October:  Busy Month!  And, lots of news . . .

• APEX Fun Run was FUN! Thank you everyone for the pledges.  Our class pledged $43.60.  WOW!
• Alyssa will represent our class in the Sunrise Spelling Bee next Wednesday!
• Conferences were held and I enjoyed meeting everyone and learning more about your children. For those parents who were not able to meet during the scheduled times, I will send out a new schedule soon.
• DUCKS – We are finishing our duck drawings to enter into the Junior Duck Stamp Program Conservation and Design Contest. For every entry we submit, $1 is donated to the education/conservation program.
• typing.com and home row: The students have learned home row and have started practicing their keyboarding skills using typing.com.
• Field trip permission slip forms will be sent home next week for our trip to the Crocker Art Museum on January 8, 2020. Since the trip is scheduled soon after we track back-on, the permission slip forms are due on 11/08/2019
• Red Ribbon Week began this week and continues through next week:

Monday,October 28:  Shade Out Drugs:  Wear sunglasses

Tuesday, 10/29:  Put a Cap on Drugs:  Wear a Cap

Wednesday, 10/30:  Kick Drugs to the Curb:  Decorate Your Shoes

Thursday, 10/31:  Crunch Out Drugs:  Eat a Red Apple

In the Classroom we will . . .

Math:  complete Chapter 4, Multiplication Facts and Strategies.  Chapter 4 test is tentatively scheduled for Friday, November 1^st.  We will begin Chapter 5, Use Multiplication Facts

• Continue to memorize and test on Skip Counting.

Spelling:  Week 10, three letter blends.  I will be using the dictation sentence posted under the “Unit 2, Spelling” link for Week 10.

Reading:  Genre biography and evaluating Cause and Effect in literature.  Students will also be introduced to metaphors.

Writing:  Response to literature paragraph

Upcoming Dates:

November:

1^st:  Report Cards come home

6^th:  Excel Picture Make ups

8^th:  Crocker Art Museum field trip permission slips due

11^th:  Veteran’s Day ~ No School

22^nd:  We Track off; Minimum Day:  Spirit Wear:  Color Rush – one color from head-to-toe

The end of the 1^st Trimester is near!  The 1^st Trimester grading period ends next Friday, October 18^th.   Reports will be sent home on Friday, November 1^st.

Accelerated Reader (AR) is factored into the reading grades.  All of the students have received their individual AR goals for the 1^st trimester.  Their goals are calculated based upon their individual level.  The 1^st Trimester goal is ½ of a trimester goal since we didn’t get really started using the chrome books until several weeks into the school year.  The students are given time each day to read in class and take AR tests.

Mathematical Writing:  We have been working closely with our Instructional Coach on writing responses in math.  It is a bit challenging and time consuming, but worth the effort.  The students are currently working on evaluating other students’ work using a rubric with Success Criteria, then they will evaluate their own work using the criteria.  Our future objective is for them to write a mathematical response using what/why justification.

Next Week in the Classroom we will . . .

Math:

• We began Chapter 4, Multiplication Facts and Strategies. The Chapter 4 Test is tentatively scheduled for the week of October 21^st.
• Memorize and testing on Skip Counting (the students have been equipped with two, light blue skip counting sheets). Most students are working on the 6’s, but one student has memorized the 8’s and is moving forward.  To help memorize the skip counting numbers, students are to touch each number and say it aloud.  They will also be asked to write them 5 times each evening.  After students show mastery on one number, they will be moved on to the next number.

Spelling:  words with silent letters (wr, kn, and gn)

Reading:  We’ve been reading the genre Narrative Nonfiction, specifically biographies and autobiographies.  Students have been continuing to practice “sequencing”

Writing:  Simple and compound sentences; summaries

Social Studies:  complete landforms

Science:  Each month we receive Harvest of the Month (HOTM) that consists of a sample of a healthy food.  We taste the food and learn about its nutritional value.  This month we tasted watermelon.  We are schedule to taste pears in November.

We have also investigated “Why Leaves Change Colors” via Mystery Science.  Next we are studying weather, which will review/teach the phases of matter.

Our “Leaf” art is hanging in the office.  Stop by to look when you get a chance.  If you can’t, it will hang in our classroom window for the month of November.

Upcoming Dates:

October:

24^th, Thursday:  APEX Fun Run

25^th:  Minimum Day:  Spirit Wear: “-er” Day (i.e. dancer, surfer, baseball player, etc)

November:

1^st:  Report Cards come home

6^th:  Excel Picture Make ups

11^th:  Veteran’s Day ~ No School

22^nd:  We Track off; Minimum Day:  Spirit Wear:  Color Rush – one color from head-to-toe

Big Shout out to Jill Morinaga!!  She has “reconfigured” the blog.  She’s also been a regular member of our classroom every Friday.  THANK YOU!!

I will be sending out a schedule for parents to sign up to conference regarding their child.  If the dates and times are not good for you on the schedule, we can find a different date, or schedule on the phone.

Next Week in the Classroom we will . . .

Math:

• We began Chapter 3, Understand Multiplication. Chapter 3 test is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 11^th.
• Memorize and testing on Skip Counting beginning with 3’s. To help memorize the skip counting numbers, students are to touch each number and say it aloud.  They will also be asked to write them 5 times each evening.  After students show mastery on one number, they will be moved on to the next number.

Spelling:  long vowel e sound spellings

Reading:  Practice reading fluency and reading the text closely.  A “cold comp” test is scheduled next week.  “Cold Comp” refers to a comprehension selection that we have not read as a class and the students read it on their own, answering questions.

Writing:  identify predicates in sentences

Social Studies:  quiz on the continents and oceans; continue to learn about different landforms

Upcoming Dates:

October:

Starting October 1^st, through October 25^th, H.E.R.O.S. (Here/Everyday/Ready/On-time) is in effect.

2^nd – 4^th and 7^th – 9^th:  Sunrise Book Fair

4^th, Friday:  Class Spelling Bee and Minimum Day:  Spirit Wear:  Mustaches and Glasses

October 9^th through 15^th:  Parent Conferences

11^th, Friday:  McGarvey and Sunrise Multicultural Fair @ McGarvey 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

24^th, Thursday:  APEX Fun Run

25^th:  Minimum Day:  Spirit Wear: “-er” Day (i.e. dancer, surfer, baseball player, etc)

November:

1^st:  Report Cards come home

6^th:  Excel Picture Make ups

11^th:  Veteran’s Day ~ No School

22^nd:  We Track off; Minimum Day:  Spirit Wear:  Color Rush – one color from head-to-toe

Dear Parents,

So, I am sending home spelling homework after all the SPELLING conversations . . . .  When teaching and learning long vowel sounds, some words require practice and recognition.  I tried a new approach, and it didn’t work the way I would like.  Sorry for the confusion.

I am still focusing on the sound-spellings when teaching and practicing, and I am only choosing select words from the list of 25 words (not the complete 25 words) to test.

Here are the Spelling Lists for Weeks 1-6. This week we are working on Wk 4 Long a.

Thanks for your flexibility!  If you have any questions, please ask.

Sincerely,

Tracy Wetzel

We track back on Monday, September 16^th!  I hope that everyone has had a restful break and are ready to return.

We forgot to take home the Wednesday folders before we tracked-off, so they are “full” and will be sent home on Monday.  They will be refilled on Tuesday, and sent home again on Wednesday :).  There are lots of events and flyers to read.  See the upcoming dates below for some of the events.

FYI ~ Two different flyers are being sent home regarding the Multicultural Fair.  One flyer is regarding the Multicultural Fashion Show and the second is about the food.

Next Week in the Classroom we will . . .

Math:

• Continue with Chapter 2, Represent and Interpret Data. Chapter 2 test is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 25^th.
• Memorize and testing on Skip Counting beginning with 3’s. To help memorize the skip counting numbers, students are to touch each number and say it aloud.  They will also be asked to write them 5 times each evening.  After students show mastery on one number, they will be moved on to the next number.

Spelling:  long vowel a sound spellings

Reading:  read the genre realistic fiction that focuses on cultures and traditions.

Writing:  identify subjects and predicates in sentences

Social Studies:  finish the world maps and quiz on the continents and oceans; introduce different landforms

Upcoming Dates:

September:

11^th, Wednesday:  Cub Scouts sign up at 7 pm

18^th, Wednesday:  Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students) Pizza Night kick-off

20^th, Friday:  STEM Robotics Club applications DUE

26^th, Thursday, Scholastic Book orders are DUE

September Thursday popsicle sales ($1 a pop)

October:

2^nd – 4^th and 7^th – 9^th:  Sunrise Book Fair

4^th, Friday:  Class Spelling Bee

11^th, Friday:  McGarvey and Sunrise Multicultural Fair @ McGarvey 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

24^th, Thursday:  APEX Fun Run

I think that “our” Spelling routine is beginning to fall in place.  I apologize for any confusion the approach to Spelling has had.  For clarification, I’m not approaching Spelling this year in the traditional way.  I will be focusing on the sound-spelling patterns of words.  Therefore:

• There is not a list of words to study from.  However,
• a list of spelling words that the sound-spelling patterns follow is provided to students at the top of their “homework” spelling pages
• students can study the pattern from those words.  Usually the second day of the homework/work sheet page has a spell sort activity that helps in learning the patterns
• students are usually provided time in class to complete the spelling homework assigned.
• the end of the week test will be on 6 to 10 words that follow the spelling-pattern.  It may include some words from the list and other words that are spelled similarly.  The dictation sentence will be comprised of words the students are expected to know how to spell.  If it includes a word that is not a sight word, they will not be penalized for a misspelling.

Next Week in the Classroom . . .

Spelling – 😉 Spelling Pattern “Final e”

Math – Chapter 1 Test on Tuesday! We will begin Chapter 2, Represent and Interpret Data.  Monday’s night homework will be reviewing Chapter 1 concepts using the even numbers.

Reading – We are finishing our Wonders Unit 1, Week 1.

Grammar – We are practicing the four types of sentences:  Statements, Questions, Commands, and Exclamations

Writing – Adding details and Friendly Letter

Upcoming dates:

August 20^th, Tuesday:     Chapter 1 Math Test

August 16^th, Friday:         Crazy Hair Day; Minimum Day; Track Off

September 16^th, Monday:  Track on 🙂

September 18^th, Wednesday:  Watch DOGs Kick-off

September 20^th, Friday:  Jr. Duck Stamp Presentation in our classroom

“Wednesday Folders” went home today.  Wednesday Folders will go home every Wednesday with any forms, notices, graded papers, etc.  Please take out the papers inside of the folders, sign any forms, read any notices, and review work.  Then send the empty folders back to school to be refilled.  As I disclosed at Back-to-School-Night, sometimes the folders may be sent home late.  If you ever wonder if this is the case or have a question where they are, please send me an e-mail.

As part of tonight’s homework, students were asked to bring home their “small” Wonders text to check for any damage.  Please record the page numbers of any damage and the kind of damage on the lavender form, Textbook Condition Record Sheet (it’s on the back of the Library Permission form).  Students will bring home the second Wonders book tomorrow, followed by the Science book.  Both sides of the lavender form need to be completed before students will be allowed to check out books.

I met with Sunrise’s Instructional Coach today, and this year I will be trying a new approach to spelling.  I will not be having Spelling Pretests and the traditional end-of-the-week spelling tests.  Instead I will introduce the spelling patterns using dictation at the beginning of the week of example words that follow the pattern.  The class will then practice the spelling pattern throughout the week with whole-class blending and dictation.  They will also be working on the Wonders Phonics/Fluency spelling pages that go along with the spelling pattern.  The end-of-the-week spelling pattern test will only be 6 to 10 words – with only a few words from the “list”, a few “cold-pattern” words (students haven’t practiced them),  and two challenge words that add an additional syllable, affix, etc. to the spelling pattern.  There will also be one dictation sentence using a high frequency word and a spelling word.

Thank you for taking the time to come to Back to School Night last night!  For those of you that couldn’t make it, I will be sending home a “quick” summary sheet and the forms next week.  And, always feel free to e-mail me at:  twetzel@egusd.net for any questions big or small.

Monday, July 22, will be our first day writing our homework in the Homework Planner.  The homework is tentatively scheduled to be:

• Rdg (reading): 20 minutes  Please read with your child and stop and make comments/discuss during the reading about things that surprised you, that you wonder about, etc.  Have the students use the Comprehension Strategies!
• Math: S&P L1.1 pgs P3-P4 odds   S&P represents the Standards and Practice book.  1 represents Chapter 1, Lesson 1.

Reading will consistently remain the same throughout the year.  Some weeks may have a summary picture, write-up, etc. to share with the class what books they have been reading.

Math homework on Tuesday, July 23, will be a process in learning rounding (see below)

Next Week in the Classroom…

Spelling – Week 1 (your child will have a list in their backpack) The spelling pattern is short vowels a and short i.

Math – We will begin GoMath! Chapter 1 (Addition and Subtraction Within 1,000):  The most difficult concept of the chapter is rounding, which is introduced in Lesson 1.2.  We will work through this chapter slowly, as it is difficult for students and it builds a foundation for many of the chapters to come.  The GoMath! Texts are available on-line at ThinkCentral.

Reading – Wonders Unit 1, Week 1 (Story time): This week we will work on citing evidence from text, describing characters, setting, and plot, and visualizing while we read.

Grammar – We will learn to distinguish sentences from sentence fragments.

Writing – Writing a Friendly Letter

We are nearing the end of our school year together! I have enjoyed teaching and spending this school year with your children.  Our last four weeks will be filled!  A Book Fair is currently occurring in our library!  Our class will preview the books on Monday.  Students will be able to make purchases after school until 3:30 pm up until June 7^th.  There is an evening shopping time scheduled for June 5^th from 6 pm to 8 pm.

The math and science CAASPP testing will occur the week of June 17^th.

In the 5^th Grade health curriculum, the students participate in a unit of instruction in Family Life Education.  A video on puberty, Always Changing – About You co-ed, is scheduled to be shown on June 27^th.  After the video, students will be able to asks clarifying questions about puberty.  If you missed the video preview nights at the EGUSD office, the link for the video is:  https://www.pgschoolprograms.com/Educators. An Opt-Out form will be sent home if you do NOT wish for your child to participate.  Only sign and return the form if you do NOT want them to participate.  Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

Upcoming Dates:

June 3^rd: TRACK ON and Book Fair Preview

June 5^th:  Book Fair Open from 6 – 8 pm

June 17^th – 20^th:    MATH and SCIENCE CASSPP testing

June 21^st:  MATH CASSPP make-up testing/Grades lock

June 25^th:  5^th Grade Field Day

June 27^th:  Always Changing (puberty) Video and discussion following

June 28^th:  “Comfy/PJ/Game Day; report cards go home; minimum day; and Last day of school 🙁

6^th Grade begins:  July 18^th🙂

Math:  We will be reviewing and completing our work in Chapter 11, Geometry and Volume, and in Chapter 9, Algebra:  Patterns and Graphing.   We will also be

Reading:    We will be applying our reading skills in the Social Studies book.

Science:  We our study of Astronomy via Mystery Science and begin Matter.

Social Studies:  We will study Chapter 8, The Colonies Unite, and complete a DBQ on the battle of Valley Forge.

Family Science Night is next Tuesday evening, April 9^th.  It is a fun family event with hands-on science activities.  I hope to see you there!

Thank you to Adela and Mr. Jazvo who built ten mini- voltage meters and bought different varieties of batteries so the students could measure the voltage!

Thank you also for the donation to the 5^th Grade CommUNITY Carnival Sports, Nerf, Camping, and Outdoor basket.

Upcoming Dates (repeated):

April 9^th:  Family Science Night

April 22^nd – 25^th:  ELA CASSPP testing

April 26^th:   ELA CASSPP Make-up testing; CommUNITY Carnival

April 30^th:  Character Awards assembly

May 1^st: Minimum Day; “Bring Your Parent to School Day”; Spirit Day:  Sports Day; TRACK OFF

June 3^rd: TRACK ON

June 17^th – 20^th:    MATH CASSPP testing (and possibly Science)

June 21^st:  MATH CASSPP make-up testing

June 28^th:  Last day of school L

Math:  We have just completed Chapter 8, Divide Fractions and will take the chapter test on Tuesday, April 10^th.  We will begin Chapter 10, converts Units of Measure next week.  We have also been continuing our work in Chapter 9 and applying our graphing skills to Science experiments and data.

Reading:    We have been analyzing poetry.

Science:  We have completed our study of Earth’s Weather and will begin our study of Astronomy via Mystery Science.

Social Studies:  We will begin our study of the early American colonies.