Monday -PE Studyhall before school | Tuesday -O&A to martial arts studio--wear appropriate clothes Studyhall before school | Wednesday -Art Studyhall before school | Thursday -Puberty lesson Studyhall before school |
4/28-- Adolescent / Puberty Lesson
4/29-- No School
5/14--Team Up For Schools Run
News of the Week
1. State Testing will take this place for both 5th and 6th grades. We are starting with what’s called the “Reading Performance Task” which is basically what we practiced with the uniform essay. Students will be given different articles to read or possibly even a video to watch. Then, they’ll be asked to write a something (a persuasive, informational or narrative piece) using evidence from the articles/videos.
How you can help your child this week during testing:
- Encourage your child to relax and do his/her best.
- Help your child get a good night’s rest.
- Staying hydrated and eating nutritious food will also help fuel your child’s success.
2. Body Systems and Adolescent / Puberty Video
- On Thursday the 28th, boys and girls will be splitting up to talk about everyone's favorite subject, puberty! Rick will be talking with the boys and Vanessa will be talking with the girls. Each group watches a video and then has a chance to ask questions. The videos are well crafted for our age group and done in an engaging manner. If you would rather not have your child participate in this health lesson, please let me know so that we can make the proper arrangements. Or, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
3. Team Up For Schools Run--On Saturday May 24th, I plan to do a 5k race which raises money for local schools. This year, a teacher can create a team. Basically, I am paying for an entrance fee and then if any other student wants to run, they can join the team for $5. Because we are studying ways to be healthy, I thought this might be a fun activity. I know most Merlins are busy Saturday mornings, but if anyone wants to come for a walk/jog that I day it would be fun to have them. Please let me know by this Friday if your child will participate.
Literacy
- Writing homework this week: work on memoir.
Our literature circles have come to an end. Everyone was very happy with their book, even if they hoped their book had a different ending. We have some reflecting and learning to do now that the stories are done. Reading for the rest of the year will be content reading for our healthy bodies unit as well as readings for our memoir project.
On Friday, students shared the topic for their memoir. It sounds like everyone has a great story to share! Most of last week had us use writing time for state testing. There will still be some of this, this week, but we’ll also get to more brainstorming and writing of our memoir.
Ask, what significant moment are you going to write your memoir on?
Listen to your child discuss the ending of the literature circle book.
Extend the learning by reading and discussing a realistic fiction story as a family.
Project
We looked in depth at the muscular/skeletal system this week. To make the content hands-on we used replicas of skulls from Pacific University. It was fun to hear kids share thoughts and predictions about the purpose of the features of the skulls we examined. We had also hoped to look at the density of the skulls, but some of our measurements were off and our results didn’t quite make sense. This week, I am hoping we’ll get to look at the nervous system!
Ask, what did you enjoy most skeletal lab, examining the replicas?
Listen to your child explain some features of the skeletal or muscular system.
Extend the learning by researching what steps your family could take to be healthier.
6th Grade Math
Most of our week was devoted to reviewing how to multiply and divide fractions and then taking the test. I think many found the skills quite hard, especially figuring out if a story problem was multiplication of division. We’ll be moving on to new content this week (percents), but please note that test corrections, retakes and signatures are due Monday the 2nd.
Ask what was your score on the math test?
Listen to your child explain the math challenge on the test.
Extend the learning by looking at how percents are a part of our everyday life.
5th Grade Math-
This week was all about review of multiplication and division with fractions and the unit retake. This unit's content proved to be challenging, and the extra time reviewing ensured most student's understanding. Watch for your child's retake and reflection this week. Signed reflections, corrections and, if needed, retakes are due no later than Monday, May 2nd. This week we begin our new unit- division of whole numbers. We will begin with strategies for division of 4 digit dividends by 1 digit divisors. Eventually, our work will end with the algorithm of long division.
ASK how did you feel about the retake and your score?
Listen to your child share the procedure for solving 4069 ÷ 7.
Extend the learning by discussing the retake, corrections and your child's reflection.