Mrs. Danec September 30, 2011 Mrs. Fino

Reminders:

  • Student Council Speeches Friday, Oct. 7th
  • Oct. 21 – COTA Day (teacher work day…students do not have school)
  • Student-Led Conferences – Oct. 26&27 (No school on Oct. 27&28)

Math Madness

This week we continued to work on using estimation to solve word problems. We focused on some key strategies to use when solving problems that require higher level thinking that will be reinforced all year:

  • Carefully read the question and make sure you understand what is being asked.
  • Underline and/or circle key information.
  • Number the parts in the question to make sure you answer them all.
  • Label all your answers.
  • Go back and reread the problem to make sure you answered all the parts.

Science

We continue our work in the SEED program this week. We planted terreriums last week and this week we are observing and documenting the changes we see in our mini-ecosystems. We also are fortunate to have a class catepillar. Mr. Clark let us borrow one of his pets for the year and we are fascinated by the changes we see. Recently one of our catepillars spun a coccoon. Thank you Mr. Clark!

Language Arts

Look for your child’s leadership essay and assessment in their binders next week. A copy has been given to Mrs. Schone. Two students from our classroom will be chosen on their ideas in their essay as well as classroom leadership qualities to attend the Westerville Summit this year. Good Luck to all of our fifth graders. We culminated our book club this week with creating songs to describe the book we read. Our songs consisted of characters, setting, main ideas and opinions regarding the book. We presented these songs to the class. I am sure your fifth grader would LOVE to share this with you.

Social Studies

Look for your student’s chapter 2 assessment in their binders. We also completed our states test over the entire country this week. Most students were very well prepared and very successful. If your child would like to improve, I will give them another chance next Wednesday. They are aware of this opportunity and I hope they take it. We will continue on next week in History Alive with chapter 3 “Native American Cultural Regions”.

Walkathon

Thanks so much to all of our families who supported the Fouse Walkathon. It was very successful and we are SO appreciative.

Congrats to Mrs. Danec’s homeroom for being the TOP classroom earner!!!!