May 14th-May 18th

Just a few quick notes….we are really beginning to wind down.

It is not too late to sign up by email for a student led conference.  Please just check the open times on the blog and then EMAIL ME to sign you up for a slot.  If you cannot make it, we understand.  Your child can present the conference at home.

Health and Human Body typed portion due on Wednesday, May 16th,  for me to check.  This is a way to keep students managing their time and also, for me to make sure they are completing the assignment correctly.  In addition, the school was able to make a bulk purchase of the science tri-fold board.  Students can buy them from me for $3.00- which covers cost and tax.

Students will write one more time……..this coming week, students will write a paper responding to a literature prompt and character analysis of The Witch of Blackbird Pond.  The assignment is one we have prepared for by taking notes about the characters as we read each week.  On Monday, students will be officially assigned the prompt and begin the brainstorming and pre-write.  This assignment will by due by Friday, May 18th, but they will be given plenty of class time to complete it.

May 24th- Volunteer Thank you Breakfast- we want to say THANK YOU right before school.  Please join us as we take time to appreciate all of your help throughout the year.

May 24th- Terman Field Trip-  We will leave the school by 10:00 and return by 12:00.  I will send out a separate email to those who have volunteered to drive.  Because of the late return time, students need to bring a bag lunch to school.  We will eat when we return to Nixon.

End of the Year Events:

May 15th and 16th- Student Led Conferences

May 18th- Karaoke Party

May 24th – Terman Field trip 10:00-12:00

May 25th – Health and Human Body Presentation

May 28th- NO SCHOOL

May 31st- 4th and 5th grade Talent Show- 10:30

June 4th- Swim Party

June 7th- Graduation

May 7th-May 11th

This week, we worked on STAR testing for math, and science. We’re all relieved it’s over. Right now, we are in the midst of a choir book, The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It’s getting more exciting as we go on, and we can’t wait to finish it. We started up social studies again with the thirteen colonies. We had an advertising campaign, trying to make people come to a certain colony. It was a lot of fun, and it was the first time we tried it.

By Dilan-  student weblog post

Big week as we begin the wind down.  I mean, we are looking at less than 5 weeks before we say goodbye.  Sniff,Sniff.

Last week to sign up for a time to come and participate in the voluntary Student Led Conference. The dates and times are listed on the weblog page titled Student Led Conferences.  Find an open time and email me.  I will then post it on the weblog and send a confirmation email.  If you cannot make it, then we can have your child present the conference at home.  Friday, May 11th will be the final day, so decide this week if it will work for you!

Terman Field Trip on Thursday May 24th- permission slips went home on Friday.  We need drivers and some chaperones.  Students will take a tour through the campus and visit some of the classrooms.  This helps ease any nerves they may have regarding the upcoming change to MIddle School.  Please email me or send in the permission slip if you can drive for us.

May 11th- Dr. Roy and Duncan’s Thank you Party

May 15th and 16th- Student Led Conferences

May 18th- Karaoke Party

May 24th – Terman Field trip 10:00-12:00

May 25th – Health and Human Body Presentation

May 28th- NO SCHOOL

May 31st- 4th and 5th grade Talent Show- 10:30

June 4th- Swim Party

June 7th- Graduation

April 30th-May 4th

STAR testing continues this week.  We will continue to test on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Students have seemed very relaxed and many have commented on how much they enjoy it—hum?  I believe this is in part that we try not to stress the students out too much.  Yes, they should take it seriously, but it is not what defines them as a student.

While we are testing, the class has been sewing the quilt squares.  We are just about finished and I will be handing it over to Yusong, who has volunteered to put it together for us.

This week will again include no designated homework.  Students may have Literature reading, but for the  most part, we will keep it light.  This is an excellent opportunity for them to “jump ahead” on the Health and Human Body research.  Although, they will get some time in class, the “no homework” week, can ease up on next week’s pending due dates.  This week, students will need to hand in an basic outline that includes only the focus questions to guide them as they research.  This project is broken into manageable mini goals to help each student time manage.  This is the final book report/research report project of the year.  We will be presenting the boards to the community- meaning you- on May 25th.

We will continue our daily lessons in Math, Literature, Social Studies- except to “extra work” until next week.

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES….UP ON WEBLOG.  PLEASE CHECK THE PAGE AND LOOK AT THE DATES AND TIMES.  EMAIL ME TO SIGN UP.

Upcoming due dates:

May 5th- May Fete parade

May 11th- Dr. Roy and Duncan’s Thank you Party

May 15th and 16th- Student Led Conferences

May 18th- Karaoke Party

May 24th – Terman Field trip—we will need chaperones.  Not many.  I will send a separate email when I know more details….like drivers.

May 25th – Health and Human Body Presentation

May 28th- NO SCHOOL

May 31st- 4th and 5th grade Talent Show- 10:30

June 4th- Swim Party

June 7th- Graduation

Well………that is the last date for the year- goes by so fast when you are having so much fun!!!

Nikole Manou

April 16-20

Finally…..the sun has arrived and we are well on our way to be wrapping up April.

This week we will continue to practice for the upcoming STAR test which begins April 24th as well as have a special visit from the Gunn High School Science Alliance group on Tuesday.

Please remember that Curriculum night is this Tuesday, from 6 pm- 7pm.  I will be in the room for the first 15 minutes and then I will head out to visit all of the other classrooms and enjoy seeing all of the students work.  Our class will be set up with most of the students work on their desk as well as situated around the classroom.  We have worked hard and this night only reveals a small glimpse of what the 5th grade accomplished during the school year.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond will be passed out on Monday.  Students will check out their book and have a mini lesson on “inner questioning”.  This follows our study of Schema and using various reading strategies to help us understand what we read better.  Each week, students will be going through various lessons as they read and then they will practice the strategy in order prepare to share in small groups on Thursdays.

Math- we are continuing to explore new concepts.  Math in fifth grade is a big step and students find the pace pretty fast.  There is a lot of review, but the review is applied to new concepts.  Currently, we are working on Linear Equations by working with 4 quadrant graphs and tables.  Student need to look at the pattern with the “x” and “y” coordinates and create an algebraic equation that completes the line on the graph.  They find themselves working with variables, integers as well as various operations to find the pattern.  Once we have competed this small unit, we will begin Area of Triangles, Parallelograms and Volume of Prisms.

STAR testing will begin on April 24th.  The schedule is the same for the next two weeks.  All 5th grade will test on:

Tuesdays from 10:30-11:45

Wednesdays from 10:30-11:45

Thursdays from 8:00-10:00

This can be very stressful for some students who get very anxious when taking tests.  Please reassure your child that this is just one assessment in the year that teachers use to evaluate.  It is not a test to define and mark their intelligence.  We try to keep the schedule as normal as possible, but many students will need extra rest.  Ensure that they go to bed on time and have a nice breakfast.  In addition, please send them to school with a snack.  Many children are very hungry after testing.

Can anyone sew our class quilt together?  I need a parent or a volunteer to give the final “thread” to the class quilt.  As a culmination to our San Jose Historical Quilt Society visit last week, we have voted on the quilt that the students will sew during STAR test weeks.  Each student will be given a lesson on sewing, and then apply their skills to a quilt square.  I would like it if each student would sew 2 squares.  When this is completed, usually by the end of STAR testing, I send it home with a parent or volunteer to sew the squares together. It is such a special treat to see them take part in creating a quilt and a wonderful way to remember the class.  I have four hanging in my S-room from previous years.  Some years, I do not get a volunteer and the quilt squares end up sitting in a box collecting dust- but the heart of the children who sewed it still remains.  I love seeing the quilts come together and so does the class.  Please email me if you would like to help with the quilt.

April 9th-13th

Welcome back!!  I hope every family had a restful and fun-filled break.  My family spent the week in Los Angeles enjoying the warm beaches, visiting museums and eating lots of great food!

These last 8 weeks of school will be very busy, especially the fifth grade.  We will be preparing for the STAR test; working on the Human Body Report and Presentation; writing a comparitive essay responding to Literature characters; reading the Witch of Blackbird Pond; and concluding our study of the Early Colonies, the American Revolution and ending it all with the Constitution.  This will all be completed by the time we practice for graduation!  Whew!  It will fly by and I am already feeling sad to see these amazing students move on towards bigger things…..what a treat it has been to work with these individuals on a daily basis.

Upcoming Events:

April 17th- Science Alliance from Gunn High School will come and guide the 5th graders through a series of Chemistry demonstrations.  It is a wonderful experience to see how fun the study of science can be even for students who are in high school!

April 17th- evening-  Curriculum Night  Bring your entire family to visit all of the classrooms and see the remarkable projects students across the grade levels have completed.

STAR testing will begin the week of April 23rd and end on May 3rd.  The fifth grade students will be testing on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings before lunch break.  Please avoid making appointments or late nights to allow for the most relaxing environment for all students.  The final times will be announced by next week.

Enjoy!

Heart Dissection

On Tuesday we had the sheep heart dissection. Everybody paired up, and each pair had a heart. Everybody loved it.

From Wednesday through Friday, we had MARS testing. Everybody’s happy that it’s done, but it flew by quick.

March 12th-16th

Happy Monday- I hope everyone remembered to SPRING FORWARD- a jump start on the sunny mornings.

This week the class will be completing their Pet Essay- A letter from a pet to it’s owner.  We have worked several weeks on this paper, beginning with wonderful and humorous books that demonstrated strong animal voices.  Then we moved into mini lessons on sentence fluency, sentence varieties and persuasion.  This current paper is the culmination of much study regarding how to incorporate all three writing traits into one paper.  The final assignment due date is Wednesday, March 13th.  We will celebrate by having a publishing party on Friday.  During this party, students will share their Pet letters and we will all enjoy a treat. You will read this paper at the student led conference that is planned for mid to late May.  More details about this conference time will be coming after Spring Break.

Science- Living Systems is our final and most hand’s on Science Unit.  Students in all the 5th grade classes will once again rotate through each 5th grade teacher’s room to be instructed in a Specific living systems investigation.  Our students will begin in our own classroom by starting with the Circulatory System.  We will have lesssons on Monday and then culminate with the Sheep heart dissection on Tuesday afternoon.  Thank you to the parent volunteers who have agreed to come in and help or lead the dissection- Yaso, Dottie, Carolyn and David?

The following week, students will rotate to A-3 to investigate the Digestive System and then again, after break, to A-1 to learn about Plant and Animal Cells.  The final unit, the Respiratory System, will once again occur in the student’s own classroom.  If you feel like any of these units will offer an opportunity for you to share your expertise, please email me.  We can definitely arrange a time for you to come in and discuss the topic with the class.

Math- Integers- check and done!  The students have completed the unit on adding and subtracting integers.  Of course, we will continue to review this concept for the remainder of the year, but I feel confident that all have a strong understanding of the positive and negative number concept.  Our next unit will involve further practice of adding and subtracting fractions with mixed numbers and then we will move into multiplying and dividing fractions-  this is a tough concept and some students need a lot of support.  If you feel comfortable, begin to discuss and practice the concept of dividing fractions with your child.  The more support they get from all of us, the better the concept is understood and mastered.

Literature.  Currently, the students are free reading novels either they have brought from home or from the classroom library.  I have labeled the books with the DRA levels and encouraged all students to read a book that is “just right” for them.  On Thurdays, students journal what they have read for the week.  The can either choose to write a letter to me; decide on a Critical Thinking writing prompt that is in their folder; or write a summary.  The purpose of this free reading opportunity is to allow time for all students to develop a love for reading on their own.  Many times, I pull a small group during the free read and work with them on a guided reading lessons.  This involves a short story or a condensed book and a mini lesson.  Often times, we work on reading strategies such as questioning skills, summary writing, inferring strategies, outlining non fiction information, and synthesizing information.  This will continue for a few more weeks before we begin our class core novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond and/or A Break With Charity.  Both historical fiction novels are set during the early colonial period in Puritan settlements which is following our current topic of study in Social Studies.

Upcoming Events:

Please return the report card envelope by next week.

March 13th- Science night assembly for the students

March 14th- Terman 8th graders make a visit to Nixon to share how to prepare for 6th grade.  It is very informal and mainly led by the 8th graders.  Although parents are free to come, it is not an informational visit.  Most of the time, the 5th graders ask questions about lunch, recess, PE, classes, lockers, etc….to ward of some of the nervous jitters they may be feeling as the big transition comes.

March 27th- TECH Museum field trip.  I have enough drivers, but you are free to come if interested.  At the TECH, our class will participate in the DNA lab, have lunch, and then spend time visiting the museum.  It is an all day field trip and students must bring a bag lunch.

Here are the drivers I have listed:

Carolyn – 4 students

Yusong- 5 students

Kelly- 3 students

Ruth Ann- 5 students

Dan Kessler- 5 students

Page – 5 students

***PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE THE PROPER INSURANCE INFORMATION ON FILE. I will double check and then email you if you do not have what the school district requires.

March 31st-April 8-  SPRING BREAK.  Get some rest, the remaining part of the year zooms by fast!

I know that is a lot of information….but we stay so busy!

Enjoy you week!

March 5th-9th

Welcome back after a wonderful weekend……..Spring seems to be here!

This week homework will look differently.  No more designated homework packets, but instead, students will receive the homework nightly.  This is in preparation for 6th grade.  The reading log and cover sheet will still be handed out on Mondays, and in addition, I will also have the nightly math homework listed on the board, but students need to be responsible- with my reminders- to get the page out of their Study Links or put it in their binder if I pass it out.  We will still continue with Spelling packet and Wordly Wise (there is only 4 lessons left).

The STAR party was out of this WORLD!!  It was so wonderful to see all of the 5th graders there with their parents, looking at the stars, the moon, Jupiter and Venus.  A special thank you to all of the parents who came to help: Sheryl, Jennifer G, Kelly, Gregory and Sabine Daly, Bennoit, Stephan J.  and anyone else I did not mention here……Thank you!!

We have a regular schedule this week- I will update the weblog with more specifics on curricular areas next week as we move into new Literature and take the MARS tasks.

Report Cards go home this Friday.  Please look it over with your child and then return ONLY the envelope by the following week.

Enjoy the week- only 14 left……yes, too fast!

Star Party week!

Happy March- yes, already.

This week the class will be writing a persuasion paper; working on Independent Readers notebook; culminate the Chemistry unit with a lesson on building molecules; practice for the upcoming MARS- (the math assessment will be administered in 2 weeks March 13th and 14th)………..and visit the STARS.

Please refer to the e-vite for the details.  I would like to remind those parents volunteered to bring a tri-pod, to bring it in by Friday morning.  If you see that I have not listed your name below, email me right away.  Currently, I have 7 tri-pods coming in- we need 9.

STAR Party with Dr. Roy and Duncan- Friday, March 2nd.   We will start at 7:00 in the school computer lab.  Dr. Roy has a presentation on Galileo that will give us background information to aide in our appreciation of his findings.  If you are dropping off your child, please pick up by 8:00- no later.  I would like to get home to my own children…..:)

Here are the volunteers and whether a tripod will be donated for use.

Su G.-parent volunteer,

Yusong- parent volunteer and tripod donation

Stephan J. – parent volunteer and tripod—are you bringing a telescope?  We could use a “fancier” one if possible- just in case:)

Page and Kurt- donating tripod

Please consider coming and helping us.  This will only happen if we can get enough parent helpers!

Have a great week….I know our class will!

February 21-24- No designated homework packet

HI A-2 parents and students!  I hope you had a relaxing 5 day weekend.  I had a wonderful time in San Francisco at the Brain Conference.  I felt enriched and I am looking forward to sharing some of my learning with the students.

This week we will concentrate on the State Board Presentations.  Last week, students signed up for a 3 minute time slot during this current week where they will present the required information outlined in their State Board assignment packet.

Science- Dr. Roy and Duncan’s last visit will be on this coming Friday, 2/24.  As sad as we are to say goodbye- do not worry.  We will have 2 more opportunities to give them our thanks.  The first time we will see them will be on Friday, March 2nd, for the STAR PARTY.  Please try to make this special evening with them.  An invitation will go out this week asking for RSVPs.

The last time we will get to an opportunity to see Dr. Roy and Duncan is in late May, when we invite them in for a class party.  This date is TBA.

Literature- students are encouraged to bring books to class as we allow for Silent Sustained Reading time (45 minutes).  During this dedicated reading time, I sometimes pull small groups of individuals for guided reading time. Mid-week, students respond to their independent reading in a journal.  We will be practicing this until we start our next Core Literature book, The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

FIELD TRIP TO THE TECH museum field trip will occur on Tuesday, March 27th.  We will need drivers and chaperones. So far I have these parents signed up to attend with us.

Carolyn – 4 students

Tatjana- 5 students

Kelly- 3 students

Tatjana- 4 students

Dan Kessler- 5 students

Page – 5 students

WE ARE COVERED- THANK YOU PARENTS!

Enjoy the last week of February!!!