The second half of the school year starts on Tuesday, January 7, and will move at a VERY fast pace. Below is an overview of what we'll be working on in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.
Scripps Spelling Bee: A copy of the fifth grade Scripps spelling words went home with students in early December.
Classroom Spelling Bee: Wednesday, January 8 (Brown, Garola, and Speir)
Grade Level Spelling Bee: Tuesday, January 14 (winners from classroom bees)
Banner Chapel: Friday, January 10 in the Upper School Gym at 9:30. Students are to wear their uniforms. Please observe all uniform policies. No NUT cards. Parents are welcome to attend. UPDATE: Please note the change in location from the Eckburg Center to the Upper School Gym. 01/03/2014
Reading Counts: Our second quarter Reading Counts pizza party will be Thursday, January 9th. I am looking for a volunteer to send dessert and a volunteer to send drinks. If you can help with this, please email me. Thanks! I will have a third pizza party for any students in my homeroom who earn 225 Reading Counts points by the end of the third quarter (March 13th).
Materials and Textbooks: Please remember that students who choose to come to class without their necessary materials (textbooks and supplies) will be asked to sign the Responsibility Book. Students must keep 3 pencils, 1 red pen, 1 highlighter, and 1 set of colored pencils in their binders at all times. They must bring their textbook, workbook, and homework with them to class each day. Materials should not be left in bookbags as this will constitute not having required materials for class.
Bible: The test is on Friday. Please see the Bible link for the verses for the third and fourth quarters. ***There are several weeks during the second semester where there is no school on Friday. During those weeks, the Bible test will be on Thursday.
Math: We will continue Chapter 6 called "Geometry." We are skipping Chapter 5 for now, but we will come back to it, so please do not throw away the Chapter 5 workbook pages. Students have been told to keep the pages in their workbooks.
This week we will cover lessons 6-4 on polygons, 6-5 on classifying triangles, 6-6 on classifying quadrilaterals, and 6-7 on the problem solving strategy, "Solve a Simpler Problem." Monday will be lesson 6-8 on writing to explain. Tuesday, January 14 will be Diagnostic Checkpoint 6B. Students may be given quizzes over previously taught material in Chapter 6 at any point.
Timed Tests: Please remember we are switching to division for the second semester. See the Math Policies and Procedures page in your students binder for guidelines.
SAT Practice: Starting right away, we will begin preparing for the Stanford Achievement Test by working through problems in class together. Your child will have a packet of problems which must be kept in his or her binder at all times. None of these exercises are graded but are intended as a way to help your child feel comfortable and confident on the day of the achievement test so that he or she will be prepared to do his or her best. I will be teaching test taking strategies as well as giving math mini lessons on skills that we won't cover before the Stanford Achievement Test is scheduled. In this way, your child should have a more relaxed, stress free testing experience during standardized testing.
XtraMath: I am so proud of all the students for how well they are doing with XtraMath and memorizing their math facts. Twenty-six students have passed all four levels of the three second threshold. Of those 26, five are also finished with all four levels of the two second threshold and are now working on the 1.5 second threshold. They are Bradley A., Danielle R., Kalina R., Charles M., and Josh H. WAY TO GO!!!!