5B News for the Week of 04/30/2012

Hello Parents,

Here we are going into the last full month of school, May.  We only have twenty something days of school remaining, however, there's a lot of material left to cover.  Please remind your child to try and stay focused as best they can during these final weeks.  We're all getting a little antsy at this point.  Thank you. 

Here's what's going on this week in 5B:

Reading:  We completed our character memoirs for the book, Because of Mr. Terupt.  The kids did a great job on these and they are currently hanging up in the classroom. However, we did not get to our environmental project of making a trash monster, so we will work on this during the upcoming week.  Also, I plan to get through at least one TFK this week for our current event focus.

Flex:  During flex. we will be discussing the book entitled, Miss Rumphius.  This book describes how a woman makes the World a more beautiful place through her volunteer work and travels.  It goes along with what we have been discussing with keeping our World clean.  We will make predictions, discuss the woman's successes, and things that we want to achieve in our own lives.

Writing:  We wrote summaries of our survey findings about the lunch/recess topic.  Some students still need to finish this up.  Other students will be creating a circle graph to display our survey results.  The classroom debate about this topic was intense!  It was awesome!  The students were really engaged and had very strong feelings one way or another.  Ask your child about it.  It was very interesting!

Math Accel:  We completed lesson 8.10 yesterday.  Look for a study guide to come home on Monday covering Unit 8.  The Unit 8 test will be on Friday of this week.  We will also be reviewing the study guide throughout the week so if your child has any questions or concerns, we will cover it prior to Friday's test.
The students really stepped it up for the last quiz which covered 8.4-8.7.  Many students had a perfect paper and those who didn't still received a high score.  I appreciate their efforts!  Great job!

Science:  Our next unit of study in science will be microscopes which will begin in about two weeks.  Mr. Schumann's and Miss Pedersen's classes will be using the microscopes first.  Then, they will pass them on to 5B and 5V to use.  In the meantime, we will be getting a double dose of social studies. 

Social Studies:  Currently, we are on lesson 11.3 in our social studies book.  We will continue on in Chapter 11 which discusses the Westward Movement, Lewis & Clark, etc.  Our plan is to get as far along in the book as possible by the end of the year.  We have some social studies enthusiasts in the classroom.  Our discussions have been incredible! 

Have a great week, everyone!  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Mrs. Bennick

5B News for the Week of 04/23/2012

Hello Parents:

Here's what's going on in 5B this week.  It's going to be a busy one!  Just a reminder, we do have our field trip to the WVHS Planetarium on Monday.  We plan to leave Watts at about 11:00 and return at 1:00 just in time for lunch. 

Reading: During reading this week we will be doing a couple of different things.  First, we will be completing an Earth Day project in which the students will be going outside to pick up trash (using rubber gloves) and will then make the trash into a "Trash Monster", in groups.  The groups will then formulate a memoir/adventure story about their "Trash Monster" and write their opinions.  These will be shared in front of the class.  We will also be reviewing the book, Because of Mr. Terupt, to continue our memoirs about each character.  We had minimal time to work on this activity this week, due to the amount of time we spent on science.

Writing:  Our focus in writing this week will continue to be on writing memoirs. This coincides with what we're doing in reading....cross-curricular work.  Also, another project that we will be doing is debating the topic of whether or not it's more beneficial to have lunch or recess first.  We will do some research on this topic, formulate some questions and then actually observe/interview some students during recess and lunch.  After compiling the data, the students will then write a summary of their findings. 

Math Accel:  Currently, we just completed lesson 8.8 in our Math Journals.  We will continue to move forward in Unit 8 this next week.  We should complete this Unit late in the week.  Look for a study guide to come home as we near completion of the Unit.  Also, I purchased a couple of math problem-solving books and have just started to use them with the students.  The students will be working in groups to complete some of these problems and will share their answers.  We have a quiz on Tuesday that will cover lessons 8.4 through 8.7.

Science:  We have been very busy in science this week!  We have taken pages and pages of notes on the many informative videos that we have watched.  Also, the students have added many science vocabulary words to their journals.  We completed our study guide yesterday and I encouraged the students to review their notes and especially their study guides for the upcoming science test.  The test will be on Tuesday and the questions will be very similar to what they have on the study guide.  Study!! 

Social Studies:  We finished Chapter 10 mid week and then we took a couple of days to review.  The social studies test will be on Monday and it will be open book.  The students should have brought home their social studies books to look over Chapter 10.  The test is lengthy and by reviewing the chapter, it will help them to locate the information more efficiently. After Monday's test, we will move on to the Westward Movement.

Have a wonderful week!  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Mrs. Bennick

5B News for the Week of 04/16/2012

Hello Parents:

Here's what's going on this week in 5B:

Reading:  Our focus will be on non-fiction this week.  First, we will be tying up a couple of loose ends such as reading the story entitled, The World of William Joyce Scrapbook.  We will focus on word analysis and vocabulary strategies.  Midweek, we will be taking a comprehension test on this story which will be open book.  We will also review a couple of TFKs for our current event focus.

Flex:  Stars will be our focus this week for science.  We are creating a science journal in which the students are adding science vocabulary.  They are writing the definition of the words, drawing a small illustration to describe it, and writing a brief description.  The students have also started to take notes on the various science videos that we have been watching.  Up to this point, we have studied the solar system, the sun, star sizes and distances and colors of stars.  This week our focus will be on star birth and death, galaxies and constellations.  We will be watching a couple of awesome videos this week on The Milky Way.

Writing:  During writing this week, we will begin writing our six word memoirs.  First, we will look at some examples of six word memoirs so that we can get a better understanding of what they are.  Then, the students will write six word memoirs for characters from a shared reading experience.  For 5B, we will be writing our memoirs based on characters from a read aloud book that we read earlier this year entitled, Because of Mr. Terupt. 

Math Accel.:  PA math testing results were mailed home on Friday.  You should be receiving them in the next day or so.  This week in math, we will continue in Unit 8, which focuses on proportions.  Currently, we are on 8.5.  We are reading food labels and determining percentages from these labels based on our proportions. 

Social Studies:  We will be finishing up Chapter 10 late this week.  Most likely, there will be an open book test on Chapter 10 the week of the 23rd.  Then, we will move onto the Westward Movement.

Have a wonderful week!  If you have any questions or concerns, please email me.

Thank you!

Mrs. Bennick

Proofs of Residency

Parents,

Please send in three proofs of residency at your earliest convenience.  These need to be obtained in order for you to register your child at Hill Middle School. 

Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick

5B News for the Week of 04/09/2012

Hello Parents,

I hope that you are all enjoying the long weekend.  Here's what's going on this week in 5B:

Reading:  We will have a variety of things going on in reading this week.  First, we will continue to analyze songs as poems.  We're having a great time doing this.  Thanks to all of the suggestions!  We will also continue to discuss metaphors, similes, symbolism, hyperbole, and any other figurative language that we come across.  Next, we will read a story from our anthology entitled, William Joyce and the Scrapbook.  We will be working on vocabulary development and comprehension.  We will have an open book test on this story at the end of the week.  If time allows, we will also discuss non-fiction using Time For Kids. 

Flex:  During flex., we will be focusing on science.  We will be learning about stars including star birth and death, hydrogen to helium conversion and different types of galaxies and constellations.  This is in preparation for our upcoming field trip to the Waubonsie Valley High School Planetarium. 

Writing:  During writing, we will continue to write free verse poetry.  Mrs. Dunafin, the music teacher, will be working with the kids to have them turn one of their poems into a song.  They will be using the ukulele to do this.  The poems should follow a verse, chorus, verse pattern. 

Math Accel.:  During math, we will continue working on Unit 8.  Currently, we are on lesson 8.4.  We will have a short quiz on Tuesday that will cover lessons 8.1-8.3.

Social Studies:  On Monday, we will be discussing Shay's Rebellion and a weak government which is the beginning of Chapter 10.  On Tuesday, we will be having an open book test on Chapter 9. Please have your child read through Chapter 9 this weekend. 

Report cards went home Thursday.  Please sign and return the envelope next week. 

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Bennick