Weekly Reminders 11/1/11

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
November 1-4

Mark Your Calendars:
Wednesday, 11/2: Destination Imagination Parent Training at 6:30 p.m.
Wendesday, 11/2: Let Miss Scourkes know if you are able to help with our social studies project!
Thursday, 11/4: 5th grade math unit test on algebra (finding patterns, rules, graphing equations, properties, and other strands that may not be listed here)
Thursday, 11/10: Geography Test - Cumulative up through the North Cental States
Friday, 11/11: Veteran’s Day: No school
Thursday, 11/17: Rockhopper Reading Contract Due




Curriculum Flash!

Language Arts:

Our oral presentation dates will be the week of November 14-16. Planning ahead for this presentation will entail rereading book details for clarity, preparing costume and prop items, and rehearsing your speech several times to gain confidence and volume! We will not have literature circles until December; stay tuned for times and dates.
In writing, students have completed their first expository essay. We’ve also practiced peer revision and editing to improve our work. They will apply these skills on our future informational assignments in social studies and science.
We continue to devote the majority of our time to our fine arts performance- oral language, conveying meaning through proper expression, and body language are also critical life skills!

Reading Contracts:

The Rockhopper Reading Contract is due at the end of the trimester on November 17th. Your child is required to give you an oral summary of the book in order to receive your signature.

Math

4th grade: Last week, students learned new mathematical vocabulary related to multiplication (factors, multiples, prime, composite, square numbers), and created beautiful factor wheels as a way to visually represent their learning! This week, our concentration is on the order of operations and using this knowledge to create expressions that fit a given situation.

5th grade: We’re covering Mathematical Properties this week with a strong emphasis on understanding and using the Distributive Property in equations and functions.


Science:

We have switched back to our curriculum on Living Systems and we will working on Investigation 3: Sugar & Cells. Before the trimester ends, we will make as much progress in this unit as possible. At the end of the trimester, I will collect notebooks to review in-class work and effort.

Social Studies Volunteer Opportunity!

Dear Parents:
the time has come for our next volunteer opportunity in the classroom! We will be learning about the Native American Tribes of the Eastern Woodlands. In the coming weeks, in our classrooms, we will be working on an art project to reinforce our understanding of the cultures of these tribes. We will be making wampum belts and need extra helping hands to make this project successful. No specific art skills are required for volunteers! We need two to three parents per classroom to volunteer.

Please understand that we have had to cancel previous projects due to a lack of parent volunteers, and that we really do need help in the classroom to be able to integrate crafts into our social studies curriculum.

If you are available on Monday, November 28th from 12:30pm - 2:50p.m., please email your child's social studies teacher by Wednesday, November 2nd!

If you would like to help out "behind the scenes," we need a few parents to help dye macaroni. Please let us know by Wednesday, November 2nd!

Thank you in advance,
Your Social Studies Teachers: Athena Scourkes, Jen Lu, Rebecca Regosin

Birthday Book Donations: A note from Mrs. Lim

Students are encouraged to each make a book donation in honor of their birthday. Parents write a check for $10 to PORTAL SCHOOL, and they come into the library to choose a book from a selection of brand new hard-cover books.

Some students have already made donations this year, but there are many who would be new to this. Students get their names and birthday printed on a Penguin label. That label is affixed permanently to the inside cover of the book. They get to be first to check out the book.

Students can make the donation anytime of year (it doesn't have to be during their birthday month only).

Thanks very much!

To access Quizlet flashcards to study the North Central States, click here:
North Central States


Name that State!
Swedish immigrants to this state built the first log cabins in North America in 1683.
This state was named after an early Virginia governor.
The state bug of this state is the ladybug.
This state was the first of the original 13 states to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
It is the second-smallest state in the United States.
Which state is it?