Gray's Kiddos
The Happenings of Room H-22
Tuesday, January 9th
Calendar
Please check the calendar on the website too!
January
1.15 No School - MLK Jr. Day
1.17 5th grade - First Settlements Quiz
1.19 Early Release Day - Dismiss at 1:30
1.23 MANDATORY 4th GRADE Parent meeting for HWY 49 Trip 6:30 in school gym
February
2.2 Early Release Day - Dismiss at 1:30
2.16 No School
2.19 No School
2.23 Early Release Day - Dismiss at 1:30
March
3.2 End of 2nd Trimester
3.9 Early Release Day - Dismiss at 1:30
3.26-3.30 - Spring Break
April
4.2 No School - Staff Development
4.11 4th grade Sutter's Fort Field Trip
4.13 Money due for HWY 49 trip
4.13 Early Release Day - Dismiss at 1:30
4.27 Early Release Day - Dismiss at 1:30
May
5.3-5.4 Hwy 49 Overnight Trip
5.28 No School
June
6.4-6.5 5th grade Overnight River Trip
6.8 Last Day of School
ODDS and ENDS
I hope you all had a wonderful break! The flu hit my family just after Christmas. While having the flu was no fun, it was nice having the extra time to rest up. Thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts. I am truly blessed!
Rotations: Starting this week the 4th graders will only rotate to Social Studies and Science. I will be keeping all of my kids and doing writing together. I am super excited about having more time with my 4th graders.
Spelling: As we jump back into journeys this week, we are also jumping back into spelling. It is going to look different though. Kids will have 10 words from the week's reading lesson to study as well as four dictation sentences. The goal is for the spelling to transfer into their writing more. Right now I have a lot of kids who still do not capitalize or use punctuation when doing written work. On Tuesdays, kids will bring home their pretest (10 words and the dictation sentences) to work on throughout the week. I will also be sending home a half sheet of the words and sentences home with them. If time allows in our morning, I will correct the pretest. If time doesn't then the kids will need to correct their own pretest. The test will be on Friday.
HWY 49 Trip - 4th GRADE - Your kiddo brought home a letter today about our HWY 49 trip. Please let me know if you didn't get one.
5th Grade overnight trip - Please continue to send in your payments for the river trip.
EPIC - This week I signed your student up for a free epic account. Epic is an amazing source of for kids to read and even listen too! Kids can log in from home as well. Here is the link and class code. They know their pin number. https://www.getepic.com/sign-in-student . Class Code EGV-4373
Wish List Items:
*Binder Paper
*Pencils
*15 Inexpensive over-the-ear headphones - We are using the chrome books
everyday for math. And the sound is distracting to the other grade level. Similar to the picture below.
Assignments- Just a reminder that students can redo any work that comes home on Friday in their Friday Folders. Completed work must be turned in on Monday. I will then regrade and average the two scores.
Grades- Be sure to be checking powerschool for your students grades. if you do not now how to access please let me know.
Math Help - Please be sure to check the following places for math help if needed. Here are a couple resources that can help with math homework! Both are outstanding.
https://www.youtube.com/user/dhabecker - videos of the problem set and some of the homework.
Oakdale Unified School District Web Page. Select Grade and then Lesson Module and Lesson Number. This is a video that will show how to complete a few problems on each of the homework pages. This page also has parent letters that are helpful. I will be having the kids put then in their binders!
FYI - both of these sites call Eureka Math -- Engage New York. They are the same program just with a different name!
Zearn.org - Zearn is another site that can be beneficial to your student. Zearn goes along with each lesson in Eureka math. There is a guided practice that helps to solidify the different skills. This would be especially beneficial if your child was absent from school! Each student in my room has a zearn account. Their log in is taped in their planner. 5th graders have used zearn more in class than the 4th graders.
BLOOMZ - if you haven't signed up yet! Please do! Log in information is directly below this box. I will be posting our planner daily on here.
Curriculum Update
READING
4th Grade
We have finished reading By the Great Horn Spoon and are jumping back into journeys. This week the kids are focusing on text and graphic features reading the informational text "Hurricanes."
5th Grade
5th graders are jumping into journeys after reading Blood on the River. We are reading an excerpt from Dangerous Crossing It is about John Adams traveling to France to ask for their support during the Revolutionary War. Kids will be focusing on cause and effect.
See note above about change to spelling tests. We will also be taking 7 days to complete a journeys lesson, so spelling tests will be every other week.
WRITING:
Both 4th & 5th Grades
We are making a grammar flip book. We will spend part of this week focusing on parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.). Then we will be learning about persuasive writing.
MATH
4th Grade
They are wrapping up division and will be starting double digit multiplication tomorrow. Please take some time to work with your kiddo on this. It can be tough. Also, please continue to practice those math facts nightly!
5th Grade
5th graders took a fraction pre-assessment yesterday. There are some big holes in knowledge of this concept. So we are breaking into two groups. One group will be working on firming up their knowledgeable fractions. We will be using a variety of sources to accomplish this. I will not have a homework helper for these pages. The other groups of 5th graders will continue on with module 3 in Eureka math. They will also get supplemental pages as needed to support their understanding of fractions. I will get the homework helper out for this by Monday.
SCIENCE
4th Grade
Students are learning about biomes and other ecosystems.
5th Grade
We are continuing to person sbout the digestive system. Kids are learning that digestion actually starts in our mouth with both chemical digestion (saliva) and mechanical digestion (chewing). We also have discussed peristalsis - which is the involuntary constriction and relaxation of the muscles in the intestine that moves the food through the digestive track.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
4th Grade
This week they are beginning their study on explorers. This week kids will be learning about Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus. Ask your child to retell you the stories of these famous explorers.
5th Grade
We are wrapping up our studies of the first settlements in the New World (St. Augustine; Quebec, Roanoake, and Jamestown). Next Wednesday kids will have a quiz on this. Study guide will be coming home Thursday.
PTC INFORMATION
- PTC Meeting First Friday Of Each Month....8:10am-9:10am....B2
- Follow us on Facebook and stay up to date! https://m.facebook.com/uhsptc/
Gray's Kiddos
Email: mgray@uhsd.k12.ca.us
Website: www.grayskiddos.com
Location: 11638 Colfax Hwy, Grass Valley, CA 95945, United States
Phone: 530-273-0647