Blog Updates 2/13/12

Camp Read A Lot and Valentines Party Tomorrow!!!

Camp Read A Lot-

Students can come ready to be comfortable with a pillow, blanket and in comfortable clothes, even pajamas. We will be reading from about 9:45-11:25 and then from 1:20-2:00.

We will be having our Valentines Day Party from 2:00 until 2:45. If students are bringing cards, please have them bring for everyone in the class. They do not need to put any receiver's names, just who it is from. Thank you to Saba Kapadia for organizing the party for us!

Reading- Well, as you may have heard, we are on our 2nd book club book and will be continuing throughout the Spring Semester, attempting to get through a book about every week and a half. In addition, we continue to practice test taking strategies and practice with comprehension passages. I ask for students to find evidence for their answers in the text. Even some of the more proficient readers are not attending to the text. We are reviewing as a class and will be taking a STARR Benchmark test next week. We will analyze individual performances and address strengths and areas for improvement.

Language Arts-

We have just completed our IB Unit of Inquiry on the use of powerful words to influence others. The students did a great job dressing up and speaking as the Historical Figure in our Living Museum on Wednesday of last week. We will be posting photos and work samples on our 5th Grade IB bulletin board soon.

IB Unit of Inquiry-
Our next Unit of Inquiry will involve Social Studies and the 5th grade teachers are meeting all day on Wednesday of this week to plan and solidify this next unit.

Science-

We have begun Earth Science. The following concepts and vocabulary are being reviewed and learned: Rock Cycle, Earth's Layers, Tectonic Plates, Earth quakes, volcanoes, landforms, water cycle, erosion and weathering. We should be finishing up in one week or so and then moving onto Life Sciences. Life Sciences are an area of focus in 5th grade. More news to follow on this subject in the future.

Social Studies-

We have arrived at the Civil War and will spend about 2 weeks on the subject. We are also looking forward to continuing with the Industrial Revolution, urbanization and Immigration.

Math-

All the Math Classes are currently covering conversion of measurement within the same system, customary to customary and metric to metric. This is for length, Mass and capacity. Again, we will have a STARR Benchmark next week in math and analyze student performance by objective.

Field Trip in April to the Arboretum! Yes, we are going to the Houston Arboretum. It is a great trip and we will need 3 chaperones for our class. Any Volunteers? It is April the 11th. Please let me know if you are able to help out.

Until Next time,
Carol Rivers