Monday, April 29, 2013

April/May Reminders

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
April 29- May 3


Mark Your Calendars:
  • April 29th - May 3rd:  STAR Testing Week
  • Thursday, May 2: I-Check Inv. 2
  • Friday, May 3: I-Check Inv. 3
  • Friday, May 3: Social Studies Research Due
  • Thursday, May 23rd:  Sacramento Field Trip
  • Friday, May 24th:  Learning Day (No School)
  • Wednesday, May 29th:  Open House 7-7:45pm for Rockhoppers!


*Sacramento T-Shirts: Tell us your size and get a FREE SHIRT!!!
As part of our tour package, each child and adult attending is entitled to a FREE t-shirt to commemorate this event!  The sizes available are:

Youth M, L, XL
Adult M – 2XL.  
Note: there are a few Adult Small available, but not many.  The Youth XL is pretty much the same as an Adult S.

Please let your classroom teacher know what your t-shirt size is (and your parent’s size if they are a chaperone!) by Friday, May 3.  We’ll be placing our order at the end of the week.  Thank you!

Curriculum Flash!
Language Arts

Rooms 20 & 21:
Due to STAR testing this week, we will only have three class periods of Language Arts.  Therefore, our focus will be on Bridge to Terabithia.  There is a lot of figurative language in the novel that we are examining closely, and we are also continuing to relate our own lives to the family situations that are presented in this piece of realistic fiction.  We’ll be reading through Chapter 4 this week as a village.

Math:
4th grade:
Once again, STAR testing will limit our math meetings this week to three sessions.  Our students will finish up customary and metric measurement concepts in Chapter 15 of our textbook during the first two class days. The last day of the week will allow us to test our understanding of measurement concepts and apply them to a fun, challenging task!  Our classes will also take a Chapter 15 quiz to conclude the week on Friday covering both customary and metric units of measurement.  The emphasis in this chapter is on remembering names and abbreviations of the various units, understanding their application (length vs. weight vs. capacity), and practicing conversion techniques between different units of measurement (centimeters to millimeters, for example.)  The application of our measurement abilities will come after the quiz when we create our own “Perimeter Park.”  Attending to precision in measurement and calculation will be the overriding theme of the project......along with exciting, individual design!

5th grade:
This week we will teach students how to find the surface area and volume of rectangular prisms, as well as taking a look at three dimensional nets and figures.  We’ll analyze and calculate the size of what it is that we see from the top or the sides of these figures.

Social Studies:  
Today, we will introduce the Gold Rush Wax Museum project to our students; the final presentation will be shared with you at Open House!  The project has many different components (research essay, informational board, costume, speech, props) and a series of due dates to help students manage their time and accomplish tasks piece by piece.  Time in class will be given to work on the project, but students will also need to complete some parts for homework.  Please be sure to have your child show you the list of guidelines and expectations, which will be handed out today in class.

Science:
Investigation 3 of our Environments unit will wrap up this week for all classes. Aquatic environments have been established and are being observed. We will examine food chains and food webs to conclude this investigation.  Assessing understanding with applicable I-Checks or response questions will also occur during the week. Each teacher will be scheduling these assessments with their groups, so check the village calendar for dates to plan supporting reading outside of class to prepare for the open book/note test.  

CA Trivia:
What dam backs up four rivers to form the largest manmade lake in the state, a prime water recreation area?

Monday, April 22, 2013

End of April Reminders

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
April 22-April 26


Mark Your Calendars:
  • Friday, April 26th:  Crazy Sock Day!
  • April 29th - May 3rd:  STAR Testing Week
  • Thursday, May 23rd:  Sacramento Field Trip
  • Friday, May 24th:  Learning Day (No School)
  • Wednesday, May 29th:  Open House


Curriculum Flash!
Language Arts
Our classes will be starting our last core literature book, Bridge to Terabithia, this week. As a Rockhopper Village, we’ve planned activities to begin our unit that will allow our students to think carefully about the ideas introduced in the novel.  The first few chapters are on our reading list for this week.  

For our two classrooms, we begin our preparations for our fine arts performance entitled “Gold Dust or Bust!” this week.  Our actors will be rehearsing their songs, lines, and start their group planning for choreography.  The goal this week will be to become comfortable with song melodies and lyrics.

Math:
4th grade:
As we welcome our math students back, we shift our attention gradually from geometry to measurement concepts.  We will review customary and metric measurement terms, practice accurate measurement with appropriate tools, and compare customary and metric measurements of particular items.  Toward the end of the week, we will review the geometry terminology we studied prior to the break, and our classes will take a short Geometry Quiz on Friday.  

5th grade:
This week we will review some previously learned concepts in geometry and continue to teach the fifth grade standards that involve finding the area of parallelograms, triangles, and complex figures, along with finding the sums of the interior angles of both triangles and quadrilaterals. In addition, we’ll review classifying polygons and solve multi-step problems. Finally,  we’ll review of Unit 8.  Whew!  What a busy first week back!

Social Studies:  
Students will wrap up the projects they’ve been working on before break which  will serve as closure to our unit on Mexican California.  We will segway into The Gold Rush by reading and taking notes.

Science:
Our Environments unit will resume this week for all classes. Investigations 1 & 2 are largely complete at this point, and all classes will be examining aquatic environments and the effect of various organisms on the health of the environment.  Depending on the class progress on these investigations, science teachers will assess understanding with applicable I-Checks for the investigations.  Each teacher will be scheduling these assessments with their groups.  

CA Trivia:
The “Big Four” in CA history refers to whom?

Monday, April 1, 2013

April's Foolish Weekly Reminders

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
April 1-April 5


Mark Your Calendars:


  • Monday, April 1: Rooms 20 & 21 Literature Circles #3


  • Wednesday, April 3: Rooms 20 & 21 Literature Circles #4
  • Wednesday, April 3: Field Trip to see “Pocahontas” 10:15 -12:00. Lunch from home needed.
  • Wednesday, April 3: 5th grade “Dream Bedroom” project due
  • Thursday, April 4th:  Family Science Night
  • Friday, April 5th:  Report cards go home
  • April 8th-19th:  Spring Break!
  • Monday, April 22nd:  School resumes


Do You Love Science?

On Thursday, April 4, our school will be holding our annual Family Science Night!  This is a terrific way to spend an evening with family and friends doing something you really love - SCIENCE!  Please check the Portal website, or the attached .pdf document if you’re reading this Reminder in your e-mail, for all the details.


Curriculum Flash!
Language Arts
Our classes are wrapping up our second group of Literature Circle sessions this week.  The discussions have been lively, thought-provoking, and often humorous!  Students have been able to work on their oral language skills and respond to literature at the same time; it’s been a great use of our time.  A new oral component of our curriculum comes into play this week as well- our Room 20 & 21 fine arts performance entitled “Gold Dust or Bust!”  We are conducting auditions during every spare language art class moment, along with some lunch sessions thrown in for good measure.  Every student will end up with an important role in our play, whether it be a lead character, small group ensemble member, or masters of ceremony for the evening.  Strong voices, singing ability, and acting are what we’re looking for- ask your son or daughter for their impressions of their audition!

Math:
4th grade:
Geometry Takes Shape! Our classes our immersed in plane geometry concepts this week.  We’re wrapping up any questions our classes have about geometric shapes, symmetry, and congruence, and we’re moving along into the calculation of area and perimeter as the week draws to a close.  As always, we’ll be using our Problem of the Day work to revisit concepts, check for understanding of current ideas, and examine expressions of mathematical reasoning.

5th grade:
This week we will strengthen students’ understanding of the relationship between fractions, decimals and percents.  Students will continue to work on their math menu projects and we have the Level 2 Placement Test on Thursday. We will also be providing an optional packet of 5th grade math skills  for students work on over the next several weeks.

Social Studies:  
Students are continuing to work on their project of creating a diseno, reata, and typing up a narrative of rancho life experiences.  Please have your child tell you more about the three parts of the project!

Science:
Our Environments unit continues with additional observation of our terrariums, including data acquisition related to plant growth.  We will also debate and implement any changes necessary to our terrarium environment like more/less water, removal of the sealed lid, additional lighting, etc.  As the week goes on, our classes will also test variations in conditions that would impact our other living organisms- beetles and isopods.  Soil condition (wet v. dry) and lighting are factors that may influence beetle and isopod behavior.  Finally, some of us have already introduced our third type of environment- aquariums.  Ask your student about their class; we’re all covering the same material, but our schedules are a bit different at this moment!

CA Trivia:
In addition to the panning and hydraulic mining methods, what was another gold-mining technique?