Smith Spokesman 10.28.11

                   Halloween Parade:

                          Monday, October 31^st

This will be the day when children can bring costumes to school to wear in an afternoon parade.  Students will put on costumes at 12:45 and begin the parade at 1:00 on the playground (in the gym if the weather is poor).  Classroom party to follow.  Come join the fun- IF YOU DARE!

MATH:  Volume 1, Unit 2

“Connecting Mathematical Topics”      

Prior to our pre-test for this unit, we built “The Great Wall of Base Ten.”  This helps us to envision multiplying by 10 and multiples of 10.  We also read the book Millions to Measure, and students considered some advantages of the metric system.  You can expect to see ‘array’ multiplication next week.

                     

WRITING:  Personal Narratives

 Students elaborated from their list of writing ideas.  These included special spots, sweet learning, and scars.   Next week on Personal Narratives, students will choose one to take to the finish line. 

LITERACY:  Unit 2 “Doing the Right Thing” 

What makes people want to do the right thing?      

Week 3:  “The Ch’i-lin Purse”  

Hsiang-ling was a spoiled young girl, but on her wedding day, she gave a purse full of riches from her mother to a less fortunate bride getting married on the same day.  Later, Hsiang-ling was separated from her husband and son after a horrible storm.  She found work taking care of a spoiled young boy in a wealthy home.  The boy’s mother turned out to be the poor bride Hsiang-ling had helped so long ago.  The mother was so greatful that she split her family’s fortune with Hsiang-ling and helped her find her husband and son.

Genre:  Folk tales.  These are stories or legends that are told over and over from one generation to the next. They usually started as stories that were memorized and told out loud.

Skill:  compare & contrast

Strategy:  sequence

SOCIAL STUDIES:  Geography of the U.S.

We are working up to the big 5-O.  The 50 states that is.  For a fun way to learn the states, try the Portaportal site online.  Go to Portaportal.com and enter “elin” in the Guest Access section.  In the Social Studies section you will find a link to State Games.

SCIENCE:  Variables Unit

Strand:  Scientific reasoning and technology

Investigation 2:  Life Boats!  This week we compared, graphed, discussed and reflected on our data.  Next:  Airplanes

                                                                                                                                                                                       

Homework/Classwork:

Cancelled next 2 weeks due to Thursday’s substitute and following Thursday NO SCHOOL!

Coming Up: 

November 2nd STARBASE Vision Statement:

To raise the interest and improve the knowledge and skills of at-risk  youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which  will provide for a highly educated and skilled American workforce  that can meet the advanced technological requirements of the Department of Defense.  Here is their website:  http://www.starbasedod.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=324:starbase-portland&catid=153:oregon&Itemid=68

Both Wednesday and Thursday, November 2-3 our class will have a substitute as I will be in an off- site two-day literacy training.

Smith Spokesman 10.21.11

MATH:  Volume 1, Unit 2

“Connecting Mathematical Topics”      

In this unit “Seeing & Understanding Multi-Digit Multiplication & Division,” the goal is to be successful in multiplying and dividing multi-digit numbers.  We begin this process by SEEING and BUILDING multiplication and its’ inverse – division.

                     

WRITING:  Personal Narratives

 Students started a list of writing ideas, followed by an idea list of ‘special spots.’  We then narrowed down our list and drawing a map of our special spot, followed by free-writing about it.  Once we had something to work with, we reviewed and ‘embellished’ our piece by adding vivid verbs.  Our next idea list was about ‘sweet learning’ – a time when a loved one taught us something new.  Now we are free-writing about it.  Again, in this unit on Personal Narratives, students will start a variety of narrative pieces but take only one to the finish line. 

SOCIAL STUDIES:  Geography of the U.S.

We reviewed the big ideas covered in this first unit of social studies.  Next week we’ll finish up our review and complete a unit test.  In the mean time we continue to learn the states of different regions in the United States.  Our ultimate goal is to know the locations of all 50 United States!

            For a fun way to learn the states, try the Portaportal site online.  Go to Portaportal.com and enter elin in the Guest Access section.  In the Social Studies section you will find a link to State Games.

SCIENCE:  Variables Unit

Strand:  Scientific reasoning and technology

Investigation 2:  Life Boats!  We built the boat, checked its’ capacity, and then tested it for number of passengers it could support before sinking.  Some of us got wetter than others J.

LITERACY:  Unit 2 “Doing the Right Thing” 

What makes people want to do the right thing?      

Week 2:  “Passage to Freedom”  

A Japanese diplomat risks his life and the lives of his wife and children to write visas for 10,000 Jewish men, women, and children who are fleeing persecution and possible death in Lithuania in 1940. Key issues include heroism, conflicts between following rules and doing the right thing, and the importance of hope in dark times.

Genre:  Biography is the true story of a person's life, written by someone else. The sequence of events, which shows how the person changes, is important for this Snapshot.

Skill:  author’s purpose

Strategy:  monitor and fix-up

WANTED:  Egg Cartons

Coming Up Tonight…

     CARNIVAL!!!!

Hope you can join us for some fun and games under the “big top” of the Maplewood gymnasium.  This is always a great event…I look forward to seeing you there!

Smith Spokesman 10.13.11

Parent’s Corner

   WANTED:

• Pennies for science experiments
• Egg cartons – clean, empty, 1 dozen size
• Raffle Basket items – gardening theme

                         

Coming Up…

Friday, October 14^th – No School, 3-day weekend

Wednesday, October 19^th – 2 Hour Late Opening Friday, October 21^st – Carnival!

MATH:  Volume 1, Unit 1

“Connecting Mathematical Topics”     

This unit addressed all strands of elementary mathematics – number, computation, geometry, algebraic thinking, measurement, and data analysis – while introducing some of the major skills, concepts, visual models, and manipulatives students will use throughout the year.  Unit 1 “Post Assessment” (final) was on Wednesday.  Thursday we began Volume 1, Unit 2 “Seeing & Understanding Multi-Digit Multiplication & Division.”  The goal of this unit is to be successful in multiplying and dividing multi-digit numbers.

                     

WRITING:  Students begin to learn routines and procedures of Writing Workshop.  Lessons begin on how to organize their Little Red Writing Notebook along with how and what to write.  Students will write their drafts on the right side of their notebooks and reserve the left side for revisions, edits and feedback.  In this unit on Personal Narratives, students may start a variety of narrative pieces but finish only one or two. 

SCIENCE:  Variables Unit

Strand:  Scientific reasoning and technology

Investigation 1:  Swingers!  We actually performed experiments with variables, pendulums, mass, and complete cycles.  As students gathered data and displayed it graphically, they began to observe relationships in their data.  Relationships are powerful because they are predictive.  Next week we begin Investigation 2:  Lifeboats.

SOCIAL STUDIES:  Geography of the U.S.

In our next phase of social studies, we will be using maps to learn about differences in region to region in the United States.  We’ll learn how various regions may be defined by cultural characteristics, climate, or landforms.  We also began our quest to learn the locations of the 50 United States by making a study map of the northeastern states.  Students should carry this map in their homework calendars for a quick study each night.  We’ll take a quiz on these states on Friday of next week. 

ART:  No time, short week  L

LITERACY:  Unit 2 “Doing the Right Thing” 

What makes people want to do the right thing?      

Week 1:  “Inside Out” A young boy helps a bully.  Why does Francisco do what he does at the end of the story?

The story “Inside Out” by Francisco Jiménez is about a boy named Francisco who goes to school for the first time. At home he speaks Spanish. When he is at school has a hard time learning English and often does not understand what is going on. The story is also about accepting people for who they are. Over the course of the story, Francisco’s classmates learn to accept him for who he is.

Genre:  Realistic fiction deals with characters and actions that seem real but come from the author’s imagination.

Skill:  compare and contrast

Strategy:  answer questions   

Smith Spokesman 10.7.11

Parent’s Corner

It was great to see so many of you at the Open House last night!  Hopefully you now have a better idea about what your child’s life in fifth grade is like.  If you were unable to make it, I have provided you with the printed information that was given out via your students’ backpack mail.  Conference sign-ups were also available, so be sure to let me know if you still need to sign up! 

 I am in process of starting a ‘homework club’ after school on Thursday’s.  If you would be interested, please let me know by note or email.

                       

Literacy: Unit 1 Week 5

Shutting out the Sky

In 1900, at the age of sixteen, Marcus Ravage travels to America from Romania. Marcus faces many challenges in this unfamiliar place. Working as a street peddler to earn money, he begins to adapt to his new life. Eventually he graduates from college and finds success as a writer.

Writing: Memoir of Food

                 This week we took a little excursion into the world of food!  Students from K-5 at Maplewood were given a common topic “My Favorite Food…” and asked to write a short piece about it.  For the younger students that might mean coming up with a sentence.  For our students, we wanted to make sure we included rich details that describe the taste and texture of the food we were describing.

                In addition, I asked students to think about foods that might have a special connection to them in other ways besides just being delicious.  Is there a family tradition or family member that we associate with our food?  Is there a special place that comes to mind when you think of eating that special dish?  In this way, foods can be powerful in evoking memories in our lives.

                     

Coming Up…

Monday, October 10^th Picture Day

Friday, October 14^th – Statewide Inservice Day

                                                No School

Wednesday, October 12^th – 2 Hour Late Opening

Suzanne L. Smith

phone:  (503) 916-6308

email:  ssmith@pps.net

blog:    http://smithclassof2012.blogspot.com

 Great creativity begins with tolerance.

                                     Yo-Yo Ma

Smith Spokesman 9.30.11

From the classroom…

We have just finished week 4.  Whew!  How is it going?  To recap a busy start…

Students Job:  to listen, learn, and participate in class and to complete work in a timely manner.  This includes filling out Homework Calendar DAILY in the classroom and bringing it home nightly (along with the night’s homework).

Parents Job:  to review students Homework Calendar nightly and oversee that they are on schedule with the night’s homework.  Also, to sign Homework Calendar Thursday night for student to bring back to school on Friday. 

Friday students will bring home The Smith Spokesman for parents review and signature.  On The Smith Spokesman, homework and assignments that were due during the week are marked as turned in ‘X’, missing ‘O’, or ‘Inc.’ incomplete.  Students MAY turn in late homework.  However, part of the ‘homework’ here is for students to remember and to follow through.  This may seem like a big leap from 4^th grade – but a great lead into middle school. 

Pencils…and Sharpeners

One small but significant detail in this year’s supply list was asking that parents supply pencils and sharpeners for their children this year.  We are hoping that students who bring their own pencils will take ownership in them – and want to make them last.  If you have not already done so, please provide your child with a working sharpener and pencils.  Having a good sharpener at each student’s desk allows kids to discreetly sharpen their pencils without leaving their seat and distracting others.  Thanks for your help on this!

Next Week!

Back to School Picnic and Open House

Thursday, October 6^th, 2011

                      

Literature Block:  Unit 1 Week 4:

Satchel Paige

Satchel Paige was one of the greatest baseball pitchers that ever lived. Because baseball was

segregated, he played in the Negro Leagues. Paige liked traveling the country almost as much as he liked baseball. He could strikeout the best hitters with his crazy pitches and long legged wind-up. Even when he settled down and started a family, he could not keep away from his first love—baseball.

Math: Bridges Unit I

This week brought Order of Operations.  Here is the summary of Order of Operations:

1.     Do the computations inside the parenthesis first.

2.       Multiply or divide from left to right.

3.     Add or subtract from left to right.

What does a pink moose has to do with this you ask?  Pink Moose Do Amazing Splits!