Spring is in the air!!

The birds are singing and so am I! I can't wait for spring- March 20th!!

I hope you found the 5th grade newsletter in your child's Friday folder, but if not below are some updates!

Reading: We have started our new literature circles and the first discussion day will be Wednesday day the 19th! Our goal for these literature circles is to have effective discussions of the reading.

Science: Continuing work with Lego's to learn about simple machines. Try identifying simple machines in your everyday life with your child!

Social Studies: The geography unit is wrapping up with a test on Wednesday the 19th. Please help your child study using the review sheet they received on Thursday of this week!

On March 28th Aleca Stewart's father and his co-workers from Siemens will present a science lesson to our fifth graders. Make sure to ask your students what they learned!

We have a local celebrity in our classroom!!! Anna Schaub was featured in the Allegan County News as a part of an article about our Biography Brunches! If you would like a copy of this article/picture come to our classroom- we have TONS of copies!

A BIG thank-you to all the parents for their flexibility and cooperation with our new spring conferences. I think all of the students learned a lot about themselves and technology as they produced their student-led conference. Also, thank-you for your feedback. Your opinions and impressions are an important part of our improvement for the future! If you have an questions that were not answered at conferences please e-mail or call anytime!

Spring break is fast approaching (starting Friday, April 4th!). We have A LOT to do before then, so help your child stay organized and motivated as the weather gets nice and homework takes a back burner to trampolines and basketball!

Thank-you for all of your support- Blue Star has WONDERFUL parents!!

March!!!

March is finally here and hopefully spring is just around the corner!

Exciting things are happening in 5th grade at Blue Star, as usual!

We are beginning our new literature circles. Students choose their books on Wednesday and we will begin reading and preparing for our discussion Wednesdays next week.

We will also begin our next reading unit next week. As a class we will be reading Guests.

In social studies students are working on a group presentation of a region of the United States. Each group has 4 to 6 states in which they will put together a 5 to 10 minute presentation on the various human and physical characteristics of their place. These presentations will be at the end of next week.

I will soon be finishing my time in Social Studies and move into science and math before I am finished student teaching a Blue Star.

I was wonderful to meet all of the parents at conferences. I hope you enjoyed your student lead conference and gained some insight as to how your student views their progress.

As always, if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me or Mrs. Newhouse!

Mid Winter

I hope all the Blue Star Families are surviving this NEVER ENDING winter weather!! Spring will be very much welcomed in my household!

Some updates about 5th grade at Blue Star:
*Biography Brunch is FAST approaching. Your student will need an inexpensive costume and to prepare a short, memorized speech for the Wax Museum.

*Biography projects are drawing to a close. The final copy of all 3 project choices are due THIS FRIDAY, FEB. 22, 2008. The final copies need to be neat, free of errors and in a folder or some sort of "packaging".

*Literature circles are also drawing to a close. This coming week we will be working on board games in class. Each group will create a board game for their book. We will take some time one afternoon to play all of our board games once they are finished!

*In social studies we are continuing our work with geography of North America. Your student took a quiz on Thrusday and those are graded and will be coming home soon.

Please contact me with any questions about the projects happening in class currently.