Hello Parents and Students!
Beginning with the 2015-2016 School Year, I will now be using Google Sites as the main form of communication for parents and students!
My Google Sites will be up and running soon! :-)
Picture
Asheville, North Carolina
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of June 1st, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
I can't believe it, but there are only 6 days of school left this year! This will be the last blog update for the year!
Here are the reminders for this week:
The Naperville Public Library will be coming to school to present their summer program on Tuesday.
The last day of school will be next Monday, June 8th. It is a full day of school. It is also field day.
Here's what's going on this week in the curricular areas:
Word Study: There is no list this week. We will be having a spelling bee on Friday on commonly misspelled words. This is just for fun!
Math Accel: We will finish Unit 7 on Monday. Our last lesson will be on percent/circle graphs. We will review on Tuesday and our test will be on Wednesday.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will finish up our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will also finish presenting our Constitution/Westward Movement/Slavery foldables. Some students will finish presenting their Writer's Workshop projects while others continue to finish them up. We will also be meeting with our Kindergarten Buddies for the last time this year on Friday.
Science: We finished our last science unit this past week. We looked at protozoa under the microscope. It was interesting to compare the paramecium, amoeba and euglena under the microscope. The kids loved this unit!
Social Studies: We will continue to study the Civil War this week. Our topics will include resisting slavery, the struggle over slavery, early stages of war, life during the war and how the North won.
That is it for the year!
Please email me with any questions.
Have a great summer!
Mrs. Bennick
I can't believe it, but there are only 6 days of school left this year! This will be the last blog update for the year!
Here are the reminders for this week:
The Naperville Public Library will be coming to school to present their summer program on Tuesday.
The last day of school will be next Monday, June 8th. It is a full day of school. It is also field day.
Here's what's going on this week in the curricular areas:
Word Study: There is no list this week. We will be having a spelling bee on Friday on commonly misspelled words. This is just for fun!
Math Accel: We will finish Unit 7 on Monday. Our last lesson will be on percent/circle graphs. We will review on Tuesday and our test will be on Wednesday.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will finish up our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will also finish presenting our Constitution/Westward Movement/Slavery foldables. Some students will finish presenting their Writer's Workshop projects while others continue to finish them up. We will also be meeting with our Kindergarten Buddies for the last time this year on Friday.
Science: We finished our last science unit this past week. We looked at protozoa under the microscope. It was interesting to compare the paramecium, amoeba and euglena under the microscope. The kids loved this unit!
Social Studies: We will continue to study the Civil War this week. Our topics will include resisting slavery, the struggle over slavery, early stages of war, life during the war and how the North won.
That is it for the year!
Please email me with any questions.
Have a great summer!
Mrs. Bennick
Sunday, May 24, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of May 26th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. There is no school tomorrow, Monday, May 25th, due to the Memorial Day holiday. Enjoy the extra day off!
2. Our Fifth Grade Farewell celebration will take place this Tuesday, May 26th. We will be traveling by bus to Aurora Skate Center and skating from 10:00-12:30. There will be games set up for those students who do not want to skate. Lunch will be served at the skate center (pizza) and then we will return to May Watts at approximately 1:30. When we arrive back at Watts, the students will be playing games, taking pictures and viewing the slide show. We will also have a dessert bar! :-)
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will be learning some commonly misspelled words this week. Due to the short week, the students will not be having a test at the end of the week. However, we will be having a spelling bee on these words on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We will be finishing up Unit 7, Statistics and Probability, early next week. The last few skills to be taught will include bar graphs, step graphs, broken line graphs and percent circles. Our test on this unit will be next Wednesday, June 3rd.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will be finishing up our anchor text, Maniac Magee, by the end of the school year. We have been enjoying some great discussions related to this book. We will also be presenting our social studies foldable projects during this time period over the next few days. Students will be finishing up their Writer's Workshop projects this week and presenting them this Friday and next Friday. We are just tying up the loose ends at this point.
Social Studies: We finished our foldable project and they look great. We will be presenting them this week. Also, we will begin our study of the Civil War. This week our topics will include how the North and South grew apart and discussing our views on slavery.
Science: We will be learning about protozoa this week and will be viewing paramecium, amoeba and euglena under the microscope. This has been a fun unit. The students have really enjoyed learning about and using the microscopes!
That's it for this week. Please email me with any questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. There is no school tomorrow, Monday, May 25th, due to the Memorial Day holiday. Enjoy the extra day off!
2. Our Fifth Grade Farewell celebration will take place this Tuesday, May 26th. We will be traveling by bus to Aurora Skate Center and skating from 10:00-12:30. There will be games set up for those students who do not want to skate. Lunch will be served at the skate center (pizza) and then we will return to May Watts at approximately 1:30. When we arrive back at Watts, the students will be playing games, taking pictures and viewing the slide show. We will also have a dessert bar! :-)
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will be learning some commonly misspelled words this week. Due to the short week, the students will not be having a test at the end of the week. However, we will be having a spelling bee on these words on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We will be finishing up Unit 7, Statistics and Probability, early next week. The last few skills to be taught will include bar graphs, step graphs, broken line graphs and percent circles. Our test on this unit will be next Wednesday, June 3rd.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will be finishing up our anchor text, Maniac Magee, by the end of the school year. We have been enjoying some great discussions related to this book. We will also be presenting our social studies foldable projects during this time period over the next few days. Students will be finishing up their Writer's Workshop projects this week and presenting them this Friday and next Friday. We are just tying up the loose ends at this point.
Social Studies: We finished our foldable project and they look great. We will be presenting them this week. Also, we will begin our study of the Civil War. This week our topics will include how the North and South grew apart and discussing our views on slavery.
Science: We will be learning about protozoa this week and will be viewing paramecium, amoeba and euglena under the microscope. This has been a fun unit. The students have really enjoyed learning about and using the microscopes!
That's it for this week. Please email me with any questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, May 16, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of May 18, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Our field trip to the WVHS Planetarium is this Monday. We will return to May Watts after lunch, so hot lunch will not be available. Please send a lunch with your child on Monday.
2. The MW Volunteer Luncheon is this Tuesday, May 19th, from 11:00-1:00. We hope to see all of our wonderful parent volunteers there!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas:
Word Study: We will remain on the same word list as last week. We are very involved in both science and social studies now and simply ran out of time for word study last week.
Math Acceleration: We will continue on in Unit 7, Statistics and Probability. We will start the week finishing off box and whisker plots. We have a pretty good understanding of measures of center and measures of variability now. By Wednesday, we should be working on bar graphs. We will remain on bar graphs for the remainder of the week.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue studying our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will complete Part I of the book this week and will be writing a reflection about it in our journals. We will also list all of the events that took place in Two Mills on the first day that the main character, Jeffrey, arrived. With this information, students will complete an illustrated map to show event locations and evidence to support it. We will also be reading a story in our anthology entitled, Dear Mr. Henshaw.
Science: We are very busy in science these days! We completed our unit on Stars and took the test last week. Graded tests will be coming home on Monday. We learned the parts of a microscope (quiz this week on this) and how to prepare a slide correctly. This week, we will be looking at various specimen under the microscope such as hair, thread and an onion!
Social Studies: Our Constitution/Westward Movement/Slavery foldable project will be due mid-week. We will then be presenting these late in the week for a listening/speaking grade.
That's it for now. Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Our field trip to the WVHS Planetarium is this Monday. We will return to May Watts after lunch, so hot lunch will not be available. Please send a lunch with your child on Monday.
2. The MW Volunteer Luncheon is this Tuesday, May 19th, from 11:00-1:00. We hope to see all of our wonderful parent volunteers there!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas:
Word Study: We will remain on the same word list as last week. We are very involved in both science and social studies now and simply ran out of time for word study last week.
Math Acceleration: We will continue on in Unit 7, Statistics and Probability. We will start the week finishing off box and whisker plots. We have a pretty good understanding of measures of center and measures of variability now. By Wednesday, we should be working on bar graphs. We will remain on bar graphs for the remainder of the week.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue studying our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will complete Part I of the book this week and will be writing a reflection about it in our journals. We will also list all of the events that took place in Two Mills on the first day that the main character, Jeffrey, arrived. With this information, students will complete an illustrated map to show event locations and evidence to support it. We will also be reading a story in our anthology entitled, Dear Mr. Henshaw.
Science: We are very busy in science these days! We completed our unit on Stars and took the test last week. Graded tests will be coming home on Monday. We learned the parts of a microscope (quiz this week on this) and how to prepare a slide correctly. This week, we will be looking at various specimen under the microscope such as hair, thread and an onion!
Social Studies: Our Constitution/Westward Movement/Slavery foldable project will be due mid-week. We will then be presenting these late in the week for a listening/speaking grade.
That's it for now. Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, May 10, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of May 11th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Multicultural Night is this Tuesday evening from 6:00-8:30. Hope to see you all there!
2. The author, Jonathan Maberry, will be visiting 5th graders during school hours on Wednesday.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week, our focus will be on Homographs. This will be the first lesson of two. Part II will be next week. We will discuss the differences between homographs, homophones and homonyms.
Math Acceleration: We will continue on in Unit 7, Statistics and Probability. We will finish our lesson on histograms and will be learning about dot plots (line graphs) and stem and leaf plots. We will discuss measures of center and variation. We will also be learning about mean, median and mode and range (spread).
English Language Arts (ELA): Last week, we studied song lyrics and compared them to our 4th Quarter theme, Moving Forward. We completed a t-chart listing their similarities and we explained how the lyrics were connected to this theme by using evidence from the text (lyrics). This week, we will continue to read our anchor text, Maniac Magee. The students will be annotating chapters and summarizing them. We will also continue journaling. Our current events topic will be why a growing number of kids need eye glasses and how we can better take care of our eyes.
Social Studies: We will continue to work on our Constitution/Westward Movement/Slavery foldable project. These are coming along nicely. They will be due later this week and students will be presenting them.
Science: We will be finishing up our Stars Unit and our test will be this Tuesday. The study guide was put on www.quizlet.com last week. The students should be studying study guide Part I and study guide part II on quizlet. We will begin learning the parts of a microscope this week as well.
We're going to be extremely busy these next few weeks trying to finish everything up. Please email me with any questions you may have.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Multicultural Night is this Tuesday evening from 6:00-8:30. Hope to see you all there!
2. The author, Jonathan Maberry, will be visiting 5th graders during school hours on Wednesday.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week, our focus will be on Homographs. This will be the first lesson of two. Part II will be next week. We will discuss the differences between homographs, homophones and homonyms.
Math Acceleration: We will continue on in Unit 7, Statistics and Probability. We will finish our lesson on histograms and will be learning about dot plots (line graphs) and stem and leaf plots. We will discuss measures of center and variation. We will also be learning about mean, median and mode and range (spread).
English Language Arts (ELA): Last week, we studied song lyrics and compared them to our 4th Quarter theme, Moving Forward. We completed a t-chart listing their similarities and we explained how the lyrics were connected to this theme by using evidence from the text (lyrics). This week, we will continue to read our anchor text, Maniac Magee. The students will be annotating chapters and summarizing them. We will also continue journaling. Our current events topic will be why a growing number of kids need eye glasses and how we can better take care of our eyes.
Social Studies: We will continue to work on our Constitution/Westward Movement/Slavery foldable project. These are coming along nicely. They will be due later this week and students will be presenting them.
Science: We will be finishing up our Stars Unit and our test will be this Tuesday. The study guide was put on www.quizlet.com last week. The students should be studying study guide Part I and study guide part II on quizlet. We will begin learning the parts of a microscope this week as well.
We're going to be extremely busy these next few weeks trying to finish everything up. Please email me with any questions you may have.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, May 3, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of May 4th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
There is just one reminder for this week:
1. We have a field trip on Monday morning to Hill MS. We'll leave MW at approximately 9:15 and return just before lunch at 11:45. Hot lunch will be available for those who take it.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We are on Part II of advanced spellings this week. We will be focusing on words that have -ti,-tu, -ture and -ci in them. These words are pretty difficult. The words have been posted to the blog. The test will be on Friday as usual.
Math Acceleration: We started Unit 7 last week which is on Statistics and Probability. We learned what a statistical question is and, in groups, we practiced writing them. We are now in the process of surveying the class with the statistical questions that we wrote. We will be making a graph to represent our data and discussing distribution, center, spread and shape. We will also be learning about bar graphs and histograms this week.
English Language Arts (ELA): We'll be using ELA time for a variety of things this week. First, we will continue the study of our anchor text, Maniac Magee, by completing a close reading of a couple of pages in the book. We will also be comparing four song lyrics and writing about how they relate to our 4th quarter theme, Moving Forward. We will be talking about some current events using our Time For Kids magazines and we'll also spend some time with our Kindergarten Buddies completing a craft with them late in the week.
Science: We have a lot going on in science! First, we will continue to study the stars. Last week, we studied the life cycle of stars including birth and death. We also classified stars by their color, temperature and luminosity. We will be having a test on the stars unit on Friday. We'll be making our study guides this week. This week, we will be introduced for four types of galaxies and will be creating a drawing to represent one of them with colored chalk. Also, we will begin our last science unit of the year sometime this week. It is the study of small life and we will be learning the parts of a microscope.
Social Studies: We will continue to create our Constitution/Westward Movement Foldables. These are coming along nicely and should look great when completed. We will be presenting these to the class when they are completed.
That's it for this week.
Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
There is just one reminder for this week:
1. We have a field trip on Monday morning to Hill MS. We'll leave MW at approximately 9:15 and return just before lunch at 11:45. Hot lunch will be available for those who take it.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We are on Part II of advanced spellings this week. We will be focusing on words that have -ti,-tu, -ture and -ci in them. These words are pretty difficult. The words have been posted to the blog. The test will be on Friday as usual.
Math Acceleration: We started Unit 7 last week which is on Statistics and Probability. We learned what a statistical question is and, in groups, we practiced writing them. We are now in the process of surveying the class with the statistical questions that we wrote. We will be making a graph to represent our data and discussing distribution, center, spread and shape. We will also be learning about bar graphs and histograms this week.
English Language Arts (ELA): We'll be using ELA time for a variety of things this week. First, we will continue the study of our anchor text, Maniac Magee, by completing a close reading of a couple of pages in the book. We will also be comparing four song lyrics and writing about how they relate to our 4th quarter theme, Moving Forward. We will be talking about some current events using our Time For Kids magazines and we'll also spend some time with our Kindergarten Buddies completing a craft with them late in the week.
Science: We have a lot going on in science! First, we will continue to study the stars. Last week, we studied the life cycle of stars including birth and death. We also classified stars by their color, temperature and luminosity. We will be having a test on the stars unit on Friday. We'll be making our study guides this week. This week, we will be introduced for four types of galaxies and will be creating a drawing to represent one of them with colored chalk. Also, we will begin our last science unit of the year sometime this week. It is the study of small life and we will be learning the parts of a microscope.
Social Studies: We will continue to create our Constitution/Westward Movement Foldables. These are coming along nicely and should look great when completed. We will be presenting these to the class when they are completed.
That's it for this week.
Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, April 26, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of April 27th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. The second part of PARCC testing will occur this week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only. Testing will take place in the morning. There will be one ELA test and two Math tests.
2. We will be having another Marble Jar Celebration this Friday! We still need to decide what we'll be doing, so stay tuned! :-)
3. Please return the field trip forms for both the WVHS Planetarium field trip and the Hill MS field trip. Thank you!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be working on words with advanced spellings. This is part I of this lesson. Part II will take place next week. These words have tricky spellings, so please study. The test will be on Friday as usual.
Math Acceleration: We will finish our Unit 6 test on Monday. We will also be taking a pre-assessment of skills that will be taught in Unit 7 which is Statistics and Probability. Our first lesson on Statistics and Probability will occur on Wednesday.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue what we started in ELA this week. We are moving along in our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will also finish discussing the story from our reading anthology, Hattie's Birthday Box. We have been working on our annotating skills and will continue with that this week. During this time, we will also be working on our combined SS/ELA foldable project.
Social Studies: Our main project in SS now is our Constitution/Westward Movement foldable project. The students received the guidelines for the project last week. They should be awesome when they are finished. They will be presenting their foldable project when completed. This will be a combined SS/Speaking & Listening grade.
Science: We're moving along in science as well. We discussed classification of stars and colors of stars. We will continue to focus on vocabulary such as red giant, main sequence, supergiant, spectral class, supernova, nebula, white dwarf, neutron star, black hole and planetary nebula.
That's it for this week. Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. The second part of PARCC testing will occur this week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only. Testing will take place in the morning. There will be one ELA test and two Math tests.
2. We will be having another Marble Jar Celebration this Friday! We still need to decide what we'll be doing, so stay tuned! :-)
3. Please return the field trip forms for both the WVHS Planetarium field trip and the Hill MS field trip. Thank you!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be working on words with advanced spellings. This is part I of this lesson. Part II will take place next week. These words have tricky spellings, so please study. The test will be on Friday as usual.
Math Acceleration: We will finish our Unit 6 test on Monday. We will also be taking a pre-assessment of skills that will be taught in Unit 7 which is Statistics and Probability. Our first lesson on Statistics and Probability will occur on Wednesday.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue what we started in ELA this week. We are moving along in our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will also finish discussing the story from our reading anthology, Hattie's Birthday Box. We have been working on our annotating skills and will continue with that this week. During this time, we will also be working on our combined SS/ELA foldable project.
Social Studies: Our main project in SS now is our Constitution/Westward Movement foldable project. The students received the guidelines for the project last week. They should be awesome when they are finished. They will be presenting their foldable project when completed. This will be a combined SS/Speaking & Listening grade.
Science: We're moving along in science as well. We discussed classification of stars and colors of stars. We will continue to focus on vocabulary such as red giant, main sequence, supergiant, spectral class, supernova, nebula, white dwarf, neutron star, black hole and planetary nebula.
That's it for this week. Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, April 18, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of April 20th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students,
Here are the reminders for the week:
1. Soman Chainani, author of The School for Good and Evil and A World Without Princes, will be visiting our school this Tuesday. We have asked the students to come dressed as fairy tale characters or prince/princesses to honor the author.
2. We will be having a bike safety assembly on Tuesday as well. This is a very informative assembly about safety when riding bikes which is so important this time of year!
3. The 5th grade musical will be this Wednesday, 4/22, in the afternoon and in the evening for parents.
4. Please return the permission form for our field trip to Hill Middle School which will be on May 4th. Thank you to all of you who have already returned them!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be focusing on words that have silent letters. The words have been posted to the blog. Students will be responsible for spelling these words along with identifying their meanings. The test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: In MA this week we will be finishing up our Geometry unit. Our last lessons will be on Monday and Tuesday and will be on finding the surface area of both rectangular and triangular prisms. On Wednesday, we will be creating our own study guides to prepare for the test which will be this Friday, April 24th. The students should be studying all of their notes and homework sheets that they have been working on these past few weeks.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue studying our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will be completing some text-dependent questions and writing in our journals about the characters. The students will also be introduced to a new project which will combine both ELA and SS. This project will require the students to do extensive research on a topic pertaining to the US Constitution and then create a foldable about their topic(s). Guidelines for this project will be coming home this week. We will also be studying a story from our reading anthology entitled, Hattie's Birthday Box, which was introduced to the students late this week.
Science: In science, stars will continue to be our focus. This week, we will be researching star sizes and shapes, colors of stars (classifying) and star birth and death. Our quiz on the sun vocabulary words will be on Tuesday.
Social Studies (SS)- We will be completing research on the US Constitution project and will also be moving toward the study of the Westward Movement including Lewis and Clark and the Louisiana Purchase. (This will be ongoing for the next few weeks.)
That is it for now! Have a great week and please email me with any questions.
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for the week:
1. Soman Chainani, author of The School for Good and Evil and A World Without Princes, will be visiting our school this Tuesday. We have asked the students to come dressed as fairy tale characters or prince/princesses to honor the author.
2. We will be having a bike safety assembly on Tuesday as well. This is a very informative assembly about safety when riding bikes which is so important this time of year!
3. The 5th grade musical will be this Wednesday, 4/22, in the afternoon and in the evening for parents.
4. Please return the permission form for our field trip to Hill Middle School which will be on May 4th. Thank you to all of you who have already returned them!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be focusing on words that have silent letters. The words have been posted to the blog. Students will be responsible for spelling these words along with identifying their meanings. The test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: In MA this week we will be finishing up our Geometry unit. Our last lessons will be on Monday and Tuesday and will be on finding the surface area of both rectangular and triangular prisms. On Wednesday, we will be creating our own study guides to prepare for the test which will be this Friday, April 24th. The students should be studying all of their notes and homework sheets that they have been working on these past few weeks.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue studying our anchor text, Maniac Magee. We will be completing some text-dependent questions and writing in our journals about the characters. The students will also be introduced to a new project which will combine both ELA and SS. This project will require the students to do extensive research on a topic pertaining to the US Constitution and then create a foldable about their topic(s). Guidelines for this project will be coming home this week. We will also be studying a story from our reading anthology entitled, Hattie's Birthday Box, which was introduced to the students late this week.
Science: In science, stars will continue to be our focus. This week, we will be researching star sizes and shapes, colors of stars (classifying) and star birth and death. Our quiz on the sun vocabulary words will be on Tuesday.
Social Studies (SS)- We will be completing research on the US Constitution project and will also be moving toward the study of the Westward Movement including Lewis and Clark and the Louisiana Purchase. (This will be ongoing for the next few weeks.)
That is it for now! Have a great week and please email me with any questions.
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, April 11, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of April 13, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
There are just a couple of reminders for this week.
1. If you haven't done so already, please turn in your proof of residency forms.
2. Jump Rope for Heart will take place this Tuesday during the school day.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will continue working with words that have the vowel team syllable type. We will also be learning four new homophones. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be this Friday.
Math Acceleration: We are more than half way through our Geometry unit. This week we will focus on figures on a coordinate plane, three dimensional figures and nets and surface area of prisms. The Geometry unit has been going very well!
English Language Arts (ELA): During ELA we will continue reading and discussing our anchor text, Maniac MaGee and complete some text-dependent questions and journaling questions. We will also be reading a story from our reading anthology entitled, Hattie's Birthday Box. We will compare and contrast characters from these stories. Also, we will be working in a Time For Kids magazine discussing current events.
Science: We were introduced to the Space/Stars unit this past week and we will be having a short quiz on some vocabulary words that we discussed and illustrated in class on Tuesday of this week. We also labeled layers of the sun and will continue to study the sun this week. On Wednesday, we will be creating play dough models of the sun in groups. We will also be discussing light years and parsecs.
Social Studies: During the 4th Quarter, we will be working on science and social studies simultaneously. In SS, we will be participating in inquiry circles to learn about Washington as President of the new country, the electoral college, the President's Cabinet, the origination of political parties and the White House.
That's it for now. Please email me with questions!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
There are just a couple of reminders for this week.
1. If you haven't done so already, please turn in your proof of residency forms.
2. Jump Rope for Heart will take place this Tuesday during the school day.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will continue working with words that have the vowel team syllable type. We will also be learning four new homophones. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be this Friday.
Math Acceleration: We are more than half way through our Geometry unit. This week we will focus on figures on a coordinate plane, three dimensional figures and nets and surface area of prisms. The Geometry unit has been going very well!
English Language Arts (ELA): During ELA we will continue reading and discussing our anchor text, Maniac MaGee and complete some text-dependent questions and journaling questions. We will also be reading a story from our reading anthology entitled, Hattie's Birthday Box. We will compare and contrast characters from these stories. Also, we will be working in a Time For Kids magazine discussing current events.
Science: We were introduced to the Space/Stars unit this past week and we will be having a short quiz on some vocabulary words that we discussed and illustrated in class on Tuesday of this week. We also labeled layers of the sun and will continue to study the sun this week. On Wednesday, we will be creating play dough models of the sun in groups. We will also be discussing light years and parsecs.
Social Studies: During the 4th Quarter, we will be working on science and social studies simultaneously. In SS, we will be participating in inquiry circles to learn about Washington as President of the new country, the electoral college, the President's Cabinet, the origination of political parties and the White House.
That's it for now. Please email me with questions!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, April 4, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of April 6, 2015
Welcome back! I hope you all had an enjoyable Spring Break!
We're already heading into the last quarter of school. Time is flying by!
There are no reminders for this week.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: Again, we are studying the vowel team syllable type. This week, we will focus on words that have -ou, -ow and -ea in them. We will be defining the words on Monday and the test will be on Friday. There will also be homophones this week that we will review in class but the students will not be tested on the homophones, only the vowel team words.
Math Acceleration: We will continue our study of Geometry this week. On Monday, we will be finishing up our lesson on finding the area of composite shapes and then we will be problem solving changing dimensions. We will then begin studying volume.
English Language Arts (ELA): We finished the book, Red Kayak, just before spring break and since the students loved Red Kayak, I began reading the sequel to it entitled, The Journey Back. It's Digger's point of view. We will not have time in class to continue reading this book, so many of the students will want to read it outside of class. However, our new anchor text for the 4th quarter is entitled, Maniac Magee, which we will begin reading either this week or next. The students presented their historical event newscasts just before break and they were incredible! I took videos of some of the kids who wanted to be videoed and I can send them to you via email if you'd like. Just let me know. Also, the students will be writing their own historical figure interview questions this week for the second half of our performance task. The 4th quarter theme is moving forward. This theme ties into our previous one, making choices, and how choices can determine how and when to move forward.
Science: We will be studying stars/solar system/space/galaxies for the next few weeks. We will begin with an introduction to space early this week and then move onto studying a very important star, the sun, later in the week.
That's it for now. Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
We're already heading into the last quarter of school. Time is flying by!
There are no reminders for this week.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: Again, we are studying the vowel team syllable type. This week, we will focus on words that have -ou, -ow and -ea in them. We will be defining the words on Monday and the test will be on Friday. There will also be homophones this week that we will review in class but the students will not be tested on the homophones, only the vowel team words.
Math Acceleration: We will continue our study of Geometry this week. On Monday, we will be finishing up our lesson on finding the area of composite shapes and then we will be problem solving changing dimensions. We will then begin studying volume.
English Language Arts (ELA): We finished the book, Red Kayak, just before spring break and since the students loved Red Kayak, I began reading the sequel to it entitled, The Journey Back. It's Digger's point of view. We will not have time in class to continue reading this book, so many of the students will want to read it outside of class. However, our new anchor text for the 4th quarter is entitled, Maniac Magee, which we will begin reading either this week or next. The students presented their historical event newscasts just before break and they were incredible! I took videos of some of the kids who wanted to be videoed and I can send them to you via email if you'd like. Just let me know. Also, the students will be writing their own historical figure interview questions this week for the second half of our performance task. The 4th quarter theme is moving forward. This theme ties into our previous one, making choices, and how choices can determine how and when to move forward.
Science: We will be studying stars/solar system/space/galaxies for the next few weeks. We will begin with an introduction to space early this week and then move onto studying a very important star, the sun, later in the week.
That's it for now. Please email me with questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, March 22, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of March 23, 2015
Hello Parents and Students,
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Culver's Night is this Wednesday night. I will be there from 4:00-5:00. Hope to see you.
2. There is no school this Friday for students. It is a School Improvement Planning day.
3. Spring Break is next week. There is no school for students beginning this Friday, March 27th through Sunday, April 5th. School resumes for students on Monday, April 6th. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Spring Break!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will continue our study of Latin and Greek roots. We will be working on the roots
-sym, -carn, -corp, -ped and -pod. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on THURSDAY.
Math Acceleration: We are moving along in our Geometry unit. This week we will be studying the area of trapezoids, area of regular polygons, composite figures and problem solving changing dimensions. Hopefully we can get through all of this. My plan is to begin volume after break.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue working on text-dependent questions and journaling responses for our anchor text, Red Kayak. We will finish this book shortly after we resume from spring break. We will also be studying and writing about pictures from the Revolutionary War. Social studies and ELA are weaving together nicely. Also, students are continuing to do research on their historical event which is part of their newscast assignment. We will begin presenting these this week. This activity is part of our performance task. Just after spring break, we will be researching our historical figure and preparing an interview about this person.
Social Studies: Much of what we're doing in SS is overlapping with ELA. We will be using SS time to complete our performance task activities such as researching our historical event and figure and preparing both a newscast and an interview. We will then be presenting these. Most of us will finish the newscast this week. My plan is to work on the interview following spring break. Also, there will be a test covering the events leading to and including the Revolutionary War on Tuesday. The students have a study guide for this.
That's it for now.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Culver's Night is this Wednesday night. I will be there from 4:00-5:00. Hope to see you.
2. There is no school this Friday for students. It is a School Improvement Planning day.
3. Spring Break is next week. There is no school for students beginning this Friday, March 27th through Sunday, April 5th. School resumes for students on Monday, April 6th. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Spring Break!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will continue our study of Latin and Greek roots. We will be working on the roots
-sym, -carn, -corp, -ped and -pod. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on THURSDAY.
Math Acceleration: We are moving along in our Geometry unit. This week we will be studying the area of trapezoids, area of regular polygons, composite figures and problem solving changing dimensions. Hopefully we can get through all of this. My plan is to begin volume after break.
English Language Arts (ELA): We will continue working on text-dependent questions and journaling responses for our anchor text, Red Kayak. We will finish this book shortly after we resume from spring break. We will also be studying and writing about pictures from the Revolutionary War. Social studies and ELA are weaving together nicely. Also, students are continuing to do research on their historical event which is part of their newscast assignment. We will begin presenting these this week. This activity is part of our performance task. Just after spring break, we will be researching our historical figure and preparing an interview about this person.
Social Studies: Much of what we're doing in SS is overlapping with ELA. We will be using SS time to complete our performance task activities such as researching our historical event and figure and preparing both a newscast and an interview. We will then be presenting these. Most of us will finish the newscast this week. My plan is to work on the interview following spring break. Also, there will be a test covering the events leading to and including the Revolutionary War on Tuesday. The students have a study guide for this.
That's it for now.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, March 14, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of March 16, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Reminders for the week:
On Friday, March 20, we will be having another Marble Jar celebration! The students have decided that they would like to bring in crafts, stuffed animals, gum, electronics and they may also wear their pajamas, if they'd like. :-)
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will return to Latin and Greek Roots. We will be focusing on -mit, -miss and -tract. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We started the Geometry unit on Friday!!! Our first lesson was on types of triangles (equilateral, isosceles and scalene). We also learned about types of angles (acute, obtuse and right). This week we will continue to find the area and perimeter of triangles, the area of parallelograms and also the area of trapezoids. It's going to be a busy week in math!
ELA: This week in ELA we will be participating in a close reading from our anchor text. We will also be working on text-dependent questions and vocabulary for Red Kayak. Our narrative poems are finished and we will be reading them aloud to the class for a speaking/listening grade. Also, we will be writing two opinion writing pieces that go along with the short story, Potatoes, Eggs and Coffee Beans. We will be comparing /contrasting ourselves and characters in books to this story and how we are more like one or the other.
Social Studies: We finished our comparison of King George III and George Washington, We have been discussing the events that led to the Revolutionary War. We will actually be discussing historical events during this time period and historical figures who helped shape our country. This will lead perfectly into our performance task which will include creating a newscast about a historical event and interviewing an historical person. Social studies is very involved right now.
Science: We will be able to use the laptops again this week because PARCC testing is over except for make-ups. Therefore, we will be able to finish up those digestive system brochures if the kids did not have an opportunity to do so yet.
Another busy week ahead! The days and weeks are flying by!
Please email me with any questions.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Reminders for the week:
On Friday, March 20, we will be having another Marble Jar celebration! The students have decided that they would like to bring in crafts, stuffed animals, gum, electronics and they may also wear their pajamas, if they'd like. :-)
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will return to Latin and Greek Roots. We will be focusing on -mit, -miss and -tract. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We started the Geometry unit on Friday!!! Our first lesson was on types of triangles (equilateral, isosceles and scalene). We also learned about types of angles (acute, obtuse and right). This week we will continue to find the area and perimeter of triangles, the area of parallelograms and also the area of trapezoids. It's going to be a busy week in math!
ELA: This week in ELA we will be participating in a close reading from our anchor text. We will also be working on text-dependent questions and vocabulary for Red Kayak. Our narrative poems are finished and we will be reading them aloud to the class for a speaking/listening grade. Also, we will be writing two opinion writing pieces that go along with the short story, Potatoes, Eggs and Coffee Beans. We will be comparing /contrasting ourselves and characters in books to this story and how we are more like one or the other.
Social Studies: We finished our comparison of King George III and George Washington, We have been discussing the events that led to the Revolutionary War. We will actually be discussing historical events during this time period and historical figures who helped shape our country. This will lead perfectly into our performance task which will include creating a newscast about a historical event and interviewing an historical person. Social studies is very involved right now.
Science: We will be able to use the laptops again this week because PARCC testing is over except for make-ups. Therefore, we will be able to finish up those digestive system brochures if the kids did not have an opportunity to do so yet.
Another busy week ahead! The days and weeks are flying by!
Please email me with any questions.
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, March 7, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of March 9, 2015
Hello Parents and Students,
There are no reminders for this week!
PARCC testing for Grade 5 has been completed! :-) Make-ups for students who were absent last week will occur this week.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will continue our study of the R-Controlled syllable type. We will also be working on homophones this week. The words have been posted to the blog. The test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We will be testing Unit 5 on Tuesday this week. Students received a study guide last week and should be studying it and all of their notes/homework papers from Unit 5. We will be starting Unit 6, which is Geometry, most likely on Friday. Remember, we have the PA math test on Thursday this week. The Geometry unit is slated to last approximately three weeks. Our first few lessons will be finding the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals and polygons.
ELA: We will continue studying our anchor text, Red Kayak. It is so good! Students have been introduced to the vocabulary words for chapters 13-15 and will have a short quiz on these words late in the week. We will continue brainstorming ideas for our narrative poems. This week, students will be using a graphic organizer to help prepare them for writing their poems. The organizer will help the students to identify the character(s), setting, event(s) and plot. They will then use this information to write their poems. My plan is to have the students finish their poems by week's end. We'll see how this goes. If there's time, we will begin reading a short story entitled, Potatoes, Eggs and Coffee Beans. This lesson will most likely take place the following week.
Science: The students took the Digestive System test at the end of this week. The tests have been graded and will be coming home on Monday along with other graded papers. Most students did very well. Also, students should continue to work on their Digestive System brochures. These will be due in a couple of weeks.
Social Studies: We have been studying events leading to the Revolutionary War and important people of that time. We did a comparison of King George III and George Washington and discussed the choices that they made and how those choices led to the United States becoming its own country. We will continue studying main events such as the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party and the trouble with taxes.
That's it for this week.
Please email me with any questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, February 28, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of March 2, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Welcome to March! This school year is flying by!
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Please have your child bring in headphones or ear pods on Monday. We will need them for PARCC testing.
2. PARCC testing is this week. It will occur Monday through Friday in the morning only.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be working on words that are R-Controlled. The words will be posted to the blog on Monday morning because I saved them on my desktop at work and I don't have access to them now at home. :-( Sorry for the inconvenience. As usual, the test will be on Friday. Students will get their word list on Monday as usual.
Math Acceleration: We will be finishing up the last lesson in Unit 5 this week. We will only have math three days this week due to PARCC testing. This will give us enough time to finish the last lesson(s) and review. We will also be creating our study guides. As of right now, the Unit 5 test is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 10th. However, during the week of March 9th, PA math testing will occur. I am unsure of the exact dates for that, so we may need to be flexible with the Unit 5 test date.
English Language Arts: We will continue our study of our anchor text, Red Kayak. We will be having a quiz on the vocabulary from chapters 10-12 on Wednesday. We will review for this on Monday/Tuesday. We will also be responding to questions in our journals pertaining to this book. The students were introduced to narrative poems last week. We will begin writing our own narrative poems this week.
Science: We are at the end of our study of the Digestive System. Our assessment of this unit will be on Thursday. We will be reviewing the material earlier in the week. Also, due to PARCC testing, the computer lab and laptops will not be available for use this week and next. Therefore, we will have to postpone working on our Digestive System brochures for a couple of weeks. They are coming along nicely and we will continue working on them as computers become available. The students may also continue working on these at home if they would like. I have saved many of the students' brochures to my flash drive. However, if you have an extra flash drive at home, please send it to school with your child so he/she can save their brochure to work on at home.
Social Studies: We are moving back into social studies this week. Last week we had a quick pre-assessment about how much we know about King George III and George Washington. We'll continue to talk about these two famous men this week as we move closer to the Revolutionary War.
That's it for now.
Please email me with questions.
Thank you,
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Welcome to March! This school year is flying by!
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Please have your child bring in headphones or ear pods on Monday. We will need them for PARCC testing.
2. PARCC testing is this week. It will occur Monday through Friday in the morning only.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be working on words that are R-Controlled. The words will be posted to the blog on Monday morning because I saved them on my desktop at work and I don't have access to them now at home. :-( Sorry for the inconvenience. As usual, the test will be on Friday. Students will get their word list on Monday as usual.
Math Acceleration: We will be finishing up the last lesson in Unit 5 this week. We will only have math three days this week due to PARCC testing. This will give us enough time to finish the last lesson(s) and review. We will also be creating our study guides. As of right now, the Unit 5 test is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 10th. However, during the week of March 9th, PA math testing will occur. I am unsure of the exact dates for that, so we may need to be flexible with the Unit 5 test date.
English Language Arts: We will continue our study of our anchor text, Red Kayak. We will be having a quiz on the vocabulary from chapters 10-12 on Wednesday. We will review for this on Monday/Tuesday. We will also be responding to questions in our journals pertaining to this book. The students were introduced to narrative poems last week. We will begin writing our own narrative poems this week.
Science: We are at the end of our study of the Digestive System. Our assessment of this unit will be on Thursday. We will be reviewing the material earlier in the week. Also, due to PARCC testing, the computer lab and laptops will not be available for use this week and next. Therefore, we will have to postpone working on our Digestive System brochures for a couple of weeks. They are coming along nicely and we will continue working on them as computers become available. The students may also continue working on these at home if they would like. I have saved many of the students' brochures to my flash drive. However, if you have an extra flash drive at home, please send it to school with your child so he/she can save their brochure to work on at home.
Social Studies: We are moving back into social studies this week. Last week we had a quick pre-assessment about how much we know about King George III and George Washington. We'll continue to talk about these two famous men this week as we move closer to the Revolutionary War.
That's it for now.
Please email me with questions.
Thank you,
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, February 21, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of February 23, 2015
Hello Parents and Students:
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Please return the 5th Grade Farewell permission form and $10 if your child plans to attend the farewell. Thank you to all who have already returned it.
2. Students have school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only this week. Thursday is Parent-Teacher Conferences and Friday is Teacher Institute Day. If I need to speak with you regarding your child's progress in school, you have already been contacted.
3. Please send in two food labels this week for a science activity. Thank you.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas:
Word Study: There is no word study this week due to the shortened week! Instead, we will do some grammar practice in school. :-)
Math Acceleration: We will continue to work on Common Core State Standard 6.EE.B7 this week. Our focus will continue to be on equations….specifically focusing on using algebra to solve multiplication and division equations. This week we will involve fractions with equations. Also, we will be participating in a lot of problem solving involving equations using models. Expect a couple of exit slips this week to check for understanding. Also, a permission form was sent home regarding Math Acceleration testing. It was a pink form. Please disregard this form. It was sent home in error. The correct form was sent home the following day regarding the PA math test. ALL Math Acceleration students will participate in PA math testing the week of March 9th. There is no permission form needed for this testing. I apologize for the confusion. Also, I will post a link on my blog of useful websites to visit to help prepare for the PA math testing.
ELA: This week will be a continuation of many things. We are about halfway through our anchor text, Red Kayak. Students should be studying the vocabulary from chapters 10-12. A quiz on these words will be given at a later date. We also read and analyzed the poem, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. This week we will be discussing narrative writing…specifically narrative poems. We will begin writing our own narrative poems (with illustrations) this week or next. Students will also be introduced to a new book entitled, George Vs. George. This books compares Britain's King George III with the Colonists' General George Washington. This book/discussion will be our headway back into social studies.
Science: In a couple of weeks or so, we will be finishing up our study of the Digestive System. Currently, we are creating a digestive system medical brochure. This will be ongoing for a while. Students are doing research on a specific area/condition/disease of the digestive system. They will then be formatting this information onto a brochure. We will be learning about nutrition and reading food labels soon. Please send two food labels in with your child sometime this week. Thank you.
That's it for now!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, February 15, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of February 17, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for this week:
First of all, I'd like to thank Mrs. Shah and Mrs. Dhulipala for organizing a fun Valentine's Day party for us. A good time was had by all!
Also, thank you for all of the chocolates, cakes, personal cards and letters that you gave me for Valentine's Day! You made my day very special! :-)
1. There is no school Monday, February 16, due to President's Day!
2. The Robert Crown follow-up will be this Friday afternoon from 2:00-3:00.
3. Parent Teacher Conference forms will be sent home via backpack mail on Tuesday. Conferences are scheduled on a "need to see" basis. Therefore, conferences are not scheduled for every student. Please check your child's form to see if a conference is needed. Thank you.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We are continuing on with the Vowel Team. This week, the vowels we will be studying include -oi, -oy, -au and -aw. The words have been posted to the blog. The spelling test will be on Friday and will include spelling the words, diagramming and meanings.
Math Acceleration: We will continue to solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations. We have mainly focused on addition and subtraction in equations, but will move on to multiplication and division. We will also increase our knowledge of inequalities by continuing to study the greater than, less than and equal to signs.
ELA: We are currently on chapter 10 in our anchor text, Red Kayak. We have had many great discussions about the choices that have been made thus far in the book. The students will also be introduced to the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. We will make comparisons between the main character in the book Red Kayak and choices made in both the poem and The Man in the Mirror song we listened to last week by Michael Jackson. At some point this week, the students will be introduced to our 3rd Quarter performance task which includes researching an historical event and person and creating both an interview and news story. This task will be ongoing throughout the 3rd Quarter.
Science: Our study of the Digestive System continues this week. The students will have a quiz on labeling the organs involved in the system. (They should have a sheet to study from.) We will be doing some annotating of digestive system information and creating a digestive system brochure.
That's it for this week!
Please email me with any questions.
Thank you and have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
First of all, I'd like to thank Mrs. Shah and Mrs. Dhulipala for organizing a fun Valentine's Day party for us. A good time was had by all!
Also, thank you for all of the chocolates, cakes, personal cards and letters that you gave me for Valentine's Day! You made my day very special! :-)
1. There is no school Monday, February 16, due to President's Day!
2. The Robert Crown follow-up will be this Friday afternoon from 2:00-3:00.
3. Parent Teacher Conference forms will be sent home via backpack mail on Tuesday. Conferences are scheduled on a "need to see" basis. Therefore, conferences are not scheduled for every student. Please check your child's form to see if a conference is needed. Thank you.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We are continuing on with the Vowel Team. This week, the vowels we will be studying include -oi, -oy, -au and -aw. The words have been posted to the blog. The spelling test will be on Friday and will include spelling the words, diagramming and meanings.
Math Acceleration: We will continue to solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations. We have mainly focused on addition and subtraction in equations, but will move on to multiplication and division. We will also increase our knowledge of inequalities by continuing to study the greater than, less than and equal to signs.
ELA: We are currently on chapter 10 in our anchor text, Red Kayak. We have had many great discussions about the choices that have been made thus far in the book. The students will also be introduced to the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. We will make comparisons between the main character in the book Red Kayak and choices made in both the poem and The Man in the Mirror song we listened to last week by Michael Jackson. At some point this week, the students will be introduced to our 3rd Quarter performance task which includes researching an historical event and person and creating both an interview and news story. This task will be ongoing throughout the 3rd Quarter.
Science: Our study of the Digestive System continues this week. The students will have a quiz on labeling the organs involved in the system. (They should have a sheet to study from.) We will be doing some annotating of digestive system information and creating a digestive system brochure.
That's it for this week!
Please email me with any questions.
Thank you and have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, February 7, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of February 9th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students,
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Our field trip to Robert Crown is this Tuesday, February 10th. Please send your child to school with a sack lunch and drink. We will eat lunch after we return to school, however, it will be after hot lunch hours. Therefore, hot lunch will not be available.
2. Our Valentine's Day party is this Friday, February 13th. Our party planners have organized some fun games for us. Also, most students in 5th grade still pass out Valentine cards. However, this is optional. If your child decides to pass out cards, please make sure they include all students. Thank you. I emailed a class list to all parents.
3. Two permission forms were sent home yesterday. One is for the 5th Grade Farewell activity and the other is for a science experiment in class. Please sign and return these forms at your earliest convenience. Thank you!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: Due to the shortened week last week, I decided to focus on homophones only. This week, we will have the Vowel Team words. They are posted on the blog. The test will be on Friday and will include spelling, diagramming and definitions.
Math Acceleration: We have begun Unit 5 which focuses on Equations and Inequalities. The standards were sent home via backpack mail last week. We have studied solving equations, solutions of inequalities and substitutions. We have also learned how to graph inequalities on a number line using closed and open circles. This week, we will be learning how to use algebraic expressions to solve problems and writing algebraic equations.
ELA: We have a LOT going on in ELA currently. Our study of Red Kayak continues. We have been introduced to and discussed vocabulary for chapters 1-9. We will have a quiz on these words mid-week. We have also been answering some text-dependent questions pertaining to the book and we will be creating oxymoron charts as well. (We didn't get to that last week.) We will also be participating in PARCC tutorials this week during our computer lab time in preparation for the upcoming PARCC testing. (Early March) Most students finished their Writer's Workshop projects and several presented them yesterday in class. They were awesome! We are learning so much about many things! This week we will finish the presentations and students will be introduced to our 3rd Quarter Performance Task late in the week.
Science: Our study of the Digestive System continues. In fact, we have learned all of the organs that are involved in the digestive system and are beginning to learn their functions. We participated in a science experiment last week which showed how our teeth help aid in digestion. This week we will be participating in another science experiment in which we will be eating Saltine crackers. Please return the permission form ASAP. We will be doing this experiment on Thursday.
That's it for this week! Enjoy the week!
~Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
1. Our field trip to Robert Crown is this Tuesday, February 10th. Please send your child to school with a sack lunch and drink. We will eat lunch after we return to school, however, it will be after hot lunch hours. Therefore, hot lunch will not be available.
2. Our Valentine's Day party is this Friday, February 13th. Our party planners have organized some fun games for us. Also, most students in 5th grade still pass out Valentine cards. However, this is optional. If your child decides to pass out cards, please make sure they include all students. Thank you. I emailed a class list to all parents.
3. Two permission forms were sent home yesterday. One is for the 5th Grade Farewell activity and the other is for a science experiment in class. Please sign and return these forms at your earliest convenience. Thank you!
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: Due to the shortened week last week, I decided to focus on homophones only. This week, we will have the Vowel Team words. They are posted on the blog. The test will be on Friday and will include spelling, diagramming and definitions.
Math Acceleration: We have begun Unit 5 which focuses on Equations and Inequalities. The standards were sent home via backpack mail last week. We have studied solving equations, solutions of inequalities and substitutions. We have also learned how to graph inequalities on a number line using closed and open circles. This week, we will be learning how to use algebraic expressions to solve problems and writing algebraic equations.
ELA: We have a LOT going on in ELA currently. Our study of Red Kayak continues. We have been introduced to and discussed vocabulary for chapters 1-9. We will have a quiz on these words mid-week. We have also been answering some text-dependent questions pertaining to the book and we will be creating oxymoron charts as well. (We didn't get to that last week.) We will also be participating in PARCC tutorials this week during our computer lab time in preparation for the upcoming PARCC testing. (Early March) Most students finished their Writer's Workshop projects and several presented them yesterday in class. They were awesome! We are learning so much about many things! This week we will finish the presentations and students will be introduced to our 3rd Quarter Performance Task late in the week.
Science: Our study of the Digestive System continues. In fact, we have learned all of the organs that are involved in the digestive system and are beginning to learn their functions. We participated in a science experiment last week which showed how our teeth help aid in digestion. This week we will be participating in another science experiment in which we will be eating Saltine crackers. Please return the permission form ASAP. We will be doing this experiment on Thursday.
That's it for this week! Enjoy the week!
~Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, February 1, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of February 2, 2015
Hello Parents and Students,
Here's what's going on in 5B this week!
First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming out to Open House this past Wednesday. The class was packed with people and I had the opportunity to talk with many of you. I really appreciate that you took time out of your busy schedules to stop by and check out all of the great work the students have been doing!
Word Study: This week we are on Lesson 14, Vowel Team. There are 20 words this week. Students will be tested on diagramming, spelling and knowing the meanings of each word. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We took the Unit 4 test last week. Most students did very well. The break down was 11 A's, 8 B's, 5 C's and 2 D's. We will go over the test on Monday to answer any questions the students may have. We will be starting Unit 5 this week which focuses on Expressions and Equations. The Unit 5 Standards will be sent home with your child on Monday. We will be taking a pre-assessment for Unit 5 on Monday as well so I can determine planning for the unit.
English Language Arts (ELA): Red Kayak is our anchor text for the third quarter. Our theme for this quarter is "At a Crossroads" which focuses on making choices and how they affect our lives. First, we will be discussing our essential questions and understandings for the unit. These are the questions that we refer back to all quarter. In the book they talk about oxymorons. We will be creating our own oxymorons chart in class this week. We will also be completing a brochure pertaining to Red Kayak and completing some comprehension questions/tasks with supporting evidence.
Social Studies: We finished our colony projects and they are hanging on our walls now. They look great! The students demonstrated great teamwork to complete these in time for Open House. We are now switching back over to science for a little while.
Science: Our focus in science for the next few weeks will be the Digestive System. This week, students will be introduced to the organs that are involved with digestion. I have prepared a power point to familiarize the students with vocabulary involved with this unit. Students will also view a video which shows the process of digestion. Other body systems will also be discussed briefly during the next few weeks one of them being the Reproductive System. Basic vocabulary will be presented to the students prior to our going to the Robert Crown Center.
That's it for this week! Please email me with any questions.
Have a great week! Enjoy all of this beautiful snow!
~Mrs. Bennick
Here's what's going on in 5B this week!
First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming out to Open House this past Wednesday. The class was packed with people and I had the opportunity to talk with many of you. I really appreciate that you took time out of your busy schedules to stop by and check out all of the great work the students have been doing!
Word Study: This week we are on Lesson 14, Vowel Team. There are 20 words this week. Students will be tested on diagramming, spelling and knowing the meanings of each word. The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We took the Unit 4 test last week. Most students did very well. The break down was 11 A's, 8 B's, 5 C's and 2 D's. We will go over the test on Monday to answer any questions the students may have. We will be starting Unit 5 this week which focuses on Expressions and Equations. The Unit 5 Standards will be sent home with your child on Monday. We will be taking a pre-assessment for Unit 5 on Monday as well so I can determine planning for the unit.
English Language Arts (ELA): Red Kayak is our anchor text for the third quarter. Our theme for this quarter is "At a Crossroads" which focuses on making choices and how they affect our lives. First, we will be discussing our essential questions and understandings for the unit. These are the questions that we refer back to all quarter. In the book they talk about oxymorons. We will be creating our own oxymorons chart in class this week. We will also be completing a brochure pertaining to Red Kayak and completing some comprehension questions/tasks with supporting evidence.
Social Studies: We finished our colony projects and they are hanging on our walls now. They look great! The students demonstrated great teamwork to complete these in time for Open House. We are now switching back over to science for a little while.
Science: Our focus in science for the next few weeks will be the Digestive System. This week, students will be introduced to the organs that are involved with digestion. I have prepared a power point to familiarize the students with vocabulary involved with this unit. Students will also view a video which shows the process of digestion. Other body systems will also be discussed briefly during the next few weeks one of them being the Reproductive System. Basic vocabulary will be presented to the students prior to our going to the Robert Crown Center.
That's it for this week! Please email me with any questions.
Have a great week! Enjoy all of this beautiful snow!
~Mrs. Bennick
Saturday, January 24, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of January 26, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
First, I'd like to thank Mrs. Freedlund for coming in to teach Art Awareness this past week. We learned a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright and got to create our own Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces!
There is only one reminder for this week:
1. Open House is this Wednesday, January 28th. It is from 6:30-7:30pm. Hope to see you all there.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We are on Lesson 13 this week which is the second half of suffixes. The words for this week will end in (-al and -ity). The test will be on Friday and will include spelling the words and identifying the definitions.
Math Acceleration: We will finish Unit 4 early in the week. We will be reviewing for the Unit 4 test on Tuesday and/or Wednesday. The students will be making their study guides in class. The Unit 4 test will be on Thursday.
English Language Arts (ELA): We finished the book, The Liberation of Gabriel King, yesterday. What a great story that is! This week we will begin our anchor text for 3rd Quarter which is entitled, Red Kayak. This book teaches the importance of making good decisions/choices. Prior to starting the book, we will be discussing some vocabulary related to the book and background information. We also finished writing our opinion writing pieces last week. This week the students will be presenting information on their courageous American and identifying and stating why their person is the most courageous American. We will also be discussing commonalities and differences amongst the Americans.
Social Studies: Our Colony Projects are looking great! We having been doing a lot of research on the New England, Middle and Southern Colonies. We hope to have all of our work on display in the classroom for Open House.
Science: Students will be introduced to the Digestive System this week. Over the course of the next few weeks, the students will be learning about the different organs that are involved in the Digestive System and what their functions are.
That's it for now! Please email me with questions. Have a great week!
~Mrs. Bennick :-)
First, I'd like to thank Mrs. Freedlund for coming in to teach Art Awareness this past week. We learned a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright and got to create our own Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces!
There is only one reminder for this week:
1. Open House is this Wednesday, January 28th. It is from 6:30-7:30pm. Hope to see you all there.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We are on Lesson 13 this week which is the second half of suffixes. The words for this week will end in (-al and -ity). The test will be on Friday and will include spelling the words and identifying the definitions.
Math Acceleration: We will finish Unit 4 early in the week. We will be reviewing for the Unit 4 test on Tuesday and/or Wednesday. The students will be making their study guides in class. The Unit 4 test will be on Thursday.
English Language Arts (ELA): We finished the book, The Liberation of Gabriel King, yesterday. What a great story that is! This week we will begin our anchor text for 3rd Quarter which is entitled, Red Kayak. This book teaches the importance of making good decisions/choices. Prior to starting the book, we will be discussing some vocabulary related to the book and background information. We also finished writing our opinion writing pieces last week. This week the students will be presenting information on their courageous American and identifying and stating why their person is the most courageous American. We will also be discussing commonalities and differences amongst the Americans.
Social Studies: Our Colony Projects are looking great! We having been doing a lot of research on the New England, Middle and Southern Colonies. We hope to have all of our work on display in the classroom for Open House.
Science: Students will be introduced to the Digestive System this week. Over the course of the next few weeks, the students will be learning about the different organs that are involved in the Digestive System and what their functions are.
That's it for now! Please email me with questions. Have a great week!
~Mrs. Bennick :-)
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for this week:
There is no school tomorrow, January 19, due to the Martin Luther King holiday.
All students will be trying out musical instruments this Friday, January 23rd, during school hours.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We have a lengthy list of words this week and it's a short week. We'll need to study hard each night. Students will receive their word list on Tuesday and we will define/discuss each word on Tuesday as well. This will give the students only three nights to study the words and definitions. The test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We completed our lessons on Prime Factorization, Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple. This week we will discuss divisibility rules, the Distributive Property and move into writing and evaluating numerical expressions involving whole-number exponents.
English Language Arts (ELA): We should finish up (or get close to) finishing our anchor text, The Liberation of Gabriel King, this week. We will continue to study vocabulary from the text, complete some comprehension tasks and how they relate to the essential questions and design a power warrior badge. We will be working on some social studies activities during ELA time as well since we have a lot going on with social studies currently.
Social Studies: First, we will end our study of Roanoke this week. The picture books describing our theories are coming along nicely. After this, we will be participating in a group activity involving the thirteen colonies. Groups will be broken down into the three regions of the colonies which include the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies. A wide variety of activities will be completed some of which include creating maps, flip charts, graphic organizers, creating lists and a mind map. This project will take some time to complete and each group will present their information to the class when completed.
Science: We will be weaving some science into the curriculum very soon and our next unit will be The Digestive System.
That's it for now. Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for this week:
There is no school tomorrow, January 19, due to the Martin Luther King holiday.
All students will be trying out musical instruments this Friday, January 23rd, during school hours.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We have a lengthy list of words this week and it's a short week. We'll need to study hard each night. Students will receive their word list on Tuesday and we will define/discuss each word on Tuesday as well. This will give the students only three nights to study the words and definitions. The test will be on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We completed our lessons on Prime Factorization, Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple. This week we will discuss divisibility rules, the Distributive Property and move into writing and evaluating numerical expressions involving whole-number exponents.
English Language Arts (ELA): We should finish up (or get close to) finishing our anchor text, The Liberation of Gabriel King, this week. We will continue to study vocabulary from the text, complete some comprehension tasks and how they relate to the essential questions and design a power warrior badge. We will be working on some social studies activities during ELA time as well since we have a lot going on with social studies currently.
Social Studies: First, we will end our study of Roanoke this week. The picture books describing our theories are coming along nicely. After this, we will be participating in a group activity involving the thirteen colonies. Groups will be broken down into the three regions of the colonies which include the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies and the Southern Colonies. A wide variety of activities will be completed some of which include creating maps, flip charts, graphic organizers, creating lists and a mind map. This project will take some time to complete and each group will present their information to the class when completed.
Science: We will be weaving some science into the curriculum very soon and our next unit will be The Digestive System.
That's it for now. Have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, January 10, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of January 12th, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Here are the reminders for the week:
Whole group and individual CBM testing will occur on Monday. Due to last week's cold days, it was necessary to move testing to this week.
The principal from Hill Middle School presented information to all 5th grade students yesterday about their course options for next school year. Please take a look at the form, read it carefully and choose your child's option for next year. Please make sure to sign the form and then return it to me at your earliest convenience, but no later than January 30th. Thank you.
Just a reminder that there is no school for students this Friday, January 16th. It is a Teacher Work Day. Also, there is no school the following Monday, January 19th. It is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will remain on the same word list as last week as we did not have enough time to study the words having missed two days. The test will be on Thursday because there is no school on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We will continue working in Unit 4. We have completed lessons on prime factorization and greatest common factor. We completed an exit slip on prime factorization and will be completing one on GCF early next week. Our next lessons will include least common multiple and divisibility/divisibility rules.
ELA: Our focus will continue to be on our anchor text, The Liberation of Gabriel King. We have had a lot of great discussions about this book. This week, we will learn new vocabulary words, answer a variety of text-dependent questions and participate in another close reading pertaining to this book. We will continue to discuss Citizenship and the importance of being respectful. The students will also be introduced to another story from our anthology entitled, Iditarod Dream. We will revisit our essential questions and compare/contrast courage shown in both Gabriel King and Iditarod Dream.
Social Studies: We have begun our research on the lost colony of Roanoke. We are in the process of generating our own theories about what happened to the people of this lost colony. The students will be writing a theory based on their research findings, describing their point of view along with listing reasons with supporting evidence to prove their theories. We will also be relating the colonists' courage to that of Gabe King and the main character in the Iditarod story. The students will be using an evidence based terms chart that I created to help them complete this activity. Their final product will be a completed picture book that displays/shows/proves their theory.
That is it for this week. Please email me with any questions.
Thank you and have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Here are the reminders for the week:
Whole group and individual CBM testing will occur on Monday. Due to last week's cold days, it was necessary to move testing to this week.
The principal from Hill Middle School presented information to all 5th grade students yesterday about their course options for next school year. Please take a look at the form, read it carefully and choose your child's option for next year. Please make sure to sign the form and then return it to me at your earliest convenience, but no later than January 30th. Thank you.
Just a reminder that there is no school for students this Friday, January 16th. It is a Teacher Work Day. Also, there is no school the following Monday, January 19th. It is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: We will remain on the same word list as last week as we did not have enough time to study the words having missed two days. The test will be on Thursday because there is no school on Friday.
Math Acceleration: We will continue working in Unit 4. We have completed lessons on prime factorization and greatest common factor. We completed an exit slip on prime factorization and will be completing one on GCF early next week. Our next lessons will include least common multiple and divisibility/divisibility rules.
ELA: Our focus will continue to be on our anchor text, The Liberation of Gabriel King. We have had a lot of great discussions about this book. This week, we will learn new vocabulary words, answer a variety of text-dependent questions and participate in another close reading pertaining to this book. We will continue to discuss Citizenship and the importance of being respectful. The students will also be introduced to another story from our anthology entitled, Iditarod Dream. We will revisit our essential questions and compare/contrast courage shown in both Gabriel King and Iditarod Dream.
Social Studies: We have begun our research on the lost colony of Roanoke. We are in the process of generating our own theories about what happened to the people of this lost colony. The students will be writing a theory based on their research findings, describing their point of view along with listing reasons with supporting evidence to prove their theories. We will also be relating the colonists' courage to that of Gabe King and the main character in the Iditarod story. The students will be using an evidence based terms chart that I created to help them complete this activity. Their final product will be a completed picture book that displays/shows/proves their theory.
That is it for this week. Please email me with any questions.
Thank you and have a great week!
Mrs. Bennick :-)
Saturday, January 3, 2015
5B Activities for the Week of January 5, 2015
Hello Parents and Students!
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
Here are the reminders for the upcoming week:
Welcome back and Happy New Year!
Here are the reminders for the upcoming week:
- Whole group and Individual CBM testing will occur this week on Thursday and Friday respectively
- Late lunches will now need to be placed in a bin just outside the main office. Students will no longer be called down to the office to pick up their lunch
- On Friday, January 9th, the principal from Hill Middle School will be presenting information, to all 5th grade students, regarding registration for next school year.
Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week:
Word Study: This week we will be focusing on Greek and Latin roots. The roots we will work on this week include -man, -manu and -ject. The words have been posted to the blog. The test will be on Friday. Students will be responsible for spelling the words and knowing each words' meaning. They will not be responsible for diagramming the words.
Math Acceleration: This week we will begin Unit 4, Expressions. The learning standards will be coming home with your child on Monday. There will be a pre-assessment on Monday and our first few lessons will focus on prime factorization, greatest common factor and least common multiple.
ELA: We will continue to work our way through our anchor text, The Liberation of Gabriel King. We are currently on Chapter 9. We will be participating in a close reading for this chapter. Our topic in Citizenship this week will be exploring digital manners and reviewing our classroom behavior matrix. During DLT (Differentiated Learning Time) we will continue to research our courageous American and begin to write our opinion writing piece.
Social Studies: Our topic this week will be on the lost colony of Roanoke. We will be partaking in a CSI type of activity to state our opinions/evidence about what could have possibly happened to the people of the colony. Our culminating activity for the week will be creating a picture book that will show clues and evidence to support our theories. I have reserved many books pertaining to Roanoke to assist the students in developing and designing their picture books.
That's it for this week! Please email me with any questions.
~Mrs. Bennick :-)
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