Week 25: February 16, 2015

Dear Room 19 Families,

It is supposed to be very cold this week! Send your child with his/her coat, hat, and gloves daily. Because we will not have outdoor recess due to temperatures below 20 degrees, I encourage students to get active after school. If you are okay with bundling up and sending them out, do so. If not, find away to get that energy out: go to the gym and play basketball, walk an in door track, play sports Wii, so body weight exercises at home (sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks). Physical exercise is an important part of mental health and brainpower, too!

Happenings this week:

·      Tuesday Westlane (and Northview) Counselor visits

·      Wednesday instrument try-ons

·      Thursday some students have further testing for middle school mathematic classes

·    Friday Social Health

Friday Chinese New Year Celebrations

Our learning this week continues with:

•   Reading-Unit 5, Lesson 21 in Journey's-Tucket’s Travels (Historical Fiction)

◦                     Skill: Sequence of Events

◦                     Strategy: Visualize

◦                     Word work focus: Symbolism

◦                     Fluency skill: Pausing

◦                     New Novel Assignment: Due March 2^nd

•   Social Science- Correction from last week* This week we will continue our study of the America Revolution. Your historian should be able to tell you what the British did after the *French and Indian War and how this impacted the colonies. (This includes The Stamp Act, The Tea Act, The Boston Tea Party, etc.) These all led to The American Revolution.

•   Writing-We will continue to work on our next large writing piece, persuasion to improve our Crooked Creek community. We will also use at least two writing days a week to do ISTEP + preparation. This is actually really exciting because we have materials given to us from the state to use as practice.

•   Math-Unit 7: We will be reviewing graphing as we introduce Unit 8: Area and Perimeter. We have created formulas for rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles. This wee we will review and learn about finding area of a trapezoid.

Assessments this Friday consist of:

•   DMR Quiz (That’s all folks!)

Many students are continuing to pass out of Lexia! Room 19 students are hoping our class can be the first for everyone to complete the Lexia program! Very ambitious and possible if students work hard at school and home!

Online Resources for Students:

https://www.ixl.com/signin/crookedcreek

http://www.mobymax.com

http://www.lexiacore5.com

http://www.myon.com

Username: Student ID #

Password: Last name

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!

srahrig@msdwt.k12.in.us

Week 24: February 9, 2015

Dear Room 19 Families,

I want to start by thanking each of you for your support last week. I am back and we are in full swing! We reviewed snack expectations and if an individual struggles to follow these procedures he/she will no longer be able to bring a snack. There is a lot happening this week so please read to the end!

Happenings this week:

·      Tuesday Westlane Curriculum night (stduents can attend, but do not have to)

·      Wacky Wednesday-Hat Day $1

·      Thursday ISTEP information night

·    Valentine’s Day Party on Friday 2:25pm

Our learning this week continues with:

•   Reading-Unit 4, Lesson 20 in Journey's-The Black Stallion (Adventure)

◦                     Skill: Story Structure

◦                     Strategy: Questioning

◦                     Word work focus: Figurative Language

◦                     Fluency skill: Accuracy

◦                     New Novel Assignment: Due March 2^nd

•   Social Science- This week we are digging into the causes of the America Revolution. Your historian should be able to tell you what the British did after the Revolutionary War and how this impacted the colonies. (This includes The Stamp Act, The Tea Act, The Boston Tea Party, etc.

•   Writing-You will be seeing some extra ELA homework this week on parts of speech. It should not be too time consuming, but should act as a quick review to reinforce what has been taught. Our next large writing piece is a persuasive on what we can do to improve our Crooked Creek community. This will also double as a great introduction on research and action for exhibition. I have been so impressed with Room 19 learners to think deeply about what Crooked Creek needs. Their responsive have been beyond recess and really look at big issues that we need solutions for. A few examples that I was so impressed with were the need for less students in a classroom or bigger classrooms, more buses and a larger parking lot. WOW! This are hot topics our staff talks about, too!

•   Math-Unit 7: We will be reviewing graphing as we introduce Unit 8: Area and Perimeter. Many students were excited to tell me they can already find area and perimeter, which is perfect. We will be using what they know already to create formulas to find area of triangles, parallelograms and trapezoids! Today, I got really excited and our mathematicians said, “Miss Rahrig you always say our new math unit is your favorite!” J

Assessments this Friday consist of:

•   DMR Quiz

•   Unit 4 Reading Test

*I am postponing the graphing test

Man students are passing out of Lexia!

Online Resources for Students:

https://www.ixl.com/signin/crookedcreek

http://www.mobymax.com

http://www.lexiacore5.com

http://www.myon.com

Username: Student ID #

Password: Last name

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!

srahrig@msdwt.k12.in.us

Week 23: February 2, 2015

Dear Room 19 Families,

We have another busy week ahead of us! Last week, we struggled to follow all parts of our Essential Agreement. The month of February is jam packed with testing and testing preparation for fifth graders. We do not have a second to lose. Please review expectations at home with your student.

With that being said, we have sadly lost the privilege of snack. There has been candy, gum, and snack trash all over the classroom; including gum in the classroom library. This is unacceptable. I know it is a long morning until lunch, but snack is a privilege. Please ensure your learner is getting breakfast every morning to tide them over.

Happenings this week:

·      Concert at NC on Thursday 12-1:30

·      SRI Testing Thursday 2:30

·      Dad’s for lunch on Thursday TBD

·      Talent Show Thursday 5pm

·      Friday fifth grade teachers out for Acuity analysis

Our learning this week continues with:

•   Reading-Unit 4, Lesson 19 in Journey's-Darnell Rock Reporting (Realistic Fiction)

◦                     Skill: Author’s Purpose

◦                     Strategy: Summarize/GIST

◦                     Word work focus: Greek and Latin suffixes

◦                     Fluency skill: stress

◦                     New Novel Assignment: Due February 27th

•   Social Science- As we finish up our unit on Colonization and head into the Revolutionary War, we will be discussing the French and Indian War. We will also be continuing to memorize the 50 states. You can find blank templates online to quiz your geographer!

Furthermore, next year, Washington Township has to select a new Social Studies textbook. I have been participating on the committee since last school year. Starting this week, 5^th grade will be piloting 3 of the 4 companies that we can choose from next year. Each teacher will have a different companies textbook. Please feel free to look through your child’s new Social Studies text and provide ant information or insights you have as a parent! This is a great opportunity for our team to take part in the selection.

•   Writing-This week we will be hitting parts of speech pretty hard. I was surprised to find last week how much work we need in this area. Although, this may seem like a tedious use of time, it is imperative students master and understand all parts of speech and their purposes.

•   Math-Unit 7: This week, we will review graphs and data sets, and will continue graphing with linear equations. We will have a unit test on Friday.

Assessments this Friday consist of:

•   DMR Quiz

•   Unit 4 Lesson 19 reading quiz

Students should be using online resources every week!

Online Resources for Students:

https://www.ixl.com/signin/crookedcreek

http://www.mobymax.com

http://www.lexiacore5.com

http://www.myon.com

Username: Student ID #

Password: Last name

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful week!

srahrig@msdwt.k12.in.us