5-2 Updates ~ 02/09

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

We had a busy week this week as we had 5 full days together!  Hope you enjoyed some family time this weekend watching the Olympics.  It helps to make me feel a little better about all the snow outside.  But when they are finished, I would really like to see it all go away :) We need some warm sunshine out there!!

Important Dates

Friday, February 14th - 2:00pm ~ A great big thank you to our wonderful room moms (Mrs. Orzechowski, Mrs. Tader, and Mrs. Thompson) for working hard to plan a "love"-ly celebration on Friday afternoon!  Please join us if you would like to be a part of their last classroom party!

Monday, February 17th ~ No School - President's Day!

Math

We began unit 7 by reviewing exponential notation, then learning about the powers of 10 and scientific notation.  This week we will look at parentheses in equations and order of operations, then on to negative numbers.  Please encourage your child to continue to practice their multiplication facts and play the unit 7 review games online to improve skills.  The unit 7 assessment will be the following week.

Science

Students enjoyed learning about how our water moves - from faucet to flush - on Friday during their visit from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation Facility of Greater Chicago.  They learned where our water comes from and how it is cleaned, then how the water is cleaned and put back into the water cycle once it leaves our homes.  

They should have come home with an assignment to collect and measure the amount of water used while they brush their teeth this weekend.  We will use this amount to begin our discussion of how much water we use in our homes on a daily basis.  We will discuss wants versus needs, and how to conserve the water that we use.  Our unit will end on Friday as we discuss water pollution and how to keep our water supply clean.  We will spend a few days of review next week, then take a final unit assessment.  I will announce the date of the assessment to the students later in the week, and put it in next weekend's blog.

Reading

Students enjoyed putting their creative skills to work with chalk drawings as they analyzed poetry this week.  They used these drawings to help reflect on mood and tone of the poems in a common core type compare/contrast prompt.  By breaking down the poems, and reflecting on the word the poet chose to use, the kids were able to do some very complex analysis of these poems and compare the metaphor in one to the simile in the other.  I was impressed!

We will begin the Unit 4 Week 1 literacy unit on Monday.  It will give us an opportunity to read more texts about the Civil Rights Movement while discussing how the setting of a story impacts the plot.  For the first time in a while, we will be following our traditional literacy schedule - packets and spelling will be due on Friday.  They will take their assessments in the morning before the Valentine's Day party.

Writing

We are nearing the end of our novel The Liberation of Gabriel King, and the students stay quite engaged in the story.  It is prompting excellent discussions on segregation, discrimination, friendship and conquering fears.  Students learned how to identify character traits over emotions this week, and how to support their claims about a character with textual evidence.

“Children see magic because they look for it.” 
― Christopher Moore

Stay Warm!

Valentine's Day Party Information

Happy Valentine’s Day!! 

February 1, 2014

Dear Parents and/or Guardians:

We will be having food in class on Friday, February 14^th at 2:00pm as part of our Valentine’s Day party festivities. Please feel free to join us!

Refreshments to be served in class:

Water bottles

Minute Maid Fruit Punch

Minute Maid Pink Lemonade

Strawberries and Raspberries with Cool Whip

Skinny Pop Popcorn

Heart shaped sugar cookies from Mariano's

Foods containing peanuts or nut products are not allowed and will not be served.

Please do not plan on sending any additional treats or goodies for students to enjoy as part of the party celebration. Sometimes students send in candy to share in Valentine’s Day bags. This is allowed, but please do not send in any candy or treats with peanut ingredients. Anything sent to school should be store-bought and pre-packaged/wrapped. Students will be instructed not to eat these treats during or after the party but to bring them home.

Please encourage your child to make good choices during our celebration. I am aware of all students with severe food allergies through our nurse’s office; however, please feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Thank you!

Mrs. Theresa Fowler

5-2 Class List

Please be sure to include everyone on the list!

Brandon Attea

Emily Balla

Meric Farag

David Guza

Jordan Johnson

Blake Knauss

Avery Larson

Daniela Mancheva

Ethan Marunde

Vivian Mizuno

Grace Niemiec

Molly Nikolai

Alex Orzechowski

Veronica Rokicki

Kevin Szwedo

Olivia Tader

Lauren Thompson

Ronan Wilcox

Colton Yousif

5-2 Updates ~ 02/01

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

Another short week this week...so not too many updates!!  Hope you are all managing to stay warm and enjoy this winter weather.  I'm curious to hear what the groundhog has to say tomorrow....personally, I'm hoping we're nearly done with this crazy winter!!

Important Dates

10th Inning Sledding ~ Monday, February 3rd ~ We will be taking the kiddos sledding as a reward for their excellent behavior on Monday!!  Without a doubt, this was the favorite activity from last year, so we're excited to do it again with this year's 5th graders :)  We sent home a permission slip on Thursday for this activity which MUST be signed and returned by Monday if your child would like to participate.  They should bring in flat, plastic sleds only on Monday morning - we will have a place to story them during the day.  It would be a good idea to label your sleds with permanent marker to ensure your sled is returned.  They will also be outside for 60-90 minutes in the middle of the day, so please be sure your child is prepared for the weather.  If you have any questions about this activity, or your child is missing their permission slip, please email me to discuss details.

Everybody Counts ~ Tuesday, February 4th ~ Everybody Counts is an organization dedicated to the empowerment and independence of people with disabilities.  Volunteers take the time to come into classrooms to help the students understand life with a disability in a powerful and engaging way.  THANK YOU to all the parents who volunteer in bringing this valuable program to our school  Our presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, 2/4 at 1:15.

Water Reclamation Treatment Facility ~ Friday, February 7th ~ In line with our science curriculum on Watery Earth, we have a Community Education Specialist  from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago coming in on 2/7 at 9:00 to teach students about how water is cleaned and pumped to homes and business in the area, as well as how wastewater is treated and cleaned after it leaves our homes.  This is a free in-school field trip, so you won't need to send in anything!

Math

Students took their Unit 6 assessment on Friday - please look for them to come home on Monday for a sign and return.  Exponents and negative numbers are next up in Unit 7!

Science

We continue to discuss and read various texts on the water cycle in science this week.  We didn't get as far as I hoped this week, so I was not able to assign the Water Cycle project for this weekend.  We will begin it in class on Tuesday, then I will send it home to be completed for Thursday.   We will also begin our discussion of our community's water and wastewater systems in science this week.

Reading

Literacy packets and spelling are due on Monday, and we will be testing on Unit 3 Week 5 on Monday.  This wraps up Unit 3, so they will have a review packet this week, with the Unit Assessment on Friday.  We will also work on analyzing poetry this week, as we look at the imagery in The Echoing Green by William Blake, and compare it to the imagery in The Fog by Carl Sandburg.  This is a fun unit that involves some artwork and creativity on the part of the students, while at the same time has them diving deeper into the meaning of the text.

Writing

We didn't get very far in our writing unit this week, but we did spend a couple of days reading more of The Liberation of Gabriel King.  Students are really enjoying this book - several have read ahead to the end!  It's an excellent reflection on the struggle our country had during the Civil Rights Movement, at the same time looking at individual struggles with fear, all wrapped up in a beautiful story of friendship.  It's prompting some excellent discussion!

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, 
and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them” 

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Stay Warm!

5-2 Updates ~ 01/27

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

Well, that winter weather just doesn't seem to be letting up these days!!  As we've discussed the polar ice caps melting in science and reading over the past weeks, it's been difficult to convince the kids that we are experiencing global warming!!  Certainly doesn't feel like it here in the Midwest :)  Looking ahead at the temperatures for Monday and Tuesday, we have especially cold temperatures predicted once again.  Hoping they will be warm enough to be in school, but please watch for possible closings.

Looks like we'll see the kiddos on Wednesday - stay warm!!

Additional Updates:
We're halfway through the second trimester already!  Please look for Mid-term Progress Reports to come home for a sign and return on Wednesday.

Starting Wednesday, 5th grade will recess first shift (12:10pm) and lunch second shift (12:40pm).  As always, please be sure they have appropriate outerwear for the cold.  We will be going outside for recess if the temperatures are above 0 degrees.

Important Dates

Everybody Counts ~ Tuesday, February 4th ~ Everybody Counts is an organization dedicated to the empowerment and independence of people with disabilities.  Volunteers take the time to come into classrooms to help the students understand life with a disability in a powerful and engaging way.  THANK YOU to all the parents who volunteer in bringing this valuable program to our school  Our presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, 2/4 at 1:15.

Water Reclamation Treatment Facility ~ Friday, February 7th ~ In line with our science curriculum on Watery Earth, we have a Community Education Specialist  from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago coming in on 2/7 at 9:00 to teach students about how water is cleaned and pumped to homes and business in the area, as well as how wastewater is treated and cleaned after it leaves our homes.  This is a free in-school field trip, so you won't need to send in anything!

Math

We have finally reached the end of Unit 6.  With all the breaks, it's taken us an exceptionally long time!  Our last day of instruction for this unit will be on Monday as we continue to focus on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.  Tuesday will be our review day, and we will be taking the unit assessment on Wednesday, 1/29.  Our review session for the test will be on Monday this week - please encourage your child to attend if they have struggled with the concepts in this unit.  Of course, if we do have "cold" days this week, the schedule will be pushed forward according to the number of days we miss.

Our Unit 6 Assessment is now scheduled for Friday, 1/31, and the review session will be on Thursday at recess/lunch - please encourage your child to attend if they are struggling with the concepts for this unit!

Science

We finished our discussion of the Earth's Water Model this week in science, learning more about groundwater, frozen water, and water in the air.  Our discussion included the amount of fresh water available to us on this planet which launched a discussion on our need to conserve.  We will continue these discussion in the next few weeks.

This week, students will build a model of the water cycle, and we will engage in some common core lessons on the water cycle using complex text.  They will have the opportunity to integrate information from a couple of non-fiction texts and a poem, and synthesize their learning into a poster on the water cycle.

The Water Cycle Posters will be assigned as homework over next weekend.  They will be due on Monday, 2/3.  Look for the assignment to come home on Friday.

Reading

Hopefully, we will have a 5-day week in reading so we can get back on our typical literacy schedule!  If not, I will help the students understand the change in schedule and remind them daily when their homework is due.  We will be focusing on elements of science fiction this week as we compare a number of different science fiction stories.

They will be given their literacy packets (grammar and practice) and spelling will be assigned on Wednesday when we return.  They will still have nightly assignments, and their packets will be due on Monday, 2/3.  They will have their weekly literacy assessments on Monday, 2/3 as well.

Writing

We were only able to spend a couple of days this week in The Liberation of Gabriel King, but we did look at how dialogue and the actions of a character help us to get to know those characters better in text.  We will continue to read and develop our understanding of character traits as we move through this unit.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. 
If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” 

― Albert Einstein

Stay Warm!

5-2 Updates ~ 01/25

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

Well, that winter weather just doesn't seem to be letting up these days!!  As we've discussed the polar ice caps melting in science and reading over the past weeks, it's been difficult to convince the kids that we are experiencing global warming!!  Certainly doesn't feel like it here in the Midwest :)  Looking ahead at the temperatures for Monday and Tuesday, we have especially cold temperatures predicted once again.  Hoping they will be warm enough to be in school, but please watch for possible closings.

Important Dates

Everybody Counts ~ Tuesday, February 4th ~ Everybody Counts is an organization dedicated to the empowerment and independence of people with disabilities.  Volunteers take the time to come into classrooms to help the students understand life with a disability in a powerful and engaging way.  THANK YOU to all the parents who volunteer in bringing this valuable program to our school  Our presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, 2/4 at 1:15.

Water Reclamation Treatment Facility ~ Friday, February 7th ~ In line with our science curriculum on Watery Earth, we have a Community Education Specialist  from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago coming in on 2/7 at 9:00 to teach students about how water is cleaned and pumped to homes and business in the area, as well as how wastewater is treated and cleaned after it leaves our homes.  This is a free in-school field trip, so you won't need to send in anything!

Math

We have finally reached the end of Unit 6.  With all the breaks, it's taken us an exceptionally long time!  Our last day of instruction for this unit will be on Monday as we continue to focus on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.  Tuesday will be our review day, and we will be taking the unit assessment on Wednesday, 1/29.  Our review session for the test will be on Monday this week - please encourage your child to attend if they have struggled with the concepts in this unit.  Of course, if we do have "cold" days this week, the schedule will be pushed forward according to the number of days we miss.

Science

We finished our discussion of the Earth's Water Model this week in science, learning more about groundwater, frozen water, and water in the air.  Our discussion included the amount of fresh water available to us on this planet which launched a discussion on our need to conserve.  We will continue these discussion in the next few weeks.

This week, students will build a model of the water cycle, and we will engage in some common core lessons on the water cycle using complex text.  They will have the opportunity to integrate information from a couple of non-fiction texts and a poem, and synthesize their learning into a poster on the water cycle.

Reading

Hopefully, we will have a 5-day week in reading so we can get back on our typical literacy schedule!  If not, I will help the students understand the change in schedule and remind them daily when their homework is due.  We will be focusing on elements of science fiction this week as we compare a number of different science fiction stories.

Writing

We were only able to spend a couple of days this week in The Liberation of Gabriel King, but we did look at how dialogue and the actions of a character help us to get to know those characters better in text.  We will continue to read and develop our understanding of character traits as we move through this unit.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. 
If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” 

― Albert Einstein

Stay Warm!

5-2 Updates ~ 1/21

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

Another short, cold week in front of us...kind of making me long for those long, warmer days!!  Hope you enjoyed all the extra time spent with your kiddos this month :)

Important Dates

Talent Show ~ Friday, January 24th ~ We have 36 talented, creative, and interesting acts that have been put together by the 4th and 5th graders this year!  Students will perform for the school audience from 1:15-3:30 on Friday afternoon, then again for families at 7:00pm.  Hope you will make some time to come out and watch the amazing talent OMS students have to offer!  They can bring their props and costumes to school in the morning, then they will be given time to change and prepare before the performance.

Everybody Counts ~ Tuesday, February 4th ~ Everybody Counts is an organization dedicated to the empowerment and independence of people with disabilities.  Volunteers take the time to come into classrooms to help the students understand life with a disability in a powerful and engaging way.  THANK YOU to all the parents who volunteer in bringing this valuable program to our school  Our presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, 2/4 at 1:15.

Water Reclamation Treatment Facility ~ Friday, February 7th ~ In line with our science curriculum on Watery Earth, we have a Community Education Specialist  from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago coming in on 2/7 at 9:00 to teach students about how water is cleaned and pumped to homes and business in the area, as well as how wastewater is treated and cleaned after it leaves our homes.  This is a free in-school field trip, so you won't need to send in anything!

Math

We continue to work our way through Unit 6, and just finished up with data and graphing on Friday.  The students will return on Wednesday to take a mid-unit quiz, then we will finish up the unit focusing on adding fractions with unlike denominators.  Our Unit 6 Assessment is scheduled for Wednesday, January 29th.  As always, an additional study session will be offered during lunch and recess the day before the test is given.  Please encourage your child to attend the study session if they have struggled with any of the concepts in this unit.  

Science

Our class is participating in an online pilot for our Science Companion Watery Earth unit.  They were taught how to log on this week, and how to access both the online science journal and textbook.  We did discover some bugs in the system along the way which was frustrating for some students :)  The writers of the curriculum appreciate their feedback, and their comments will help improve the program before releasing it to the public.  Students will be using this online pilot while in the classroom, but they do not have to use it at home.  They may take home their science textbooks and journals if necessary.  However, they do have access to both the textbook and journal at home if they would like to access the work electronically.

We discussed a couple of the types of water we have on this planet available to us - surface water (both fresh and salt) and groundwater.  Students also built a model of groundwater this week in science.  Ask your students what groundwater is, where it is stored, and how water gets to the place where it is stored.  These are the types of questions that will be on their final unit assessment, so we will continue to review the concepts.  This week, we will move on to frozen water and water vapor.

During this unit, your child will need one clean 2-liter bottle, cut in half separating the top from the bottom.  Please send in this bottle by next Friday, 1/24.  Thank you!

Reading

We will finish up Unit 3 Week 4 on Friday this week so packets and spelling are due on Friday morning - we will also be testing that morning.  We are comparing and contrasting characters in a fictional story, and deserts in informational text; and we continue to work on the skill of summarizing.  Next week, we should be back to a "normal" Monday-Friday schedule, so the kids should breathe a sigh of relief - they don't seem to be enjoying the change of routine!

Writing

We were able to start reading The Liberation of Gabriel King this week, and the kids are really enjoying it!  They are engaged in the text that explores the themes of racial discrimination, and have been asking excellent questions during the discussions.  They wanted to know who was president at this time and allowed such horrible things to happen.  It's a beautiful thing to listen to the innocence in their comments and questions when this type of discrimination took place not so long ago.  

We are reading this book to produce a Response to Fiction Essay.  In these lessons, students write numerous journal entries in which they explore their responses to the reading, learn to describe their textual observations, and practice new writing skills.  We started this week by brainstorming observations we make in life of people when we first meeting them, and the impressions those observations leave us with...and we drew a correlation to meeting characters in a book.  Just like we observe people in real life and write about them, we can observe characters in a novel and write about them.  The difference is, we can only observe what the author has written down for us. 

"Every child is a different kind of flower, 
and all together make this world a beautiful garden."
~ Annonymous~

Stay Warm!

5-2 Updates 1/11

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

It was so great to finally get back into the classroom with the kiddos this week - I missed them all!  They all seemed excited to return to their friends, and enjoyed chatting about their breaks as we settled back into our routine :)

Important Dates

MAPS Testing ~ Monday & Tuesday, January 13th & 14th - Students will be taking their Reading and Language Arts MAPS test on Monday and Tuesday from 1:15-2:15pm.  They will be well-fed having just finished lunch, but remember - an early bedtime on Sunday and Monday night would benefit scores!  MAPS tests (both winter and spring scores) are used in placement decisions for middle school, so we want our students to do their very best!  We will review test taking strategies in the morning before the test, but you can remind them to take their time and read everything at least twice.  They have as much time as they need to complete the test - there is no benefit to completing the test quickly.  Thanks for your support at home!

Robert Crown:  Michael/Linda Program ~ Wednesday, January 15th -  Robert Crown will be presenting information about how your children's bodies are changing as they enter puberty on Wednesday afternoon.  Boys and girls will be separated for the presentations, and will receive different information in each of their programs.  Just a word of advice to minimize anxiety...if you haven't had the conversation at home with your child about their body changes, you may want to start the conversations this weekend.  This can be difficult information for some students to receive in front of their classmates.  If you have any questions at all about what they will cover, please do not hesitate to contact me.

MLK Day ~ Monday, January 20th - No School
SIP Day ~ Tuesday, January 21st - No School

Math

We were able to get started on Unit 6 in our short week this week, but with the extra couple of days off this month, it will take us some time to get all the way through it!  Please encourage your children to continue to practice their facts at home, and to play the Unit 6 online games to review the concepts taught.

Watanuki Math

We are well into Unit 6 in the 6th grade UCMP program and we have only been back in school three days! This unit focused on properties of numbers advanced computation concepts. It also explores some pre-algebra skills. This week students reviewed multiplication and division of mixed numerals and addition and subtraction of signed numbers. We also learned about multiplication and division of signed numbers, a newly presented concept. Students are working hard and doing well. Unit 5 tests should have been shared, signed and returned at this point. The re-test for the few taking it will be held Monday at lunch.

Science

We started our Watery Earth this week with our favorite water stories, and a discussion about the many ways we use water in our lives.  They understand what a valuable resource water is to our lives!  They are anxious to get started with experiments - we will be starting with some engaging hands-on experiences on Monday!

During this unit, your child will need one clean 2-liter bottle, cut in half separating the top from the bottom.  Please send in this bottle by next Friday, 1/17.  Thank you!

Reading

We will finish up Unit 3 Week 3 on Monday and Tuesday this week.  Packets and spelling are due on Tuesday morning, and we will be testing in the afternoon.  We will begin Unit 3 Week 4 on Thursday, and the packets for that week will be due the following Friday, 1/24.  All of the interruptions to our schedule (cold days, holidays, MAPS testing and Robert Crown) have the kiddos a little confused on when things are due, so we continue to remind them everyday.  We should be back on our typical Monday through Friday schedule the last week of January :)

Writing

We will begin to read The Liberation of Gabriel King this week, but with all the interruptions, we won't have much time to get started on lessons until the following week.

"Children close their ears to advice, but open their eyes to example"

~ Annonymous~

Stay Warm!