Week of 11/30/09 - 12/4/09

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday. I look forward to meeting with my homeroom parents the week of November 30. If you have a problem keeping your conference, please let me know as soon as possible. I only have 15 minutes per conference and I want to be able to meet with everyone on a timely basis. Lastly, if you happen to be shopping during this busy holiday weekend, please consider buying a little something for our adopted family. Thank you!

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 12 – the suffix -ous. Test Thursday!

Reading: We will begin our next reading skill, self-questioning, this week. We have some weather related stories on the horizon, namely, Hurricanes, and Eye of the Storm.

Language Arts: We've been working on extended response writing and will work on our narrative skills by beginning our “About Me Front Page.” This is a project the fifth grade has always done in the spring, but this year, we are starting it early and doing it a little at a time.

Social Studies: Chapter 7 is our next chapter, “The Fight for a Continent.” We will mostly focus on Lesson 1 this week, “The Spanish Move North.” The colonists are now dealing with Spain along with Great Britain.

Science: This week we will study symbiosis and prediator/prey relationships. At the end of the week, The Great Fuzz Frenzy will be read and discussed and a project will be assigned to the students regarding adaptation.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:
We continue with our adding and subtracting of decimals this week. Thursday we will review with stations around the classroom. I am looking at a test date of 12/8. Keep in mind that this chapter consists of only 5 lessons.

Important Notes:
11/25 – 11/27 Thanksgiving holiday
12/1 -- Report Cards
11/30 to 12/2 – Conferences
12/4 -- P/T Conferences -- No School

Have a great holiday weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/23/09 - 11/27/09

Next week will be short and sweet with a wonderful holiday at the end! Just a reminder that yearbook orders are due on or before 12/1. Tivoli permission slips and money are due on or before 12/3. Lastly, please check your child's binder about our adopted family for Christmas. There are two informative letters that describe the situation and what types of gifts we are looking for. Keep in mind that the gifts can be brought in any time between now and 12/8.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Short week – no spelling words!

Reading: We finish inferencing this week with an extended response on A Boy Called Slow. I will be introducing the new book report format for our Dig into a Good Book program.

Language Arts: We took our Nouns test today and will not start the next chapter for a week or two. Instead we will focus on writing.

Social Studies: Our test is Tuesday on Chapter 6. Please remember to sign the “How to Study” sheet after your child has studied for this test. This will be the last "How to Study" we do in the fifth grade. I typically only use these for 1st trimester.

Science: We continue to monitor our lima beans and observe their progress. We will begin Lesson 2 of Chapter 6 after the holiday.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:
We will get through Lesson 2 this week which involves adding and subtracting decimals. Tuesday we will have some fun with Thanksgiving math worksheets.

Important Notes:
11/25 – 11/27 Thanksgiving holiday
12/1 -- Report Cards
11/30 to 12/2 – Conferences
12/4 -- P/T Conferences -- No School

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/16/09 - 11/20/09

What a crazy week it was with Veteran's Day off; I felt like we had two short weeks! Please get your conference confirmations in as soon as possible. I will be meeting with my homeroom parents in just a couple of weeks; I look forward to it!

Here is some important information regarding yearbooks:

YEARBOOK: Now’s the time to place your orders. Yearbooks are $10.00 and the deadline for your orders is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. No orders will be accepted after that date. Please make checks payable to Lifetouch. Please make sure your student’s name, teacher’s name and grade level are marked on the order form. If you have multiple students, please fill out one for each child. Yearbook order forms went home with your child on November 12th. If your child loses it, you can send an envelope with the following information on it: student’s name, teacher’s name and grade level along with a check made payable to Lifetouch for $10.00. It is very important that you put the information on the envelope; Lifetouch does not know who your child’s teacher is.

Just another reminder that our picture retake day is Thursday, November 19th. Mark your calendars if you are unhappy with your child's picture or if your child was not here the day they were taken.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Thanksgiving words – no pretest. Test Friday.

Reading: We continue inferencing this week and will read the story Chief Joseph to help us perfect this skill. Our reading incentive program, Dig into a Good Book, ends this week for the first trimester! Many students still owe me book reports, so I suggest they spend this weekend reading!! There will be new activities introduced for Trimester 2.

Language Arts: This is the week we finish up our nouns chapter with lots of reviewing. Look for a “How to Study” sheet which will be coming home mid-week. Our test for Chapter 2 will be on Friday.

Social Studies: Our circle books are due Monday and then we will begin Lesson 4 entitled “Slavery in the Colonies.” I plan to get the Chapter 6 test in before the Thanksgiving break on 11/24.

Science: Rather than plunge in to Chapter 6, I'd like to try an activity this week growing lima bean seeds without any soil. Our observation skills will be used as we watch the growth process.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:

We have finished our very short chapter on decimal place value and after reviewing both Monday and Tuesday, I have planned a test for Wednesday. We will then begin Chapter 6, adding and subtracting decimals.

Important Notes:
11/19 – Picture retakes
11/25 – 11/27 Thanksgiving holiday
12/1 -- Report Cards
11/30 to 12/2 – Conferences
12/4 -- P/T Conferences -- No School

Have a great weekend! Mrs. Klacza

Week of 11/9/09 - 11/13/09

Another full week has come and gone and we ended it with a trip to the Robert Crown Center for our “Michael and Linda” presentation. I happened to sit with the girls and they were wonderful! I heard the boys were equally fantastic!! I was so proud of our fifth graders. Your child will have a booklet in their backpacks explaining what they learned today. Please ask your child about it! We also had a very successful trade fair on Thursday, which goes along with our social studies curriculum. The children were very creative and the trading was fun to watch. I think it was the most successful trade fair I've had so far!

This Wednesday we celebrate Veteran's Day. My dad (now deceased) fought in World War II and I'll bet you all know a veteran or two; make sure you remember to thank him or her for serving our great country. Just a reminder that our picture retake day is Thursday, November 19th. Mark your calendars if you are unhappy with the picture or if your child was not here the day they were taken.

Coming up this week:

Spelling: Lesson 11, -ly words. Test Friday.

Reading: This week we will start a new reading skill, inferencing. We will begin with a story entitled A Boy Called Slow from our textbooks. A jigsaw activity will follow where groups of students will answer certain questions and then we will put all our notes together to complete the entire activity.

Language Arts: We are working on nouns this week and will particularly focus on finding nouns in text. We will also study singular possessive nouns. I have a tentative test date of 11/20.

Social Studies: We have already read Lesson 3 on working and playing in the colonies and will make circle books to help us remember the important stuff!

Science: We have finished our ecosystems unit and will have our test on Tuesday. You should have seen the study guide by now! We will end the week with a Bill Nye video on the wetlands.

Mrs. Klacza's Math Class:

We will begin to learn about decimals with Chapter 5. We will particularly focus on decimal place value, equivalent decimals, comparing & ordering decimals, and problem solving. I foresee a test on 11/18. This is a short chapter so it won't take us long to get through it.

Important Notes:
11/11 – Veterans Day (no school)

11/12 - Go Roma fundraiser
11/19 – Picture retakes
11/25 – 11/27 Thanksgiving holiday

11/30 - 12/2 Conferences

12/1 - Report Cards

12/4 - P/T Conferences (no school)

Have a great weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather! Mrs. Klacza