WEEK OF OCTOBER 28

Junior Achievement
During session 4, Mr. Blocker taught the students about finding a job. He discussed the importance of choosing a profession that you enjoy, the ability to communicate your strengths to a potential employer, and a common set of skills that employers look for when hiring. Mr. Blocker also gave each student a CD with games and activities related to this week's concepts. We will have our final Junior Achievement session on Tuesday, October 29. I thought it might be nice to present Mr. Blocker with a token of appreciation on his last session of Junior Achievement. JA representatives visit schools on a purely voluntary basis, and Mr. Blocker really goes beyond what is expected in regards to preparing lessons and materials. If you would like to contribute to a classroom gift, please send in $1 on Monday or Tuesday!

Costume Parade/Halloween Party
Students need to bring their costumes to school on Thursday. Please understand that costumes might need to be simplified for school purposes since students need to be able to change in a short amount of time. Also, students will be changing in classrooms designated for either girls or boys. Washrooms will not be available for costume changing. Finally, please remember that no weapons, even fake, are allowed at school.

Conferences
Thank you to those who have already signed up for a conference on Sign-Up Genius. If you haven't signed up yet, you should have received a reminder email from me providing the link again. I look forward to meeting with all of you about the progress of your 5th graders!


Subject Update:

• Spelling - The Lesson 9 pretest will be given on Monday. The students will be assigned homework during the week to practice their words, and a final test will be given Friday.
• English - I introduced commas by reading excerpts from a book entitled, Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. The students laughed at the way changing the position of a comma, or adding/deleting commas, really made a big difference in the meaning of the sentence. Next week, we will practice using commas to list items in a series, and off-set introductory words, nouns in direct address, and interjections.
• Reading - We will continue our unit working with non-fiction/informational texts with a focus on text features and organization. 1st Trimester Reading Project: Students should be finishing their realistic fiction books and beginning to work on the worksheet and memory bag. Keep in mind that the project must be completed by November 5!
• Science - We will continue to learn how energy passes through an ecosystem. We will review food chains and webs, and do an activity to better understand the energy pyramid. The Chapter 5 Test is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, November 5!
• Social Studies - The students will hear how the search for a Northwest Passage led to the founding of French and Dutch colonies in North America.
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will begin Chapter 3 which explores division by a 1-digit number. Please encourage your child to "brush up" on their basic multiplication/division facts. It is evident during class time that many students are not as fluent as they need to be. Thank you in advance for your help!

Mark Your Calendar:

Oct. 29 - Bulls Spirit Day!

Oct. 29 - Junior Achievement (Session 5)

Oct. 31 - Halloween Parade and Party

Nov. 1 - "Get Science" Assembly

Nov. 4-7 - Fall Conferences

Nov. 8 - No School

WEEK OF OCTOBER 21

Junior Achievement
During session 3, Mr. Blocker taught the students about unit and mass production. The students had fun assembling ballpoint pens to better understand how to make a product as efficiently as possible. We look forward to his next visit on Tuesday, October 22.

Conferences
You should have received an email from me with a link to Sign Up Genius. Please remember that each family should sign up for one slot. If for some reason you did not receive my email regarding conferences, please let me know!


Subject Update:

• Spelling - The Lesson 8 pretest will be given on Monday. The students will be assigned homework during the week to practice their words, and a final test will be given Friday.
• English - Students will learn how to write common abbreviations and titles correctly.
• Reading - We will continue our unit working with non-fiction/informational texts with a focus on text features and organization. 1st Trimester Reading Project: Students should be finishing their realistic fiction books and beginning to work on the worksheet and memory bag. Keep in mind that the project must be completed by November 5!
• Science - The students will learn how energy is passed through an ecosystem.
• Social Studies - The students will continue to learn about England's first successful colony, Jamestown. Then we will hear how the search for a Northwest Passage led to the founding of French and Dutch colonies in North America.
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will continue in Chapter 2 learning more strategies for multiplying whole numbers. The Chapter 2 Test is scheduled for Friday, October 25!

Mark Your Calendar:

Oct. 22 - Junior Achievement (Session 4)

Oct. 24 - Early Dismissal (11:00 a.m.)

WEEK OF OCTOBER 14

Junior Achievement Program
During session 2, Mr. Blocker reviewed the profit model: revenue - expenses = profit. He also discussed the three types of resources (natural, capital, and human) and the concept of supply and demand. We look forward to Tuesday when Mr. Blocker will share about production.

Unity Day
Thank you to all of the students who wore orange to show unity against bullying.

Let's remember the message behind that day and treat others the way we want to be treated all year long!


Subject Update:

• Spelling - The Lesson 7 pretest will be given on Tuesday. The students will be assigned homework during the week to practice their words, and a final test will be given Friday.
• English - Students will begin Unit 5 about capitalization and punctuation. The first few lessons include a review of how to write the four types of sentences correctly, identifying proper nouns and adjectives, and how to use commas in a series.
• Reading - We will continue our unit working with non-fiction/informational texts with a focus on text features and organization. 1st Trimester Reading Project: Students should continue reading their realistic fiction books. Keep in mind that the book must be read and the project completed by November 5!
• Science - We have started our Life Science unit with the theme "Interactions Among Living Things." Chapter 5 begins with a look at how plants produce food.
• Social Studies - The students will read about the Battle of the Spanish Armada, which turned England's attention away from founding colonies for a while. Then we will learn about the first successful English colony, Jamestown.
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will continue in Chapter 2 learning more about the Distributive Property, estimating products, and other strategies for multiplying whole numbers.

Mark Your Calendar:

Oct. 11 - Check Grades via Parent Connect

Oct. 14 - No School (Columbus Day)

Oct. 15 - Junior Achievement (Session 3)

Oct. 17 - Fall Book Fair and Taffy Apple Sale

Oct. 18 - Prairieview Spirit Day (Wear Green & Gold)

WEEK OF OCTOBER 7

Junior Achievement Program
During our first session with Mr. Blocker, he introduced the class to many core concepts used in business today. The class learned about entrepreneurs, cost of business (expenses), profit, and supply and demand. We look forward to our next visit from Mr. Blocker on Tuesday, October 8!

Unity Day
Students are encouraged to wear orange on Wednesday, October 9 to signify a united stand against bullying. In class, we discussed some statistics about bullying and thought of strategies for preventing bullying behavior or helping a person who is being bullied. Wear orange to "shine a light" on this topic and work together towards ending the problem!


Subject Update:

• Spelling - The Lesson 6 pretest will be given on Monday. The students will be assigned homework during the week to practice their words, and a final test will be given Friday.
• English - Students will determine when to use the conjunctions and, but, and or, and learn how to fix a run-on sentence. Then we will review all the lessons to prepare for the Unit 1 Test scheduled on Friday, October 11!
• Reading - We will begin a unit working with non-fiction/informational texts. Students will learn about non-fiction text features and text organization. 1st Trimester Reading Project: Students should continue reading their realistic fiction books. Keep in mind that the book must be read and the project completed by November 5!
• Science - We will review the steps of the scientific method next week.
• Social Studies - The students will begin Chapter 5 about the struggle to found colonies in the New World. We will read first about the lost colony of Roanoke. We will try to solve the mystery of this colony that just disappeared!
• Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will continue in Chapter 2 learning about powers and exponents, and multiplication patterns.

Mark Your Calendar:

Oct. 8 - Junior Achievement (Session 2)

Oct. 9 - Unity Day - Wear Orange!