Category Archives: Weekly Updates

Exciting Writing Opportunities

Hi families,

This post is for any and all of my students!

There are a few writing opportunities of which I have recently been made aware that I have been meaning to share with you. I apologize for not sending this out much sooner!

  • ACPS poetry contest! Students are encouraged to participate in the ACPS poetry contest – they may write a poem in any form, but may only write on one side of the page that they use. Students should turn submissions in to me by Wednesday, March 16
  • Northern VA Writing Project Saturday Workshops: There have been a few that I neglected to write to you about in time, but there is one coming up on Saturday, April 2 at the GMU Fairfax Campus. 9:00a-1:00p; $70 for new students, $65 for returning. More info/register online
  •  Northern VA Writing Project Summer Institute: July 11-22 (M-F only), 9:00a-1:00 p at GMU Fairfax Campus. Application deadline March 30. More info/apply online

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks to Ms. Sangare for the heads-up about the Northern VA Writing Project events!

Math 5 Update

Dear families,

This post is in regards to my math 5 class (third block).

We have just begun our new unit on division! Students have shown a mixed level of background in division, so we are going to start with a review of the division strategy they learned last year; and eventually, all the students in the class will know how to use the traditional method of division (the way we were all taught) in order to solve long division problems.

Throughout the unit, it is of utmost importance that students are solid on their basic multiplication facts in order to solve division problems correctly. The best way you can help your child is to make multiplication facts flash cards with them and practice with them a little (maybe 10 minutes) every day – that will make division so much more efficient and easy for them.

In addition, if you allow them Internet access at home, there are tons of great games and practice activities on First In Math (they know what it is and how to log in) that will give them more practice with all the operations.

Next week, we will also begin a new weekly math challenge that will be given as a choice in addition to our other class work. This challenge will require them to stretch their math thinking and try many different approaches to a problem. Students who have shown a strong background in division will be spending their class time next week working through this problem; but please note that it may still require some time at home. Other students who would like to attempt the problem will be given it as a choice, but will have to work on it at home.

As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Writing 5 Update

Dear families,

This post is in regards to my 5th grade writing class (4th block of the day).

We have begun working on persuasive writing – one of my favorite genres of writing! Students have chosen a topic they care about, and they have found three compelling reasons to support it. We are currently working on building evidence to illustrate and prove each reason. We have discussed what makes solid evidence – that in some cases it’s facts, statistics and data; and in other cases, it’s personal stories and “what if” scenarios that paint mental images for readers. We have also practiced being discerning users of the Internet for research, using the acronym AAA: Appearance, Author, and Accuracy to find valid, trustworthy websites to gather evidence when facts and statistics are needed.

Students are working on building their plan for their persuasive essays, called boxes and bullets, on their Google Drive accounts. I hope you will take a look at their plan with them over the weekend! Next week, we will finish making our plans and begin drafting our essays using the language of persuasive writers.

We have just started a slightly new spelling/vocabulary program with three sections (commonly misspelled words, strong vocabulary words, and word patterns with Greek and Latin roots). All the students in the class are working on the same list right now because we realized that it is important for the entire class to not only have exposure to, but also to master the skills that are on the lists – both for their own writing, and also for test-taking skills as the year goes on. We will take a break from it next week as we have a shortened week, but the week of January 25, students will receive a new list that we will go over piece by piece. They will be tested on that list the following Thursday, February 4. I will give a practice test during the week of the test as homework, so that you and they can see what the test will be like and be fully prepared for it.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me!

TAG 4/5 Writing Update

Dear families,

this update is in regards to the combined 4th/5th grade second block TAG Writing class.

We have embarked on our persuasive writing unit! Please ask your child what topic and thesis they have chosen for their persuasive essays – we have some very passionate persuaders in class! We are just now in the planning phase – students have figured out their thesis and their three reasons why, and they have been working on gathering evidence that illustrates each reason. We have discussed what makes compelling evidence – that in some cases it’s facts and statistics but in other cases it’s personal stories. We have practiced being discriminating researchers on the Internet, using AAA (Appearance, Author, Accuracy) to determine if a website will have useful information. In the next week, we will finish our planning and begin the drafting process.

Students have a Greek and Latin roots packet that they have until Wednesday, January 20 to complete activities C, D, E and F in; we won’t have our class on Tuesday as the 5th graders will be going to Winkler that day. On Wednesday the 20th, we will also have our test on that unit (Unit 6 – Time and Place, the roots chron, temp, loc).

Students are also self-directing their own creative writing projects, some of which are collaborative. I am so impressed with the level of thinking and creativity that they are putting into these projects! We only have one day each week in class (Fridays) to dedicate to the projects, and I have asked students to spend about an hour a week outside of our Friday time to work on them as well. I hope you will talk to your child about the project they are creating – I think you will be impressed!

As always, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns!

TAG Reading 5 update

Dear families,

Just a quick update about our TAG 5 Reading class:

  • we are studying the elements of historical fiction right now. Your child is either reading Out of the Dust or Esperanza Rising.
  • Students have had 3 reading deadlines for the books and their final deadline, the end of the book, is Wednesday, January 20. They will have their final book club meeting for that book on Wednesday morning in class.
  • In order to prepare for the book club meetings, students are required to answer a set of questions on a Google Doc that they have been working on.
  • When we finish these books on Wednesday, students will start reading and learning about fantasy, and they will have book club meetings about those books as well. Their reading page deadlines will be given to them on bookmarks that I would like for them to keep in their books as constant reminders.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and as always please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!

Updates for writing classes

Dear families,

I think I have been confusing some of you lately when I post about my writing classes, which are on two separate tracks. For now, to ease confusion, I’ll put all my writing classes’ updates into one post. I hope this helps!

TAG Writing (4th and 5th grade, 2nd block): students are finishing their first published stories – realistic fiction. These final drafts are going to be hand-written, and I will score them using the attached rubric. Once all students’ Google Drive accounts are set up, a lot more of their writing will be done within their Drive accounts and final drafts will be typed and printed. Today (Friday) is their last day to finish their stories in class. A few students have received extensions to turn their stories in on Monday, but everyone else is turning theirs in today. From here, we are going to move on to writing personal and then persuasive essays.

In spelling, this class has a list of words with prefixes each week. They have in-class warm-ups and homework Monday through Thursday with these words (please see previous post for more information).

Writing (5th grade only, 4th block): students are in the revising process of their first published story, a realistic fiction story. We are revising by getting rid of boring words (like “said” and “mad”) and replacing them with more literary words; stretching out the detail in the most important parts of the story by showing, not telling; and by finding the theme (lesson) in our stories and making them end so that our character learns the lesson we want to teach readers.  We will be finishing and writing final drafts of these stories next week. I will be using the attached rubric to score each student’s story.  These stories will be written by hand, but once students’ Google Drive accounts are set up, more of the entire writing process will be completed on the computers through their accounts, for future units. Our next unit up is essays – personal and persuasive.

In word study, we started this week and will have tests every two weeks. Most students are in a group that has a word study list including three sections: commonly misspelled words, strong fifth grade vocabulary, and word pattern words.  We are working through each part of the list together in class. I will keep the same three sections all year with different words each two weeks.Students should expect to have word study homework on Tuesdays and Thursdays; tests will be every other Friday. Our first test will be on Friday, October 16. Tests will require students not only to spell words correctly, but also to know their meanings and how to use them in sentences. Please email me if you have any questions!

Writing Unit 1 Realistic Fiction I Can statements

Math SOL/family life education

Dear Parents,

1. Just a reminder that Math SOL part 2 is tomorrow at 8:20am.  Overall the kids worked really hard today! If your child is in 6th grade math, his/her SOL parts 1 and 2 will be tomorrow. Please make sure your child gets a really good night of sleep tonight!

2. Family Life will begin on Wednesday. The information of the lessons went home with most children today, but some students did not get theirs to bring home today so I’ll send them home with those students tomorrow. Sorry! We teach family life to all students unless we receive word from you that you would like to opt-out your child. If that is the case, please just email one of us. Thank you!

Announcements: May 29, 2015

Dear families,

as a reminder, students who are in fifth-grade math will take part 1 of 2 of their Math SOL test on Monday, June 1. The best way to prepare over the weekend is by…

  • getting lots of sleep each night, especially on Sunday night
  • eating healthily and hydrating all weekend, especially with a healthy breakfast (no sugar – not even sugary cereal!) on Monday morning
  • getting lots of outside running around time all weekend

Students in grade 5 math will take part 2 of their math SOL test on Tuesday, June 2. All students taking 6th grade math will take their entire SOL on Tuesday, June 2. All fifth-graders will take their science SOL on Thursday, June 4. Students have lots of note cards for review. Please encourage them to study or even play study games with their science note cards to help them!

Another announcement – ACPS is having a poetry contest and submissions are due to our school’s representative by end of school on Wednesday, June 3. Unfortunately we have not had class time for working on poetry as our writing time has been devoted to science and math review, so I am attaching the guidelines and rubric for you to peruse. Please encourage your child to participate by writing a poem and submitting it to me by Wednesday!

One last announcement – if you have not signed or had your child turn in their end-of-year trip and promotion forms, please do so Monday. We need them for our headcount for the events. Thank you!

poetry contest information 2015

 

Important form coming home

Dear families,

we have an important form from the school coming home today. It is a paper giving information about an important update to Virginia’s SOL procedures, and we need your permission to follow the procedure. Please ask your child for the form tonight and read through it, and then please sign and send back the permission form with your child tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your help with this!

 

Reading and Writing update: April 28

Dear parents,

this update is for parents of children in my reading and writing classes.

READING: SOL review is in full swing! Here is a basic overview of our weeks up until May 19 (our SOL test date for reading):

  • developing and practicing note-taking strategies for the different kinds of passages that will appear on the test (narrative, expository, advertisement/webpage, poetry). Ask them about their Lady Gaga song for narrative passage note-taking….
  • developing and practicing a strategy to systematically and thoughtfully answer each question – Called King ABCD and The Strategies (will be taught soon.)

WRITING: we are FINALLY back into personal narrative writing, this time with memoirs! Please ask your child what makes a memoir different from just a personal narrative, and what seed stories they are currently writing that they’re thinking of using for their memoirs.

WORD STUDY: we are taking a break from the system of word study that we have been using in the last couple of weeks to focus our time on the type of word study that will be required for success on the test: understanding word parts including prefixes, suffixes, and root words, as well as synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and multiple meaning words. Most work will be short-term class work and homework assignments.

A word about homework during this time:

  • All students still have an independent book to be reading, but they know they will not have much time in class to read them. They need to be reading on their own at home and completing 2 thinkmarks for the books. Books are due to be completed on May 8. Please ask your child about what book they have chosen and how it is going!
  • Monday through Thursday, students will have homework involving a reading passage and possibly questions about it as practice. This is not my favorite type of homework but during this time it is important that they get their practice using our test-taking strategies, so that it can be habitual by the time that we take the test. Thank you for your support in helping them remember to complete this and all assignments.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave a comment on this blog post or email me. Thanks!