Weekly Reminders 5/9/2011

Weekly Reminders: Rooms 20 & 21

Dear Room 20 & 21 Parents,

Last week was truly an EXPERIENCE! Sacramento and its many museums and historical sights was really a great way to spend a school day; we were immersed in the history of California in a way that we cannot replicate in the classroom. Now, we are definitely in the "home stretch" of our school year- there's much to learn, but also much to complete and prepare for our anthologies, end of the year projects, and Open House later in the month. Let's all come to school each day with energy, enthusiasm, and a desire to demonstrate our best in our work and attitude- we can DO it!

Our blogsite addresses are:

Room 20 (Scourkes) http://rockhopperroom20.blogspot.com
Room 21 (Roels) http://gtfroom22.blogspot.com


**** A PARENTS ONLY Special Event! ****

Penguins, mark your calendars!

Would you like more ideas on how to help your child in positive ways regarding schoolwork, homework and life? Come to our Portal Parent Education Evening:

"An Evening with Rick Morris"
Tuesday, May 17th
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Portal Multi-Purpose Room
Parents-Only

Mr. Morris, a dynamic, entertaining and informative speaker on classroom management and parenting, brings over 31 years of teaching experience to Murdock-Portal! (Mr. Morris is also an “experienced parent” – with two grown daughters and a son in high school.) The starting point of the evening will be "Discipline is Teaching, Not Punishment." Then you will take a look at the big picture of parent-child interactions covering the basics of what works and what doesn't! Mr. Morris talks about “the Parent Trap--being permissive or punitive--and how to avoid it.” He will also present ideas and suggestions from Robert MacKenzie's book, Setting Limits. You will find the evening lots of fun and enlightening!

If both parents cannot attend, I suggest the parent who works most with your student and homework attend.

I hope to see you there! - Julie Ales


Curriculum Notes:

Language Arts- Bridge to Terabithia and its characters have taken hold of us, and we are now fully absorbed in their lives. We continue to contemplate the circumstances that surround our central character's actions as we draw closer to the climax of the story next week. Spelling resumes this week as well; we will continue to build a greater vocabulary of word families through our spelling lists until the end of the year.
Math- 4th graders are finishing our study of solid figures, including descriptive terminology,the use of nets to build figures, and the calculation methods for surface area and volume. We will have a short quiz on Wednesday to check our understanding of Chapters 27 & 28.
Math - 5th graders are wrapping up our geometry unit along with extra practice at interpreting data and graphs.
Science- We continue with our Solid Earth unit, and we are concentrating our efforts on scientific observation of minerals. This means that we try to describe our minerals in great detail, supporting our words with realistic drawings where possible. We also will be using techniques to analyze mineral properties such as hardness and streak, and we will compare our data with established guidelines for mineral identification.
Social Studies- This week our focus turns to writing our gold rush essays based on the research we've completed. I've reviewed timelines and expectations with the students to help keep them on track.

Literature Circles -Volunteers Needed!
We will be having our last literature circle groups of the year on the following dates, all times from 8:15 - 9:10am:

Monday, May 23
Wednesday, May 25
Tuesday, May 31
Thursday, June 2

Would you be willing to come in and listen to a small group or two? Ask any parent who has volunteered for this job before - it's lots of fun, easy to do, and a tremendous help to ensure success for our groups! It's best if you can attend all 4 sessions so there is consistency, but if that's not possible, please let us know the dates you're available, and we will work with your schedule as best as we can. Please email your family room teacher as soon as possible if you're able to help!


Calendar of Events:

Wed. 5/11 4th grade math quiz; Ch. 27 & 28
Thur. 5/12 5th Grade Math Placement Test - Level 2
Fri. 5/20: 5th Bedroom Project Due
Mon. 5/23: Wax Museum Boards Due
Scientific Method- Part Two Due
1st Literature Circle @8:15am
Tues. 5/24 Bridge to Terabithia test
Wed. 5/25: Open House (Rockhopper time 7-7:45pm)
2nd Literature Circle @8:15am
Fri. 5/27: Learning Day
Mon. 5/30: No SCHOOL
Tues. 5/31 3rd Literature Circle @8:15am
Thurs. 6/2 4th Literature Circle @8:15am
Mon. 6/6: Last day of P.E.
Science Fair Project Board due
Tues. 6/7 Volunteer Brunch
Thurs. 6/9: Academy of Sciences Field Trip
Fri. 6/10: Field Day
Tues. 6/14: Recognition Ceremony/Last Day of School!!!


California Trivia Clue (student responses are REQUIRED):

The largest of CA’s carnivorous plants is known as what?

Sincerely,

Mr. Roels and Miss Scourkes
Rooms 20 & 21
Rockhopper Village
Portal School