NEWSLETTER FOR SEPTEMBER 14-18, 2009

Greetings, Families!

The students will be finishing DRA reading assessments this week. As a reminder, I collect all homework on Fridays (this week on Thursday, since there is no school on Friday, September 18) There will be an assignment on Thursday that your child takes home over the weekend and completes. It will be due on Monday, September 21.

Please watch for a new, updated reading log you can use at home. The same type will also be used for the in-class reading your child completes at school. If you would like an e-mail copy of this document, please let me know. Updates include a place for you to sign off (some students are already “recycling” previous reading logs) and a place for your child to complete a summary of his or her reading at home for the past week (no reading that night will be required; just completion of the paragraph). Your child is welcome to type this summary. New Reading Logs (with the summary paragraph and your signature) will begin on Monday, September 21.

Below is each subject overview, homework and spelling lists. Please contact me with any requests or concerns. Have a good week.

Ms. Mary Baitinger – Fifth Grade – Florida Pitt Waller

RTI (Response to Instruction) – DRA reading tests will finish this week.
Reading – Continuing The First 30 Days curriculum. This includes habits of good listeners, fluency, reading for punctuation and introducing the Reader’s Notebook (and updated reading log).
Writing – Continuing The First 30 Days curriculum. This includes writing for a purpose endings, sensory details and the writing process (planning, drafting/response, revising, publishing/celebrating).
Math – The Unit 2 pretest will be given on Monday. Students will then be put into new math groups, and the Estimation and Computation unit begins. Lessons this week will include estimating distances, place value and review of adding whole and decimal numbers.
Warmups (spelling, grammar) – individualized spelling lists are below. Some students will also have a grammar packet to complete in class, as they did not pretest out this past week. Should they bring this home, you are welcome to assist them. Spelling and grammar tests will be on Thursday this week (no school Friday).
Science – Continuing exploration of weather and understanding that the angle of the earth at various times throughout the year and latitude of a location affects the amount of sunlight and heat.

Spelling Words:
Group A - glue, flute, youth, accuse, bruise, stew, choose, loose, lose, view//, confuse, cruise, jewel, dilute, route, cartoon, avenue, include, assume, souvenir

Group B - glue, flute, youth, accuse, bruise, stew, choose, loose, lose, view

Group C – No students this week; they will complete the Group A list

Homework:
All homework listed below is due on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER17, unless otherwise noted. It is listed by day also, should you want to break it down into smaller activities for your child.

Due Tuesday, September15, 2009
Reading – 25 minutes each night. Record information on a reading log (available from school or create your own on a sheet of paper—note, beginning the week of September 21, a new reading log will be used where your child must include a short summary of reading for the past week, minimum 75 words)
Math – No homework tonight
Science – Record highs and lows, wind speed precipitation and cloud cover for Denver Monday through Friday (September 14-18, 2009) and share each day your data with the class (websites www.noaa.gov or www.weather.com). Information from the newspaper or television can be used.

Due Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Reading – 25 minutes each night. Record information on a reading log
Math: SL 2.1. To help your child answer the questions, the class median step length is 18 inches; steps in one minute is 120 (180 feet in one minute); 1 mile=5,280 feet.
Science – Record highs and lows, wind speed precipitation and cloud cover for Denver

Due Thursday, September 17, 2009
Reading – 25 minutes each night. Record information on a reading log.
Math – SL 2.2
Science – Record highs and lows, wind speed precipitation and cloud cover for Denver

Due Monday, September 21, 2009
Science - Bring home your planner, science notebook, and copy of CM 4-2 handout given by Ms. Baitinger. Use the information collected in your science notebook and planner to complete CM 4-2. Your persuasive letter should be at least 50 words and include information from each column listed. This assignment is due on Monday, September 21, 2009.