Well, Spring Break is upon us.  Let’s keep forging ahead these final days!

LA and Reading 4/5- We are researching Autism and creating posters in recognition of Autism Awareness Month.  We are also reading small passages and answering explicit and implicit questions regarding them.  All students will have a Word Study quiz on Thursday.  Activities are due at that time as well.

Math 4- We are continuing our unit on measurement.

Math 5- We are finishing up our data unit on range, median, mode, and mean.  We will start with patterns and basic algebra on Wednesday.

Punxsutawney Phil said we have 6 more weeks of winter!  Where has winter been?!

This week, we will be working on the following:

LA 4/5: Journal writing, biographies, apostrophes, singular and plural possessives, Black History readings

Word Study activities are due on Thursday: 10 words in cursive, 10 definitions, ABC order, and ALL words in sentences.  NO 1st grade sentences.  Limit this type of sentence: The dog ran down the street.  Instead, try: The ferocious dog chased the frightened cat down the dark alleyway. WoW me with your work!

Math 4: Reviewing basic facts, comparing and ordering fractions, reducing fractions to simplest form, converting fractions to mixed numbers and improper fractions. Comparing and ordering decimals, hands-on decimal representations.  (We enjoyed eating our 100 M&M’s after writing fractions and decimals for each color)!

Math 5: We will continue working on perimeter, area, and volume of polygons.  Be sure you remember the various formulas.  You will be permitted to use calculators on the SOL test, but I want you to show your work right now.  This is a good way to practice your lattice and ladder method skills.  You’ve done great so far!!

Next up: measurement (length, volume, time)

What a quick Winter Break that was!  I hope everyone enjoyed a safe and happy holiday season.  As the weather turns cold, please remember to bring a coat and hat to school each day.  Students will be going outside for recess and possibly P.E.

From Goochland County’s Central Office:

If you receive a call from our School Messenger system in the event of an emergency, we will also “simulcast” information to the following social media services:

• Posterous,
• Facebook,
• Twitter.

You can receive updates posted to these social media services through RSS as well. Feed My Inbox is a free service that delivers RSS feeds to your e-mail account that some parents enjoy using.

Dr. Underwood will report school closings and delays to local media outlets, including:

• Channel 8 WRIC,
• Channel 6 WTRV,
• Channel 12 WWBT.

The students came up with actions to go with their vocabulary words.  Check ‘em out!

Vibration

Sound

Compression

Crest and Trough

Wavelength

Frequency

Pitch

We’ve been talking about sound in Science this week.  The class had a fun (or not so fun) time listening to different frequencies.  There are many frequencies that children and teens can hear, that adults can’t.  Check your frequency hearing abilities by visiting this site and watching the video.

High Pitch Only Teens Can Hear

Here’s what’s happening in Science!!

Thanksgiving is almost here!  Encourage students to keep striving for excellence.  When we return from Thanksgiving Break, we will have only one day shy of two full weeks before Marking Period 2 tests.

Here’s what’s happening in Math:

Decimals- Ordering from least to greatest and greatest to least; rounding to the nearest whole number, tenths, and hundredths place;  converting decimals to fractions and vice versa; ordering fractions and decimals from least to greatest and greatest to least.

Science: Students just finished Matter.  We are now beginning a unit on sound.  Look for some pretty cool stuff to be happening!

Social Studies: Students just finished Colonial Life.  We are beginning a unit on the Revolutionary War.  Please remind/assist your child in reviewing old material nightly.

Language Arts: Students created turkey cinquains. If you’d like to see them, check out our classroom door!  What creative students I have!

Reading: We have started reading How to Eat Fried Worms.  Ask your child what he’s read each day.  The language is quite figurative at times, and the students are having a bit of difficulty making inferences.

I have been frantically trying to upload our various science labs, but am at a loss on how to compress them enough!  I really hope to have them up by later this evening.

In the meantime, PLEASE spend some extra time reviewing Science and Social Studies material this weekend.

Science SOL5.4: Key concepts include:

-Vocabulary: atom, element, molecule, compound, nucleus, proton, neutron, electron, electron cloud

-Matter is anything that has mass, takes up space, and occurs as a solid, liquid, or gas.

-Know the difference between a mixture and solid.

-Know the effect of heat on the states of matter. (melting, boiling, evaporation, condensation, freezing)

History SOL US1.5- Key concepts include:

-Religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America

-Describe life in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern colonies with emphasis on how people interacted with their environment to produce goods and services, including examples of specialization and interdependence

-Describe colonial life in America from the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, free African-Americans, indentured servants, and enslaved African-Americans

**Please see the attachment for a breakdown of colonial life.**Colonial Life

Congratulations on the completion of the first week of MP 2!!

Be sure to review material for all subjects nightly.  I will be posting next week regarding new material.

Halloween parties are being held in homeroom classes today (Friday).  Students are asked to leave all costumes and accessories at home on Monday.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

Well, the end of the first 9 weeks is fast approaching!!  We are starting to wrap up new information and begin reviewing material in preparation for the first Marking Period tests.  I think you will do FABULOUSLY!!  The information is in your noggin, you just need to access it!  Be sure to look over your notes and use your flashcards each evening so it stays fresh in your minds.  I will continue to spend a little extra Language Arts time working on Science and Social Studies material, as you have quite a bit of new information.

Math: MP Test on Thursday, 10/13

-Take a closer look at your quadrilateral notes.  Be sure you can draw or identify a figure based on a WRITTEN description.

Ex: a quadrilateral with 4 parallel, congruent sides, and 4 right angles.  (Square)

- Review prime and composite numbers.

*Remember the first 5 primes.

Remember our rules:

*even numbers are automatically composite

* 9 rule, 6 rule, 3 rule, 5 rule

-Review Order of Operations- practice your mnemonic device (PEMDAS, PMDAS)

Science: MP Test on Friday, 10/14 (This is also the day of the Roadrunner Run)

-Review vocabulary for measurement: length, mass, etc.

-Spend a good amount of time reviewing the variables of an experiment

-Focus on matter- atoms, elements, compounds, molecules

Language Arts: Reading MP Test on Monday, 10/17

Word Study activities and quiz on Thursday, 10/13 (yes, this is correct).

We will continue reading Sunken Treasure, practicing using context clues to identify and define unfamiliar words.  We are also going to be reviewing Science and Social Studies content.

Social Studies: MP Test on Tuesday, 10/18 ( This is also PTA- Grandparents’ Night at 7:00PM)

-Spend time on geographical regions, geographical features, and Native Americans.  There is A LOT of information to know about the different tribes, but you showed me today that you can SOOOOOOO do this!!  Just remember our mnemonic device, and what the geography and weather is like in each area.  REMEMBER: THIS TOTALLY MAKES SENSE when you put the pieces of the puzzle together to see THE WHOLE PICTURE!!

Writing: MP Test on Wednesday, 10/19  I will be away at a conference, but I know you are going to rock the house!  You all know the writing process, and are crazy creative!!

Looking forward to being WOWED off the charts by you guys!!  (I’m ready to put more rain boots on my bulletin board).