural and possessive nouns. In Spelling we will continue to work on words ending in -ion. If your child is struggling, don't forget to visit Spelling City (Language Arts Websites) for activities to teach, as well as practice, the spelling words.
Science
We are beginning a unit on Matter this week. I am hoping for awesome notebooks for this unit.
Readers Workshop
We will be finishing up our books in Guided Reading this week. Remember there is a reading log this week. It will be due on Friday. Please encourage your child to read over the Thanksgiving holidays.
November 10, 2009
November 08, 2009
Week of November 9
Character Word: Patriotism
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday Nov. 10: Blood Drive 2:00-7:00
Wednesday Nov. 11: Specials is Art
1:00: Veteran's Day Program (Wear red, white, and blue)
Thursday Nov. 12: PTA meeting at 6:45 7:00- Chorus and 5th grade recorder concert. Hope to see you all there!
Other reminders: The 5th grade is collecting mashed potatoes and gravy for our food drive.
Also if you intend to come to the VIP luncheon on Nov. 19, please return your reservation form. It went home in Thursday mail.
Looking ahead:
The BOOK FAIR will be here the week of November 16!!
On Monday Nov. 16, progress reports and academic alerts will go home. The progress report is a notification of your child's grades at this point of the nine weeks. It will be returned to me with a parent signature.
Tuesday Nov. 17: Terrific Kid Celebration
My Terrific Kid for November is Matthew! I could go on and on about Matthew! His dedication to school is a delight to see. He is a role model to everyone! Congratulations!!
We have a total of 11,405 stickers! Our 5 top players are Giovanni with 2,661; Kathryn with 1,057; Chandler with 930; Anusha close behind with 909, and Jessica with 845. Keep it up and let's see if we can have some new leaders!!
Math:
We are comparing fraction using different strategies. The students have these strategies in their journals. One of the strategies is to make common denominators. We will use this strategy to also add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators. Please practice at home as one skill builds upon another.
Social Studies:
We will be finishing up our study of the Civil War. We are finishing up with discussing Reconstruction of the south after the Civil War. On Monday a study guide and the checklist for their Interactive Notebook will come home. I think we will be ready to take the test on Friday. They can study before they come back for the recorder performance.
Writer's Workshop:
We will be finishing up the draft of their personal narrative writing. They will revise and edit their paper with a partner.
Reader's Workshop:
Remember that you will have a reading log this week. I have changed the number of activities you must complete to 5. I changed some of the questions so look it over carefully. You need to be on track with your 6 books for this nine weeks. How are you doing?
Words Their Way:
We will do Sort 8 this week. I have put the words on Spelling City. See language arts websites. This is a great way to practice the words.
In grammar we will be continuing to discuss fragments and run-on sentences.
November 01, 2009
Week of November 2
Character Word: Democracy Dates to Remember: Last Friday was Matthew's birthday! Hope it was great! Thanks for all the treats that were sent in on Friday! We all enjoyed them all day long! Tuesday Nov. 3: Student Holdiay Enjoy your day off! Wednesday Nov. 4: Specials is Art Also Target will be on Wednesday not Thursday this week.
Our class total as of a couple of minutes ago was 9,849. Giovanni is the one to beat with 2,637 stickers. Kathryn has 1,057, Anusha has 897, Chandler has 862, and Trevor has 675. I wonder who will take the lead this week.
Thank you so much for being so awesome at the Pep Rally! I was very proud of all of you! Thanks to Mr. K, Mrs. F, and Mrs. C for chaperoning. I know my class was in good hands.
Ms. Vallimont is our TOSS student from Kennesaw State University. She will be with us full time for the next 5 weeks. Look for a letter of introduction from her.
In Thursday's papers I sent home the letter with your child's log in for CRCT practice. Please try logging on and let me know if you have any difficulties.
Math:
Fractions, fractions and more fractions! We will be discussing comparing fractions and the strategies used to compare them. We will also begin looking at common denominators for computing with fractions. Look under Math websites for Fraction Frenzy. Practice! We want to beat Mrs. Nelson's class. How many points can you get?
Social Studies:
We are about finished fighting the Civil War. This week we will focus on Reconstruction and the effect it had on African Americans. Keep up with your Interactive Notebook.
I am sending home the graded checklist for the Science Interactive Notebook for a parent signature. Use my comments to improve your social studies notebook.
We will be writing the draft for our personal narratives. We talked about Grabbers for a good beginning. We will also discuss circular endings and picking a good title.
Grammar: We will talk about run on sentences, fragments and the currect use of dialogue. We will not have a Words Their Way lesson this week. Many students had difficulty with the part of speech for last week's sort. I will give a retest on Friday.
Reader's Workshop
We will continue with guided reading groups. We will talk about implicit questions. Remember that the Reading Log that is turned in on Friday must be signed by a parent. I received many last week that were not signed. These are part of the reading grade. Students must read 90 minutes a week and fill out 4 of the activites on the log. I am giving the log a 4, 3, 2, or 1 (similar to the interactive notebooks) Receiving a 4 the student must exceed. They can do this by reading more than 90 minutes and completing more than 4 activities. Remember they must read 6 more books this 9 weeks to achieve the goal of 25 books for the year.
October 25, 2009
Week of October 26
Character Words: School Pride and Cleanliness
Tuesday Oct. 27: Pep Rally Field Trip (9:45-12:45)
Many thanks to Mrs. McWhorter for paying for the bus so I could invite the entire class!! A special thanks to Mr. Key, Mrs. Freeman, and Mrs. Costley for agreeing to chaperone on the trip. Kids will have sack lunches on their return to school.
Wednesday Oct. 28: Specials: PE
Penny Wars Wednesday through Friday! We are raising money for the Heart Association.
Remy did a great job on "Check it Out" last Thursday!
Math:
We have begun the new unit on fractions. Last week we worked on finding equivalent fractions. This week we will work with simplifying and comparing fractions. We use our basic facts with these skills so make sure you keep practicing!
Use this site to practice Equivalent Fractions
Social Studies:
We will continue learning about the Civil War. Next we will be focusing on the battles and important people of the war, as well as the effect the war had on the country. Keep caught up with your Interactive Notebook!
Language Arts:
We are working on Word Sort 7 this week in Words Their Way. Remember that the spelling practice sheet comes home on Monday. Remember to study each night! Our next grammar lesson will be fragments, run on sentences, and comma splices.
In writing workshop we are discussing good word choice and circular endings as we begin the rough draft on our personal narratives.
In reader's workshop we will be working in Guided Reading groups. Each of the groups will be working on a reading concept: summarizing, infering, and monitoring comprehension. When the group is not with me they will be working on computers, informational reading or independent reading.
October 18, 2009
Week of October 19
Congratulations to these Nicholson Stars!!
Meagan and Tyler K are our new safety patrol members. I know they will do a great job!!
Our Terrific Kid for October is Meagan. Thank you Meagan for being a great role model for your peers!
Daniel did a great job on "Check this Out"!!
Reminders for this week: This week is Healthy Choices Week
Tuesday Oct. 20: Terrific Kid celebration at 7:30 in Media Center
Picture Retakes: you must return your package
Wednesday Oct. 21: Early Release- students will be dismissed at 12:20
Specials: Music (keep practicing your recorder)
8:15- Judge Grubbs will speak to the students about due process of the law
Thursday Oct. 22: 8:00- Cobb County Sherrif's Dept: visit with the drug dog
Safe Riders program during specials
Friday Oct. 23: Jeff Dess will speak to us about Steps to Respect.
We started First in Math last Wednesday. This is a website that is an excellent source of math practice. We will have weekly practice and we will have a weekly winner. They can access this site from the Destiny site or from this blog.
First in Math We have 14 students so far that are using the site. I strongly recommend all of the students to use this site for math practice.
Our top five sticker earners are: Giovanni: 1,160 Stickers, Kathryn: 786 stickers, Anusha: 455 stickers, Amanda: 426 stickers, and Tyler K: 309 stickers.
We will have a new weekly winner next week, points will start over. Good Luck!!
Math:
We are finished with the 1st nine weeks standards. The students took the end of the quarter benchmark test on Friday. There will be a sticker in their agendas on Monday with the pre and posttest scores. Let me know if you want to know the specific skills your child may need to still work on. We are going to over the benchmark test and then begin equivalent fractions. This fraction unit builds on the previous units so make sure your child masters each concept.
Social Studies:
We have finished the unit in science on Constructive and Destructive Forces. The end of unit test went home in Thursday night papers. We are now beginning the study of the Civil War. We discussed the causes of the war and will discuss important events and personalities of the war.
Language Arts:
Writer's Workshop: We are generating ideas for our personal narratives. We are discussing voice, and will be discussing engaging beginnings and starting the drafting of their ideas.
We will be studying Sort 6 in Words Their Way
In English we are reviewing types of sentences and correct uses of commas.
Reader's Workshop: We will begin exploring inferring which will help with text implicit questions.
