The Putney Post
West Homer Elementary--5th Grade
Dates to Remember
April 12- Spring Picture Day (optional)
April 12- Islands and Oceans Field Trip "Landscapes Over Time" 12:00-3:00
April 19- Vacation Day, No School
April 22- Spring Music Concert
April 25- Pratt Museum Field Trip
May 1, 2, 3- Fifth Grade Mystery Field Trip
Classroom Happenings
Last week was a week filled with testing! The fifth graders of room 317 did a fabulous job staying focused, working hard, and maintaining a positive attitude during their reading, writing and math state tests. A huge thank you to the parents who provided snacks during our brain breaks. I can guarantee it made a difference in students' testing experience!
Although testing took up a majority of our week, we also finished two units. In reading, students finished reading Fever and wrote an I AM poem about the main character, Mattie. We also brought our decimal unit to a close. Students consolidated their understanding of multiplying and dividing decimals by creating a rule sheet, explaining the mathematical process in a step-by-step way.
What's Next?
I am excited for the upcoming learning opportunities in our classroom! Next week we will be starting our poetry unit. We will be reading and writing poetry. During reading, students will be reading a self-selected poetry book with their partner. Each day students will be asked to respond to their reading by identifying literary devices within their reading. During writing, students will be creating a poetry portfolio filled with poetry they have written, as well as poetry published by other authors.
In math we will begin our study of multiplying and dividing fractions! I am just waiting to hear students say, “But Mrs. Putney, I thought we were done with fractions!” It is a running joke in our classroom that fractions and decimals never end. Fractions and decimals are the core of fifth grade math and we will continue on the adventure of deepening our understanding of these concepts. We will begin by exploring how to take a fraction of a fraction. Students have been introduced to the process of how to multiply fractions, but now we will take the learning a step further to see why we don't need common denominators when multiplying fractions. It is going to be awesome, I promise.
Islands and Oceans Field Trip---THIS FRIDAY---April 12, 2013
This Friday we will be walking to Islands and Oceans for a science focused field trip. Students will be engaging in a discovery lab where they will be exploring the changes in earth's movement and changes in landscape over time. A signed permission slip must be returned to school in order for your child to participate in the off-campus learning experience. These permission slips will come home with your child tomorrow (Monday). Although the weather has been beautiful these past few days, please send your child to school with a warm coat, hat, gloves on Friday. If the sun is shining we can leave the hat at school, but a cold walk is never any fun. Also, if you are interested in chaperoning please give me a call!
Spring Pictures- April 12th
Spring pictures will be the morning Friday, April 12th (before our field trip). Extra order forms are available at the front office. If you need another order form or have questions about picture day please contact our school secretary, Jean Calhoun.
NOTE: Pictures must be paid for in advance. Only students who have brought their picture packets to school will have their pictures taken.
Overnight Field Trip: May 1, 2, 3
The theme of our field trip this year will be observation and discovery. Students will be challenged to become keen observers who take the time to notice the natural world around them. The hands-on learning portion of the trip has been divided into four natural history units: animal tracking, birds, plants and outdoor survival. Intertwined within the natural history units will be ropes course activities that encourage teamwork and leadership skills.
Students will be coming home with a field trip permission slip soon. Since we have to put the location of the trip on the permission slip, we will send them home in envelopes and we ask that students to not look at the permission slip. The total cost per child for the trip will be $120. Our fundraising will cover $70 per child. Each child will need to bring in $50. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship, or would be willing to provide a scholarship for another student, please let me know.
MEDICATION NOTE: The nurse needs all medication paperwork complete ASAP for our overnight field trip. If your child has a medication he/she will need to take while we are on our trip please email (or call) me and I will send the paperwork your way! I cannot take medication the morning of the trip. It is essential that the proper paperwork is complete. Thank you so much!
Stomach Bug
We are running low on Clorox wipes. Donations would be greatly appreicated!
A Note from the Librarian
The Scholastic Book Fair was a great success. Thank you for all your help and support. The students, parents, staff, and others from the community were so generous with each other. Throughout this book fair week, hundreds of books have been added to the library, the classroom, and to the student home collections!
We are a community that supports literature!
Hooray!!
Lisa Whip
Cheryl Illg
West Homer Library
IXL Math Practice
Spelling and Vocabulary Practice
http://www.spellingcity.com/eputney/
Play games and get extra practice with our weekly spelling and vocabulary words on SpellingCity.com. If you need your child's password please let me know!