I hope you've been enjoying this beautiful fall weather!! What a beautiful weekend we had...I hope you founds lots of time to get outside and enjoy this weather with your families before the cold sets in :)
Important Dates
Picture Day ~ Wednesday, October 2nd - SMILE! If you have not returned the picture form, please do so ASAP. Our pictures are scheduled for the morning - please send your child in the clothes you would like for them to wear for pictures. If they would like to change, they will be given some time during lunch recess to change.
International Walk to School Day ~ Wednesday, October 9th - Encourage your child to walk to school on Wednesday in celebration of International Walk to School Day! Our staff will be at a number of pick-up points throughout the neighborhoods, looking forward to walking to school with your children :) See the Olive Blog for pick-up points, and join us for the walk!
Columbus Day (No School) ~ Monday, October 14th
SIP Day (No School) ~ Tuesday, October 15th
Re-enactment ~ Friday, October 11th - watch for permission slips to come home, please sign and return as soon as possible. The Re-enactment is an interactive demonstration of life during colonial times set up in our field. It is conveniently scheduled near the beginning of our Revolutionary War unit, and serves as an excellent introduction to the unit. Students will have the opportunity to interact with pioneers living on the frontier during this time period to gain a unique perspective of what life was like during the Revolutionary War. Always a favorite for the 5th graders!
Sci-tech Museum in Aurora ~ What a great time we had visiting this museum on Thursday! A great big THANK YOU to Mrs. Knauss and Mrs. Johnson for chaperoning the trip!! Scroll down to the bottom of this blog to find lots of pictures from our day!
Math
My math class continued to work on computation in unit 2 this week, as well as making magnitude estimate. We will finish up the unit this week, and start our review for the Unit 2 Assessment next Monday. I will let the students know the acutal date of the test as we get closer, but it will most likely be on the 8th or the 9th. Please continue to encourage the students to practice their facts as well as play unit 2 games online as a way to prepare for the assessment.
Science
We had a busy week in science this week! Students continued their study of the nervous system early in the week as they learned more about reflexes, such as the blink reflex and pupil dialation. Ask your child how they discovered these reflexes work without even thinking about them, then ask them if they can tell you the difference between a reflex and a reaction. With a reflex, our nervous system takes information in through one of our senses, sends it to the spinal cord, then immediately back to the muscles - it does not have to travel to the brain to make a decision. With a reaction, our nervous system takes information in through one of our senses, sends it to the spinal cord, which takes it to the brain to make a decision. The brain makes a decision about what to do, then sends that message down through the spinal cord, out through the nerves and to the muscles.
Later in the week, we spent more time in the skeletal system as they were allowed to explore cow bones. They discovered bones are made up of compact bone, spongy bone, and bone marrow. Students were excited as they were allowed to explore these bones in more detail with proscopes. They also discovered how important calcium in our bones and we discussed the importance of eating a calcium-rich diet and exercising regularly to keep our bones healthy.
We are midway through the Human Body unit, and will be taking a mid-unit assessment on Wednesday this week. We will review for the quiz on Tuesday, and I will post the completed graphic organizers for students to study this weekend. They can also log on to Spelling City to practice the vocabulary from this unit.
Reading
This week we focused on the strategy of summarizing as we read non-fiction stories about space. Students learned to identify the main idea in each section or chapter, and bring those main ideas together to form a summary. They were asked to apply these skills to their Clements novel, and write a summary this weekend of the portion of their novel they have read thus far. Summarizing is a challenging skill for 5th graders to master, and we will work on this consistently throughout the year. Your child should also continue reading their Clements novel - the final due date for the novel is Friday, October 4th.
Students also read more complex text as they began work on Respiratoration & Circulation. As with Bones & Muscles, we will spend a few lessons with this advanced reading before they will be asked to complete another prompt comparing the two systems of the body. It's exciting to watch how engaged the students are when reading such complex text!!
Writing
We continued to focus in our writing - this week we focused on setting and sound. We took a walk to the corner of Arlington Heights Road and Olive to enjoy a beautiful day, while listening to the many sounds in our community. They recorded as many sounds as they could, then took their lists in to create an entry detailing what they heard and saw. I've posted some pictures of this activity below. One of the most important skills to develop in young writers is observation - the more they notice, the more developed their writing will become! You can help your child develop their sense of observation by pointing out sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes as you experience life with them.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a fantastic weekend ~
We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher
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