Hello!
Congratulations to cast members, technical crew, and setting crew for a marvelous job in the Willy Wonka Jr. play- what a great success!
This is the time of year when things become really exciting for our 5th grade students… Once we return from vacation, we’re heading off to Pinkham Notch. Next up is solar cars, an end of the year restaurant project, and field day. Could you ask for more fun learning?
This week in class..
In Language- students are completing the expository essays- most need to work on a final draft which they’ll continue after break. We did not get to adjectives this week- I’ll postpone until late May when we work on the restaurant project.
Reading, Social Studies & Technology- were combined as students researched colonial regions and presented their findings by creating a tri-fold brochure- most groups have completed- the brochures look very professional. The color brochures will be displayed in the hall, but I will send home b&w copies.
Science- When we return from vacation will begin a short unit on force & motion, and then we will begin our solar car unit. I will be looking for volunteers to come in and help during the construction of the cars- you do not need to know HOW to build one to help out… most of what we’ll ask of you is cutting, drilling, etc…. I’m not sure of the exact dates yet, but most of the building will occur in the afternoons. I’ll be more clear with dates after we return from Pinkham. Be on the lookout for products that can be used to build the cars such as cardboard, shoe boxes, wheels from unused toys, juice containers, straws (the ones from Dunkin’ Donuts are perfect), AA batteries, foamboard… Cars can be made from a variety of materials- we encourage recycled products, but we can work with almost anything. Students will be provided with battery packs, solar panels, and a motor- everything else will be created from these materials. Solar car race day is May 27th- (Thursday prior to Memorial Day)
MEA’s- 5th Grade students will be taking Science MEA’s May 11,12, 13… make up testing will be the 14th.

Have a wonderful vacation week!
Mrs. Girouard

Coming Up:
April 19-23- Spring Vacation… Enjoy!
April 28- Pinkham Notch … Fun!
April 30 – Walk to School
May 11, 12, 13- Science MEA’s for 5th Grade

Hello!
This week in class..
Language- Students completed writing their mystery stories. We are creating a class anthology. Students are now working on an expository essay- a standard five paragraph essay with thesis statement (topic) as part of the introductory paragraph, three supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Most have finished their 4-square organizer and will be writing a rough draft on Monday. In addition to the learning the structure of the essay, students will be focusing on word choice and transition words.
In Reading- we have combined SS and reading for a majority of the week. Students continue to read The Westing Game.
In SS- students are learning about the diversity that existed in the colonial period. Next week students will work in partnerships to create a travel brochure that will combine four elements of colonial life specific to a colonial region.
In Math- students have been adding and subtracting mixed numbers. Next week they will learn to multiply and divide.
Pinkham Notch- Is quickly approaching! In this week’s envelope you will find a medication/permission form. Please fill this out and return by Monday- Thank you!
**We have discussed the importance of layering our clothing and breaking in the hiking boots. Also, when packing, please keep in mind that students will be responsible for their own luggage- so try to limit their belongings to one bag, in addition to a backpack. Also, just as a reminder, your child will need a ride to school on the 28th and home on the 30th- the buses cannot accommodate the extra luggage.**

Coming Up..
April 15- Willy Wonka Jr. 9:00am & 7pm
April 16- Spring Pictures (notice in weekly envelope)
April 19-23- Spring break
April 28-30- Our class will be at Pinkham Notch.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Girouard

This week’s homework …
Week Long Assignments: Reading Fluency due Friday/ Reading Response Log due Monday/Wordly Wise 3000 due Friday
Monday- Above
Tuesday- Math Studylink 8.1/Read WW3000 passage & Weekly Word Study
Wednesday- Math Studylink 8.2/
Thursday- Math STudylink 8.3/ WW3000 due tomorrow/Reading Fluency due tomorrow.
Friday- Record weekend reading on long….have a great weekend!

Math- None
Reading: Reading Fluency due tomorrow. Reading Response Log due Monday.Vocabulary- WW3000 due tomorrow
Language- Parts of Speech quiz tomorrow- Students have noun, pronoun, and verb notes in their binders to study from.
SS- None

We’re back up and running! I’ll continue to post weekly news and homework assignments on this site.

This week…

In Language, students continued to study parts of speech and learned about linking, helping, and action verbs. Students are working on a short mystery story- they had a choice of work in a partnership, small group, or individually- These will be complete by Monday. Next week, we will begin working on expository essays and continue our study of parts of speech to include adjectives and adverbs.
In Reading, we’ve been working on non fiction reading strategies and reading our class novel, The Westing Game.
In Social Studies, students are learning about the first permanent English colony- Jamestown. During the simulation- students are recognizing some of the hardships and challenges that colonists faced and are making decisions that will contribute to the success of the colony.

Coming Up…
April 5 – 8- Book Fair week, (7th is Book Fair Night)
April 6 – Ocean Guy Evening Show @ 7:00
April 15- Willy Wonka Jr/Play..9am & 7pm
April 16- Spring pictures
April 19-23- No School- Spring Vacation
April 28- We leave for Pinkham Notch

Hello!
This week flew by…they all seem to be flying by lately! I hope that you all enjoy the winter break.
The 3rd Annual “I Love to Read Day” was a success! Students participated in a variety of reading activities to celebrate the love of reading, which was followed by an ice cream celebration.

In Language: Students continue to work on drafting their fictional stories. After vacation they will work on setting, leads, and endings. Students have successfully completed the first round of literature circles and with the first week of Wordly Wise 3000. Upon return from vacation, students will prepare for their next literature circle meeting to be held on February 26th.

In Science- Students began writing commands/programming for robots and some groups have constructed their first robot.

Social Studies- Next week students will have an introduction to colonization. Students will be learning about the life of colonists through a simulation game.

Math- Students have learned to construct line plots and stem/leaf plots. Next week, the focus will be on probability and adding fractions.

Coming Up:
Things look fairly quiet the week we return from break…

Enjoy the vacation!
Mrs. Girouard

Hello!
Students did a great job with testing- they took it seriously and did their best work! Make-up testing will be Monday-Wednesday of next week.

Because of testing and schedules, I’ve made a few changes to our schedule. We were not able to spend the time reviewing for the electricity test until today, so I rescheduled the test for Tuesday. Students have their notes to study from.
We’ll begin Math Unit 6 on Monday.
Science- Electricity test on Tuesday
Science-New*** Mrs. Higgins and I have coordinated our schedules so that she will teach a 3-4 week session of Robotics to our class, and I in turn will teach her class. This will be a good opportunity for students to learn how machines work, learn some technology programming and practice writing technical procedures, and apply thinking skills to new situations. Students will build/program motorized cars, traffic lights, a conveyor belt, and other robots using Lego pieces. This is a great hands-on learning opportunity that I didn’t want to pass up! It will also provide a good foundation of knowledge for when we build solar cars. If you have any questions, please let me know.
In Language- students are working on a preliminary draft of a realistic fiction story. Students have completed the planning process, and are now taking each event of their story mountain and creating a draft. Next week, we’ll begin revising the drafts focusing on setting, leads, and endings. Next week we will begin a new phase of our word study- we’ll be using Wordly Wise 3000, a weekly vocabulary building/reading comprehension study. Each week students will be given a weekly packet of words and various activities to apply word knowledge. Included in the packet is a reading comprehension passage and a sentence building activity using the vocabulary words-so, this will take the place of the Wednesday night spelling sentence work. Next week we will do the first week’s assignment together, after that students will work at their own pace at their independent working level-so your child’s independent packet may be more or less challenging. Packets will be due on Fridays.
In Reading- we are nearly finished ready Danny, Champion of the World. Beginning next week, students will be choosing books to read as part of literature circle book study. Students will have book choices, plan a reading schedule, read independently, keep a reading journal, and will meet with group members once a week for discussion. There will be time each day for reading/journaling in class. The reading assignment will most likely be done at home as part of their weekly reading requirement.
I Love to Read Day- is Friday, February 12. This is our 3rd year and it keeps getting better! To begin the week, students will have opportunities to answer reading trivia questions to earn fun “reading” prizes (no cost to participate in this). Additionally, there will be an end of the week raffle- students will have an opportunity to enter a raffle- tickets are .25 each or 5/$1.00- the prize is a special reading blanket.. All proceeds will go toward supplies for our sister school in Haiti.
Coming Up…
February 8 – Walk to School
February 12- I Love to Read Day
February 15-19- Vacation Week … Enjoy!

This week students will be taking the Stanford Testing- Homework will be fairly light. There will not be a weekly word study this week. Depending upon how much work students complete on their circuit quiz boards in class, some of this may be assigned for homework.
Each Night: Reading Response & Log
Monday- Reading Fluency due Friday
Tuesday- Change: no math… complete circuit board questions if not done in class.
Wednesday- None (early release day)
Thursday- Reading Fluency due tomorrow
Friday- None
Have a great weekend!

Hello!
This week in…
Language- Students have made good progress on developing characters and creating a story mountain for their fictional writing pieces. Some students have begun drafting each of the story mountain scenes as the beginning of their rough draft. In reading, we continued to focus on main idea and began working on letter writing as a way of writing about reading. Students also worked on strengthening their sentence writing skills to avoid overusing helping verbs.
Science-Students have been experimenting with creating closed circuits, with and without switches, voltage and watts, and experimenting with various materials to determine whether they are insulators or conductors. Next week, students will be creating a circuit board quiz and take an end of unit assessment.
Social Studies- Next week we will begin a unit on Colonization. Through the participation of a colony simulation, students will learn how and why colonists settled in North America, learn of the challenges and situations they faced, and make decisions based on circumstances.
Math-Students took the Unit 5 assessment today- we will begin Unit 6 sometime next week- the focus for Unit 6 Using data (collecting, organizing, and presenting) and on addition and subtractions of fractions. Family letters for Unit 6 are in the weekly envelope.
Stanford Testing- will begin on Monday. Students benefit from plenty of rest and healthy eating.
Pinkham Notch- Permission forms and payment are due by February 12.
Valentine’s Day- We will not be having a class Valentine party, but if students want to exchange cards- that’s fine …provided that students brings a card for each student in the class. I will send home a list of names.
Coming Up:
February 3- Early Release Day
February 8 – Walk to School
February 12th- I Love to Read Day- A notice is enclosed in the weekly envelope.
February 15-19- Winter Break

Hello!
What a quick week!

Here’s what we’ve been working on…
Language- In writing students continue developing a realistic fiction piece- we’ve focused on fleshing out a character by developing internal and external traits, determining wants & struggles and creating mini scenes to “show” the want/struggle. Next week, we will move toward fleshing out secondary characters and creating a story mountain. In reading we focused on determining the main idea of chapters as we read Danny Champion of the World.
Math- This week we worked with renaming fractions as decimals and percents, analyzing graphs- bar graphs and pie charts. Next week, we’ll continue with graphs, review fraction work and take the Unit 5 assessment by the end of the week.
Science- Students have experimented with creating simple circuits and adding a switch. Students will continue experimenting with circuits next week. Students will attend an electrical safety presentation (sponsored by CMP) on Wednesday.
Coming Up:
January 29- Walk to School
February 3- Early Release Day

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Girouard