Quick Updates

Good evening, all!  I know it's been a while since our last update, but I wanted to touch base to let you know what's going on in Room 222 at Cardinal Elementary.


Math - We recently wrapped up Unit 6 and are just beginning Unit 8.  Yes, we are going a little bit out of order, but it's for a good reason!  Unit 7 is all about positive and negative integers which is NOT a standard that is tested on ISTEP+.  We will be doing Unit 7 at the very end of the year which will best prepare students for their math classes in middle school.  Unit 8 will continue to focus on fractions and fraction concepts.


Reading - Currently, we are in our third unit of the basal reading series.  This unit's theme focus is on what people gain from inventors and artists.  All of the stories that we will be reading will be non-fiction, so students will be learning about some famous artists, inventors, and even about how scenes are filmed in Hollywood!  Our focus skills for this unit are identifying fact and opinion, sequencing, and identifying the main idea of a text.


Social Studies - Students are in the  midst of a study of colonization in North America.  We are currently learning about the 13 original colonies, how they were formed, and what life was like during that time in history.  We will be culminating this unit with a test and small project that will be due December 19th.  We'll be jumping into the events that led to the American Revolution after winter break.


Science - Classes are focusing on the various body systems during this unit in science/health.  Students will learn how systems are formed, what is necessary for them to function well, and what diseases may be harmful to those systems.


Writing - There has been so much going on in writing that it's hard to nail it down to just one thing!  We have covered persuasive writing, compare/contrast writing, and are currently working on attacking writing prompts to begin our preparations for ISTEP+ testing in February.  The test will be taking on a new format this year, so we are working on showing students the best strategies to use when faced with the new writing prompts.


Next week, we will be having Spirit Days to end the quarter and have some fun before leaving on our two-week break!  The Spirit Days will be as follows:

Monday: Don’t let Santa see you with that bedazzled BED HEAD!  Crazy Holiday Hair Day!

Tuesday: Wow-sa! Now that’s ONE WONDERFUL WINTER HAT Day

Wednesday: Perfect Holiday for a pair of Jammies Day—Sport your WINTER’s BEST PJ’s (AND for $1.00 donation—bring along your blankie or a small stuffed friend)

Thursday: Add a little glam and glitter –let’s FROLIC in our FESTIVE BEST (let’s look FANCY) Day

Friday: Wear-out your Winter Sweaters—Can you out “winter sweater” your teacher? Day

 
Don’t get Frozen. Warm up with a great book! The Winter Reading Challenge is just a few weeks away. All Cardinal students are encouraged to read 15 minutes per day for at least 10 days over winter break. Students who complete the challenge will attend a FROZEN party the first week back after winter break. Join us for hot chocolate, snow ball fights, and other fun, frozen activities.
P.S. - this reading can overlap the Book It! reading that students are doing to earn a free pizza!  That's a double-win!


One more quick note:  please be certain that your student is leaving the house each  morning dressed appropriately for the weather!  We go outside for recess as often as possible.  Students need to be wearing coats, hats, gloves, etc.


Have a great week, everyone!

Happy Fall, Y'All!

Fall has definitely come in like a lion this year!  I know . . . wrong season, but it seemed appropriate given the fact that we were nearing the 80's last weekend and are now donning our winter gear!  It's been a while since the last update, so here's what's been happening in Room 222.


Math - We are currently working through a unit on fractions.  This was our first week and we will continue to focus on concepts such as equivalent fractions, converting fractions to decimals and percents, and comparing and ordering fractions. 


Science - Prior to break, students wrapped up their final studies on the life sciences.  They are now working on a short unit focusing on personal health.  They have been reading about drug and alcohol abuse and ways to avoid/prevent it.  This unit will continue for a couple more weeks.


Social Studies - The study of Native Americans was culminated in some very interesting and creative projects modeling Native American shelters and artifacts.  This week, we began a study of early explorers and the exploration of the eastern hemisphere.  We'll "explore" the western hemisphere next week, beginning with the infamous Christopher Columbus!


Reading - We are about to embark upon our fifth story in Unit 2, focusing on the them of "doing the right thing."  Some of the skills we have worked on throughout this unit are sequencing, comparing and contrasting, and determining author's purpose.  After this week, we will delve into our second novel of the year, Shiloh, to reteach and enrich those skills and strategies that we've worked on throughout Unit 2, as well as discuss why this novel fits into the theme of "doing the right thing."


English/Writing - We have spent the past week reviewing the characteristics of persuasive writing and practicing with a few different prompts.  We also worked on the grammar skill of identify helping and linking verbs.  Next week, we move on to poetry and subject-verb agreement.


With the season of giving upon us, Cardinal Elementary students will be participating in some healthy competition that will benefit those in need.  Next week (Nov 3-7), students can bring in loose change for a Boys vs. Girls coin drive competition!  The money raised will go to purchasing food, gifts, and household gifts for families in need in Brownsburg.  The group that raises the most money will win an extra gym session!  Let's dig into those couch cushions and in between the seats in the car and see what we can do to help those in need!


Along with the coin drive, we will also be collecting gently used or new sports equipment and apparel.  This collection will go towards students who struggle with purchasing equipment in order to play sports and participate in those extra curricular activities in our community.


Don't miss out on two GREAT opportunities that will happen this month!  First, the Everyday Math Family Night at Eagle Elementary on Wednesday, November 5, and second is our Family Engineering Night on Thursday, November 13.  If your family is interested in participating in the Engineering Night, it is a free night of fun, but you must be sure to register so that there will be enough materials available for the experiments and projects.  Please look for the registration flyer in your child's Friday Folder.

It's hard to believe that we have already reached midterm for the first quarter.  Time flies when you're in fifth grade!  I know it's been a while since my last post, so here are the updates for what we've been studying.


Math - We have wrapped up our first unit which focused on number concepts and have moved through Unit 2 which focused on operations and algorithms.  We have reviewed various strategies and algorithms for doing addition, subtraction and multiplication.  We also reviewed comparing numbers, as well as putting numbers in written and expanded form.  Our test over Unit 2 will be on Tuesday, September 9th.  The Test Alert for this unit will be sent home today with students.


Reading - The focus theme for the past five weeks has been about meeting challenges.  We have read stories that were based on survival, facing weather challenges, finding courage in challenging situations, overcoming social challenges, and facing challenges that are presented to us.  The skills we have covered so far have been cause and effect relationships, fact and opinion, and identifying characters, setting and plot.  Reading strategies that we have worked on have been inferring, questioning, and summarizing.  For the next two weeks, we will be delving into the novel, Three Cups of Tea.  This is a non-fiction novel about a man who faced many challenges in the Middle East and has risen to the occasion and built schools for the children in those countries.  Please note:  students may have reading homework to complete over the course of the next two weeks as this is a "meaty" novel.  There will also be NO SPELLING for the next two weeks.


Writing - For the first few weeks, our class worked hard to review the six traits of writing and what those traits entail.  We are now beginning to work on our first official piece of writing.  This will be a narrative about a place that we love and will focus on ideas, word choice, and conventions.


Social Studies - We have officially traveled through all five regions of the United States now!  And all from the comfort of our classroom!  Next week, students will begin a culminating project of designing a poster for a region using required information and chosen information.  Students received the guidelines for this project in class today; work will begin on Monday.  White poster board will be provided, however if students would like colored poster board they are responsible for purchasing that on their own. 


Science - Last week, students completed the first chapter of Life Science focusing on kingdoms, classification, and vertebrates and invertebrates.  The test that was given last week was given "open-book," therefore students had access to their textbooks in order to answer all questions on the test.  This week, classes moved on to the second chapter which will focus on interactions within ecosystems.


If you have not yet signed up for a parent/teacher conference, please do so as soon as possible.  This is a very important time for us to be able to meet and discuss your child's progress. 


Don't forget about Study Buddy Club every Thursday afternoon in my classroom from 3:45-5:00 pm.  Students are able to work on homework, do practice/enrichment/reinforcement activities, and have some more "teacher attention" in a smaller group setting.  Let me know if you need more information!


 The following announcement is from Mrs. McMullen and the Cardinal Student Council:

Next week is Riley Week! 

Cardinal kids have the opportunity to glam it up Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by purchasing some Riley gear:

·        Wednesday: Ring Out the Red Riley Bracelets $.25         

·        Thursday: Our Brownsburg Bulldogs back Riley kids with a Dog Tag Necklace $.50

·        Friday:  WE “Mustache” YOU to Wear Your Cardinal Red T-shirt and have a chance to buy a Red Mustache $1.00

To add to the excitement—ALL Cardinal kids will gather on Friday afternoon for a FULL SCHOOL picture!!!

Don’t forget to wear your Cardinal T-Shirt on FRIDAY!!!!

Thanks for your support to Riley Hospital! Last year, Brownsburg Community Schools raised over $16,000.00 during Riley Week!

And the Fun Has Begun!

It's official . . . We have hit the ground running!  And we're runnig full steam ahead!  All students now have their jobs for the year and have delved into the subject matter and routines exceptionally well.  Here's a peek at what we've been up to!

Reading - With two weeks of reading now under our belts, we have practiced identifying the characters, setting and plot (the rising action, the problem, and the solution), as well as cause and effect relationships within a text.  What we learned this week is that often times, an effect becomes a cause to another effect - similar to a chain reaction.  We also worked on the reading strategy of summarizing both during and after reading.

English & Writing - After covering the four different types of sentences in the first full week of school, we moved on to identifying the subject and predicate in sentences.  We also reviewed the traits of "ideas" and "organization" and have begun building a class rubric to use when we write.

Math - It's hard to believe, but we're almost through the entire first unit of math!  We have worked on finding factors, identifying prime and composite numbers, square numbers and square roots, and divisibility.  Our first test will be Tuesday, August 19th!  Students should have brought home a "Test Alert" to begin studying and reviewing.  Be sure to check it out!  It's worth extra credit points on their final test if review has been completed and directions have been followed!

Science - Students in Science are still working on a unit of classifying.  They are currently discussing the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates, and vascular and non-vascular plants.  They will continue with this chapter into the next week.

Social Studies - We have already traveled through both the Southeast and Northeast regions of the United States - all while never leaving our classroom!  We will continue with this unit of regions for the next few weeks, completing a states and capitals quiz for each region.  Keep studying those flash cards!

A few more quick updates . . .  If you have not yet signed up for a parent/student/teacher conference via Volunteerspot.com, please be sure to do that as soon as possible.  You should have received an e-mail from me via Volunteerspot.  Don't wait . . . spots are filling up!

If you are checking Power School and notice that your student has any "missing" work, please be sure to check with him/her.  I will be asking for those assignments first thing Monday morning, so students who still need to complete work will be using their recess time to do so.

REMINDER - Study Buddy Club starts this Thursday, August 21st!  Everyone is welcome!  If your student plans to attend, please be sure to fill out a permission slip and send it in by Thursday morning.  If you cannot find your permission slips, feel free to just send me a note (be sure to include an emergency phone number), or send me an e-mail.  Kiddos are welcome to bring snacks, but please be sure they are following nutritious habits! 

Welcome Back To School!

Welcome back, everyone!  It was an amazing first week of school and I'm truly enjoying getting to know your kiddos!  I want to thank everyone who came to the Parent Information Night on Thursday evening.  If you have any questions about anything that was discussed or that you read in the handout, please do not hesitate to contact me.


We spent a lot of time this first week setting up expectations and procedures for our classroom and our school.  I've been very impressed with how quickly everyone has acclimated.  There are many new friendships forming and I'm so looking forward to watching the kids grow and learn this year.  Fifth grade is an exciting year for them . . . They are almost to middle school! 


I will update you as often as I can via this blog.  Since we've spent a lot of time just getting used to routines and completing some assessments this week, we will be hitting the ground running on Monday morning!  Watch for an update late next week for some of the things we will be working on this week in Room 222.


Have a great weekend!