*Tomorrow is the Theme 2 Reading test. The skills being assessed are written in your child's planner. To study for the exam, the studs brought home their tests and packets from Lessons 6-9.

~comprehension

~robust vocabulary

~grammar

~spelling

~fluency

*We began our 3rd Math book today, Shapes and Designs. The parent letter covers some helpful hints and information about this unit. Please watch for it in your child's backpack.

*Our Writing time has been spent doing Author's Chair. The studs have been sharing their Ideas essay with the class. These are being graded and will be sent home next week.

I sure hope your child has been sharing with you about our Pioneer Simulations we have been doing!!!! The whole 5th grade has been placed into groups of 4 and have been participating in wonderful simulation activities which are teacher-directed, student driven situations that provide lifelike problem solving experiences through role-playing and reenacting. They will take responsibility for their own learning, discover that they must work cooperatively with their wagon team in order to succeed, and apply skills in math and logic to solve the problems they encounter. Ask your child to see their Pioneer Journal and Diary to learn about the individual scenarios in which they have dealt.

*Valentines' Day reminders...Please do not send any candy taped onto cards, or any candy to pass out to the class due to our allergy policy. Please respect this request.

Happy February!!!

*Menu items due Thursday 1/19

*Bits & Pieces Unit Test on Friday 1/20

*Ideas Essay typed due Tuesday 1/23

*Spelling HW/Test Wednesday 1/24

*In Social Studies we have been researching in groups an expedition and recording our information on a chart. There are three different leaders of the expeditions: Daniel Boone, Zebulon Pike, and Lewis and Clark. The studs will jigsaw their information with the other students. We are publishing our final project onto a decorated pie chart poster board. Please come see these on our display wall outside the classroom.

Have a great week!!!!

*The studs are continuing to learn about Pioneers and Westward Expansion in Social Studies.

Our days are jam packed and we still find time to have some fun!!!

"Success seems to be connected with action, but if you do nothing there will be no result."~Conrad Hilton

We are finally reaching normal temperatures for December...brrrr!!!!

Gentle Reminder...please label all winter clothing. We are already accumulating our OWN lost and found...how is this possible????

Family Magic Show and Book Fair TONIGHT!!!! (6:30-8:30pm)

The studs will preview the book fair today during school. :)

*We are taking our Lesson 7 Weekly Test in Reading. The focus skill and strategy are from Lessons 6 & 7. The studs will be taking the tests home this week for you to view and sign.

*Bits & Pieces Inv. 1 quiz will be going home today for you to view and sign. We have begun Inv. 2 which focuses on Sharing and Comparing with Fractions. Ask your child about the licorice lace problem we solved today!!

*In Social Studies, we have begun our study of Westward Expansion by learning about the different waves of pioneers. The studs have been divided into 6 cooperative groups to research and create a poster depicted one of the three waves. When they are finished with their projects, they will present them to the class.

*Has your child mentioned to you about our Steps to Respect program? Hopefully you have been having conversations with your child about the activities we have done. The carry over and connection between school and home is crucial in this process of being respectful.

*Wednesday, Dec. 14th is the Chorus field trip to Hawthorne.

*Read to Succeed forms went home today. This is the reading program for the free Great America ticket!!! Forms are due FEB. 9TH!!!! Your child already does the reading with RAH....just write it down on the new form and kill 2 birds with 1 stone...how easy!

Have a great week!

"You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing, there will be no result."~Gandhi

Winter is upon us....please make sure your child is warm and cozy with hats, gloves, and scarves when it is outdoor recess!! PLEASE LABEL ALL ITEMS IF YOU WANT THEM TO MAKE IT HOME!!!!!!

• We completed our second math book Prime Time this week....off to Bits and Pieces where we will be problem solving using fractions, decimals and percents.

• Our Science study of Matter is coming to a close. The studs took a final open book assessment that will be graded on Monday.

• Our THANKFUL expository essays are published and hanging on the walls of the 5th grade hallway. What a beautiful sight!

• In Language Arts, we took our Lesson 7 pretest and will begin the Menu activities on Monday. The focus skill is again Theme and the focus strategy is Ask Questions.

Master Lee, Master Kim, and Simon are Taekwondo instructors and visited our class to talk about being RESPECTFUL and teaching about ANTI-BULLYING techniques. We have been experiencing situations with the students not treating each other nicely and respectfully, so our guests addressed these issues with the class. Master Lee uses the VERBAL JUDO program to teach kids about bullying. This is a program that officers are trained to use to deter hostile situations. Taking Martial Arts is a GREAT way for kids to learn and practice discipline and respect!!! The students also got to break a board at the end of the visit. They LOVED this!!!! This should only be done with a black belt assisting them and should not be done at home.

We will be incorporating a program called STEPS TO RESPECT into our daily lessons that teaches children social and emotional skills to help create a more positive classroom environment with fewer disruptions and behavior problems. Ask your child frequently about what we did in these lessons.

Have a great weekend!!!

"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted." ~David Bly

*The studs took the first portion of the Storytown Theme 1 assessment today. This was a culmination of comprehension strategies, grammar skills, fluency, spelling, and robust vocabulary. I will show you the graded test at conferences next week.

*In Math, we completed Inv. 2 for Prime Time. Our Inv. 2 quiz will be Monday morning.

*A Look Back at 1st Mid-Tri is the writing piece we are writing to share with you at conferences.

*Thank you Hulligans for sending in the movie Around the World in 80 Days. The students are REALLY enjoying it!!!!!

What a beautiful Columbus Day! I hope you all had an opportunity to enjoy the mild sunny weather!

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a district reading workshop. The way we teach and assess students on reading responses is changing. Please watch for papers coming home with a "Thinking Column." This column allows students to write down their thoughts as they read. Then when it comes to responding to the text, they have connections and ideas right there. I will also be sending home a copy of the new rubric. It is a little overwhelming, but very complete. Unfortunately, there will not be a student friendly rubric this time. We were informed that the rubric starts to lose content when a student friendly rubric is created. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

• "Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing."
  ~William A.
  
  
  
  
• Ask your child about today's Math lesson. They really enjoyed our Inv. 2 review!!! :) We took our Inv. 2 math quiz.
• We launched our new Science unit on Matter...Everything that takes up space and has mass is called Matter.We began our Literature Stations this week. The studs were engaged in several activities correlating with Lesson 3 skills in Reading. The groups and activities are fluid throughout the year.

• Our first writing trait is Voice. As your child is reading at home, ask him/her to describe a character's voice. We will carry this over into our writing.
• The Western region test was a huge success! Onward east to the Midwestern region. That test will be on Tuesday.

Divisibility Dash

Equivalent Fractions

Beat the Computer

Monster Squeeze

Addition Top It

Also...thanks Shanelle for the Southern and Western pennants to add to our wall!!!!

Happy Monday!!

This Wednesday, the studs have a test on the Western region of the United States. They need to know the location of the state, the capital and the abbreviation. Please make sure your child is practicing using the sheets I handed out, or the great website on the 5th grade page on the Riley website.

In Reading, we began Lesson 3. Our focus skill is Character's Motives and the focus strategy is Monitor Comprehension by Rereading. Basically, the character's motives are being able to describe why a character did what they did and why.

Coordinate Graphs are what we have been studying in Math. When creating a coordinate graph from a data set, you need to decide several things:

•what the range is for your x-axis and the range for your y-axis.

•what the scale is for each axis

•the labels for each axis

•the title for your graph

...and all of this needs to be completed BEFORE you even start plotting on the graph....have your child explain this to you!!!

If you are interested in having your college pennant hang on our wall, we would LOVE it. Already, the pennants we have are:

~all the Big Ten schools (there are actually 12 of them)

~University of Kansas

~DePaul University (thanks Masciopinto family)

~Illinois State University

This is our first entry of the new school year!!! The Bears won and it's a beautiful Monday morning!

Thank you so much for coming to Curriculum Night. It was wonderful to see/meet all of you. Your children LOVED their letters you wrote to them.

Friday was Discovery Science.The students explored how a scientist uses both inferences and observations to draw scientific conclusions. Students classified animal teeth and determined the type of animal it was. They were introduced to the science of paleontology through a reading by scientist Sue Hendrickson and participating in a dinosaur classification activity. They used inductive reasoning to explain why one set of data is not sufficient evidence for making a generalization.

We completed Investigation 1 in Math. Quizzes were sent home to be fixed and parent signed. The studs will be given opportunities to raise their math grades as the unit progresses.

In Reading, we will be finishing Lesson 1 today. The literature was a piece of realistic fiction called Rope Burn. Ask your child what the MAIN problem was and how it was RESOLVED. This is the focus skill we are working on.

Riley School is honoring Patriots Day today. We all dressed in red, white, and blue. Ask your child what other activities we participated in.

Have a great day!