Wednesday, October 11 is Pajama Day!
As a part of the Orange Ruler fundraiser, Ms. Stewart will be wearing footie pajamas and we are joining her! Students can wear any type of pajamas (they don't have to be footie). Just please keep in mind the weather. Students may also bring a small stuffed animal and we will have a read-a-thon in the classroom. Our class won Kona Ice through the fundraiser, which will happen the 11th as well. Parent-Teacher Conference are 10/16 through 10/20 I look forward to meeting with you and your child to show them the work we have done so far and set some goals for the near future. If you haven't signed up yet, you can still do so at signupgenius.com. If you need the link resent to you, please let me know. I'm happy to email it to you again. Friday, October is a non attendance day for students. It is the district's official parent-teacher conference day. Thursday, October 26 is picture retake day. Tuesday, October 31 Halloween Parade and Parties begin at 1:15 Please fill out a form indicating your student's plans for lunch for that day. Some students go home to change into their costumes and we need to know who is going where. Your child can change into their costumes at school during recess as well. You can print the form from the Hoffman website. I will have some forms available in the classroom for students to take home this week. Look for this in their take-home folder.
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We are rocking it out in writing! We have gone through the complete writing process twice with a focus on nonfiction topics. The first essay was on a topic of student choice. We read tons of nonfiction books on our topics, chose two or three subtopics to focus on and saw the writing pieces through the revising and editing process. We are focusing on elements from a rubric that includes a strong, compelling introduction, an emphasis on main ideas and important details, word choice, and a conclusion that leaves the reader with something to ponder regarding the topic.
The second essay involved choosing two related topics to compare. Many students chose to use their previous research, add a second topic and compare the two. They were much more comfortable with the process the second time around. This week, we will work on something called "on demand" writing. I will give the class nonfiction articles to read and they will compare the information from the articles and write about similarities and differences in the articles. Whereas previously students had many hours throughout the week to complete their essays, this will require students to complete their writing within two hours. You will get a chance to see their work at conferences! Such hard work! So exciting! The class worked so hard this week! Where to begin?
CHAMPs We began implementing a new behavior incentive program this week. It is tied to a curriculum called CHAMPs, which specifically spells out what is expected for each learning block. This included getting to work right away, staying on task, working at a quiet voice level, how to move around the room, etc. The class can earn minutes toward free time on Fridays. This week the class earned 20 minutes of free time! Woo hoo! Next week we add a new component to this program. Students who have missing work will not participate in Friday Fun Fest. Those who have turned in late work will miss out on part of Friday Fun Fest. Turn in your homework guys! Reading and Writing I'm writing about these two areas together because it is impossible to do one without the other. We are working on nonfiction in both reading and writing. We spend our morning reading block reading high quality nonfiction books on preferred topics. While reading, students are taking notes using post-it notes, a notebook or notecards. During our writing block, students brainstorm topics of interest, questions they have about the topic and will soon begin to write about their topics of choice. (Check out some cute pics of students engaged in reading together!) Math We are moving through our first unit, which covers area and volume. We are also going to begin to work on math facts fluency beginning next week. Science We had so much fun during science this week! We did an experiment on "mystery matter". Each student examined and wrote about the properties of 4 different powders. They then added water to each substance and recorded what happened. (Check out the pictures!) Next week, we will continue to do experiments with our mystery matter! Social Studies We are focusing on explorers. We have been discussing how French explorers ended up in Canada, hence they speak French in many areas of Canada. Spain ended up in Mexica, hence they speak Spanish. And England ended up in what is now the U.S. therefore we speak English. Don't forget! No school on Thursday 9/21! Well, we made it through our first full week of school! We focused on routines, including checking in at the beginning of each day, packing up at the end of each day, moving through the classroom and hallways, etc. We are following a curriculum called CHAMPs which clearly spells out behavioral expectations throughout the day. The class can earn minutes towards free time on Fridays. The class has responded very well to this program so far! They earned 20 minutes of free time this week!
We have finally completed all of those beginning of the year assessments! Woo hoo! Now the hard work begins! We are hitting the ground running with learning how to read complex nonfiction texts and how to write about nonfiction topic.s of interest. We completed our first science lesson on matter. (Look for photos of this in the 'Pictures' tab!) We focused on how molecules and atoms stay the same chemically when heated up or cooled down, but physically can change. We will begin our first unit in math this week. Hope to see you on Thursday at 6:30 for Curriculum Night! SO EXCITED TO MEET MY NEW FAMILIES!
I hope that you had a wonderful summer and you are ready for a new school year at Hoffman! During this past summer, I was fortunate enough to drive through the south with my son, Thomas (15). We visited my brother's family in Memphis. (That's where we met the tall fellow in the picture above.) We also went to Huntsville, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Savannah, Georgia, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee. What an amazing trip! I am very excited to be back to school and start on a brand new school year. I greatly look forward to meeting you and working with you to give your child the best possible 5th grade experience Snack As always, your child is encouraged to bring a healthy snack and a water bottle. This helps to prevent long lines at the water fountain. Some suggested snacks are fresh fruit or vegetables, fruit leather, string cheese, or Goldfish. Please do not send in snacks with nuts, including granola bars as we do have allergies in our room. Weekly Sheets Every Friday, your child will bring home a Weekly Sheet. The Weekly Sheet is my way of communicating to you about your child’s progress each week. If your child is missing any homework assignments, I will send a late slip that requires your signature home right away. If your child’s late slip does not come back, then I will mark it down on the Weekly Sheet. The Weekly Sheet will also have a space for you to sign every weekend letting me know that you’ve seen it. Please use the Weekly Sheet as another positive mode of communication between us. I look forward to keeping in touch with you! Folders On the first day of school, your child will choose a take home folder to use during the school year. The pockets on the folder will be clearly labeled. One side will be for papers that your child needs to return to school, such as field trip forms and homework, and the other side will be items that should stay at home, such as flyers. At the end of every day, I will be personally checking each student's folder to ensure that he or she is putting items on the correct side of his or her folder and is filling out the assignment notebook correctly. Please review the folder each night to ensure that they are giving you all of their "stay at home" papers. Week of August 28 Upcoming dates: NWEA Reading assessment - Tuesday, August 29 at 8am. NWEA Language assessment - Wednesday, August 30 at 1pm. NWEA Math assessment - Thursday, August 31 at 8am No School Monday, September 4 Thursday, September 21 |
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