Monday -PE | Tuesday -Leaf Pack collection O&A | Wednesday ART | Thursday -Guest speaker from Clean Water Services -CWS waiver due | Friday -Gretchen gone, Monica is the teacher. -ELC 12-1230 |
Important Dates
| Volunteer Click to signup for an upcoming O&A!
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*Students will have math, reading & spelling homework this week. Obtaining a parent signature is part of homework. There is a $25 bonus for returning the waiver (secret word) for our upcoming field trip to Clean Water Services.
*Treehouse--is an after school homework support program that happens on Thursdays from after school until 4:30 (no bus service provided.) If you would like your child to participate in Treehouse please email me.
Conference wrap up
Thank you!!!! Merlins --great work advocating for yourself and setting great goals for the year. You inspire me. Parents, thank you for your suggestions and input to the goal setting process. Please...If I promised you something... a material, resource, what-have-you and I don't follow through in a week, please email me. It means I didn't put the thing on the right list and I will never remember at this point. Hopefully, I do remember all my promises though. :)
More Great Geek Outs!
We enjoyed another round of skill sharing on Wednesday. We made healthy snacks and a refreshing beverage, learned about Pokemon, received a drawing lesson, learned about dog ownership and a creative game some Merlins are inviting.
Tuesday was another beautiful day at Fernhill in the field collecting data! I can't think of anything better than kids working in small groups and studying something they deem important. Being a citizen scientists is such an important skill to learn as a way to be involved with the place you live. An added bonus is learning how to work as a team and connect with nature! Thanks for the volunteers who made it possible. We will be working on writing our Leaf Pack and Fernhill projects up in scientific inquiry format.
Ask, what is your research question and hypothesis for Fernhill?
Talk about the importance of writing up our science.
Extend the learning by revisiting Fernhill (while the weather is still good) and having your kiddo act as the tour guide.
Literacy
It was a short week, but we balanced working on writing our Leaf Pack project with writing our Fernhill project. Leaf Pack is serving as the class example we do together, with the hope that students can work more independently on writing up their Fernhill project. We had fun discussing the importance of being specific with our materials and procedures --it's easy to take for granted what we expect the reader to know. However, another scientist should be able to carry out the procedures just like the initial study was conducted. In Flush, we stopped to make a prediction on how the book will end and how the characters will change. I'll keep these papers sealed up until we finish the book. Were our predictions right? What helped us form those predictions?
Ask, why does the author not tell us the kids' specific plan to catch Dusty in the act?
Talk about the importance of explaining what led you to make your prediction.
Extend the learning to reading scientific studies together.
6th Grade Math
The choppy week made math feel a little off--especially since it looked like we needed a bit more practice at multiplying decimals. With each new lessons, 6th graders are expected to follow along and fill in notes as we learn the skill of the day. The notes serve as a reference for their assignment. However, kids can also access notes through their textbook. So, if parents want something to refer to and your child's notes seem incomplete, please refer to the textbook which you can view online, if the book didn't make it home. http://www.corefocusonmath.com Username: forest grove Password: grove2013
We'll be testing on Block 2: Multiplying and Dividing Decimals by the end of the week.
Ask, what is hard about note-taking in class?
Talk about the importance of asking questions if you feel stuck or confused with a concept.
Extend the learning to dividing and multiplying decimals with real situations in your life.
5th Grade Math
This week, students continued to discuss how mathematicians come up with multiplication algorithms by coming up their own theories on how to estimate the number of jelly beans in a jar. This week, we'll learn who's estimation method works best. We'll have our Unit 1 test later this week, which will cover multiplication and volume.
Ask, what was your method to estimate jelly beans?
Talk about the Math Test Review, which will be Tuesday nights' homework.
Extend the learning by discussing ways the multiplication algorithm is useful in real life.