Movember!

Happy Movember day!  Everyone looks amazing in their mustaches.  Thank you all for donating to this great cause!

We had a busy week back from break!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.  We only have 14 school days left until Christmas break, and they are going to be jammed packed!

This week we started our unit on volume.  They built the cutest cities with 3-d buildings to show they understood the formula for volume.  We will continue work on volume until the break.  In writing, we started our big project of the nine weeks.  To incorporate persuasive and informational writing, they will be writing letters to colleges.  They get to choose two colleges.  One must be a large university, and one must be a small college.  In the letters, they will tell the admissions officer all about themselves, why they want to attend their college, and ask questions about life on their campus.  They will then ask the school to send them some sort of souvenir.  I will send these letters off the day before break.  Throughout the rest of the year, we will hear back from the schools.  It is my favorite project of the year.  The girls have already selected their schools and gotten their addresses.  We have also learned the proper way to format a letter and how to write addresses.  They are now working on the bodies of the letters.  In spelling we studied sort 14.  We will move onto sort 15 next week.  In social studies, we are studying immigration, the great depression, and World War 1.  This unit will go until break.

The December trivia game was supposed to be next Thursday.  However, we know everyone is really busy with holiday stuff coming up, so we are postponing until January.  We will have two games in January though.  At one of them, we will have the second parent meeting with all the final information you will need for the trip.  Keep a look out for more information about it soon!

Next week is benchmark testing.  That is the county assessment that the kids take half way through the quarter to see what skills we need to work on.  It is not a grade, but it is important that your daughter is here on time everyday, and that she tries her best.  The test next week is integrated language arts, science, and social studies.  The next week is math.

We have a field trip to the symphony at the Cobb Energy Center next Tuesday.  The trip is free, and the permission slips are due Monday.  If they do not turn the permission slip in Monday, they will not be able to attend.

Talent show auditions are next week.  5th grade goes Wednesday.  Please make sure to pick your daughter up by 3:45 if she is participating and is a car rider.

Don't forget to be on the lookout for fun socks and treats for our holiday party.  You can start bringing them in the week of December 17.

There were no birthdays this week.

Our dear friend Rebeca moved this week.  We will definitely miss her!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello all!  I'm going to combine last week and this week into one blog.  We have a lot to cover!!  First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for making my birthday so special.  Just being able to teach your girls is gift enough, but I really appreciate all the lovely gifts and cards.  Turning 29 never felt so nice!

Remember, there is NO SCHOOL all next week in observance of Thanksgiving.  I hope each of you has a very happy Thanksgiving.  If you are traveling, please be safe.  I will be in Chicago from Tuesday to Saturday, but you know you can always reach me via text or email if something should arise during the week.  I am sending home a packet of things for the girls to work on.  There is a writing piece on how to set a Thanksgiving day table, a Mayflower math problem sheet, and some work out of their grammar book.  It is not mandatory as I know that this is a busy week, but if you daughter does the work, I will replace their lowest quiz grade with 100s in social studies and math.  They will also receive extra credit in language arts. 

When we get back from break, we will have 4 weeks left until winter break.  We will be having a party the week before.  I know that is a while off, but I wanted to get this out there so you can start thinking about it.  One, I will need refreshments brought in.  I told the girls if they wanted to make the food from their recipes for the class recipe book, they could.  We will also need paper goods, drinks, and other snacks.  Please send me an email letting me know what you can bring.  We have 22 girls in our room.  Second, we will be doing a white elephant exchange.  I am asking each girl to bring in a pair of NEW socks.  They can be holiday socks, or fun crazy socks.  With the socks, she also needs to bring her favorite snack or drink.  It can be a king sized candy bar, a big bag of chips, or a soda.  Please wrap them together, but do not label anything on them at all.  We will put all the gifts in the middle of a circle.  We will draw numbers and open presents in order.  In white elephant, if you want to use your turn to "steal" a gift you can.  The person who gets stolen from get to open another or steal from someone else.  We do this until everyone has a gift.  It is a lot of fun!

This week we worked on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.  After the break we will start our volume unit.  In science, we are wrapping up our unit on matter and physical/chemical changes.  After the break we will begin our unit on The Jazz Age, The Great Depression, and World War I for social studies.  We have been having a lot of fun in writing with informational writing and our recipes.  We will continue work on that after the break.  I am hoping to have Where the Red Ferns Grows finished by the week after Thanksgiving as well.

Talent show auditions are coming up.  A permission slip will be sent home Friday.  Have your daughter think about her act over the break.  The slips are due to me or Mrs. Wood by Friday, November 30.  Please make sure it is school appropriate and your daughter must provide music for her act or she will not be able to audition. 

There are no birthdays this week, but our Chadea will celebrate a birthday over the break!  Happy birthday sweet girl!  I am so proud I have been able to be your teacher for a second time!!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am so thankful for each and every one of you!

Rollercoaster of Emotions

This week we were so happy to welcome Ayrika to our room!!  She fits right in with our class and we love having her.  On the flip side, we were saddened to lose our Jessie to another school.  We will certainly miss her!!!

I wanted to give a huge shout out to all the parents who were able to make it to our first quarter brag day on Wednesday.  It was so wonderful to see you supporting your daughters.  I am so proud of each and everyone of them. 

Like mentioned at brag day, our trivia night got moved to next Thursday, the 8th, at 6pm.  I hope to see you all there.  Also, the deadline to pay only $75 for Jekyll Island has now passed.  From now until the trip, it will cost $100.  Remember, you can pay by cash, check, or credit card on our foundation website.

This week in math we reviewed adding and subtracting decimals.  Next week, we will being our unit on volume.  In language arts, we will continue our work with poetry and start focusing on informational writing.  This week in science we learned about the stages of matter and physical and chemical changes.  Next week, we are going to apply what we know in some fun experiments.   In spelling, we are moving on to sort 12. 

Just a reminder, this weekend is day light savings time.  Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour Saturday night, and enjoy that extra hour of sleep.

Next Monday, the 5th, is picture retake day.  Your daughter does not have to wear her uniform if she is getting a picture taken.  If she isn't, she must be in uniform. 

Finally, there is no school for students Tuesday, the 6th, for election day.  Please exercise your right to vote that day. 

We had no birthdays in our class this week.

The following girls went home on partly cloudy or sunny everyday in the month of October, got their agenda signed everyday, and wrote their homework and behavior in their agenda everyday.  Congratulations to Leitisha, Shara, Aniya, Yemi, Debora, Elizabeth, and Rebeca!!  You will get a pizza party on Monday!! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

BIg Thanks

I wanted to start this week's blog post with a HUGE thank you to everyone for attending conferences this week!  I loved meeting with each and everyone of you.  Open communication between teacher and parents is so important in ensuring a successful year for your daughter.  Thank you again for all meeting with me!

This week our schedule was so crazy!  We had to squeeze a whole day's worth of learning into two hours.  In math, we wrapped up the loose ends of the first quarters standards.  We talked about number patterns, and how to plot them on a coordinate plane.  We also talked about multiplying and dividing by powers of ten.  Next week, we will be working on addition of decimals.  In language arts, we started our poetry study.  We analyzed the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.  The girls got to rewrite it to the family member of their choice, changing the metaphors in it to their own work.  Next week, they will create a hook to put in between each stanza and then set it to music.  In writing next week, we will begin looking at informative writing.  We are moving on from social studies since we have finished our unit on the Civil War and Reconstruction.  We will shift our focus back to science and learn about matter and physical/chemical changes. 

Remember tonight is the PTA Halloween dance.  You child can come dressed in their Halloween costume. If you are a PTA member, the dance is free.  If not, it costs $6 to attend. 

Our next Jekyll Island trivia night is next Thursday at 6.  Once again, it is free.  We will be selling pizza, snacks, and drinks again.  Remember, if you were on a winning team, you have house cash to spend.  We are really looking forward to another great turnout.

Finally, the deadline for the Jekyll Island payment of only $75 is next Wednesday, October 31st.  If you do not pay in full by then, the price goes up to $100.

We welcomed a new Sunset Sweetheart this week.  Welcome to our class Ashley!!  We are so happy to have you!!!

There were no birthdays this week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

It's Been Too Long!!!

Hey everyone.  I have missed my weekly updates.  The past two weeks have been so hectic.  My experience at the Ron Clark Academy was something I will treasure for the rest of my teaching career.  I learned so many valuable things there, and cannot wait to start using them in our room.  My fiance's surgery went well this past week.  Thank you so much for all the kind words and thoughts.  I am hoping I won't have to miss any school for a while.  I have to say though, I was very happy with note I got from the sub.  I think they are finally getting it. 

Over the last two weeks, we have spent a lot of time working on our division strategies.  We finally have learned all of them.  Hopefully these strategies will help the girls better understand long division.  We had benchmark testing last week and this week.  Because of this, we will not be starting anything new.  We will just review everything we have learned so far.  In reading, we decided not to read Ruby Holler instead we read Titanic Sinks.  We are starting Where the Red Fern Grows next.  Your daughters have been working really hard on their Underground Railroad narrative writing pieces.  Their final drafts are due next Monday.  They can be written or typed.  In social studies, we are finishing the Civil War are moving on to the reconstruction of the United States.  Since I know your girls love facebook so much, they are creating a facebook profiles of an important person in the Civil War.  It's a really cool page.  You can check it out.  It's www.classtools.net/fb/home/page.  We will be doing these throughout the year during different units.

Thank you so much for helping me schedule conference week.  Just a reminder, conference week is next week, October 22-26.  It will be early release all week.  You daughters will be dismissed at 12:15.  If their transportation home is going to change, please let me know ASAP.  I am so excited to meet with all of you next week!!

We have not had any birthdays in our room.

Have a wonderful week!

Another month down!

Happy Friday!!  I cannot believe September is over.  It has flown by.  We are already finished with our 6th week of school.  Today, I checked agendas for the month of September.  If you daughter filled out her homework, behavior, had it signed nightly, and was on either partly cloudy or sunny everyday of the month, they get a special celebration Monday.  The following people will get to participate Monday: Marla, Leitisha, Elizabeth, TaKevia, Rebeca, Estefany, and Shara!  Congrats ladies!!  I'm so proud of you.  Poor Shara wasn't in our picture because she went home sick.  :(

This week has been a very productive one at the beach.  In math, we reviewed multiplication of two digits by two digits.  We then learned multiplying three by three.  We then started our new division strategies.  There are four we are going to learn.  We did the first two, repeated subtraction and multiplying up.  Ask your daughter to explain those two ways to you this weekend.  They will learn partial quotient and proportional division next week.  In writing, we learned how to create graphic organizers for narrative writing.  We learned about the must need characters, setting, a problem, actions, and a solution or conclusion.  We used this to create graphic organizers for our Underground Railroad pieces.  We will start with our rough drafts for those pieces next week.  In reading, we finished our shared reading of Because of Winn Dixie.  We are going to watch the film version during lunch next week.  We will be starting the novel, Ruby Holler next week.  In social studies, we finished studying the causes of the Civil War.  We will begin studying the war itself next week by looking at major battles.  Finally, we will be studying Sort 7 in spelling. 

Just a reminder, next Wednesday is our field trip to the Cobb County Supreme Court.  Dr. Richie wants next Wednesday to be the official start of the dress up Wednesdays.  Please try to get a white button shirt over the weekend.  Remember, ties are for sale in the uniform store for $5.  Your daughter may also wear a blue blazer on Wednesday as well.  Our hope is that everyone in the 5th grade can go to the court house in our dress wear. 

Next Thursday is our first trivia night to help raise money for the Jekyll Island trip.  A flier is being sent home today with all the information about it.  I hope you can all make it.  It will be a fun way to reinforce skills we have learned, raise money, and spend some time together in a social atmosphere. It is free to play.  Please ask your daughter to see the flier today.

We had no birthdays this week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Progress Report Day

Today I am sending home the first progress report of the year.  I am very pleased with the work your daughter's have done this year, and their reports show that.  Please review them with your daughter over the weekend, and sign the parent signature section.  You can keep the report, just cut off the signature part.  If there are any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me a note on it and I will be glad to address them.  I hope you are as proud of your daughters as I am!!

This week was a crazy week.  I unfortunately missed a day and a half due to bronchitis.  Monday, the sub left a very nice note.  I came for the morning Tuesday, and left at lunch.  That day must have been an off day because the sub came to me personally Wednesday to discuss it.  We had a big class meeting, and I think we are all on the same page now about behavior expectations.  This class is so sweet and funny, but we need to remember when it is school time and when it is fun time.  Also, please reiterate the fact that all adults that are in our building deserve respect.  Hopefully there won't be a repeat of Tuesday afternoon.

This week in math we were going to move onto multiplication and division.  After doing some informal observations, I realized we still needed some work on expressions and equations.  We will start our multiplication and division unit next week.  In guided reading, we started reading a book called Get on Board: The Story of the Underground Railroad.  I am hoping this book, and what we discuss in our social studies discussions will help the girls with their narrative about the Underground Railroad.  In social studies we started discussing slavery and its effects on our country.  Next week we will look at some of the other factors that led to the civil war.  Finally, next week we will study Sort 6 in spelling.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended our Jekyll Island meeting.  We are going to try to have one more before the trip to ensure everyone has a chance to come and ask questions about the trip.  Remember, the price of the trip goes from $75 to $100 on November 1st, so make sure to pay in full beforehand.  You can pay with cash, check, or on the Brumby website with credit or debit.

Thank you to everyone who turned in the their permission slips and money for the Supreme Court field trip on October 3rd.  If you paid before I sent out the email the other day informing you of the the pricing change, I need to know if you want a refund of the extra $5, or if you would like that money put towards your daughter's Jekyll fund.  Please email to let me know.  Our very own TaKevia was selected to be the defendant in the mock trial.  I am so happy for her.  I know she will do a great job.  I will post pictures after the field trip. 

We had no birthdays this week.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!