MARCH 19 IS A BUSY DAY

This newsletter opens with a look at next Tuesday.  Students will enjoy the Celebration of Cultures throughout the day at Grant and we will get together as a school in the evening for Chili and Game Night.  Tuesday, March 19 is also the 5th GRADE END OF YEAR MEETING after school at 3:45.  During this meeting, we share information about our traditional end of the year events including Hannibal, Civil War Day, Memory Books/T shirts, 5th Grade Field Day, and Graduation.  Parents will have an opportunity to sign u and help with aspects of each event.  This is always a special time of year for the 5th graders and we appreciate the efforts our families put into the special events and celebrations.

Memory Book: Please remember to send in a baby picture, Kindergarten picture, and any pics of these kids at Grant events throughout the years for the Memory Book.  We are hoping to get all pics in by Spring Break.

Readathon: We won! We won!  Our class raised the most money and we had a very high percentage of students participating.  We also enjoyed lots of reading. Way to go, team!  We will get to celebrate with a special prize field trip later this year. Thanks again for contributing.

MAP Testing: We will be practicing the state assessment starting next week.  Students will get time practicing similar MAP testing items in Math and Communication Arts on computers.  We will practice the testing atmosphere and review content to be prepared.  Our exact testing dates/times have not been finalized but it looks like the 2nd and 3rd week of April will include 5th grade testing.

Weekly Update: This was another solid week of engaging learning.

MATH: Kids enjoyed special Pi day activities on 3/14.  They made large geometric representations of an algebraic pattern.  Our Unit 6 work this week included looking at data and line plots and reviewing volume.  We will continue with decimal multiplication and division next week.

READING: We read nonfictIon resources about the American Colonies this week.  The information we synthesized into a venn diagram representing aspects of each colonial region. Students also had time to finish book shares.

WRITING: They have also enjoyed working on their narratives which they finished this week.  I have read about a lot of vacations and injuries and some students are trying a bit of fiction in their narratives as well.

SS: With our venn diagrams of the colonies, we made a master venn diagram, highlighting the differences and similarities in each region.  We also used a map of the colonial regions to discuss how the geography affected the economy and daily life of the colonists in each region.  This activity lays a foundation for understanding the differences in the North and South and is something we come back to when we learn about the Civil War.

SCIENCE:  Our science this week focused on finishing our Spider Plant experiment plans.  Students worked a lot with data to identify means and themes on the graph to help write their conclusion.  We also are forming committees for our 5th Grade Community Project.  Next week, our committees will be adding to a proposal that I will be sending out to school and community groups over Spring Break.  I am very excited for this work.  It is very professional and impressive.  All families will also see our proposal and might find ways to help out with idea, time, or materials.

Ecoschoolhouse Designs and Handshake Geometry: