Officially Half-Way

As of Friday afternoon, we are officially half way through the school year.  We have covered a lot of material, and, I hope, have succeeded in creating an environment that is comfortable for both you and your child.  We will continue to work hard and cover the fifth grade core curriculum, but will also be readying your student for the transition to middle school.  Please look for progress reports to come home on Wednesdays from this point on.  Encourage your child to keep up on assignments as late assignments will now be worth half credit.  Developing and strengthening a sense of accountability and initiative will go a long way in helping your student be successful in the middle school environment!  I want to do everything possible to have them ready academically, socially, and emotionally.

Math--We will be continuing our unit on fractions.  Our focus this week will be on the relationship between decimals and fractions, and on reducing fractions to their simplest form.

Reading--We will continue our guided reading groups.  One of the strategies we will focus on this week is how good descriptions will help the reader create a mental picture.  We will be drawing a setting from our guided reading book, as well as using good descriptions  in our writing.

Spelling-- Our list this week has to do with  words ending in "ible" and "able."  One rule of thumb to go by is that words that end in "able" have a root word that can stand alone.  Ex:  understandable
Words that end in "ible" do not have a stand-alone root.  Ex:  terrible

Social Studies-- We ended last week by learning about the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition.  Ask your student about it--they have lots of interesting facts to share.  Later this week we will begin studying The War of 1812.

Science-- Electricity is exciting!  Now that we have learned about static electricity, it is time to move on to current electricity and electrical circuits.

Book Orders--I sent book orders home last week.  They are due Wednesday, January 19, 2011.  Remember that you can post-date your check for the 29th, if needed!  You may order online using your credit/debit card, or you can send the order form and check with your student.  There are several amazing books in the History book order that correspond to our Social Studies curriculum.  I read Chains, by Laurie Anderson, over Christmas vacation.  It is one of the best books I have read in many years.  I will be ordering one for the classroom, but it is one I highly recommend!

Thank you once again for your support!  Your students are amazing young people, and I look forward to working with them each day.  I also regularly receive comments from other adults in the school about what a fun and well behaved group of students they are.  Give your student a pat on the back, and give yourself one as well!