News from Mrs. Mail's fifth grade class
mail@ijschool.org
Pluto Place
Adventureland, NH 03060
October 2008
October is such a
great month! The crisp, autumn air is always refreshing, and we are
starting with fresh, new units and goals to go along with it. So far,
our class has earned six “foot steps” towards a “go the extra mile”
treat. My students have to work together to earn these footsteps, and I
am very proud of each of them. They are great kids and a lot of fun to
work with. We will be having a simple Halloween party on the 31st
with our second grade buddies. Here’s a run down of the topics we will
be working on this month…
Vocabulary: We will be working on
Units 4 and 5. Our Vocabulary and Spelling programs are going well. I
hope everyone has been logging on to the Vocabulary Workshop web site I
provided. It is full of fun activities meant to increase vocabulary
mastery for each unit. I am going to start providing extra practice for
anyone who would like to brush up on the cursive letter formations.
Math: We are half way through unit 2.
This unit reviews basic multiplication of whole numbers, the properties
of multiplication. We will learn some new strategies for solving large
digit multiplication in our head, before moving on to the more
challenging work of multiplying with decimals. Parents, please note
that our class work is being done on graph paper. It is really helping
to keep the columns in order. We continue to work on our weekly Math
Practice review sheets.
English: After reviewing all of the
basic rules of punctuation and capitalization in our first unit, we are
ready to move on. Our next unit is all about nouns and the many ways
they are used. We will continue to apply our English skills to improve
our writing. Our next unit is all about pronouns. Since pronouns take
the place of nouns, much of the lessons are covering very similar
concepts.
Science: Science class is a great
opportunity to work on study and organizational skills. The Folders for
Organization (F.F.O.) are in for our first unit. Students are
responsible for correcting and collecting their work as we move through
the lessons in each unit. When we have finished with the lessons, the
students will have exactly what they need to study in order to do their
best on the unit test. The unit tests are demanding. Students need to
have a clear understanding of the information from their notes and the
chapter, because the questions ask that students apply their new
knowledge.
Our unit on animal
classification is almost complete. The field trip to Squam Lake Natural
Science Center really brought this unit to life. We will continue to
focus on Life Science in the weeks to come, but our focus will shift to
the most basic building block of life, the cell. A 3D cell project will
be assigned, and I can’t wait to see what my students come up with! We
will be delving into human body systems next.
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Vocabulary Workshop website:
Sadlier-Oxford
Reading: We wrapped up
Because of Winn-Dixie with games and a party based on the book,
and we are ready to move on. We will be starting Sign of the
Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare. It is a wonderful
historical fiction story of survival and friendship in the Maine
highlands during the late 1700’s. This story was based on the true
adventure of the first family to settle Milo, Maine. We will be
doing a lot of comparing and contrasting of the historical setting
and our modern times. Some very important characters in this book
are Ponobscot Indians. Naturally, we will be taking this
opportunity to learn more about this ancient tribe that once live in
our area. There are so many levels of learning we can do while
reading this book! We will continue to build reading skills with
packets and applied practice.
Religion: Our new unit is about
living the Beatitudes. I really enjoy this unit because it gives us
the opportunity to think about ways that we can live God’s message
in our everyday life. We will be working on a presentation of skits
that reflect the beatitudes to perform for our buddies. We are also
preparing to do Penny Picking for the Pastoral Care Center in
November. So, save up your loose change to send in this November!
Please let me
know if you need to sign up for a conference. Thanks.
Mrs. Mail
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