Week of November 28- Dec. 2

Well - here we go!  Advent is beginning and the second quarter will be winding down quickly.  We have lots to do in these three weeks, and the time will fly.  It is crucial your student stays on top of the work and deadlines, so as not to fall behind as the quarter ends.

For the most part we will have a normal schedule for the next three weeks, including three weeks of spelling, grammar, a complete Lit unit and 2 social studies chapters.

Please check Educate at the end of the week for grades after the latest round of Literature tests.  There are numerous students that still need to take the tests, and then grades will be posted by week's end.  Make sure if your student was absent at all before Thanksgiving, they come to me to take the test they missed.

5th Grade Language Arts:  Normal spelling and grammar this week.  Pretest is on Monday, pages and final test are due on Thursday.  Spelling pages are always due on Thursday.  You can check Educate every two weeks for grades on those pages.  Some students are not completing the pages and losing valuable points.

Literature:  This week we will be introducing Historical Fiction as a new genre.  We will read 2 stories from our Treasures book and take some notes.  Both stories will have questions on google classroom to answer.  Students should also have a book on the side that they are reading during class time.
Then we will begin reading all together the historical fiction novel Sign of the Beaver   by Elizabeth George Speare.  It is a wonderful book that goes along perfectly with our social studies curriculum.  There will be a calendar of chapters and assignments posted on Google classroom next weekend for the book.

5th Grade Social Studies:  The chapter 5 test will be handed back this week.  There will be an opportunity to make corrections.  We are moving into chapter 6-7 about early settlements in America.  On Tuesday we will play the Settlement Survival Game to get a feel for the hardships these early settlers had to overcome.
There will be both a chapter 6 and 7 test before Christmas.

Explorer Essay:  We have been working on completing the Explorer essay.  Students chose an explorer and completed research notes in class.  We then matched the notes to the outline in order to write the essay.  We even looked at a sample essay and highlighted it according to the Step up to Writing procedure.  Monday and Tuesday before break we worked on writing the rough draft, which is due Monday, Nov. 28.  It is on Google classroom.  
The rough draft needs to be edited by a parent at home, before I look at the rough copy.  You can edit it on Google and send me an email or comment.  Or you can print the rough draft, edit and sign it for your student to bring to class.

The final copy on Google classroom, and the Explorer Coat of Arms are due this week Thursday, December 1st.  Again, we have worked on this project numerous days in class, so hopefully students have a good amount completed.  We will work one more day, Monday Nov. 28th to make sure all rough drafts are complete and final copies begun.


6th Grade Literature:  We have finished our novels.  We will work for 2 days only on a quick group project reviewing the books.  There are some students that still need to take or turn in the tests and vocabulary folders.  That must be done Monday/Tuesday of this week. 
We are moving on to Hatchet.  We will be reading this novel as a class, however I have given students that have already read it some choices.  On Wednesday/Thursday this week the Hatchet calendar will be posted on Google classroom with all the chapter dates and assignments.  We will read much in class, but students will be expected to read some outside of class as well.  We hope to finish it before Christmas break.
Make sure your student keeps up with the readings and assignments that go along with the book.


THere are busy weeks ahead.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Make sure to stay connected to Educate for updates on grades as the quarter ends.

Have a blessed week,
Mrs. Brown

Between Now and Thanksgiving

We have a full week this week, but a very short week next week, so I am going to attempt to map out the schedule between now and Thanksgiving.
We have lots going on between now and then as we finish both this unit of study in Literature and the chapter in social studies.

5th Grade Language Arts:
We will have spelling and grammar as normal this week, but we will not do spelling next week, and use the days for grammar review.
Spelling:  This week's pages are 72-75.  Pretest is Monday and final test is Thursday. I will collect books on Thursday to record the last two weeks' scores.
Grammar:  We continue to review and build on the skills we are learning.  We have moved on to Verbs for a few weeks.  Most students did better on last week's review page, and I used the points as extra credit.  Feel free to check any writing that your student does.  At this age, they still need editing of most things they write.

Literature:  We are enjoying the books we are reading and the process of working through the books together.  Wonderful discussion comes from the groups as they read and talk.  Again, the schedule for each book is on a document under your child's name on Google Classroom.  They can always check what needs to be completed and what is coming up.  
 *** We are assigned to finish reading the book next week Monday, Nov. 21st.  On Friday of this week, each student will bring home their vocabulary folder to study.  Each group will have 10 words from their book to learn.  We have done all the work on the vocab words in class, but students will need to study for the test.  The final test over the vocab words and the book will be next week Tuesday, Nov. 22.

5th Grade Social studies:  We are finished with chapter 5 over the early explorers, but we are going to take this week and work on a short, but formal research and writing project about an explorer.  Students will be choosing an explorer to research.  We will be completing the research mostly in class, however students can work outside of class.  We will be using the "Step Up to Writing" program to structure and write an essay about the explorer.  Again, most work will be done in class, however there will be time when students will need to show the essay to parents, for editing.  I will email any special directions needed.  The final project will be due after Thanksgiving, and again I will send details home.
***We will also take the chapter 5 test this week, most likely on Friday.  We will be preparing for it in class, and I will send out the study directions.


6th Grade Literature:
6th Grade is also finishing our Lit books this week or next.  Monday/Tuesday we are taking a quiz over what we have read so far.  We will be completing the vocabulary this week in class and it will come home next weekend to study.  All groups will have only 10 words from their book to learn, but the words must be studied at home.  The final book test will be either Monday or Tuesday next week depending on the A/B day schedule.  Students need to make sure they are keeping up with the chapters and not skipping any.  
We will work on group projects for the books, even as we move on to another selection.

Thank you for using this blog, Educate and Google classroom to discuss with your student all that is going on.  Second quarter goes very quickly, so make sure any missing work is dealt with as soon as possible.
Have a wonderful week!

Week of November 7-11

Welcome to November!  We have a very busy week ahead of us.
All lit groups are well into their books now, and we will continue to work in these groups as we read these awesome novels.

I will be out of the class on Thursday and Friday.  I am travelling to Concordia, Mequon, to complete my Colloquy program.  I have the final interview left to complete and will meet with the Professors on campus.
Please keep me in your prayers as I finish this journey.

5th grade language arts:
Spelling:  This is a regular week in spelling.  The pretest is Monday and pages 66-69 will be assigned for Thursday.  Final test is Thursday.
Grammar:  We have finished our study of nouns.  We took the weekly assessment on Friday.  Although many students did well, some struggled greatly, despite walking through the directions together in class. Rather than have them correct the quiz, we will go through it together carefully and then I will give them a review page for extra points.  I will be sending this page home along with the unit review test to be done at home on Monday.  You may want to check your child's score on Educate, and look over these pages with them, before turning them in on Tuesday.

Literature:  Lit Groups!
We are moving through the novels we are reading.  Remember your child has been assigned to one of the five books in class.  They have a calendar of all assignments, and the dates they are worked on and due in Google Classroom.  We check the calendar every day to make sure they know what is due.  Most of this work is being done in class, but your child may be bringing home the book to read some at home. It is imperative they do not fall behind in their reading of the book.
This week we will work on Vocabulary for the book.

5th grade social studies:
We have taken a two day break to go over some information for the election.  We are trying to get a basic understanding of how the process works.  We are not investigating the actual candidates running.  We have investigated the history of and feelings toward the political parties.
On Monday we will use our 7th grade school election as a way to go over individual candidates and their stance on the issues.  We will examine each of the three 7th graders running, a debate they completed and the materials they have sent out. Then the 5th graders will have the opportunity to vote for one of the three 7th grade candidates on Tuesday.  We will have a special election celebration on Tuesday.

After that we will continue to work on learning about 8 explorers to the New World.  Each student will be choosing one explorer to research and create a project about.  We will begin the process of choosing explorers at the end of the week, after taking notes on the 8 in our textbook.

6th Grade Literature:
Lit Groups continue.  We meet each class time in our lit groups to either read together, write journals, or answer and discuss questions.  It is going very well.  This week we will work on vocabulary words for each book.  All assignments are on Google classroom, as well as the calendar that shows exactly what chapters need to be read and the due dates for all assignments.  We check the calendar each class time, but students who are absent or cannot remember what is due, should check it outside of class.

Blessings on the week ahead,
Mrs. Brown