Book Project Worksheet

Memory Bag Worksheet(r)

First Quarter Book Project Rubric

Memory Bag Rubric

First Quarter

I just wanted to remind parents that we have four quarters this year, instead of three trimesters.  We are already half-way through the first quarter.  We have less grades because there are shorter marking periods, and that means there may be less time to raise grades at the end.  The first quarter ends on October 26th.


A Look at Next Week:
Spelling- We are moving onto lesson five, with a test still on Friday.
Social Studies- We are beginning chapter five.  We will be learning about how England colonized the Americas.
Reading-  We are beginning a non-fiction unit with the theme "Fury of a Storm."  Students will be learning to  ask more thought-provoking or "thick" questions while they read.  Last week students were assigned their book project for this quarter, which is a Memory Bag Project on a realistic fiction.  The book project is due October 16th.
Language Arts- We have moved our unit one test on sentences to Monday.  On Tuesday we will begin unit five which focuses on punctuation.
Science- We will continue to read chapter five.  Students will finish their lesson on plants and move on to food-webs and ecosystems.
Mastny's Math-  Our "Calendar Math" is due, and our chapter two test will be on Tuesday.  We will then be moving on to chapter three on division.
*Monday students are running the mile in gym.
*Friday taffy apple orders are due.

Have a great weekend!

Interviewing a Scientist

Dr. Arata

This week we were able to interview Dr. Arata who is a scientist at the University of Chicago.  She recently received her doctorate there and is continuing her diabetes research for her post doctoral program.  As a class we were able to do a video chat with her over the internet, and ask her about what a scientist does and what tools she uses in her lab.  Afterwards the students compared her lab's tools to the tools we have in our fifth grade tool kits.  We also had a great discussion about what scientists look like and how anyone can become a scientist.

Our favorite tools were:

The Pipettors

The Stir Plate 

A Look at Next Week:
Spelling- We are moving onto lesson four, with a test still on Friday.
Social Studies- We will finish chapter four and have a test on Thursday.
Reading-  We will write and publish our tall tale.
Language Arts- We will take a unit one (Sentences) test on Friday.
Science- We will finish chapter five, lesson one on plants.
Mastny's Math-  We will finish chapter two on Multiplication.  We will have a test the first week of October.
*Thursday is Picture Day
*Friday is an Early Dismissal Day

A Peek at Next Week

We are working on finishing up our first units next week.  In Reading we will finish our Tall Tale unit and we will actually be writing a tall tale.  In Language Arts we will finish unit one in our grammar books on sentences.  There will be a test on it in the following week.  We will be finishing the scientific method in Science and will begin Chapter 5:  Energy and Ecosystems.  Students will be making Aztec masks in Social Studies.  We will be finishing chapter four and will begin reviewing for our test that we will take the following week.

My Math class will begin chapter two on multiplication.  We plan on getting through lessons 2.1-2.3, and then taking a quiz on those lessons on Friday.

Important Days:
Tuesday- Magazine Turn-in Day
Friday- Mastny's Math Quiz 2.1-2.3, Spelling Test

A Peek at Next Week

Starting Monday we will continue to study chapter four in our Social Studies book on European explorers.  We will begin the lessons about the conquest of the Aztec civilization.  In Science there will be an open note assessment about science tools on Tuesday and then we will be discussing the scientific method.  In Reading we will continue to read tall tales and in Language Arts we are still working on our sentence unit.

 My Math class next week will continue to learn about place value and estimation in chapter one.  Students will take a quiz on Tuesday that covers lessons 1.1-1.4.  Then there will be a chapter one test on Friday.

Important Days:
Sunday- Noon Bears Game
Tuesday- Mastny's Math Quiz 1.1-1.4, Magazine Kick-Off Day
Friday- Mastny's Math Chapter 1 Test, Spelling Test

Welcome Back!

Welcome to a new school year.  Everyone is finally settled in.  This week we are beginning all of our first units.  In Science we are going over our tool kits and the scientific method.  In Social Studies we are beginning chapter four on Spanish explorers.  We have begun switching for Math and going over place value.  Tall tales is our first unit in Reading and in Language Arts we are working on journaling ideas.

Important Days:
Monday- No School, Labor Day
Tuesday- Math MAPS Testing
Wednesday- Curriculum Night
Friday- Reading MAPS Testing