WEEK OF DECEMBER 1

2nd Trimester Tidbits
Students are now responsible for checking themselves out at the end of the school day. Students will remain independent as long as there are no issues with late homework. If a trend of late homework begins for a student, he/she will be put on a teacher check-out system.
5th Grade Late Homework Policy for 2nd Trimester:
1 day late - minus 15 %
More than 1 day late until unit test is taken - minus 25%
After unit test is taken - 0% earned
*Ungraded work - 1 point deducted from "Homework Completion" bank of points

Subject Update:

ELA (English/Language Arts)

• Spelling - The Lesson 14 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. *Students may only print 15 words "just in case" their cursive still needs work. Keep practicing correct letter formation at home!
• English - The students will learn that a noun can name a person, place, thing, or idea. We will practice identifying nouns in sentences. 
• Reading - The students will finish their research on Sitting Bull, and incorporate it into an interactive poster using a website called Glogster.

Science - The students did an amazing job sharing their owl presentations with third graders. We will now begin Chapter 6 about ecosystems and change. Students will understand how populations interact, and describe plant and animal adaptations.

Social Studies - The students will learn about life in the English colonies in Chapter 6. The first lesson will help students understand how people worked and traded.

Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will estimate quotients and review all we have learned about division with decimals. There is a Unit 3 Homework Review #2 planned for Wednesday. Then we will finish the unit with some problem solving involving interpreting remainders and finding unit prices.

Mark Your Calendar:

Dec. 2 - First Trimester Grade Reports Available Via ParentConnect

Dec. 10 - Too Good For Drugs (Session 1)

Week of November 24

Happy Thanksgiving!
It is during this time of year that we reflect upon the many things we are thankful for in our lives. I am grateful for the support of my family at home, as well as my families at school. I am so fortunate to have such supportive parents - thank you for all you do for your children! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Subject Update:

ELA (English/Language Arts)

• Spelling - No lesson due to the short week!
• English - We will do some writing and proofreading to apply our capitalization and punctuation skills from Unit 5. 
• Reading - The students will continue their research on Sitting Bull. They will incorporate their research into an interactive poster using a website called Glogster.

Science - Students will share their slide presentations on owls with the third graders on Tuesday afternoon. This is an opportunity for students to practice their speaking skills: appropriate volume and rate, voice inflection, and eye contact.

Social Studies - We will play a review game on Monday to help students prepare for the Chapter 5 Test scheduled for Tuesday, November 25! There is a lot of information in this chapter, as it encompasses 4 lessons. The notes taken in their Social Studies spiral for this chapter should guide their studying!

Mrs. Strong's Math Class - Students are currently working with division of decimals. So far, they have only been given problems that will work out with no remainders, even if they have to "annex a zero" to find the quotient. On Monday, we will take a look at division of decimals when things don't work out so nicely! I also plan to show a really cool repeating decimal problem that a student found and shared with me. Thanks, Aidan!

Mark Your Calendar:

Nov. 21 - End of 1st Trimester

Nov. 25 - Robert Crown Field Trip

Nov. 26 - 28 - Thanksgiving Break

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 17

Author Amy Logan Visit to Prairieview
On Friday morning, author Amy Logan visited each grade level to present her book, A Girl with a Cape, and the message that each of us has the power to be a super hero. I took some time after the presentation to discuss some ways I have seen my own children be super heroes, and I encouraged them to find ways to show kindness and release the super hero inside each of them. Thanks to our P.T.O., every student received a special PV "cape" to remind them of the amazing power they have to make a difference in this world.

Subject Update:

ELA (English/Language Arts)

• Spelling - The Lesson 12 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. *Students may only print 15 words "just in case" their cursive still needs work. Keep practicing correct letter formation at home!
• English - We will do some classroom activities to review the capitalization and punctuation rules for writing direct quotations. There will be a quick quiz on quotations on Wednesday, November 19. Then we will begin reviewing for the Unit 5: Capitalization and Punctuation test scheduled for Friday, November 21!
• Reading - The students will research Sitting Bull. They will incorporate their research into an interactive poster using a website called Glogster.

Science - Students are working collaboratively with a classmate to create a slide presentation about an owl native to Illinois. Students helped create the grader for this project, and they have a copy of this to guide their work.

Social Studies - Students will read about the 13 English colonies and how they were established. We will also work to understand how the geography of the land made the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies different from each other. Looking ahead, the Chapter 5 Test is scheduled for Tuesday, November 25!

Mrs. Strong's Math Class - Now that we have a firm grasp of division of whole numbers, we will move into division of decimals. Students will identify patterns when dividing decimals by powers of 10, estimate decimal quotients, and divide decimals by whole numbers and decimals.

Mark Your Calendar:

Nov. 21 - End of 1st Trimester

Nov. 25 - Robert Crown Field Trip (permission slips coming soon)

Nov. 26 - 28 - Thanksgiving Break

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 10

Junior Achievement
During our final session of Junior Achievement, Mr. Blocker had the students do an activity to understand global connections in businesses. Students also received a certificate of participation and CD of games and activities related to the concepts learned during Junior Achievement. Mr. Blocker was very appreciative of our classroom gift to him. Thank you to all of the families who contributed!

Subject Update:

ELA (English/Language Arts)

• Spelling - The Lesson 11 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. *Students may only print 15 words "just in case" their cursive still needs work. Keep practicing correct letter formation at home!
• English - We will use quotation marks to record the words spoken in various Garfield comic strips. Students will practice writing direct quotations when the speaker comes at the beginning, at the end, and in the middle of the sentence. Students will also be challenged to use more sophisticated words instead of "said" in their sentences. It is much more interesting to use words like whispered, questioned, or mumbled.
• Reading - The students will begin their research on Sitting Bull. They will incorporate their research into an interactive poster using a website called Glogster.

Science - Did your student tell you about our virtual and hands-on work with owl pellets? It was a chance for us to work like scientists to discover the kind of prey an owl might hunt. Next, we will do a little research on owls of Illinois to learn about their habitats, diet, and adaptations.

Social Studies - Students will practice their note-taking skills by making a Lucidchart Diagram about the Pilgrims. Then we will compare and contrast the Pilgrims to the Puritans.

Mrs. Strong's Math Class - We will continue to learn different ways to divide whole numbers. There will be a homework review of division patterns, estimation, and division methods towards the end of the week.

Mark Your Calendar:

Nov. 11 - Picture Retakes and Yearbook Photos

Nov. 14 - Author Amy Logan Visits Prairieview!