NICE TIMES AT GRANT SCHOOL

Families, this week we settled in and steadily worked on a variety of projects.  We also spent time preparing for the MAP test which starts on MONDAY!!! I have included a schedule of our MAP testing days and times below.  Please help your All-Star do their best on this state assessment by providing encouragement, a healthy diet, and plenty of rest. We will continue to work on our core projects during testing but I will be sure to work in a nice relaxing atmosphere at school too.  The current update for each subject is also listed below.

Thank you so much for those of you who have sent in pictures for the Memory Book and donations for the Hannibal charter bus.  You may have noticed our schedule filling up with field trips and fun, education events. For instance, this week we enjoyed a Jazz performance hosted by the We Always Sing Jazz Series and on Friday we had a STEAM day at Grant where students were involved in science, technology, engineering, art, and math activities.  I will update the most important events for this Spring in the Important Dates section to the right.  Please know for the most important events there will also be informational flyers and sign ups top help in the Friday Folder.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Thanks for all you do!

MAP Schedule: Notice we will be completed before May.  Attendance on testing days/times is extremely helpful to decrease makeups. Thanks!
4/17: Communication Arts Session 1, 1:10-3:10
4/18: Communication Arts Session 2/3, 1:10-3:10
4/20: Communication Arts Session 4, 1:10-3:10
4/21: Science Session 1/2, 1:10-3:10
4/24: Science Session 3, 9:45-11:45
4/25: Math Session 1/3, 9:45-11:45
4/27: Math Session 2, 9:45-11:45

Weekly Update:
Math: All of our math is focused on Geometry right now.  We have investigated triangles and quadrilaterals and the properties of polygons.  Students are working on geometry art as well.  Next week, we will finish geometry and brush up on measurements and a few other MAP preparation topics.

Science: Our science work is focused on our CPBL project.  Students are incorporating their science learning into presentations that will be used with our Stream Table which we are building for Grant School. We are also refreshing knowledge of moon phases and other topics for MAP preparation.

Social Studies: Our focus this week was on important US documents: Dec of Ind, Articles of Confed, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution.  The two main topics for the rest of the year are Westward Expansion and Civil War.

Literacy: Learners had some time to work on book shares but most our literacy time has been integrated into science or into MAP preparation. Almost everyone has 10 book shares! Yay! I look forward to having students share their work in May.

Pics of Stream Table, STEAM day, Mart (math art):

TIME TO BUCKLE DOWN!

Families, I hope all had a wonderful, relaxing, and fun break.  I certainly did! In fact, I failed to make any progress on the mountain of great work I have to grade.  I am excited to see some of creative work kids did for the American Revolution unit, the Matter unit in science, and math posters and tests.  Expect to see great work coming home bit by bit.

After our break, we looked at the calendar and the 8 (now 7) weeks we have left. We know to expect MAP testing this month and plenty of field trips coming up.  We will be flexible through our Spring schedule and in between events focus on our community science project, social studies themes, and some smaller units like the health Power unit.  We will always be progressing through math work but a lot of our reading and writing will be integrated into our science and social studies work.

Friday Folder:  There are important letters in the Friday Folder this week.  Dr. Wingert has shared an informative letter about MAP testing home.  While we prepare for this state assessment and kids are more used to it in 5th grade, MAP testing can always be a challenge for students in terms of stamina, schedule changes, increased stress, etc...  Please help your child get through our 8 days of testing with healthy sleep, eating, and activity habits.  Ler me know if you have any questions about the testing format.

There will also be a letter about our Hannibal field trip in the Friday Folder.  This letter is from our parent committee and references transportation choices for this fantastic field trip.  As we closer to more of our Spring events, there will be a lot informative updates sent home.

Snapshot for next week:
Reading/Writing:  Focus on Communication Arts MAP test preparation, some Book Share time, and word study activities.
Social Studies:  A look at the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Science: Continuing our Community Science project, starting to focus on hydrological cycle.
Math:  Geometry focus on quadrilaterals and characteristics of many different shapes.

Have a wonderful weekend and come and join the Eco Club hike on Sunday if you have time!

READING LINK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOjXlIqoCyo

SPRING IS HERE!

What a lovely start to our last week before Spring Break.  This will be a week with some special events and focus on wrapping up a few things before our well deserved break.  After break will be focus on MAP testing, our CPBL project in science, book shares, and social studies learning. Below is a description of our work this week.  Also, please know we have a field trip to the RBHS planetarium on Tuesday, Celebration of Cultures is on Thursday and we may have a special choral event in the afternoon on Thursday.  Please enjoy this week in preparation for Spring Break next week.

MATH: students will check their addition and subtraction fraction test and make a multiplication fraction poster for a fraction problem.

SCIENCE: we will wrap up or work on matter and work on our CPBL community project.  Writing is integrated here.

SS: we will finish discussing the causes of the American Revolution.  Writing is integrated here.

READING: we will spend a couple days on book shares, making sure all readers have a plan for success.

2 WEEK CRAM

First, I want to thank our wonderful families for supporting a successful Read a Thon.  Not only did we enjoy our guest readers, a day of relaxed reading, and completing some reading challenges, we also raised over 7,000 dollars as a school.  Our class even gets a reward for raising money!  Thank you so much.  We know the lasting effects of these dollars; they turn into great experience for our students.

Speaking of great experiences, I also want to thank those families that made it to the 5th grade End of Year Planning meeting.  We have committees of parents who have agreed to help plan for special events like the Hannibal and Civil War Day field trips, graduation, 5th grade field day, and more.  Please look for information about these events in the coming weeks.  And feel free to sign up and join any event we have this Spring.

Below is a weekly outline for this week and some photos of Read a Thon and Ecodioramas.

READING: focus on book share plans and integrated reading with science and social studies
WRITING: integrated with our science and social studies
SS: focus on completing the causes of the American Revolution and how America won.
SCIENCE: focus on matter and how it relates to the organisms in our Stream Table project.
MATH: adding and subtracting of mixed numbers with a quiz on Thursday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

READ A THON IS HERE!

Families, our focus tomorrow is on Reading and Grant School.  To celebrate our Read A Thon, our class will be enjoying reading activities all day.  We will have guest readers, reading with our buddies, and free reading time.  Also, we will likely finish sharing our Ecodioramas and our read aloud book.  I have explained to students they are welcome to bring 1 (ONE) comfy item like a pillow or blanket or stuffed animal.  Tomorrow is also "dress like a superhero day" in honor of our Read A Thon theme.

I want to thank all who have been able to donate through the Read A Thon.  We know how important these funds are to the wonderful programs we can offer at Grant, especially in 5th grade.  So, thank you so much and I hope everyone was able to partake in Read A Thon by trying some of the reading challenges.  Have a great weekend!

FABULOUS FRACTIONS, EXCELLENT ECODIORAMAS, MARVELOUS MATTERS, WONDERFUL WRITERS, AND AWESOME ALL STARS, OH MY!

FABULOUS FRACTIONS:  I have not graded the fraction tests yet but the class felt they did well.  The test covered basics of fractions which provide a foundation for our next topic, adding and subtracting fractions.  Then we will multiply and divide fractions - all before Spring Break.

EXCELLENT ECODIORAMAS:  We spent most of reading time this week enjoying Ecodiorama presentations.  I have been impressed with students' final products and their creative expressions of their reading.  This work will be displayed in the hallway sometime next week during Read a Thon.  On Friday, we set aside some time for readers to work on Read a Thon challenges.  Thank you so much to all who participate in the celebration of reading and supporting of Grant School.  I talked this week with the kids about how the funds raised during this time support awesome adventures and resources for our Grant School students.

MARVELOUS MATTERS:  We continued our Matter learning this week.  Scientists learned about solids, liquids, and gasses.  We also talked about plasma.  Scientists also described matter and we applied our new knowledge to our community science project.  In a art/math/science integration project, we also modeled a pie chart of the gasses that make up our air. 

WONDERFUL WRITERS:  Students wrote a post DWA narrative piece this week.  This is like a writing test on Narrative technique.  I am eager to see how their improved over the course of this unit.  I am already seeing better organization, paragraphs, and transitions overall.  Next week, our writing will be integrated with science and social studies. 

SOCIAL STUDIES:  We are now focusing on the cause of the American Revolution and will be documenting the steps that lead up to this conflict.  Our work on the Revolution and important US historical documents will lead up to Spring Break. 

AND WE HAVE BEEN ALL STARS ALL WEEK!!  Enjoy the pics of great work below. 

Please join us for the End of the Year planning meeting next Wednesday to help plan our awesome festivities at the end of 5th grade.