September 9th ~ 13th

Wow . . what a wet weekend! I hope your homes and yards are in tact. We sustained some landscaping damage at our home (one tree down, sidewalk washed out, fence sections blown out, and 12 inches of hail and mud in our yard), but thanks to some wonderful neighbors and lots of hours holding a shovel, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't really the way I wanted to spend my Sunday, but life is an adventure!

We are beginning some rotations this week so that all students are learning, practicing, and reinforcing concepts while I am working with various groups. We will rotate during our Language Arts time and during Math.

Open House is this Thursday from 5:30 to 7:00 and our P.T.A. is hosting an ice cream social for the event. The annual Open House Book Fair will be set up in the library and your child was able to preview books that he or she may be interested in reading. Don't forget to stop by to see all of the wonderful reading material . . and help raise money for our Poly Drive library. I will give a short presentation at 5:30 and another at 6:00. I hope you join us for a bit of information about our year, a tour of the room, the book fair, and some ice cream.

Spelling: Both 5th and 6th graders will begin Unit 1 in their books this week (short vowels for both groups). We will take a pretest on Monday, work with the words throughout the week via assignments, and take a final test on Friday.
Language: We are working with a new Latin root word each week and the kids will complete a worksheet and then create a word poster using at least one prefix, root word, and suffix.
Each grade level will also work with a Language Daily Warm Up to reinforce Language skills and concepts.
Reading: I will be designing a variety of lessons and activities focused on the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts. This will include Language, Writing, and Reading. As a class, we will be reading Bridge to Terabithia as we focus on literary elements and comprehension strategies. For the Fifth graders, I will infuse Lead21 concepts, standards, and materials throughout the year. The Sixth graders will also use our Daybook resource for additional non-fiction selections.
Math:
5th Grade ~ We will be working with place value as it relates to whole numbers and decimals.
6th Grade ~ We are focusing on multiplication and division of decimals.
Science:
6th Grade ~ We will continue delving into chemistry as we perform hands-on activities to learn about density and what makes up matter.
Social Studies:
6th Grade ~We are continuing our study of early man and the artifacts that archaeologists have found that shed some light on what life might have been like. We will investigate in small groups.
Buddies ~ Mrs. Bell's kindergarten class is our buddy room and we will meet with the little ones on Tuesday each week.

That gives you a brief overview of our week of learning. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. Have a fantastic week!!