September 16th ~ 20th

We are half way through September and are settling into our classroom routines a bit.

Mark your calendars for our NWEA Fall testing dates . . . they are:
Tuesday October 1st - 8:30-10:30  (Math)
Wednesday October 2nd - 8:30-10:30  (Language)
Friday October 4th - 8:30-10:30  (Reading)
Please do all you can to assure that your child is in school during these dates and times.
Your child will perform most effectively during testing if he or she is fully rested, has had a nutritious breakfast, and brings a healthy snack for the morning.

Our School Counselor, Mrs. Katie Tatum is new to Poly Drive this year. It is her desire to be in the classrooms regularly for lessons related to friendship, character traits, bullying, etc. She is scheduled in our classroom every other week on Wednesday afternoons, beginning this week. Each visit will last about 30 minutes and I am looking forward to sharing this amazing group of kids with her.

5th Graders - In math, we are working with decimals and will use food labels that indicate either weight or volume as a decimal for a classroom activity. Be on the lookout for labels to bring to school on Wednesday.

Spelling ~ Both grades will work in Unit 2 this week.
The 5th grade focus is long a and long e words.
The 6th Grade focus is long vowels. 
We will take pretests on Monday, work with our word lists throughout the week, and take a final test on Friday.
Language ~
The 5th Grade lessons this week will concentrate on collective nouns, possessive nouns, appositives, and present tense verbs.
6th Graders will work with possessive adjectives and pronouns, pronouns that agree with antecedents, indefinite pronouns, and intensive pronouns.
Reading ~ We will continue reading Bridge to Terabithia and meet in Reading Clubs to discuss comprehension strategies, author's intent, and literary elements. We will read chapters 4-8, one per day.
The students will also work with their Daybook resource independently in class.
Math ~
5th Grade will study place value patterns, comparing and ordering decimals, and converting decimals to fractions. Bring food labels on Wednesday.
6th Grade will practice dividing by decimals and fluently computing with decimals. We will study and review on Tuesday and the students will take a quick quiz on Wednesday. Beginning on Thursday, we will move to divisibility rules and prime & composite numbers.
Social Studies
5th Grade - The kids will be working with geographic terms, such as compass rose & intermediate and cardinal directions.
6th Grade - We will review chapter 1 together on Monday and take a short quiz. We will begin chapter 2, dealing with Hominids and their timelines. We will read together from the text and students will complete a timeline activity with a partner.
Science
5th Grade - The kids are focusing on science professions and researching a scientist of their choice in groups.
6th Grade - We will perform hands-on activities this week as we explore what makes up matter and density.
Buddies ~ Weather permitting . . we will go outside with our buddies on Tuesday and use sidewalk chalk to help them practice writing names, letters, and numbers. We will also enjoy a quick snack of graham crackers.

I hope you have a fantastic week!!!