Newsletter 8-26-11



A few of the kiddos ready to head home for the weekend.



Newsletter 8-26-2011

We finished our first full week of school!!! We had a great week and a lot of learning was happening in Ms. Alley’s class J

Thank you for signing your child’s multiplication timed test and sending them back in. Please use this information so that you know how much extra practice time your child needs to be doing at home. I cannot stress how important it is for them to automatically know their facts! If they don’t know their facts, learning division and working with fractions is very difficult.

I hope you saw your child’s first States and Capitals test. They are in their binder. If not, the scores are in Power School.

Keep signing those planners!!!

The Week Ahead:

Religion: We will be starting chapter 1 in the Faith First text. When studying with your child at home, please use www.faithfirst.com to find the practice test. We use 5^th grade Legacy Edition.

English: We are starting on our first story in our Draft Books. The final product will be displayed in the hall for Parent Information Night on Tuesday.

Vocabulary: Unit 1 was checked today. The scores are in Power School. I do not take any correction on vocabulary, BUT I told the kids I will let them correct any errors this time. They will not be able to fix their errors for any other vocabulary units. The vocabulary test over Unit 1 is on Friday. We will be taking a “practice test” on Monday so that kids know what to expect on Friday. Use http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/levels_color.cfm?sp=student  for vocabulary games to practice with at home.  We are the blue level.

Math: We have completed lessons 1.1-1.3 this week. I explained to the children that I will give them full credit for any corrections in math. They are given the option to fix ANY errors in their Student Math Journals (SMJ) or on their Study Links (SL). Some children have taken full advantage of this, and some have not. You can check their scores on Power School (please do) or on the work itself. While we are on chapter 1, they can correct any assignments in chapter 1. They cannot make corrections on any previous chapters. For example, if we are on chapter 2, they are not able to correct any assignments in chapter 1.

Next week we will continue to move on with chapter 1. We will complete lessons 1.4-1.7

Reading: We were crammed full of activities this week and were not able to start our first novel, Bridge to Terabithia. We will start on Monday, I promise! J

Social Studies: Monday is the quiz on the West. We changed it from Friday because the kids wanted a few more days to study. On Monday I will also assign the Midwest Region. The test on the Midwest will be on Thursday.

Science: We have been learning about the parts of the brain and the parts of the neuron in science. We have been reading a book about the brain and taking notes. The kids have also been working on labeling the parts of the brain and the neuron. Next week we will be doing some hands-on activities to help the kids master the parts of the brain and neuron. I have had three gracious parents volunteer to send in playdough. I have enough blue playdough to make cerebrums… but we still need 2 batches of green for the cerebellum and one batch of red for the brain stems. If you are able to whip up a batch, email me and I will email you the recipe.

FYI:

-Clay County Public Health Center will be conducting dental screenings on Tuesday, August 30th. The screening will include a visual inspection of your child’s teeth and oral tissue. A note was sent to school if you do not want your child screened.

-On Wednesday afternoon, there will be a boy scouts speaker at St. James to recruit new boy scouts.

-My class will be hosting the Mass on Friday.

-Half day on Friday to start the holiday weekend! No school on Monday, September 5^th.

**In every newsletter I am making it a goal to have a “table talk question.” These are topics you can discuss at the dinner table that either reviews or previews one of our current units/activities:

TABLE TALK QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK:

1.      Quiz your child over the fifty states and capitals. Talk about how many US states and/or capitals you (as parents) have visited. Which ones were your favorites?

2.      Ask your child which “specials” class is their favorite? Which was your favorite when you were in school?

3.      For the kids’ morning journal assignment, they had to design a movie poster for a movie starring them as the lead role. Ask your child about the movie that they created.

Have a GREAT weekend!!

-Ms. Alley