Late Reminders for May 18-21

Dear Parents and Portal Students,

Thank you for coming to Open House. We hope you enjoyed yourself and had the opportunity to learn something new! We’re very proud of our students for working so hard and doing such a wonderful job! We have several new curriculum areas beginning this week, so please read below to find out more. Thanks for your patience in waiting for the Weekly Reminders this week!


Human Growth and Development for 5th Graders:

This week we will begin teaching Human Growth and Development for 5th Graders only. Boys and girls will be separated into different rooms. We will be teaching these classes on Wed, 5/20 at 12:30, Thursday, 5/21 at 8:15, Wed. 5/27 at 12:30, and Thursday, 5/28 at 8:15. During this time, 4th graders will be in math classes. The curriculum and videos that we will be using are available for parent viewing at our district resource center.

Language Arts:

We are currently reading Bridge to Terabithia and revising prior writing activities in class this week. Don’t be surprised if your student has questions about this book; set in the 1970’s, this story has historical context and deep relationships to be examined. Spelling also resumes; we will even be using our spelling words to create some “interview questions” for our future 4th graders (they’ll be visiting us soon for Move-Up Day in Rockhopper Village!)

Math:

4th grade students are now applying their understanding of outcomes to evaluations of game design in our “Game Factory” unit this week. Fairness relates to probably outcomes, and we’re playing games and analyzing outcomes and result to make decisions about the quality of these various games. Soon, we’ll use our experience with game formats, probability, and fairness on our own fair game design!

In 5th grade math, have begun our Biz World unit, which is a simulation project. Students will be creating a company and developing a plan to ensure the success of the business they have created. They will own stock and create and sell a product, hopefully for a profit! Ask your child what they learned today!

Social Studies:

We are wrapping up our studies of the California Gold Rush. We hope you enjoyed our presentations during open house and were able to see how much students have learned!

Science:

Our investigations of electricity began this past week. We worked a bit with lights to create circuits and experience current electricity. We’ll use motors next to continue to expand our understanding of electrical circuitry.

Important Dates to Remember:

5/22 Staff Learning Day - no school for students
5/25 Memorial Day - No school.
5/27 International Festival
5/27 PSCO Meeting 6:30
5/28 SSC Meeting 3:00
5/29 School Spirit Day - Backward Day!
6/2 Volunteer Appreciation Brunch - 9:50 am
6/5 Library Closes for the year. All books due.


CALIFORNIA TRIVIA!

Q: Born in the early 1960’s, what is BART (and it’s not BART Simpson)!

Good luck!

Mr. Roels & Miss Scourkes