9/28/12

Term Cards!

The meap is approaching!  And by now all students in all 5th grade classes have been making and SHOULD be studying those term cards! (See revious blog entry as to "why" we do these)

  

     Groups B and D should have all 8 sets done and be learning them.  Groups A and C should have sets

1 - 2 done and be working on sets 3 and 4.  Please encourage them to study these, and help them to study these.  90% of what they understand in science this year, in middle school and beyond is going to be based on what they comprehend.  If they can't understand a teacher's question because they don't know the words the teacher's are using, they're going to fall behind.

                                           Field Trips!

    The only trip scheduled so far is the October 18th trip to the outdoor education center.  All 5th grade  classes will be attending all day.  I've copied and sent home your signed permission slips so that you have a copy of what lunch choices you signed up for at the beginning of this year. (home or school lunch.)  If you signed up for home lunch, PLEASE make sure that you provide  a lunch for your child on our OEC trip day.  If you checked school lunch, we will makes sure they pick up their sack lunch from the cafeteria first thing in the morning.

        Have your student dress for the weather please!  Layers is always best, and sturdy shoes are recommended as I'm going to have them off the deck and tramping through the woods for our various activities. Gloves and hats might be necessary.... this is Michigan and we never know what's going to happen temperature wise one week to the next.

5th grade graduation

5th grade graduation this year is going to be 9:00 on Monday, June 3rd.  Mark your calendars for this important event!

   Spelling lists

 New spelling lists are handed out each Monday.  The kids take their final test Friday morning, and then take a pretest for the next week's words in the afternoon.  Unlike "Words their Way" that kept your child at one level of words for an entire marking period, the new program "Spelling Connections" allows them to move up or down on a list each week depending on how they do on the pretest.  This upcoming week's lists will cover the long o sound... the ou combination, the oa combination and the ow combination.

The Hedgehog

By now I"m sure you've heard that in addition to our bunny "Thumper" and the "Bear's" visits Wednesday and Friday, that we now also have a hedgehog named "Quilliam" (As in William with Quills... and he came with that name!)   I checked thoroughly with my local vet regarding and possibly transmissible diseases etc from him to the kids and with hedgehogs (other than getting poked by the quills) there aren't any issues.  Still... as he hasn't been handled in 4 months and because right now he resembles an angry cactus any time we approach his cage, he is going to be a "look only" pet.  He doesn't bite... I've held him numerous times.... but he is a prickly little sucker and when he gets riled his quills stand right on end.  So for the kid's safety it's going to be hands off until he is much better socialized. 

I've also decided that a bunny a dog, and two horses are at home are quite enough to take care of... so if the original owner doesn't want him back at the end of the school year, I'm going to be looking for a home for him.  I have NOT told the kids this.... I wanted you to be the first to know so that you can strategize an answer should the topic come up.

 Hedgehogs are not like porcupines.... their quills don't stick in you or leave their body. They remain fixed in their skin at all times.  For more information on Hedgehogs, I suggest google. The amount of info on them is truly astounding!

9/6/12

  Homework!

So far students in Mrs. Sadowski's class have had two assignments.  1.... they were supposed to finish their creative name tags.  And 2..... They were supposed to show you and explain their schedule book.  Please make sure that this schedule books is shown to you nightly so that you can keep up with what they did in class each day.

We have students divided into four groups for science and social studies.... A....B.....C... and D.  I had them write what group they are in inside the cover of their schedule books.  For the next month I have groups B and D.  If you have  student in group B, or D, they have homework tonight! They need to finish and start studying term card set number one.  Please have them do this on their own..... part of putting them together is matching up the terms and the definitions which helps them learn these terms faster.

The point of term cards?

A Question on the science meap test (back 7 years ago when we were allowed to read the questions) stated the following:

   "In a temperate region ecosystem, how are the consumers and producers affected by an over population of predators?"

   If the kids don't know "Temperate regions" "ecosystem" "consumer" "producer" "population" or "predators" they don't have a prayer of getting this question right.  (Yes... they really ask the kids questions like this)

So!  Thats where science term cards came in.  They work so well that last year Sunset Lake 5th graders scored 1st on the science meap in kalamazoo county.  Yay us!  That and the middle school and highschool science teachers can always tell who my science students are because they know their terminology.

There are 8 sets total.  Number one is by far the biggest one.   We will take test over the first four sets in three weeks.  Studying is pretty easy as it is set up like flash cards.  I read the definition on the back and have the kids guess the word. We play "around the world " with them... "term card swat" and a few other games to make learning them fun.  Students in groups B and D should be studying these at least four nights a week.

Thanks so much for being so quick getting the permission slips and all the other paperwork turned in!  I'll make a copy of the permission slips so that as time gets closer to each event, you remember whether you picked "pack a lunch" or "school lunch" for those trips that require a lunch.

9/4/12

Welcome back !

Coming home with your students today will be a pile of papers!

The first is the yearly, required registration papers.  Please make sure you sign all areas that need signing and return those asap.

The second is a permission slip for ALL the 5th grade field trips for this year. We like to get it all out of the way rather than send random notes home throughout the year. Please initial each box and pick a lunch choice for our all day trips. Please sign that asap as well.

There is also a book fair announcement, as well as two brochures ragarding policies in our classroom as well as the reading education assistance dog program. (Bear doesn't just come in randomly, he actually has a function!)

Looking forward to meeting you all at open house on Thursday night!