What’s Happening The Week of- October 15th

Miscellaneous:
Hopefully the students have been selling items for the camp fundraiser.  The forms and money are due on Monday, October 15th. This is a reminder to please send in only one check for your whole order made out to Georgetown Elementary. We will continue the MEAP this week. On Tuesday we will take the math portion and on Wednesday the science portion of this test. Since the students have worked so hard on this assessment we will have a pizza party for lunch on Friday to celebrate their hard work! Look for a note to come home on Monday about this party. Lastly, if you have not completed the parent conference survey please take time to visit the following link  Parent/Teacher Conference Survey.  Thank you!

Math:
Unit 1 has come to a close and we will be moving on to a very brief Unit 2 about Area and Perimeter.  In this second unit we will review how to calculate area and perimeter of various figures and teach students how to select appropriate metric units for measuring a particular object.  Students will likely have homework on area and perimeter and will take a quiz over these two lessons by the end of the week.  Look for Unit 1 test to come home next week.  Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication and division facts because this will make life in math much easier as they continue to move through the year.

Writing:
Our memoir unit is coming to an end this week.  We hope to start editing and revising our rough drafts early in the week with the goal of publishing by Friday.  We have spent the last week conferencing with students, working on details, leads, and dialogue, and pushing them to create reflective pieces.  We are excited to see the growth in the students as a writer as each day goes on; can’t wait to share with you at conferences.

Reading:
Independent Daily Reading and reading conferencing is being done intermittently throughout our week. The majority of our Reading block is being spent administering the M.E.A.P.

Social Studies:
Currently each classroom teacher is reviewing the material learned in fourth grade about our government. Next week our focus in 5th grade will be studying the United States Constitution, and the principles that established it.  Focusing on the Separation of Powers and Federalism will be our goal in our lessons.  Also, look for your child to be taking a vocabulary quiz next week on this unit. Each teacher’s classroom blog has an interactive website that the kids can review the terms that will be assessed.

Yeah For My Outstanding 5th Graders!

 

Today my outstanding 5th graders had such wonderful on task behavior in both my classroom and music class that they earned their way up our behavior chart 4 levels to above OUTSTANDING! Mrs. Reagan was so impressed she came down to share in our news. We were informed that we are the first 5th grade class to celebrate reaching the outstanding mark. So, we earned an extra recess from  Mrs. Reagan! We will celebrate this in the next couple of days! Way to go Mrs. Walenta’s wonderful crew! 🙂

Great Job Today!

We had our first MEAP testing today and the students did a fantastic job! Since they worked their brain so hard today I gave them the night off. They do not have a word study homework sheet this evening. However, they should still be reading nightly for the reading logs!

In addition, my math class will be having an assessment over Unit 1 on Friday. Tomorrow they will be bringing home a review sheet to help them study for this test! Have a great night! 🙂

Social Studies Vocabulary Practice

We have just begun Unit 1 in Social Studies.  This unit on Government is mostly review from last year but there are many vocabulary words that students will need to practice and/or learn that go along with this unit.   I have  found a great website that allows students to access the vocabulary words from home.  This site allows students to print flashcards, take a practice quiz, as well as play a matching game so they can learn these words in whatever way is best for them. We will also use part of our computer time here at school to go to this site and practice.  The site can be found on the right side of my blog in a Social Studies box.  Click on the words Unit 1 Vocabulary Words and that will bring you to the website.  Please have your son/daughter look over these words as many times as possible.  The quicker they learn them the easier this unit will be.  Thanks!

What’s Coming Up-Week of October 8

 

Miscellaneous:
Hopefully the 5th graders have brought home their fundraiser packet and are selling products to help pay for 5th grade camp. Make sure to check the fundraiser blog posting to be aware of all the important information about this event. The MEAP will begin this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday the students will take Reading Part 1 and 2 of this test. Please keep in mind that it is important for your child to come to school on time, eat a healthy breakfast, and get plenty of sleep!:)

Math:
Students will be taking their second quiz soon and will have a test over Unit 1 (Multiplication and Division Word Problems) towards the end of the week.  There will be a review sheet coming home so your son/daughter can prepare for the assessment.  Continue to check the blogs for when homework is required from the math teacher your son/daughter has.

Writing:
We are in the home stretch of our memoir writing unit.   This week will  offer us a chance to really dig deep into our memoir and reflect on what we have learned.  Each student will be conferenced with and given “teaching points” or things to work on to better enrich their writing. This week we plan on finishing our rough draft  and working toward revising our masterpiece. Our goal is to begin publishing the following week.

Reading:
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”    ~ Dr. Seuss

This week our reading block will be mostly spent taking the reading portion of the  M.E.A.P. test.  When time allows, we will continue to provide independent reading time and be conferencing with students.

Fundraiser Is Here!

Keeping with a wonderful Hudsonville tradition, our fifth grade students are planning an overnight camping trip.  Georgetown and Bauer students will be attending camp together giving students the opportunity to meet new friends before going to middle school.  School camping is an experience of cooperative living that gives our children the opportunity to learn in an atmosphere unlike that of the classroom.  The camping program will include 3 days and 2 nights at Camp Pinewood in Muskegon on May 22-24. The cost of camp will be $100.00 per student.

What does this mean?  In order to completely pay for camp, each student needs to sell a minimum of $250.00 in product.

As we get closer to the delivery date, we will be looking for volunteers to help arrange and separate the orders to make it easier for parental pick up.  More news to come about that later.

Below are some key dates and information regarding this year’s camp fundraiser.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your teacher.

Thank you,

Mr. Bialochowski

Mrs. Burdis

Mrs. Walenta

Mr. Gort

Important Dates

  1. Oct. 4 Kick off Fundraiser  (40% of your child’s sales goes directly to your child’s cost of camp)
  2. Oct. 15 Return all fundraiser orders (make one check payable to Georgetown Elementary for your child’s entire order.)
  1. Nov. 13 Pick-up fundraiser product (3:15-5:15)
  2. Feb. 28 Camp fee due

 

Camp Chaperones: Many chaperones are needed to make camp successful.  It is premature to make decisions regarding the amount of chaperones needed at this time.  One of the many components to determine the number of chaperones needed is based on the space used at Camp Pinewood. Being that information will not be available to us until after the holidays, more information on the responsibility and opportunity to volunteer as a camp chaperone will be provided by the end of January

The MEAP Is Coming!

As we move into the month of October, all elementary students in grades 3-5 will be participating in the annual MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program). MEAP is Michigan’s general assessment for students in grades 3 through 9. It is based on Michigan’s grade level content expectations in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. Students are assessed in the fall of each year on the prior year’s expectations.

Test dates and times are predetermined by the Michigan Department of Education. Assessments are administered in sections over a course of several days. Administration times vary from 20 – 80 minutes per section. 2012 test dates are as follows:

  • Oct. 9 & 10: Reading(grades 3 – 5)
  • Oct. 11: Writing Day 1 (grades 4)
  • Oct. 16: Mathematics (grades 3 – 5)
  • Oct. 17: Writing Day 2 (grades 4), Science (grades 5)

The MEAP results are used for many purposes, including informing instructional practice and tracking student performance. MEAP is also used for a number of high-stakes accountability measures, such as determining a building’s and district’s Adequate Yearly Progress, school rankings and designations (Reward, Focus or Priority), and educator evaluations.

As the uses of the test results expand, the importance of ensuring high-quality, fair, and
standardized test administration increases. Schools must administer tests within state and
federal guidelines. These guidelines sometime appear restrictive; however, these guidelines ensure equitability between all schools and all students.

For example, resources, such as writing posters, maps, multiplication tables, and other content information on the wall, that might provide students with clues to answers of test questions must be removed from classrooms. If students can view these resources during testing, they will have an advantage over students who cannot use these resources.

In addition, we have found that students do their best when additional distractions are removed from the testing environment such as snacks, books, and art supplies. Students who finish early are encouraged to go back and recheck their answers and then wait quietly while their classmates complete the assessment.

We are asking that you partner with us to ensure that your child be prepared for the MEAP test in these ways:

  • Attend school on all testing dates,
  • Before each test, get a good night’s sleep
  • On test days AND ALL DAYS eat a healthy breakfast
  • Understand  the importance of doing his/her personal best!

What’s Coming Up-Week of October 1


Miscellaneous:
This coming week the librarian at Georgetown will be kicking off two wonderful reading incentive opportunities. The students have the opportunity to earn a free pizza from Pizza Hut by reading for 150 minutes a week. Then they may return the Book It calendar at the end of each month. In addition, the students may begin taking reading counts tests on Monday. Read..read…read….take reading count tests and the students will earn incentives from the library. Lastly, the fundraiser for camp will begin this week. The information about this will be sent home with the students near the end of the week. This is a great opportunity for students to be able to drive down the cost of 5th grade camp! 🙂

Math:
Students have taken their first quiz in math this week.  Next week make sure to ask your son/daughter how the quiz went.  This coming week students will be learning about functions, solving equations with parentheses, and working on combination and comparison story problems.  Please continue to check the blog to find out when your son/daughter will have homework next week.

Writing:
This week ahead will be a big week for nurturing our seed idea.  We will be spending ample time adding details and being reflective in our memoirs.  This reflection helps the student realize something about their seed story in a more in-depth way.  This is what we are looking for in this memoir unit.  We look forward to helping the students grow as writers.

Reading:
This week we will be a week of culminating activities from the previous two weeks.  We will continue to practice focusing on the importance of text in both nonfiction and fiction texts.  Focusing on tricky words in questions, and how BEST to respond to our reading will be a continuing emphasis.  Finally, integrating these skills in the reading of both Math and Science will continue to be a focus, along with written responses to reading short texts. During our individualized daily reading (IDR) in our classrooms we will be conferencing with the students to know them better as readers.  Remember to provide a quiet reading environment for the kids to do their daily homework reading.

Keep On Reading!

Make sure you are reading 150 minutes per week. Then make sure you are handing in your reading log by Tuesday morning the following week to get your $2 in smile bucks! 🙂 I only received 6 logs this morning from last week! Hopefully, the other 17 will be turned in tomorrow! Happy reading! 🙂

1 58 59 60 61 62