I've Been Bad About Posting...I Know

I'm so sorry. I told you I would be better about posting once school ended for me, but I have not come through on that promise. I've been very busy searching for a job and still am not having much luck. Partly this is due to there simply not being very many open teaching jobs out there this year, but partly it's because I was so spoiled working with you all that I have very high expectations about where and what I want to teach. I'm still hopeful that something great will come about in the next few weeks, but if not, maybe Seattle will hire me as a substitute and then I will be able to come see all of you in your different schools! On that note, I'd love to know where you are all going to be this fall. I know there's a large number of you at Hamilton, but I'm curious what other schools our amazing class will be represented in. I've been looking for jobs in Seattle and actually have applied to two K-8 schools (one was wrongly posted and the other I'm waiting on), but I don't think any of you will be there anyway...Jane Addams K-8? Anyway, comment back, let me know where you'll be and maybe, just maybe I'll end up at your school either as a full-time teacher or sub. Cheers, and happy last few weeks of summer to you all. Middle school is ALMOST here!! Be excited, not scared...middle school is a GREAT time in your life (even if there are ups and downs, as there are in all parts of your life)!!

-Ms. Melissa

Posts to come soon...

I know a few of you having been wanting me to continue blogging. I promise you'll hear from me soon. I'm in summer school right now and I have a crazy amount of homework, but once I finish on the 17th I promise I'll get going on the blog again. I believe Maggie's mom sent a link to all the parents to my Picasa web album of all the photos I got from this spring. It's a private album so you need the direct link to access it (it won't show up in any sort of search). If you or your parents didn't get the link and you'd like it, let me know and I'll send you an email with the link. I do not want to post it anywhere public. Thanks and hope you are enjoying your summer!! More to come in two weeks...

I Graduated Today...Now It's Your Turn!!

5th Grade Play!!

AMAZING JOB TODAY AND TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!

You all did a truly fantastic job with the play at both performances today. I was VERY impressed with the way you really stepped up and took on your roles, as big or small as they were, and made this show a smashing success!

I know that a few parents and I got video of the performance, so if you are interested in getting a copy, bring me a blank, recordable DVD (not CD) and I'll be able to burn you a copy. You can also bring me a flash drive with sufficient space and I can give it to you that way and then you can put it right on your computer. I'll create a DVD with both the morning and evening performance, that you can watch in a DVD player if I can get my hands on a copy of the evening footage. Let me know if you are interested.

Also, if your parents got any pictures and they don't mind sharing, I'd LOVE to get some copies. I planned to take some myself but couldn't since I was up on stage. If I get pictures soon I can put them on the DVD too. Easiest would be if your parents put them on a flash drive or CD for me, but they can email them as well.

Again...fantastic job!! You all did awesome!!

Week of June 8-12

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):


* Because this is my last week, I am transitioning out of the primary teacher role. Therefore I do not have exact details on what will be happening throughout the week. I'll do my best to give you the general schedule, and will check in with Ms. Nani and Sr. Hester on Tuesday to get more details. I apologize for the late and somewhat vague post today.


Homework Due Dates:
Monday:
Tuesday:

Wednesday: Letter to a 4th grader about what to expect in 5th grade

Thursday:

Friday:

Monday: Spanish All Day

• Math Stations
  
• Gardening
• Watch videos for the educational skits you will do in Spanish class
  
• Library

Tuesday:

• Survival Books and Game
• Letter to a 4th grader
• 5th Grade Play Dress Rehearsal all afternoon

Wednesday:

• 5th Grade Play 10:00am and 6:30pm
• Science - Microworlds
  
• Letter to a 4th grader
  

Thursday:

• Work on the educational skits in Spanish
• Math Stations
  
• Gardening and Drain Stenciling in small groups outside
• School lunch BBQ
• Watch a movie (I think??)
• Work on Survival Book project
  
• Soccer Championships
  

Friday:

• Math
  
• ??
  
• Goodbye Celebration for Ms. Melissa (sort of goodbye...I'll be around a bit next week, but this is my last "official" day as your student teacher)

*More Details to Come Soon...Sorry!

Week of June 1 - 5

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):


* A reminder to check out the unit blogs for pictures and more specific information about the projects and assignments in each subject.

You MUST have your lines memorized for the play!!!!

Homework Due Dates:
Monday: Interviews Completed

Tuesday: Math Review Page

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday: Interview Poster; CBA: DREAM Act Letter; Final Book Club Reflection (Yellow Page)

Monday:

• Play Rehearsal 9:30-10:50
• Library Checkout
• Brief time to work on Interview Project
• Work time on CBAs and Review of Interview assignment expectations.
• Science: Identifying mystery objects.
• Last two groups will present their "survival packs"
  

Tuesday:

• Math Unit 10 Test
  
• The rest of the time in the morning will be for working on the interview projects
  
• In the afternoon there will be a work session. CBAs, Final Reflections, and Interview Projects IF the CBA and Reflection are both done and turned in.
  
• During the morning and this work time Ms. Melissa will be calling students out to record them reading parts of their Migrant Project Reflections.
• We'll get rolling on the Survival Game if everyone works hard during the work time.
  
• Play Rehearsal from 2:00 to the end of the day.
  

Wednesday:

• Play Rehearsal 9:20-10:30
  
• Special Puppet Show Assembly
  
• Come prepared with ideas for Friday's celebration. We'll spend a few minutes talking about what we want to do and then we'll make the final plans tomorrow.
  
• We'll continue with the survival game today, trying to catch up to the Japanese Class.
• There will be some more work time for students to get work done.
• Science we'll be looking at the live cells of an onion under a microscope.
  

Thursday:

• Depending on where you are at with your interview posters, we'll either use the time before ROE to work on that, or to begin the new math unit (Sr. Hester will be taking over again)
  
• Roots of Empathy
• We'll also make the final plans for our celebration tomorrow after our poster sharing.
  
• In the afternoon, again, we'll have a final work session for students to complete all the assignments due tomorrow.
  
• Play Rehearsal 2:00 to the end of the day
  

Friday:

• Poster Sharing Session. 10 students will set up their posters around the room and the rest will circulate and look at posters and ask questions for 10 minutes. Then we will rotate and another set of 10 will present for 10 minutes, and then the last 9 will go. We will then come together and have a brief discussion about what we found interesting, and what this helps us understand about immigration to the U.S.
  
• We'll then celebration with an "Immigration Celebration" (keep in mind, if you did not show up prepared with your poster completed this morning you will be asked to go to another room to finish and you will not participate in the celebration...so get your work done well!!)
• The afternoon is still to be decided, but I'm trying to come up with something fun to reward you for all the hard work you've done the past few weeks.
• Congratulations!! After today you will not have any more big assignments. This does NOT mean you can check out of school. There are still two more weeks that you will be expected to work hard in class, but you will be through with all large projects!!
  

Just for fun...Ms. Melissa as a 5th Grader :)

Click on the photos to see them larger

My 5th Grade Class

Can you find me?


My Soccer Team

6th/7th graders plus little ol' 5th grade me

Spending Time with Friends

Safety Patrol

Can you find me?

Tutoring

If anyone is interested in any summer tutoring, before heading off to middle school, I will be available most of the summer. Please email me at naylorm@seattleu.edu if you would like to set something up. This may be particularly helpful in math since students will be transitioning into English math. In an email, please let me know the name of your child, the subject(s) you would want support in, and how frequently you'd want to meet. I've really enjoyed working with everyone in this class, and want to see them all succeed in middle school!

-Ms. Melissa
naylorm@seattleu.edu

Week of May 26th - 29th

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):


Students will be pulled out periodically to work on the 5th Grade Play. I would like to encourage you to go to the JSIS 5th Grade page (click on the link) to listen to and practice the songs. Students should have their lines memorized this week!!

* A reminder to check out the unit blogs for pictures and more specific information about the projects and assignments in each subject.


Homework Due Dates:
Monday: NO SCHOOL

Tuesday:

Wednesday: Math: 10.9 Area of a Circle; Immigrant Interview Questions Due; Service-Learning (Migrant Project) Reflection Due;

Thursday:Book Club "Survival Pack" Due and Ready to Present

Friday: (Monday Unit 10 Test); Reading Wheel Due

Monday:

• No School

Tuesday:

• Math 10.9 Area of a Circle. On Friday we learned about pi and how to find the circumference of a circle using the diameter and the radius. Today we will learn the equation for finding the area using the diameter and radius.
  
• Then we'll be brainstorming interview questions and talking about what makes a good interview. We want to get some interesting information, so we'll talk about what kinds of questions get us the best information (hint - open ended versus yes/no).
  
• In the afternoon we'll have some time in our Book Club groups to work on our "survival packs." By the end of today groups should be finalizing their list of objects and beginning to either collect the objects or write the descriptions of the objects. Check the literacy blog Tuesday night to see the sample "survival pack" I made for Crossing the Wire.
• There will also be some time to work on Reflections and CBA research.
• In science we'll continue investigating different objects and samples at the microscopic level.
  

Wednesday:

• Young Authors
  
• We'll have more time to work on our "survival packs." You should really be writing/typing at this point.
  
• Today I will talk to students about the CBA - DREAM Act paper they will write. They should hopefully have enough research now to at least start the pre-write graphic organizer I will give them today.
• We'll be learning about how to prepare slide.
  

Thursday:

• Math: Review of pan balance model for solving algebraic expressions
  
• Roots of Empathy...our last visit with Baby Rosie :(
  
• If there's time, students will work on their CBA research.
• Most of the afternoon will be spent watching the "Survival Pack" presentations from the six book groups.
  

Friday:

• Math: Review for the Unit 10 test on Monday
  
• We'll have time to practice our interviews with other students, and talk about strategies for note-taking during an interview.
  
• We will also watch part of a documentary about different immigrant experiences.
  
• The afternoon we'll have work time for CBA writing.
• Since many students will be out today for patrol, we'll have some fun activities for the afternoon for those not of the field trip.
  

Announcements

Change to the Schedule
Students completed the end-of-year math assessment for the district on Wednesday morning. Because of this exam, our normal lessons got pushed back by a day. Therefore lesson 10.7 will be taught on Thursday and 10.8 on Friday. There is NO math homework Wednesday night, and they will do 10.7 Thursday night instead.


Volunteers Needed!!
We are still looking for a few parent volunteers to help out with the whole school Young Authors event on Wednesday May 27th in the morning. If you are interested in helping out please let either Ms. Nani, Señor Hester, or Ms. Melissa know. You can also contact Ms. Lucy (1st grade English) directly, since she is coordinating the event, and will have more details about exactly what is needed from you. Thanks so much to all our parent volunteers for everything you do for our school!

Thank You!!
We would like to send out a big THANK YOU to Taliya's mom, Felicia Gittleman, for coming and speaking to the class about her career as an immigration attorney. The kids were very engaged and asked some really wonderful questions. They really got a lot out of your visit, and they expressed how much it meant to hear about the issues directly from a professional. These kinds of experiences make these tough topics really come to life. Thank you again so much for your time!

Also a big THANK YOU to Kyle's mom, Melinda Duplessis, for connecting us with a guest speaker from the Orca Whale Museum. The kids had a lot of fun learning how to identify and track wild Orcas. This was a great complement to a conservation lesson we had about a month ago. They students especially loved looking at the whale skull and recieving Orca trading cards. This was a fun and educational opportunity, so thank you for connecting our class with this speaker!


Upcoming Project Due Dates
--> This Friday students are expected to have finished their books for the Book Clubs. I will collect the reflection journals for the final time. I will be checking for all the required elements (all written on the first page of the journal) and I will also be checking for elements of quality writing. Many students need to go back and double check their spelling!! Students will receive a final self and group evaluation form that will be due Friday June 5th.

--> They will also recieve the instructions for the final project for literacy on Thursday afternoon. The Book Club groups will each create a "survival pack" in which they will put 10 artifacts or symbols that represent what it takes to carry us through hardship. They will be expected to gather objects or create some sort of visual representation of a symbols from their novel and then write a brief decription of each object and what it represents. I will be looking that in these descriptions they reference the book and either with a quote or description of a scene, connect explain why they chose the object they did. These "survival packs" will be due Thursday May 28th. The groups will have time in class to gather ideas and write the descriptions, but they will need to spend some time at home either finding the objects, or creating artifacts for the survival pack. All the objects must fit into a paper grocery bag, so no large items. I will show the students an example of a survival pack I have created for Crossing the Wire.

--> Students have also now been introduced to the DREAM Act topic for our CBA civic writig assignment. We will talk more about this assignment on Thursday and Friday, but I encourage students to begin reading what they can about the Act to gather information. There are many great sources linked from the social studies blog. This assignment will be due on Friday June 5th.

--> On Friday we will talk about our final project for the immigration unit. Students will be interviewing an immigrant and then creating a poster that shares his or her personal story of immigration. We will brainstorm questions together and possible interview candidates Friday. Next Tuesday we will write our interview questions and students will do mock interviews to prepare. If a student is interviewing someone who comes from a Spanish speaking country (HIGHLY encouraged) they must conduct the interview in Spanish. This will help the student in the end because the posters will be done in Spanish, and then no translation will be necessary. Possible interview candidates include family members, neighbors, family friends, or many of the teachers and IAs at John Stanford. If a student wishes to interview a student from the BOC classroom they will need to check with Ms. Melissa so that she can get permission from that child's parent/guardian first. Students will need to have completed the interview by Monday June 1st at the latest, and posters will be due Friday June 5th.

ON MONDAY STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE A CALENDAR WITH ALL THESE DUE DATES AND PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS TO HELP THEM ORGANIZE THEIR TIME. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TIME IN CLASS TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENTS, BUT ELEMENTS WILL NEED TO BE DONE OUTSIDE OF CLASS, PARTICULARLY THE IMMIGRANT INTERVIEWS.

Week of May 18th - 22nd

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):


Students will be pulled out periodically to work on the 5th Grade Play. I would like to encourage you to go to the JSIS 5th Grade page (click on the link) to listen to and practice the songs. Students should have their lines memorized this week!!

* A reminder to check out the unit blogs for pictures and more specific information about the projects and assignments in each subject.


Homework Due Dates:
Monday: 6th reading assignment (see reading schedule in reflection journal), yellow Book Aid (last one!!)

Tuesday: Math: 10.6; Issues of Unauthorized Immigration Packet; 1-2 Questions for our guest speaker about immigration laws and/or being an immigration lawyer.

Wednesday: Math: Worksheet from Bungee Jumping Barbie; Look at some of the links from the social studies blog about the DREAM Act

Thursday: Math: 10.7

Friday: Math 10.8; Reflection Journals Today (3 entries...final collection CHECK YOUR SPELLING ON ALL ENTRIES)

Monday:

• Roots of Empathy
• Today we will meet with our Book Clubs for the 6th time. Focus Question: Are there any social justice issues your story? What are they, and how are they affecting the characters in your story? Do you see any of these similar issues in your community, and how do they affect you?
• In science we'll be learning about how to prepare slides for looking under a microscope.
• We'll also spend some time reviewing a very basic overview of immigration law and think about some questions for Taliya's mom, an immigration attorney who will speak to us tomorrow!*

* Ms. Gittleman will be here to talk to students about her career as an immigration attorney. She will NOT be inquiring about any student's status, nor will she ask any other personal immigration questions. She is here strictly for educational purposes, so our students can better understand the issues and policies. If you have any concerns about this visit please do not hesitate to contact any of the teachers and we would be happy to discuss your concerns.

* Sra. Gittleman estará aquí para hablar con los estudiantes sobre su carrera como una abogada de inmigración. No preguntará sobre el estado de ningún estudiante, ni preguntará sobre ningúna situación personal de inmigración. Ella estará aquí estrictamente con fines educativos, para que nuestros estudiantes puedan entender mejor las problemas y los leyes. Si usted tiene alguna inquietud acerca de esta visita, por favor no dude en ponerse en contacto con cualquiera de los maestros y estaremos encantados de hablarle de sus preocupaciones.
Tuesday:

• Ms. Gittleman (Taliya's mom) will start off our day, talking to us about her experiences as an immigration attorney. Thank you so much Ms. Gittleman for volunteering your time!
  
• The rest of the morning we'll be doing a fun activity to experiment with rates and using algrebra to predict unknown values. I won't give too much away, but I will tell you that a bungee jumping Barbie doll will be involved :)
  
• Our entire afternoon is dedicated to the beginning of our civics assignment. As a class we will develop a respectful citizens contract that will ensure that throughout the process and discussions involved with this assignment students are all respectful to the sensative nature of the topic of immigration policy. We want students to all be able to develop the awareness that people have different opinions, and when we disscuss controversial and personal topics we must be careful to support our opinions with facts and be considerate of all students, so that no one feels uncomfortable or put on-the-spot. We will briefly discuss the packet students read for today. We will engage in some conversations about immigration issues, and students will be introduced to the DREAM Act (Go to the social studies blog for more information about this Act). We will be talking about various perspectives and become familiar with some arguments for and against the DREAM Act.
  

Wednesday: Early Release 1:20

• Math Assessment and quick overview of 10.7 Reading and Interpreting different graphs.
  
• I'm hoping that in the afternoon the students that created skits for our service-learning project will be able to present to the other 4th and 5th grade classes.
• I will also discuss and hand out the rubric and graphic organizer for the Civics CBA assignment about the DREAM Act.

Thursday:

• Math: 10.8 Working with circles (diameter, radius, circumference)
• We will discuss the history of immigration from the 1850s to the Present. We will also look at some graphs that will help us understand the history, while also practicing our math skills. Isn't it great when you start seeing ways you can actually use math in everyday life?
• If there's time, students will work on their CBA research.
• In science we will be looking at some 3-dimensional objects under a microscope like sand, grits and different salts.
• We will continue our service-learning reflection discussion and students will begin writing their final reflection.
• Students will be introduced to their culminating project for the survival literacy unit. Book Club groups will work together to create survival packs based on what they learned from the book they read. Check the literacy blog later this week for the details.
  

Friday:

• Math: 10.9 Finding the area of circles
  
• Students will be introduced to their final social studies assignment...Immigrant Interviews!
  
• There will be some time to work on service-learning reflections in the morning.
• This afternoon Book Clubs will meet to discuss the end of their books and beginning planning for their survival packs.
  
• In science students will get a chance to look at common objects under the microscope. This is an opportunity to look up close and personal at the things they've always wondered about. Students will get to choose which objects they look at.
• Students will get some class time to work on the CBA assignments after recess.
  

Apology!

I apologize that this week things got a little mixed up from the schedule. I was out sick Monday and Tuesday, and then Wednesday morning was pretty much lost to play practice. Some lessons got shifted around or combined, so things didn't end up the way we had originally planned. It still turned out to be a fun and full week anyway. I just wanted to apologize if there was any confusion on homework or any other assignments. Hopefully the students were able to make the changes on their homework guide for you. I also want to apologize that due to being very sick all weekend and the early part of the week, I wasn't able to update the unit blogs at all this week. This weekend I'll get on that for next week, especially the math blog, so you can see what we are working on in our new unit.

This weekend I'll make sure that everything is up to date for the coming week! Thank you for your understanding.

-Ms. Melissa

Week of May 11th - 15th

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):

Throughout the week we will also continue to work on math lessons, our service project for migrant workers, and our Microworlds unit, though all lessons may not be specifically noted.

Also, students will be pulled out periodically to work on the 5th Grade Play. I would like to encourage you to go to the JSIS 5th Grade page (click on link to go to songs) to listen to and practice the songs.


Homework Due Dates:
Monday: 4th reading assignment (see reading schedule in reflection journal), yellow Book Aid
Tuesday:
Wednesday: 5th reading assignment (see reading schedule in reflection journal), yellow Book Aid; Math: 10.2
Thursday: Math: 10.3
Friday: Reflection Journals Today (3 entries); Math: 10.4 *Reflection Journals and Math will be collected before we leave on the field trip*

Monday:

• We will continue distributing the boxes for our sock drive to the other classrooms, and teaching the other kids about the lives of migrant workers and why this sock drive is important.
  
• Today we will meet with our Book Clubs for the 4th time. Focus Question: What Text-to-Self, Text-to-World, or Text-to-Text connections can you make in your book? For those who are still struggling with those concepts, What connections can you make between yourself and the character or characters in the story?
• Hopefully there will be time for students to read the narrative stories written by all their peers.
  
• In science we will get a chance to learn about the parts of a microscope and how it works.
  

Tuesday:

• After math and talking about the pan-balance model for solving equations, we will have a special Tuesday Roots of Empathy!!
  
• In the afternoon we will be reflecting on our service-learning project with the migrant workers. We will learn about the term "social justice," what that means, and how it affects us and our community. We will begin thinking about the social justice issues involved with migrant worker rights and the quality of their work and home conditions. Students will begin writing a 1-2 page reflection about the project and everything they've been learning so far about migrant workers and the social justice issues...some really important life skills! Students will later read their reflections for a voice recorder and segments will be selected for the project video Ms. Melissa will create.
  
• There will be rehearsal for the musical parts of the 5th Grade Play - we will let you know Monday if you need your instruments or not.
  

Wednesday:

• Math, we will start moving into the beginning stages of algebraic expressions!!
  
• Now that we've learned a bit about early immigration and Ellis Island, we will start looking at the more general history of immigration up through modern day. When were the big waves, and what were some of the push and pull factors that brought people to the US throughout history?
• Book Clubs will meet again today. Focus Questions: Are there any social justice issues your story? What are they, and how are they affecting the characters in your story? Do you see any of these similar issues in your community, and how do they affect you?
• We'll work some more on our service-learning reflections and begin recording for students who finish.
• In science we will learn how to prepare slides for observation under a microscope.
  

Thursday:

• In math we'll be learning about line graphs, which will later help us in our understanding of algebraic expressions, rates and ratios.
  
• We'll talk more about the history of immigration and analyze some line graphs that help us clearly see the waves of immigration. We'll be recreating a timeline in the shape of waves to represent the history from the late 1800s to modern day.
  
• In science we'll be learning about how physical properties when magnified can help in object identification.
  

Friday: Field Trip to the Seattle International Children's Festival!!

• I'll collect the Reflection Journals and math homework 10.4 before we head out.
• Students need to bring a sack lunch to eat, but they may bring up to $5 cash to spend on a treat or a souvenir. Please do not send more than $5.
• This is going to be a fantastic day. We'll be seeing some great shows this year!
  

Narratives and Reading Assignments

A reminder that the final copy of the narrative writing is due THIS FRIDAY!! We will have some computer lab time on Wednesday and Thursday, but students who still have a lot of work left NEED to be working on this at home as well!!

Your final copy must include:

• 5-10 pages typed, size 14, double-spaced
• Title Page
• About the author page
• Dedication page (a name or names, or a simple written dedication...look in books you have at home if you need an better idea)
  
• Comments page ( just a blank page that says "comments" at the top)

Also a reminder that Book Clubs will meet on Friday. Students must have read the required reading as noted on their reading schedule and have filled out a yellow Book Aid form BEFORE coming to class!! On Monday, about half the class did not come prepared, so please check with your child Thursday night to see that they have this work done.
I will also collect the Reflection Journals on Friday. Every other week I will be looking for 3 responses, but since I did not collect the journal last week after the 1st entry, there should be 4 entries this Friday. I will collect them before going to PE so students should not count on recess as a time to finish them. They are to be done at home.
We have spent a LOT of time in class reviewing expectations for the Book Clubs and Reflection Journals, so there should not be any excuse for incomplete work.

Permission Slips

Please return the permission slips for the International Children's Festival and for photo/video permission BY THIS FRIDAY!!

If we do not receive the field trip permission slip by Friday your child will not be going on the trip!

Ms. Melissa would REALLY appreciate your permission to include your child in videos and photos as part of her required work for Seattle University. For more details on what the photos and videos would be used for see the permission slip sent home Tuesday 5/5.

Questions contact Ms. Melissa or Ms. Nani.

Week of May 4th - 8th

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):

Throughout the week we will continue to work on math lessons, our service project for migrant workers, our narrative writing, and our Microworlds unit.

Also, students will be pulled out periodically to work on the 5th Grade Play. I would like to encourage you to go to the JSIS 5th Grade page to listen to and practice the songs students will be singing in the play at home.


Homework Due:
Monday: 2nd reading assignment (see reading schedule in reflection journal), yellow Book Aid, and reflection
Tuesday: Math: Unit 9 Review Packet
Wednesday: reflection
Thursday: Math: 10.1
Friday: Math: 10.2; 3rd reading assignment (see reading schedule in reflection journal), yellow Book Aid, and reflection * I will collect Reflection Journals Today* FINAL COPY OF NARRATIVE

Monday:

• In math we will review unit 9 (coordinates, area, volume, and capacity) for the test tomorrow.
  
• Students will continue working on their posters and skits for our service project.
• Today we will meet with our Book Clubs for the 2nd time.
  
• In science we will continue exploring what physical properties are required for an object to magnify.
  

Tuesday:

• UNIT 9 MATH TEST
  
• In social studies students will continue the preparation for the Ellis Island simulation.
  
• We will finalize our posters and skits for our service project so that we can get the drive started this week!
• For literacy we will be talking about making meaningful reflections. We will look at what the looks like, and how we can make the most out of our reflections.
  

Wednesday: Beecher's Healthy Diet Presentation - Spanish All Day

• Our morning will go as normal and then we will have a guest speaker from Beecher's in the afternoon that will teach us about healthy living and help us prepare some delicious chili!
• We have the computer lab scheduled for 1hr in the morning to work on narratives
  

Thursday:

• In math we'll have another day of using pan balances to begin learning about basic algebraic concepts.
  
• We'll be using a section of the book The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez to practice using Text-to-Text and Text-to-Self connections as a comprehension strategy.
• We have the computer lab scheduled for 1 hr in the afternoon to work on narratives (last chance at school!!)
  

Friday:

• Our morning will be spent recreating Ellis Island, and simulating the experieneces of America's early immigrants.
• We will have our 3rd Book Club Meeting this afternoon.
• At 1:30 our class is scheduled to have our class photo. Bring your best smiles!!
• The final copy of the narrative writing piece is due today!!
  

Week of April 27 - May 1

Dear 5th Grade Families,
Welcome to the 5th Grade Spring Blog. I hope that this can serve as a valuable resource for you and your children. I'm very excited to be working with your students this spring. One of my passions is technology, so I am trying out this blog as a means of home communication. Please let me know what you think, if it works for you, or if there's anything you would like to see up here.

As I mentioned above, this blog will simply give you an outline of each week and will highlight upcoming due dates for projects. Over on the left side of the page you will see "Unit Blogs" underneath you will find a link to a blog for each of our current units. Those blogs will give you more specific information in the content area.

The Immigration and Microworlds pages are currently under construction, but check back by the end of the week and they will be read for you to use.
Please let me know if you would like me to send a hard copy of the blog home with your student each Monday.

-Ms. Melissa

Here's a look at the highlights for this week (things may change as the week progresses, so check back from time to time for updates):

Throughout the week we will continue to work on math lessons, our service project for migrant workers, our narrative writing, and our FLASH curriculum.

Also, students will be pulled out periodically to work on the 5th Grade Play. I would like to encourage you to go to the JSIS 5th Grade page to listen to and practice the songs students will be singing in the play at home.


Homework Due:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: 1st reading assignment (see reading schedule in reflection journal)
Thursday: Math: Volume Around Your House
Friday: Math: 9.9

Monday:

• FLASH - Nurse Marie will be joining us to talk more about puberty and reproduction.
• Students will continue working on their posters and skits for our service project.
• We will do our pre-assessment for literacy looking at what it takes to carry us through hardship.
• In science we will learn about different lenses in preparation for working with microscopes tomorrow and on our field trip Wednesday.

Tuesday:

• We will finally get back into our math curriculum after two weeks of WASL testing. We will pick up with our study of volume.
• In social studies students will receive their characters for an Ellis Island simulation we will be doing next week.
• In science we will practice using microscopes, so that we are all professionals when we are in the field tomorrow morning!

Wednesday: FIELD TRIP TO THE CENTER FOR URBAN HORTICULTURE AT UW

• Today will be our first Book Club meetings. Students should come prepared with a reflection in their journal and a completed book aid. Each student has a reading schedule for his or her book glued in his or her reflection journal.

Thursday:

• Roots of Empathy today!
  
• We'll spend some time in the afternoon debriefing the field trip and the first Book Club meeting.
  
• We hope you join us tonight for Family Health Night!

Friday:

• After math, students will spend most of the morning preparing for our Ellis Island simulation on Wednesday 5/6.