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1-29-10
Hello! I hope you all are keeping warm and enjoying this winter weather.
Welcome to the third quarter. There will be a lot of change this quarter for
your child and myself. As you all know, I am approaching my February 2nd due
date and the plan is for my last day to be Friday February 5th. Mrs.
McDonald (a student teacher with Mrs. Parker here at our school last year)
will be my long term substitute and she came to meet the students and see how
our classroom works on Wednesday. She is excited to be here and will do a
great job! I encourage you to continue to write notes of
questions/concerns. She will send home her email as soon as she gets settled
in on February 8th.
I haven’t changed much as far as the routine goes. We will still be
meeting in our literature circles in centers each week but instead of
starting a novel, we will be reading a different short book each week. We
have been studying a lot about the American Revolution and the project for
that is due February 4th. Your child has a rubric and knows exactly what is
expected of them. In science, we have started our study on Weather. We will
be introducing a Weather TIC TAC TOE project next week that will be due March
3rd. Like the Revolutionary Wary project, time will be given in class and
they should also work at home to complete this with quality. One thing that
is different this quarter with reading is that each week your child is
expected to be answering about 2 questions a day from a CROP-QV sheet. These
will always be turned in on Fridays and returned in their Monday folder after
the front and back is complete. These sheets should be filled out with their
independent reading book they read during the silent reading center. Also,
instead of 15 ARC points being expected this quarter, we expect fifth graders
to be able to read and obtain 20 points for 3rd quarter. The 50 point club
does not change, as if they receive 50 points they will earn breakfast with
the teacher. Math is really picking up as well with lots of fractions and
measurements in geometry. Please help your child when they are struggling
with a concept and encourage them to ask for help at school as well.
Remediation will occur throughout each week but it is much harder when they
allow themselves to get behind before asking for help.
I will miss your child while out on maternity leave and will
hopefully send in pictures and videos and notes on the BLOG. Please let Mrs.
McDonald know if you have questions and I will weekly check my email to see
if I hear from you as well! Good luck and thank you for joining me in doing
what is best for your child!
Thanks,
Mrs. Wood
Mwood5@wcpss.net
1-4-10
5th Grade Happenings
January 6- Blue Diamond Math Test
January 7- Colonial Project Due
January 13- Motion and Design Test
January 18- MLK Day- No school
January 22- Last day of quarter, Blue Diamond Math and Reading Tests
January 25- Teacher Workday
February 1- Report Cards go home
What we are doing in Language Arts
-Ask your child about the “pizza wheel” we are using for centers. Our
centers are based around literature circles where we are reading awesome
novels like “How to Eat Fried Worms”, “Holes”, “Chasing Vermeer”, “Walk Two
Moons” and “A Single Shard”. Of course, that won’t change having spelling
each week and vocabulary words (word webs due WED.). Make sure your child is
reading at least 25 minutes each and every night!
-The students are celebrated their awesome newspaper articles before we had
break. They are finishing up their colonial project now!
What we are doing in Math
-In math we are continuing our study on polygons and the properties of them.
They are learning words like congruent, adjacent and parallel and
perpendicular. Ask them about it!
-We are also looking at symmetry in polygons, diagonals, and learning the
degrees inside of triangles and quadrilaterals.
-Next test is Wed. January 6
Science and Social Studies:
-In social studies we are beginning our study on the Revolutionary War. Look
for many fun activities to come as we gear up about this time in history!
-In Science we are wrapping up our Motion and Design Unit in the next couple
of weeks. The students have designed cars and observing the effects of
gravity and momentum and all of that fun stuff!
I hope that this New Year has gotten off to a great start for your family!
Thank you for being so supportive of your child and making sure you sign
their agenda each night to signify they have completed their homework. As I
tell the students every day, homework is practicing what we are learning in
class and it is crucial to their success in fifth grade! Please let me know
if you have any questions or concerns and ask about what they students are
doing in class! Ask them if they are meeting their goal of 15 AR points this
2nd quarter (we have less than 3 weeks!). Ask them if they are keeping up
with their folder work for Literature Circles. Ask them if they understand
all of the math we are doing in class. Let’s make sure we finish this
quarter off right by working hard and working together! Thanks!
Mrs. Wood mwood5@wcpss.net
12-7-09
On Friday, December 18th our class will be participating in a Winter Mug
Exchange and a Hot Cocoa Pajama Celebration (We’re combining holiday and
reading celebration as we will be having a more extended time of reading that
week). I am asking that each student bring in one winter/holiday ceramic mug
stuffed with small treats and wrapped in some type of plastic wrap. The
students will exchange mugs with one of their peers. The mug (including all
items inside) should cost no more than a couple of dollars, (Dollar Store)
and it should be able to be given to a boy or a girl.
The holiday time is when people greet one another with good cheer. During our
mug exchange, we will be discussing why it is important to treat people with
love, respect, and kindness not only at the holiday time, but throughout the
year. We will drink hot chocolate from our new mugs, and we’ll eat
refreshments while enjoying holiday activities.
On that day, the students will be allowed to wear their favorite fuzzy
slippers (bedroom shoes) and robe during our social/reading time. I want them
to be comfortable and have a special day! I’m looking forward to it!
I would like all children to be able to participate in the Winter Mug
Exchange, and I’m willing to help if needed. Please sign below to show that
you are aware of our Winter Mug Exchange. All mugs must be turned in by
Wednesday, December 16th! On that same day we will be creating our “Winter
Trees” and each child will need to bring in 50 feet of garland (can be any
color). We will be having a time of learning about other holidays and doing
crafts on that Wednesday, December 16th. Let me know if I can assist you in
any way. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please email me or
write a note in your child's agenda.
Thank you for your support!
Mrs. Wood
11-3-09
Here is the long overdue update of what has been going on and what we will be
doing over the next few weeks!!! By the way, welcome to the second quarter!!!
What we are doing in Language Arts:
-Ask your child about the “pizza wheel” we are using for centers. Our
centers are based around literature circles where we are reading awesome
novels like “How to Eat Fried Worms”, “Holes”, “Chasing Vermeer”, “Walk Two
Moons” and “A Single Shard”. Of course, that won’t change having spelling
each week and vocabulary words (word webs due WED.). Make sure your child is
reading at least 25 minutes each and every night!
-The students are beginning the drafting part of writing again and have the
option right now of a narrative, a poem or a letter trying to persuade.
What we are doing in Math:
-In math we are continuing our study of fractions. We are estimating them,
adding and subtracting them. We will soon be looking for common denominators
and equivalent fractions to help us add and subtract. We will also be
rounding fractions to the nearest whole number.
-We will look at data (graphs) as well.
-Next test is next Friday Nov. 13
Science and Social Studies:
-In social studies we are learning about the early colonies in America. Very
appropriate for this time of year to be learning about Plymouth!
-In Science we will be starting our Motion and Design Unit in the next couple
of weeks. The students will be designing cars and observing the effects of
gravity and momentum and all of that fun stuff!
I hope that this fall season has started off well in your family! Thank you
for being so supportive of your child and making sure you sign their agenda
each night to signify they have completed their homework. As I tell the
students every day, homework is practicing what we are learning in class and
it is crucial to their success in fifth grade! Please let me know if you
have any questions or concerns and ask about what they students are doing in
class! Ask them if they are meeting their goal of 15 AR points this 2nd
quarter. Ask them if they are keeping up with their folder work for
Literature Circles. Ask them if they understand all of the math. Let’s make
sure we start this quarter off right by working hard and working together!
Thanks!
Mrs. Wood
mwood5@wcpss.net
9-14-09
We have had a wonderful start to the year! Over the past three weeks we have
been learning about each other as a class, studying hard and it is hard to
believe that interims are going out next week!
In reading, we have been learning about making predictions, formulating
questions as we read, and making connections to the text. In math we have
been learning more in depth multiplication problems that led to algebra! We
have also studied graphs and input output tables. In science, we have been
studying landforms and how they change. We will be having a test in math and
science next week to see how much they have learned. Encourage your child to
study nightly to improve their test-taking skills. Every Friday we will also
have a vocabulary and spelling test. They are given the words on Monday and
have the entire week to study!
I do EXPECT each student to complete all homework EVERY night! I do realize
that emergencies occur, but that should be the only reason a student should
not complete their homework (extra-curricular activities are not a reason to
not have it complete). Homework is vital for retention of information taught
that week and it expected by all students. Please ensure that your child is
reading each night for at least 20 minutes. The students have an ARC goal
of 15 points for the quarter. They will have to be reading at home every
night for that to be a possibility.
Thanks for all you do to encourage student learning. I am very excited about
this year and this wonderful class. They are working hard and doing a
fantastic job. Please let me know if you have a question or concern at any
time by writing me an email or writing a note in their agenda. Don’t forget
to sign it every night!
Thanks so much!
Mrs. Wood
8-20-2009
Welcome to our class website! I hope you will be able to check this often
and use it as a resource to see what is going on in the classroom, check for
updates on needed information and items, check the calendar for upcoming
dates and use the homework page to find out what the homework is for each
night.
Please make sure you email me if you have any questions! I look forward to
meeting each of you at Meet the Teacher today and the rest of you on Tuesday
for the first day of school! Please check out the supply list page and the
wish list page if you would like to donate something to the classroom.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to write me an email and I
will be quick to respond. On Tuesday, the blue Monday Folder will come home
with a lot of information that needs to be turned back in on Wednesday...so
you parents have homework on Tuesday! Look forward to it!
I look forward to a very exciting 5th grade year!
Thanks,
Mrs. Wood
mwood5@wcpss.net
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