Mrs. Brenda Smith

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 May 25, 2012 
My last update for this school year. That is a little sad, but I am happy for all of our new sixth graders. They have worked hard and I have tried my best to instill in them that they must always do their personal best. We talked about the Great Oaks Agreements one more time this afternoon. We talked about Mr. Groff's speech and how they can make a difference. We discussed how each of us is different and that is a good thing. One of my students said "Don't judge a person by only looking at the outside." They are a smart bunch of students. They have the tools to be successful in sixth grade. 
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be their teacher this year.
 May 18, 2012 
Wow! We had another fun Friday today with MAE Day. Be sure to ask your students what their favorite presentation was. 
We continued to work with Hands On Equations this past week in math and will work with tangrams next week. We began reading the MayNational Geographic and will finish it next week. Our schedule got changed because of a fire drill and lock down, so we did not get the opportunity to share our book recommendations. We will next week. We completed chapter 19, the Civil War, and completed an open book test. Next week, we will read and discuss chapter 20, Industrialization and Modern America, in history.
 It is so hard to believe that next week is the last one for our fifth graders. They will be turning into middle school students. They are excited and we should be too, but it is hard not to be a little sad. The transition is a big one.
 Thursday, May 24, at 1:30 is the Fifth Grade Ceremony in the cafeteria. Hope you can make it. On Friday, May 25, we will have the "Last Recess" for our fifth graders. They will be involved in activities of their choosing in the morning and an autograph party. We will have Specials as usual and then lunch at the regular time. We will be in our classroom from 1:30 until the end of the day to say our goodbyes and of course, they will have to listen to one more "You can do it!" speech from their teacher.
 May 11, 2012 
What a busy and fun day! Wellness Day is always a highlight of the year. Today, we got the opportunity to get a taste of zumba, power training, hip hop, and yoga. We also attended several other presentations. Be sure to ask your student what their favorite was. A BIG thank you to the mothers that helped me during a couple of unexpected events:) 
 
We did manage to get in some learning between Wellness Day and the Jag Journey. We finished chapter 18, "Causes of the Civil War", and took an open book test. We finished our Lit Group book and are finishing our book recommendations. We are just starting our Hands On Equations study in math.
 Next week, we will share some of our book recommendations, begin chapter 19, "The Civil War", and continue with Hands On Equations. Friday, May 18, will be MAE Day.
 I am still missing some of the forms that were sent home on May 9thin the Wednesday folder. Please sign and return the registration and spring conference forms and return them as soon as possible.
 Don’t forget the important days – Thursday, May 24 - Fifth Grade Ceremony 1:30 in the cafeteria and Friday, May 25 – The Last Recess. We are still in need of water bottles and duct tape.
 Thank you for the lemon tree and gift cards for Teacher Appreciation Day. I will be going shopping for a new pair of Converse as soon as school is out and I have time to shop.
 Happy Mother’s Day for all of our moms that do so much (more than anyone can imagine). I hope you have a great weekend.
 May 4, 2012 Good afternoon Parents,
 The students attended maturation class this afternoon. Be sure to discuss this with them. They are growing up way too fast!
 Next week, is a busy one. On Tuesday, we will walk over to Cedar Valley Middle School for Jag Journey. The students will be able to get an idea of what middle school classrooms look like and what a hallway looks like full of students changing classes. The students look forward to this each year.
 Friday, May 11, is Wellness Day. Please be sure that your student wears proper attire and shoes. We will be inside and outside and flip flops and sandals will not be comfortable for all of the walking and the activities we will be involved in. Please send a water bottle and a healthy snack with them also. Friday is the annual cookout. The lunch choice for the students is only hamburger, so if they don’t want that they must bring a lunch from home. We will be eating outside, so if you want send a towel for your student to sit on.
 There are many important dates coming up. Friday, May 18, is MAE Day. The students need to bring a lunch from home that day since the cafeteria is one of the locations for MAE Day activities. We will be eating outside again, so send a towel to sit on, a bottle of water, healthy snack, and remember to wear proper attire and comfortable shoes.
 Thursday, May 24, is the fifth grade ceremony. Our hood (Mrs. Schermerhorn, Mrs. Chappelle, Mrs. Adams, and my class) will have their ceremony in the cafeteria at 1:30.
 On Friday, May 25, we will be having our Last Recess. The students have made choices for activities in the morning and will get the opportunity to have their fifth grade friends from all of the classrooms sign their yearbook or shirt. We are still in need of volunteers for the Last Recess activities.
 Please go to:<A href="http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4AAFA82EA31-endofyear">http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0E4AAFA82EA31-endofyear</A>to sign up to help.
 This is a fun time for our students and we would really appreciate your assistance. You can sign up for one rotation or more as one of my parents has done. We also need more duct tape and water bottles.
 Wow! Looking at all of that, it is hard to believe that we are still learning, but we are. We completed the chapter 17, "Diverse Peoples of the West" open book test in history today and will move on to Chapter 18, "The Causes of the Civil War" on Tuesday. In Language Arts this week, we have continued our Lit Groups and worked on our letter to our favorite teacher in grades K-4. Some of my students will be finishing it over the weekend. In math, we have been working with variables in equations. We will begin working with Hands On Equations next week. It will be fun!
 Please review the registration form sent home in the Wednesday folder. Please sign and return it as soon as possible. I need to get them turned in to the office. Also, please sign one of the two copies of the form sent home in the folder that your student decorated.
 Don’t forget that the Carnival is this Saturday. Have fun!
 April 26, 2012 
Good afternoon Parents, 
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day. I am sending my update early because I am not going to be at school tomorrow.
We survived Science STAAR testing today. We have been working with customary measurement this week in math. On Monday, we will finish the unit with a quiz. Then we will begin algebraic reasoning. In history, we are finishing chapter 16, "Manifest Destiny" and will take an open book test on Monday. In Language Arts, we are continuing with our Lit Groups. We are about half way through our books. We are also working on a final copy of our favorite elementary school memory. 
Next week, Wednesday (May 2) is an Early Release Day and on Friday (May 4), we will have our maturation class. The following week is our Jaguar Journey. Our students can't wait for that trip. They are so excited!
On Wednesday, I will be sending home a folder that your students has decorated containing information about their year and suggestions for summer activities that will help them stay ready for sixth grade. Your student has also set a goal for themselves for sixth grade that will be part of the information in the folder. If you feel that we need to have a parent conference before the end of the year, please contact me.
 April 20, 2012 
As usual, we had a busy week. We finished chapter 15, "The Bill of Rights" today with an open book test. We will begin chapter 16, "Manifest Destiny and Settling the West" next week. We continued our Lit Groups this week and completed peer editing on our memory paper. Hopefully, we will get the final copy started next week. We spent the week working with metric measurement and conversions. Ask your student about the "2,500 Millimeter Race" we completed in class today. There were some great strategies being used. Next week, we will use customary measurement and conversions. 
Thursday, April 26, is the STAAR Science Test. Please be sure that your student gets plenty of rest the night before and eats a good breakfast that morning. 
Orders for the "Last Recess" t-shirt are due by April 26. I am proud to say that the t-shirt design was created by Elizabeth in our classroom. 
I hope you enjoy the cool weather we are having this afternoon. Enjoy the weekend!
 April 13, 2012 
Good afternoon! 
I hope that you noticed the letter about the end of year party that was sent home in the Wednesday folder along with an order form for the "Last Recess" t-shirt (purchase is totally optional). Many students use the "Last Recess" t-shirt for getting friends’ signatures on the last day of school. Your student’s progress report also went home in the Wednesday folder. If you have not signed and returned a copy, please do so. 
In class this week, we worked with fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators. Some students are finding out how important it is to know your math facts in order to be able to find the least common denominator when working with unlike denominators. I showed them where to find practice of these skills in the sixth grade section of IXL. They will be completing a quiz covering these concepts on Monday. We will then begin working with measurement. We got the opportunity to start our new Lit Groups this week and the students are off to a great start. The students read about the Bill of Rights this week and we will continue with an activity next week and an open book test to finish the chapter by the end of the week. Our class and our Buddy class got together on Thursday. They completed a measurement activity together. We enjoyed our visit. 
April 5, 2012 
Good afternoon:) 
The students are pretty excited about a three day weekend and I must admit I am too. I do love Easter egg hunts. 
We completed a Writing Benchmark this week. Next week, we get to begin those new Lit Groups. In math this week, we finished our tessellations and began working with adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. You should have heard some of the discussion when we got to group work today. They were really thinking. We will continue to work with fractions next week. We got an introduction to chapter 15, The Bill of Rights. We will continue to work in that chapter next week too. 
Happy Easter! March 30, 2012 
March is coming to an end already. Next week will be the beginning of April. Wow, time is flying by!
The students completed the STAAR Math and Reading tests this week. The only one left is the STAAR Science on April 26th. 
We began working on tessellations in math this week and will finish them on Tuesday. Some of the creative designs are amazing. We will continue our work with fractions by adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. We made choices for Lit Groups yesterday and we met with our group today. We will be reading and discussing our books throughout the next few weeks. We have also begun writing a paper about a favorite school memory. The students will be completing a Writing Benchmark next week. We will also begin studying the Bill of Rights. So much to do! 
Monday, April 2 is "Light It Up Blue" to raise awareness of autism in the community. The fifth grade has invited students to wear blue on Monday to commemorate the day.
 March 23, 2012 
Wow! Another week has passed us by. The students worked hard after they got over the "I'm back at school" blues. They seemed to have enjoyed their time off. 
This week in math, we worked on problem solving with problems from a variety of concepts. We practiced some reading passages in language arts and used our time in history for reading strategies using National Geographic. 
Next week, we will be giving the STAAR Math Test to the students on Tuesday and the STAAR Reading Test on Wednesday. Please be sure that your student gets to bed early the night before the tests, eats a good breakfast on the morning of the tests, and gets to school on time. It is very important that they are ready to work. 
If your student is in my after school tutoring group, we will not have tutoring next week. March 9, 2012 
Good afternoon,
I hope you have managed to stay dry today. We have made a few soggy trips into the building today, but I am thankful for every raindrop.
In math this week, we finished reviewing our STAAR Ready math test, reviewed prime and composite numbers, place value, and worked with word problems. I told the students today that they should use IXL as a way to increase their confidence in the areas that they need more practice. I have asked them to spend some time over Spring Break practicing on IXL and reading. The students completed their Lit Group presentations and shared their work with the class this week. It was interesting to hear the students discussing why they did or did not enjoy the book. We finished chapter 14, The Constitution, in history and completed our open book test. When we return from Spring Break, we will continue to revisit math concepts and focus on reading strategies.
Don’t forget, that our picture day is on Wednesday, March 21. If you would like to purchase pictures, please be sure to send in your picture envelope and money by that date.
I wish you and your family a restful and fun Spring Break.  March 2, 2012 
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Ask your student about "Too Many Daves" that we read in math class today. We completed our time/temperature unit and took a test that covered these concepts as well as measurement conversions on Tuesday in math. We also worked with the problem solving strategy of working backwards. Next week, we will continue to work with problem solving strategies and revisit patterns. In history, we read chapter fourteen and completed questions about our reading. Check with your student because some students will be finishing the history questions over the weekend. We finished our Lit Groups this week and worked on a character map. We also began reading the March National Geographic. Next week, we will finish the National Geographic, begin preparing our Lit Group presentations, and share the presentations with our classmates.
Don't forget that Wednesday, March 7, is an early release day at 12:45 for our students. February 24, 2012 
Some of my students are counting down to Spring Break. I keep reminding them that there are still two weeks left in this nine weeks and another nine weeks after Spring Break. Some of us are getting Spring fever a bit early.
In math this week, we finished our time and temperature unit. We will be completing a test on Tuesday covering time, temperature, and measurement conversions. I have encouraged the students to go to IXL to practice these concepts before the test on Tuesday. In Language Arts, we are getting really close to finishing our Lit Group books. We will work on book presentations as soon as we finish. We will also continue working with expository text. Chapter 14, "The Constitution" is the next chapter we will be studying in History.
If you have not completed and returned the green Sixth Grade Course Selection Form, please do so by Wednesday, February 29. They must be turned in to the middle school, so they can begin their scheduling process.
 February 17, 2012 
Good afternoon,
Our students got the opportunity to visit with the sixth grade counselor during Specials today. She shared information about elective choices for next year. The students will be bringing home an elective choice sheet today. Please be sure to discuss these important choices with your student. The form needs to be completed and returned by Wednesday, February 29.
I want to give a BIG thanks to our homeroom mother for coordinating our Valentine’s Day party. Thank you to all of the parents that sent goodies for the party. The students had a blast. If they didn’t tell you about the game they played, be sure to ask them.
In math this week, our concept has been elapsed time. We will continue to work on elapsed time and temperature next week. I have encouraged the students to go to the IXL math program to practice any concepts that they do not feel confident about. It is a great resource for extra practice. We worked with IXL in class today using elapsed time. Our Lit Groups are getting close to the end of their books and then we will get the opportunity to share our thoughts about the book with the class. We will be working with expository reading next week. We took the Chapter 13 open book test in history today. We will begin Chapter 14, The Constitution, next week.
Don’t forget that Monday, February 20 is a Student Holiday. Enjoy that extra day. February 10, 2012 
Please be sure to ask your student about Mrs. Robinson's (our school counselor) visit this afternoon. She came to share some information about middle school. I could tell by the questions that our students are very interested in learning all they can about next year. On Friday, February 17, the sixth grade counselor from Cedar Valley Middle School will visit with all of our fifth graders during their Specials time. She will give them more information about next year. It is hard for me to believe that it really is coming soon. So much to learn before we are ready for sixth grade.
This week was spent working with measurement conversions using metric and customary measurement. Next week, after the STAAR Ready Math Test on Monday, we will begin our study of time and temperature. Our students shared with the class on Thursday during Lit Groups all about the characters and the problems they have faced in the book they are reading.  I could tell how much they are enjoying their books. We began chapter thirteen, The Revolutionary War, in social studies this week. We will complete the chapter and take an open book test on it next week.
If your student forgot to tell you, ask them about the Cultural Arts program they attended on Tuesday. They had a great time!
Don't forget, Valentine's Day is next Tuesday, February 14. I sent home a list of classmates' names on Thursday with your student. They may bring Valentine cards on Tuesday. The Valentine's Day party is from 1:30-2:30.
 February 3, 2012 
Wow! February is already here. Valentine's Day is coming soon. We will have our Valentine's Day party on Tuesday, February 14 from 1:30-2:30. The students will have the opportunity to exchange Valentine's cards at the party. I will be sending home a list of classmate's names next week.
This past week, we continued our Lit Groups and had some good discussions about our books. Be sure to ask your student about their book. We also worked with a National Geographic and read some interesting articles about spiders and cactus. In history, we finished chapter 11, Independence or Not, and completed an open book test. We have already started chapter 12, The Declaration of Independence, and will be finishing it next week. We finished our Geometry unit and had our test today. Next week, we will begin measurement conversions. This should be fun. Some of us need to brush up on multiplication facts because we will be working with multiplication and division next week with our conversions.
Our counselor will be coming by next Friday afternoon to talk to our students about middle school. It won't be long before they have to make decisions about their elective for next year. Can you believe this year is going by so quickly?
Hope you have a great weekend!
 January 27, 2012 
Wow! I can't think of another word to describe the amazing Science Fair projects that were on display for Science Night. Our students did an excellent job. Thanks to all of the parents that sent cookies for the presenters and for the help we had setting up tables for the presenters. It seemed that everyone was having a great time. We really appreciate your help.
The week was busy. We continued our study of geometry. We worked with polygons, quadrilaterals, triangles, and solids this week. We also learned about nets. Next week, we will work with congruence, symmetry, and transformations. We will be taking a geometry test on Friday, if we progress as anticipated. We completed our notes on Loyalists and Patriots in history and will complete an open book test next week before beginning Chapter 12, The Declaration of Independence. We continued our Lit Groups and poetry study. The students made predictions as to the next events in their Lit Group book, so they will find out next week how close their prediction was. So much to learn!
 January 20, 2012 
What a beautiful day!!! What a fast week, the four days flew by. We have began our study of Geometry with lines and angles. We will continue to move forward with that study next week. We completed our Boston Tea Party projects and will move on to Chapter 11 (Patriots and Loyalists) next week. We are continuing with our Lit Groups in ELAR and our study of poetry, although we got off schedule this week because of only four days, a reading benchmark, and a visit from our counselor. Mrs. Rivera came to talk with our students about the importance of setting goals. Your students got the opportunity to begin their E-Slot class today. Be sure to ask them about it.
Don't forget that Science Fair projects are due next week. Science Night is on Thursday, January 20 from 6:00-7:15. Hope to see you there.
January 13, 2012 
Isn't the sunshine beautiful? Recess today was wonderful. The students were running, playing, and soaking up the sun. What fun!
This week in math, we finished our study of probability and took a quick quiz. Next week, we will begin our study of geometry. The Boston Tea Party was our focus in history and the students will be completing their project next week. In Language Arts, we began our Lit Groups.  The students are having fun reading with their groups and discussing their book. We have also been studying poetry and will begin to do some poetry writing next week. I can't wait to read some of their poems.
Please continue to check your student's assignment spiral and Wednesday folder to keep tabs on their progress. Remember that you have access to their grades through the Great Oaks website, Parent Resources, Home Access Center.
Don't forget that Monday, January 16 is a holiday, MLK Day. Enjoy your three day weekend. 
January 6, 2012 
What a beautiful day! Ask the students about E-Slot this morning. We had a bit of fun outside.
It has been a busy week trying to get refocused and back on track. We began working with probability in math and will continue next week. In history, we finished Chapter 10, Growing Tension Between the Colonies and Britain, including the open book test. We discussed the Boston Tea Party project and will be working on it next week. We completed a review of last year and made two resolutions for this year in ELAR. We also worked with commas and nonfiction reading. Next week, we will begin Lit Circles and our study of poetry. Lots to do!
 December 17, 2011 
<DIV>Yesterday passed by so quickly that I totally ran out of time to send my weekly update.  The students were so excited about the Holiday Party.  It was great!  A big "THANK YOU" to all of the parents that donated items for the party and to all of you that were able to attend.  The students had lots of fun.  </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wrote all of my thank you cards to give to the students and in all of the hysteria, I left them on the corner of my desk instead of distributing them.  So, a sincere thank you for all of the goodies I received.  I truly appreciate each of them.  </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I wish you and your family a happy holiday season.  I hope you get the opportunity to spend time with your family and friends.  Don't forget to take a moment to reflect on all of our blessings.  Being able to work with your students is one of mine and I thank you for all of your support. </DIV>
December 9, 2011 
What a busy week! Our students had the opportunity to hear the Cedar Valley Middle School Choir in concert, participate in a Skype with the author of Origami Yoda, attend a presentation by Police ICE (be sure to ask for details about this, it was great), and hear the Great Oaks Choir in concert. Wow! Don’t worry; we did learn a few new things this week too. We continued with our fraction study and will take a test next Wednesday. We finished our study of chapter nine, Life in Colonial Williamsburg. We completed our comparison of an expository text and an origin story. We shared origin stories from other cultures and have begun brainstorming ideas to write our own origin stories and reviewed a bit of grammar too.
If your student has not brought an empty egg carton to school, please send one on Monday. We will need it in science class on Tuesday.
 December 2, 2011 
Our students got the opportunity to attend a presentation by an author, Liz Scanlon, yesterday. Please be sure to ask them about it. Next week, don't forget that Wednesday, December 7, is an early release day. The students will be dismissed at 12:45. The annual Holiday Lunch will be next Thursday, December 8. Our lunch time has changed for that one day. The time on Thursday for lunch will be 12:55-1:25.
We have been working with fractions in math this week and will continue with our study next week. Mixed numbers and improper fractions will the topic on Monday. We will be finishing chapter 9, Williamsburg, on Monday and will complete an open book test on Tuesday. We finished our expository reading selection today and will read an origin story on Monday. 
Please be sure to remind your student that a Science Fair checkpoint is due on Monday, December 5. You may visit Mrs. Schermerhorn's website for all the details. It is very important to stay caught up with the science fair work.
 November 22, 2011 Just a quick note today. No homework, but it would be great if you can encourage your student to open a book and read for a bit over the holiday. I am certainly looking forward to reading. 
The year is flying by and I wanted you to know that I appreciate all your support. Please continue to monitor your student's assignment spiral and don't let them forget about their science fair project. Check their calendar for the next checkpoint. It does sneak up on us.
Stay safe and have a very happy Thanksgiving! 
November 18, 2011 
The most fun this week was the field trip. I feel sure you have heard all about it. We got off our schedule a bit since we missed most of a day. We will try to catch up next week, although we only have two days of school. I have some "turkey" problem solving that will be fun and a bit challenging. We will discuss the origin of Thanksgiving Day and spend some time with our Buddy Class working on some Thanksgiving poetry.
 November 11, 2011 
Please ask your students about the Veteran's Day program that they attended today. It was wonderful. It is so important that our children understand how important our freedom is and the sacrifices that have been made in order to achieve it. It was very moving. The choirs were wonderful.
We had a busy week. We are going to continue chapter eight, Facing Slavery, next week in history since we got off schedule. We will finish the chapter next week and have a test. Our colony letters were finished today during Language Arts. We continued with our reader's responses and also practiced using a table of contents. We need those research skills for our science fair projects. We worked with perimeter, area, and volume in math class this week and will continue with measurement, both metric and customary, next week. We will have a math test on Friday. 
Don't forget about Book Fair next week. We will be going to the Book Fair on Monday afternoon for a preview of all the great books. We will be going on our field trip to the Birds of Prey on Tuesday, November 15. The students will be bring their tie-dye t-shirts home on Monday, so they can wear them on Tuesday on the field trip. A BIG thanks to Mrs. Hyatt and Mrs. May for getting these made for us. Please be sure to send a sack lunch with your student on Tuesday. We will not be back in time to order from the cafeteria. I am looking forward to the trip and I think the students are too. 
November 4, 2011 
This week in math, we finished our study of graphs and took a test today. Next week, we will begin our study of perimeter, area, and volume. Please save an empty box for your student to bring to school for practice in measurement. We finished the colonies, chapter seven, in history and will be moving on to chapter eight next week. We will complete our final copy (rough draft completed) of a letter written to a family member from the point of view of an early colonist and our procedural text project. Of course, we will continue with our reader's responses. 
Since we seem to be having an outbreak of the sniffles, I would appreciate any donations of Kleenex and Clorox wipes. We need to try to keep the germs from spreading. 
October 28, 2011 
What a fast week! I hope you are ready for Halloween on Monday. The students have been overheard talking about it and all that candy. I am going to remind the students that they need to bring a healthy snack for class. Candy during the day could be detrimental to some of our students' thinking. 
We began working with graphs in math this week and will continue into next week and add coordinate grids. We will be completing a test at the end of next week. We will be completing chapter seven, Colonies, next week in history also. Our procedural text is taking a bit longer than anticipated, so we will hopefully finish next week. Reader's responses will continue along with reading strategies. 
Be sure to ask your students about the fun we had with our buddy class today. Spiders everywhere! 
October 21, 2011 
Good afternoon! 
I hope you have had a great week. We had fun learning about prime and composite numbers and divisibility rules. Next week, we will continue this study and begin to learn about charts, graphs, and tables. We will move on to chapter seven in history. We will continue our work on procedural text and reader's response. Don't forget to keep planning for your science fair project. It's going to be so much fun to see all of the finished projects in January. 
Don't forget that Monday is decorate your shoes day. 
October 14, 2011 
We had a guest reader this afternoon. One of our friends from second grade came to read us a story. The students and I enjoyed his enthusiasm while reading. We have spent the week continuing our study of division and completed a quiz today. We will begin discussing prime and composite numbers next week, divisibility rules, and factors. In history, we will begin chapter six, Early English Settlements, and discuss how to identify key concepts in expository text. We will study main idea, more about context clues, logical order in our writing, and how to improve our reader's responses during our ELAR time. Lots to accomplish! 
October 7, 2011 
This week, we completed chapter five in the History Alive book. This chapter is about early explorers and we will be completing an open book test next week. We continued our reader's responses, discussed the elements of drama, began our verb book, and completed a writing benchmark. Math was a study of division and more work with problem solving. We will continue division next week and problem solving is an ongoing journey. So much to learn!
Don't forget that Monday is a holiday for the students and fall conference day for many of us. 
September 30, 2011 
Wow! It's the last day of September. Can you believe it? Time is flying by. We had a busy week. We continued our study of multiplication and completed a test. We worked on problem solving and will begin our study of division next week. In reading, we discussed inferences this week, and continued with our reading and reader's responses. We completed our college letters and will mail them and wait anxiously for responses. Chapter 4 in History Alive has been finished and we will begin a more in-depth study of explorers next week. The most exciting experience for the students this week was the Rock Wall yesterday. They had a great time and were reminded about the important character traits: respect, responsibility, honesty, trustworthiness, caring, cooperation, courage, and my favorite, perseverance. Please ask them about their experience. 
If you have not signed up for a parent conference, please go to my teacher web and select a time. Goal setting is very important. I will be sending a separate email containing a parent input form to help me in setting goals for our students.
 September 23, 2011 Happy Fall, although the temperature doesn't feel much like fall yet. We had a busy week. We got the opportunity to go to the library for a Bluebonnet book presentation by Mrs. Grindle. There are lots of great books on the list this year. We are encouraging the students to read Bluebonnet books in order to be able to participate in the Battle of the Bluebonnet. We worked on multiplication in math this week and will take a test next week. We will then begin our study of division. We completed the chapter on Native Americans and will move on to early explorers next week in social studies. We finished (some are finishing this weekend) our personal narratives. Please check your student's agenda to see if they are being given the opportunity to finish their narrative this weekend. I have told them they may handwrite it or type it and email it to me. Action verbs was our grammar topic this week. We will continue to do some work with verbs next week and adverbs. 
Next week's Wednesday folders will include your student's progress report. Please look for it, sign it, and return it in the Wednesday folder on Thursday. 
Please help your student to remember that the Rock Wall will be here on Thursday. They need to dress appropriately for climbing and should wear athletic shoes. If you have not signed and returned the permission form please do so and send it with your student on Monday. They will not be allowed to climb the rock wall without a permission slip.
September 16, 2011 I have updated the Fall Conference page.  Please check the page and reserve a time for our goal setting conference. 
I sent home information regarding individual pictures with your student today. We will have pictures taken next Wednesday, September 21. Please be sure to send the completed envelope and money before or on picture day if you want to order. 
In math this week, we practiced mental math, rounding, and estimation of sums and differences. We will continue with rounding using multiplication next week and then move into multiplying two digit by two digit and then three digit by two digit numbers. I encouraged the students to brush up on their math facts in order to make next week's work easier. If they are not confident with their math facts, the work will take longer. In social studies this week, we read and took notes about the Native Americans in America. I had hoped to have our personal narrative finished this week, but we had technical issues with the netbooks, so we didn't all get the opportunity to finish. Hopefully, all of the papers will be finished next week. We continued our Readers Workshop and discussed the readers response expectations. Next week, we will begin writing our readers responses and discussing genre. September 9, 2011 
Lots of work accomplished this week! The students took beginning of the year assessments in reading, math, and science. We also completed our place value study and will begin with rounding and estimating using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division next week. We continued our work on a personal narrative and are currently finishing peer conferencing and editing. Some of us are already working on our final copy. We are continuing to read and will begin with our reader's responses next week. We reviewed four types of responses this week. We completed our geography chapter this week and will begin our study of Native Americans on Monday.
Please help your student to remember to get sheet music for their favorite song for Mrs. West's music class. 

Please continue to review your student's daily agenda and Wednesday folder.
Don't forget that Wednesday, September 14 is an early release day. The students will be released at 12:45. 
September 2, 2011 

Good afternoon! The students had a full week of school and survived. We are beginning to get into the routine with only occasional reminders. We have been working with place value to the billions and decimals to the thousandths this week in Math. We will be taking a place value quiz next Wednesday and then beginning to work with problem solving strategies. In Language Arts, we have been reading a book of our choice. We went to the library today and Mrs. Grindle gave us a lesson on how to choose a book and showed us all of the websites that are on the library webpage to help us find a book that will be a good fit. We learned to "buzz" this week and worked with a group to share. Ask your student about buzzing. We are also dusting off our writing skills learned in fourth grade by beginning a personal narrative. The students have chosen some great topics. We worked with geography in History this week and completed a landforms map. We will finish chapter one next week. Be sure to ask your student about the Friendship Rally that Great Oaks had this morning. What fun!
Please continue to ask your student to share their agenda with you, so you know what they have been busy working on during the school day. It also lists the homework for the day. Please have your student read at least fifteen minutes a day. When you receive the Wednesday folder, please review the information inside (important papers and graded papers), remove them from the folder, sign the folder on the sheet on the cover, and return it on Thursday.
 August 26, 2011
 Wow, what a week! We are off to a great start. This week has flown, but I think we (the students and I) are thankful it is Friday. I can tell that getting up early every morning has been a challenge for some and others are just so excited to be back. I hope that your student has begun to feel comfortable in our classroom. We have started getting to know each other this week. We also set up our reading, math, and science notebooks this week. Setting up the notebooks takes some time, but they are a valuable part of your student's learning. Ask your student about their new buddy. Our Buddy Class is Mrs. Gregory in second grade. The students interviewed each other today during E-Slot.
Next week in math, we will work with place value to the billions and decimals to the thousandths. We will begin a personal narrative in writing and will write our first reader's response during our reading workshop time. It will be a full week.
My plan is to send an update each Friday. I also plan to update my teacherweb with pertinent dates on Friday as well as the weekly update. I like to keep my students' parents informed. If you need to contact me, please email or call (464-6944) and leave a message. 
Just a reminder: Monday August 29 is Parent Night for fifth grade from 6:45-7:30 p.m. 
 August 19, 2011 I had so much fun on the Neighborhood Walk.  I enjoyed meeting so many of my new students.  I had a great turnout at supply drop off night.  Thanks for delivering those supplies and making sure your student knows where the classroom is located.  Tuesday, August 23 is our first day of school.  Please be at our classroom, Cottage 3B, at 7:45 a.m.  Don't forget your first homework assignment!  See you on Tuesday!<IMG border=0 alt="" align=absMiddle src="/Controls/DHtmlEditor/Images/emteeth.gif"> August 12, 2011 I am looking forward to meeting you at Welcome Walk On Wednesday, August 17.  Drop off school supplies and ice cream social is on Thursday, August 18 from 5:00-6:30.  Our cottage is 3B.  Hope to see you there.<IMG border=0 alt="" align=absMiddle src="/Controls/DHtmlEditor/Images/face1.gif">

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