Week of November 1

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.....