Newsletter

Hi,

We had a great week. We worked hard on our released reading and math TAKS and the children did well. Now I know what skills we need to target and in what areas we can do some extension activities.

We have some awesome mathematicians in our classroom. I got an email about a Trimathlon Competition in Round Rock on May 14. It is free and sounds fun. I think A LOT of students in our class would do great in this competition. Let me know if you are interested and/or visit this site for more information. http://www.mathnasiumtrimathlon.com/

Reading: We used a non-fiction book called How do Animals Adapt? to practice taking notes using expository text, using text features(subtitles, glossary, index, table of context, photos, captions, etc...) We also practice writing summaries. Summaries are one of those tricky things. A summary needs to tell about the beginning, middle, and end of the passage and use summary statements. It shouldn't include a bunch of details but the most important parts to get the gist or main idea of the passage. We also chose non-fiction books to use as book club books. We read and took notes. Then wrote summaries and responses to the book. We met with others who read the same book and talked about some facts from the book, what the author's purpose may have been to write the book and how the author organized the book. We created posters and shared this information with the class. They did very well. Next week each child will read at least two books on the same basic topic and compare and contrast the books and the information learned with their book groups. We will be reading about Anarctica (two different books) and then later in the week, we will read about The Depression/The Dust Bowl (two different books). We will share what we've learned with the whole class.

Writing: We are writing poems about weather (If I were a thunderstorm...., If I were a snowflake...,etc...) We are also helping each other finish our published books. We are all almost done. Next week we will be writing more poetry.

Math: We are continuing to work on different types of measurement. We will be working with time and temperature this week. We will also be solving lots of problems and reviewing some geometry.

Science: We will continue learning about the moon, the sun, and patterns of the Earth and will have a test on Tuesday. We will be finishing up an activity on phases of the moon and do a demonstration of the phases on Monday. We will also review a little for the test on Tuesday.

Social Studies: We will be working on Frontier, Urbanization, and Citizenship for the next couple of weeks.

Pen Pal Visit on Friday, April 8-Our pen pals will be coming to visit us on Friday, April 8. We are planning on using technology with them in the computer lab. Come visit with us!

Attached is a flyer for writing camp at UT this summer. It sounds wonderful!!!!! Check it out.


Dates to Remember:

Monday, April 4 and Tuesday, April 5-Fifth Grade TAKS test-no visitors allowed on campus
Monday, April 4-Service Learning Club in PTA portable
Tuesday, April 5-Science test
Thursday, April 7-Writing Club afterschool until 4:00
Friday, April 8-Pen Pal Visit at FCE from 10:00-11:00
Jazz Band Concert-1:45
Friday, April 15-Field Trip to Bob Bullock Museum
Friday, April 22-No school
Tuesday, April 26-Math TAKS test 3rd and 4th grade
Wednesday, April 27-Reading TAKS test 3rd and 4th grade

Have a great weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,
Pam