Students have been completing their 2nd trimester novel projects in class this week. On Monday, they wrote two one-paragraph essays and created three vocabulary stars. On Tuesday, they did a Tic-Tac-Toe project which involved the creation of three hands-on projects. On Wednesday, they had class time to continue to work on any incomplete sections of their project. About half the class still has work to do, so we will continue this on Thursday. If your student is done, he/she should bring a book to read while the rest of the class finishes. We will celebrate on Friday!

Students voted to do a Secret Snowman gift exchange at our holiday party on Friday. Please spend approximately $5 so that the gifts are of similar quality and value. The gift should be wrapped and include a gift tag with the TO portion filled out, but the FROM portion left blank. Ideas were shared in class yesterday. A gift card to a popular spot is a pretty safe idea. Please contact me directly if you are low on funds and need a little help with this.

LANGUAGE ARTS:  This week, students will complete an in-class project relative to their semester novel. These were novels that the students selected and had approved at the beginning of the trimester. On Monday, students will write essays during class. On Tuesday, they will complete a hands-on project. On Wednesday, they will play a vocabulary game using their word stars. We will wrap up the week with a party on Friday.
 MATH:  Students continue to work in small groups to solve problems. This is an integral part of our class, and students receive an in-class grade for the effort and quality of work they produce during these activities. This will not always be evidenced by a work product coming home in the Monday folder.  Students will receive homework on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please also make sure that your student has his/her materials available in class to work on their math game project. These are due Friday the 21st at the beginning of ...

We have received a grant from the PSC to purchase sewing machines and fabric for my Theme class. Each student will create a quilt block based on their favorite subject this year. Are you a quilter? Please send me an e-mail. I would love to have some volunteers to help us learn sewing basics in February.

Language Arts: We will be working on Spelling List #21 this week. Please spend a few minutes each night working on the packet and studying for the quiz on Friday. Please make sure that you finish reading your semester novel by Monday, December 17th. We will spend class time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week completing in-class writing assignments based on your semester novel.

Math: We will continue to work on Module 5 in the book. Please note that the graded quiz went home in today's Monday folder. The average grade was 81%. We clearly have some more practice to do before mastery is achieved. Students will be working on a fraction packet this week. Please note that most of the missed questions were related to fractions, hence the additional practice.

Theme: Students will present the Revolutionary War heroes and events they have been learning about. Our projects include rap songs, skits, and other informative and creative endeavors. We are planning ...

We will having an assembly this Wednesday, Dec. 13th to celebrate our student athletes. Make sure you wear your purple and gold!

LANGUAGE ARTS:  We are off and running and ready for a great trimester! As mentioned in last week's newsletter, students have been placed into one of two literature circle groups. We will be reading The Time Bike and The Last Treasure Map. We will start to work on these as soon as the new books arrive. Students will work on Vocabulary Packet #2 this week. It is due on Friday. We will play an in-class word game based upon this week's vocabulary. This trimester, we will alternate between spelling and vocabulary packets each week, in addition to our other work. Remember, students each need to bring in a labeled paper camera for a writing project. The cameras are due by Monday, December 3rd. Also, students should have their personal novel selection in class every day this week.
MATH:  We had a quiz reviewing content that we have studied so far on Friday. Some of the topics were multiplying and dividing with fractions, word problems, Ven ...

Parents, did you know that the three states of matter we learned about in elementary school has been expanded to five, and perhaps even seven? Ask your student what the two new states of matter are, and ask them to describe each.

Mrs. McPherson is organizing another great book fair. We will begin to visit it December 3. Please send money with your students if there are books they would like to purchase!

Welcome back from the Thanksgiving break. It was great to see your happy faces again. We have now wrapped up most of our 1st trimester projects and presentations. There are still a few students who need to wrap up this part of the process. Please note that teachers are finalizing grades this week. Check PowerSchool later in the week to get a good picture of your students 1st trimester grades.