October 15, 2008

We will be going to LDC next week!

Our first Unit of Inquiry is wrapping up this week.  Students will be having a unit assessment tomorrow!!  The assessment will ask students to show their understanding of migration and assimilation.

 
NEW UNIT OF INQUIRY
Our new Unit of Inquiry will be: How We Share the Planet– Earth’s Balancing Act.  The central idea for this unit is:  Human actions can affect Earth’s biodiversity.  We will focus on the following points of inquiry:
  1. The significance and relevance of biodiversity
  2. Natural and unnatural changes to biodiversity
  3. Human action toward preservation of biodiversity
We have already started talking about questions we have related to biodiversity.  This Unit of Inquiry will include a variety of activities and learning experiences including the following:
  *Reading: WOW magazine, The Talking Earth
  *Creation of ecosystems
  *Researching biodiversity issues
During this unit, students will be mastering the concepts of:
  *Ecosystems
  *Adaptations
  *Cycles-water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
  *Life Cycles– animals and plants
  *Characteristics of our planet that support life
  *Inherited and learned traits

THANK YOU!!!
Charlotte Rhodes for compiling our class directory!!
Earlene Stewart for coordinating our e-mail group!!

*************************************

October 6, 2008

LDC Schedule Update

These will be our LDC dates for the remainder of 2007:

Oct. 27-Nov. 7

Dec. 1-12

WRAPPING IT UP!

We are finishing up our migration research this week.  Everyone is currently working on their Power Point presentations.  All work on these presentations will be completed in class.  We will finish working on these on Wednesday and should be ready to start presenting on Friday!  We will need to use Friday and Monday of next week to complete all presentations.  Following our presentations, we will take a summative assessment covering the central idea that people migrate and assimilate to new situations.  This assessment will be given next week and will count as a test grade.

KUDOS!

I was impressed with the students’ performance on our tests last week.  Great Job!! We are ready to move on to division and fractions in math.  We will also be working on Unit 5 in Word Explorer and will have a test covering homophones and homographs on Friday.  In Science will be reading and writing about beneficial relationships between the Sun, Moon, and Earth.

GRADED WORK!

Students will be taking home their graded work binders today.  Please sign and date the bottom of the binder contents page.  This page will list all of the assignments that will be used to determine your child’s grade thus far.  During a class discussion, we talked about the opportunity to correct assignments for a higher grade.  Students may correct daily work for half credit on each corrected problem.  Daily work consists of the following:  classwork, quizzes, journals, and participation.  Progress reports will be going home on Friday, Oct. 10th.  These reports will need to be signed and returned on Monday, Oct. 13th.  The progress report only reflects grades taken thus far, students will have additional grades calculated into their average before a final grade is given.  Please keep in mind, that due to factors such as Hurricane Ike, students have fewer grades than would be normal at this point during the nine weeks.

PTO MEMBERSHIP!

Please return the PTO Membership forms that were sent home today.  We want 100% participation!!!

****************************

September 30, 2008

THURSDAY NIGHT

OCTOBER 2nd

GET ACQUAINTED NIGHT!!!

5:30 pm—7:30 pm

Mark Twain Pavilion

BRING A DISH TO SHARE!!!

Paper goods provided

************************************************* 

IN OUR CLASSROOM...

We will focus on the following topics this week.

Math

There will be a math test on Friday that will cover the following topics:  Multiplication, Place Value, Primes, Composites, Squares, Prime Factorization, and Common Factors.

Science

We will be studying the Earth’s hydrosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere as well as the relationship between the Earth and the Sun.

Spelling/Vocab.

We will be working on Unit 4 in Word Explorer this week.  The focus of this unit is multi-meaning words.  There will be a test on Friday, in which students will need to correctly spell and use the words in context.

Reading

This is our last week for the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  We will start focusing more on non-fiction text  next week. 

Research Project

Our research project is underway.  Students may bring articles, internet resources, books collected at home.  We will use these resources in class to create our Power Point presentations.  Today, students were given a document outlining criteria for the completion of their project.  This document needs to be signed and returned by Thursday, Oct. 2nd.

Graded Work Binder

These will be going home next week for you to view your child’s grades thus far.

Water Bottles

Students may and are encouraged to bring their own water bottles to class on a daily basis.  This not only keeps them hydrated, but it will also cut down on instructional time spent at the water fountain.

Coming Up in October

PICTURE DAY-Oct. 2
Dad’s Club Campout-Oct. 3
School Holiday (Yom Kippur)-Oct. 9
Donuts for Dad-Oct. 14
Spanish & Chinese Translators Available-Oct. 15
National Boss Day-Oct. 16
Community Outreach Meeting: Lamar H.S.-Oct. 20
SDMC Meeting-Oct. 23
Spooky Spaghetti Supper-Oct. 25
Free Dress Day-Oct. 31 

*************************************

September 22, 2008

It is good to be back!  Hopefully, all of your family members are safe and your power is restored; or will be soon.  I look forward to seeing all of the students tomorrow!!!

Schedule Changes

Since we were not in school last week, this will affect some of the previously planned activities.  We should have completed our second week in LDC last week.    Instead we will now finish up LDC this week.  This may impact our LDC schedule for the remainder of the semester.  If there is a further adjustment to our LDC dates, I will notify you as soon as those changes are made.

Homework

Due to the continued realities of hurricane recovery, homework will be scaled back to reading ONLY.

Continuing Curriculum

In the areas of Math and Science, we will use this week to review and wrap up concepts taught from the beginning of the school year.  We will  quickly move on to the following topics in the coming weeks:

Math

Multiplication, Division, and Fractions

Science

Earth Systems, Solar System (this will lead up to our Biodiversity Unit of Inquiry)

This week we will be continuing work in our Word Explorer workbooks (Unit 3).  This will not be for homework, it will be completed in class.

Migration Report

We will begin working on our migration research report this week.  Students may work individually or with partners to investigate the migration of a group of their choice.  The following questions will be used to frame their research:

Form: What is it?

Which migrating group are you researching and from where did they migrate?

Function: How does it work?

What kinds of people were they and what differentiates them from any other group? (Ex. language, traditions, etc.)

Causation: Why is like it is?

When and why did they migrate?

Change: How is it changing?

How did their life change after their migration? How did they and their families assimilate?

Connection: How is it connected to other things?

How is this migration connected to another migration?

Reflection: How do we know?

How do we know that this migration was significant to the history of the world?

Responsibility: What is our responsibility?

What responsibility do you feel towards this migrating group?

All research will be done in class.  Students will not be beginning independent research at home.  This week we will begin discussing these questions and possible topics.  More in depth information, including grading rubrics, will be distributed later this week or next week.

IMPORTANT THINGS FOR THIS WEEK:

• Early dismissal on Wednesday has been canceled.
• Relaxed dress code this week (many families are still without a working washing machine).
• Free breakfast and lunch for students.
• There will be extended day beginning on Tuesday.

*************************************

As many of you probably know, camp has been canceled due to the developing hurricane in the Gulf.  We will try to reschedule in the spring.

September 9, 2008

As you know, the students will be leaving for Camp Olympia on Wednesday morning.  We should be departing between 8:30 am and 9:00 am.  Please refer to the information that has previously been sent home for additional details (a yellow sheet was sent home on Monday).  The children will return in time for dismissal on Friday.

OPEN HOUSE

Open House for 5th grade will begin at 7 p.m. tonight!!

WE ARE LEARNING.... 

Language Arts

We started LDC on Monday and will be reading the book In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  During our reading in LDC and in the classroom, we will focus on PYP Concept Questions and the Central Idea that people migrate and assimilate to new situations.  We have also been reading the non-fiction text Immigrant Kids  in the classroom.  We have been learning interesting facts regarding United States’ immigration while learning skills such as summarization and outlining.  Next we will begin our migration report.

Spelling/Vocabulary

We are currently working on Lesson 2 in the Word Explorer text.  These are your child’s spelling words for the week.  Students must know how to spell and use the words appropriately in context.  Words will be tested on a weekly basis.

Math

We are continuing to work on the following:

• Divisibility Rules
• Factors, Primes, Composites, Squares
• Place Value: Billions to thousandths

********IMPORTANT UPDATE********

We will be attending Camp Olympia not Camp Cullen.  You can access the Camp Olympia website at http://www.campolympiaretreats.com/index.php.  There is an additional website at www.campolympia.com.  All other aspects of the trip will remain the same.

If your child has not returned the permission slip for the camp and is planning on attending, please have him/her return it as soon as possible.

THANK YOU to all the parents who have already brought items from the wish list!!!  The students have been bringing many wonderful stories, pictures and artifacts related to our family interviews. Thank you for your support!

************************************************

THANKS FOR A GREAT FIRST WEEK!

We had a great first week of school!  The students did an excellent job of getting back into the swing of things after the summer break.  I have enjoyed working with each of them this week and I anticipate that we are going to have a great school year!

************************************************************

WELCOME to Hernandez's 5th Grade

Welcome back to another exciting year at Mark Twain Elementary.  I am anticipating a successful year with your children!  Before the year begins, I would like to provide you with some information regarding our classroom.

UPCOMING UNITS OF STUDY

We will be focusing on the following topics for the next couple of weeks.

Language Arts

We will be beginning our first Unit of Inquiry entitled, “Movin’ & Groovin’”  This unit will focus on the central idea that people migrate and assimilate to new situations.  The unit will inquire into the following:

·         When, where, and & why people migrate

·         Migrations of our ancestors

·         Assimilations new groups make

·         Impact on the community & environment

Mathematics

We will be primarily using the Everyday Mathematics curriculum to explore the following topics:

·         Factors, Prime, Composite, & Square numbers

·         Estimation

·         Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication of Whole Numbers and Decimals

·         Place Value

Throughout our studies in math we will be focusing on problem solving on a daily basis

Science

Our studies will focus on the Nature of Science including:

·         The Scientific Method

·         Scientific Tools

HOMEWORK

Students will have homework on a daily basis and will be due the following day unless otherwise stated. In order to help organize students, they will be required to write their assignments in their  school agenda. Agendas can be purchased at the school store.   All students will need to read at least 20 minutes a night.  Please check  and sign your child’s planner nightly to insure that homework is being completed.  If homework is not completed I will make a note of it in your child’s planner.  If your child has difficulty with an assignment during the week, please encourage him/her to talk to me.  I believe that homework can connect the home to your child’s school experience.  I want the experience to be positive and meaningful! 

TUESDAY FOLDERS

Your child will be bringing home a folder every Tuesday containing important school information and your child’s conduct grade for the previous week.  Please check this folder weekly and return it signed on Wednesday morning.  Tuesday folders will begin going home on September 2nd.

CLASSROOM RULES

I will be encouraging your child to daily make decisions that reflect the PYP Learner Profile and Attitudes.  In addition, I will ask your child to be mindful of the following:

·         Listen carefully to all adults

·         Follow directions

·         Respect others. Be kind with your words and actions.

·         Respect school and personal property

·         Work and play safely