We had a terribly busy week last week culminating in a wonderful Halloween parade and party! This is probably the most "look -forwarded-to" event of the school year! Students dressed up in some great costumes (I was "Dorothy" from the Wizard of Oz!).
You have probably been hearing your child use the acronym "NaNoWriMo" over the past week or two - it stands for National Novel Writing Month! As I mentioned at Back to School night, we are starting our goal of writing a novel in class (and at home) during the month of November. We have been learning about many writing techniques and helpful hints, and our pens and pencils are ready to start writing! Often times in the upcoming month your child will have Language Arts homework which consists of only working on their novel. They have already done a pre-write for the plot and characters, so they are ready to go! I will be monitoring the writing process as we go along, and asking to review excerpts from their novels. In addition, I will be writing my own novel along with them! Please supply plenty of encouragement and helpful advice to them as we embark together upon this great writing adventure - it will be challenging but alot of fun, too!
In math, we are just beginning Unit 5 which involves multiplication by 1-digit and 2 digit numbers for fourth graders, and multiplication and division of fractions for the fifth graders. Both groups did very well in Unit 4, and those tests have been sent home. Please let me know if your child is struggling with any of these new concepts that they will be learning.
We are completing our science kit, "Environments" this week - students will take their final test on Weds,11/2 and turn in their science notebooks. Their grade will be based on both their quizzes/ tests as well as the completeness of their science notebook. Next, we will start our "Too Good for Drugs" unit where we will be learning about legal and illegal drugs, and how they can choose to find healthier and safer alternatives to these practices. Please talk to your child at home about drugs - it is never too early to begin!
Remember - there is no school on Friday, November 11 due to Veteran's Day and we will have the entire week of Nov. 21 off as well. More to come later.....
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Update for Week of Oct. 17
Parents,
Thank you for attending the parent teacher conference this past week with your child - it was nice to meet with you one-on-one and discuss the goals that you and your child have for this school year - we have an amazing class!
We have several upcoming events to be aware of - on Tuesday, Oct. 18 is Student Picture Day - if you would like to purchase pictures, please be sure to send back the envelope that came in last week's Friday folder with a check. Pictures are taken of all Dilworth students who are present that day.
Friday, Oct. 28 will be our annual Halloween parade and class party - we are looking for parents who would like to plan and coordinate the party with other parents in the class. If you are interested, please let me know ASAP and I will contact you with further information.
Starting the week of Oct. 24, we will undertake a major project - my students will participate in "Nanowrimo" which is a novel-writing project in which students will eventually write a complete novel and have it published! This week will be the start of the brain-storming process and book discussions about the author's craft and how a novel is structured. They will have to work on this novel at home as well, and I will send home further directions next week.
Just a reminder - October book orders (paper or online) are due on Friday, Oct. 21! Have a great week!
Thank you for attending the parent teacher conference this past week with your child - it was nice to meet with you one-on-one and discuss the goals that you and your child have for this school year - we have an amazing class!
We have several upcoming events to be aware of - on Tuesday, Oct. 18 is Student Picture Day - if you would like to purchase pictures, please be sure to send back the envelope that came in last week's Friday folder with a check. Pictures are taken of all Dilworth students who are present that day.
Friday, Oct. 28 will be our annual Halloween parade and class party - we are looking for parents who would like to plan and coordinate the party with other parents in the class. If you are interested, please let me know ASAP and I will contact you with further information.
Starting the week of Oct. 24, we will undertake a major project - my students will participate in "Nanowrimo" which is a novel-writing project in which students will eventually write a complete novel and have it published! This week will be the start of the brain-storming process and book discussions about the author's craft and how a novel is structured. They will have to work on this novel at home as well, and I will send home further directions next week.
Just a reminder - October book orders (paper or online) are due on Friday, Oct. 21! Have a great week!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Week of October 3
Conferences begin this Thursday, Oct. 6 and continue through Friday, Oct. 14. Please make an effort to be on time for your appointment - we are very tightly scheduled throughout the conference period. Just a reminder - school will be dismissed at 1:00 PM on conference days, although students will eat lunch here between 12:00 and 12:30 during those days. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and your students to review their goals for this year!
Many thanks to all the parents and students who showed up for WalkAround on Saturday! It was a perfect day for walking, and many of our students brought out their walking shoes! Several students walked over 100 laps in the 5 hour long walk, which was a mighty accomplishment! Woo hoo! Now, to see if we reached our goal to get a classroom trophy - stay tuned!
There has been some confusion about the 4th grade field trips that I wanted to clear up - on most field trips, I must split our fourth grade group in half and one group of 9 goes with Mrs. Horner's class and the other group of 9 goes with Miss To's class. Half of us went on the field trip to Deer Hollow Farm last Thursday, while the other half will go on Oct. 20. I hope that this clears up any misunderstandings.
This week we will begin reading a new class novel "The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" - this book won the Newbery Medal 25 years ago, and is still widely considered to be a great book for 4th - 5th graders. We have many comprehension and vocabulary activities planned for this unit, and students will be allowed to bring the book home as necessary.
In math, 4th graders will finish Unit 2 in our book and begin Unit 3 this week, which centers on multiplication/division facts and strategies. 5th graders are already working on Unit 3, which involves algebraic equations and other concepts. We have also been working on a "Problem of the Month" where students are trying to figure out a staircase problem using triangular numbers - very challenging! A pre-test will be given to 4th graders this week on Unit 3, in order to determine who is on independent contract for this unit.
In science, 5th graders continue to learn about the systems in the human body and 4th graders are learning about food chains and webs. Both science and social studies will be put on hold over the next 10 days during conferences.
Many thanks to all the parents and students who showed up for WalkAround on Saturday! It was a perfect day for walking, and many of our students brought out their walking shoes! Several students walked over 100 laps in the 5 hour long walk, which was a mighty accomplishment! Woo hoo! Now, to see if we reached our goal to get a classroom trophy - stay tuned!
There has been some confusion about the 4th grade field trips that I wanted to clear up - on most field trips, I must split our fourth grade group in half and one group of 9 goes with Mrs. Horner's class and the other group of 9 goes with Miss To's class. Half of us went on the field trip to Deer Hollow Farm last Thursday, while the other half will go on Oct. 20. I hope that this clears up any misunderstandings.
This week we will begin reading a new class novel "The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" - this book won the Newbery Medal 25 years ago, and is still widely considered to be a great book for 4th - 5th graders. We have many comprehension and vocabulary activities planned for this unit, and students will be allowed to bring the book home as necessary.
In math, 4th graders will finish Unit 2 in our book and begin Unit 3 this week, which centers on multiplication/division facts and strategies. 5th graders are already working on Unit 3, which involves algebraic equations and other concepts. We have also been working on a "Problem of the Month" where students are trying to figure out a staircase problem using triangular numbers - very challenging! A pre-test will be given to 4th graders this week on Unit 3, in order to determine who is on independent contract for this unit.
In science, 5th graders continue to learn about the systems in the human body and 4th graders are learning about food chains and webs. Both science and social studies will be put on hold over the next 10 days during conferences.
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