Rockhopper Weekly Reminders May 7th - 11th Mark Your Calendars: PSCO Survey is live and ready to be completed: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PSCO May 7-11 STAR testing for Rockhopper students- no parent volunteers during testing time (8-10:50am M-Th, 8-11:45am F) Monday- Friday, May 14-16 STAR testing makeup Tuesday, May 22 8:00-9:00am Literature Circle #1 Thursday, May 24 8:00-9:00am Literature Circle #2 Tuesday, May 29 8:00-9:00am Literature Circle #3 Friday, June 1 12:30-1:15pm Literature Circle #4 10th Annual Portal Field Day!!! Field Day Help Needed! On Friday, June 22nd, 2012, Portal will participate in our 10th Annual Field Day! This is a very fun and exciting day that our students look forward to all year. We need at least 20 parents and lots of responsible and energetic alumni to help with games from 7:45 am until 12 noon. We have two shifts: 7:45 – 10:00 and 9:45 – 12:00, or BOTH!! Most schools are out for the summer on this date, so this is a wonderful opportunity for alumni to do community service. Alumni must sign up in advance. Alumni students who have not signed up will not be allowed to stay on campus. Please, for the safety and enjoyment of the students, no cell phone use or texting during field events. They need your full attention, encouragement, and enthusiasm. Please sign up using our online form available at the link below. We need you to make this fun-filled day happen for our students! Volunteer HERE! Spots are first-come, first-served. We are only taking a limited number of volunteers, so please sign-up soon before all spots are filled! Art Show Help Still Needed! Judy Schulze, our great Rockhopper art teacher, needs our parent support! She says, “I still need a few volunteers who can take artwork home to staple a colored paper backing and label on each piece of art (about 60 per classroom). So far, I have helpers for rooms 19, 22, and possibly 24.” The art show set-up date is Tuesday, June 5th from 8:00am-1:30pm. At present, we have NO volunteers for our two classrooms- please help do our share of the art set-up work by volunteering today! You can notify either Mr. Roels or Miss Scourkes if you would be able to help in this rewarding activity.Thank you! Additional Rockhopper Donations: We are in need of tissues (Kleenex) for our classes. Any donations would be appreciated! Thank you! PSCO Survey: Last week there was a link in your Weekly Reminders to complete the PSCO survey, which relates to PSCO specific questions (this is not the SSC/School survey that you took earlier this year). We would appreciate it if you were to take a few minutes (approx. 3) to answer this short survey, so that PSCO can get your feedback. Please use this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PSCO to access the survey. Thank you. Science Night: The flyer for Science night was sent home last week. If you are interested, please be sure to sign up right away as it is on a first come, first serve basis. The deadline to sign up is this Friday, May 11th. We hope to see you there! Curriculum Flash! STAR Testing: STAR testing begins today, so please be sure that your child gets enough sleep, eats a healthy breakfast, and arrives to school on time! Testing will take place in the morning, and we will continue to teach curriculum in the afternoon. Please try not to schedule appointments for your child, if at all possible, during the testing period. If your child is ill, STAR make-ups will take place next week. So if your child is ill, please keep them at home for that day. Also, be sure to tell your child not to worry about the test. Reassure your child that he or she will do just fine, communicating in a way to reduce anxiety rather than to increase it. Language Arts: We’ve finished our reading of the novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, and we are going to work on creative connections like our bio-poem poetry compositions, poetry comparisons, vocabulary cards, hirakana character words, and Hiroshima landmark watercolors. We will begin our last set of literature circle activities on the following dates: Tuesday, May 22 8:00-9:00am Literature Circle #1 Thursday, May 24 8:00-9:00am Literature Circle #2 Tuesday, May 29 8:00-9:00am Literature Circle #3 Friday, June 1 12:30-1:15pm Literature Circle #4 Both rooms are truly in need of volunteers for this activity, so please email your child’s teacher if you are interested in helping out. Please try to sign up for all four days. If you are not available on all days, let us know which days you ARE available, so we can assign you to different groups. Math 4th grade: Our focus for the rest of this month is our exciting Game Factory probability unit. Concepts that we review and explore include the basic terminology of probability, making predictions, determining the probability of particular events in games by using fractions, grids, and tree diagrams, and eventually developing our own fair game for others to play and enjoy. We’ll have an evaluation of our final game project at the conclusion of the unit. 5th grade: (20) This week in math, we continue our study of geometry. We’re learning about calculating the area of parallelograms, triangles, and complex figures. We’ll also review “circle” concepts. Science: In Rooms 20 & 21, we are going to learn more about the water cycle through our work on Investigation 3 in the Water Planet unit. The investigation focus this week is on the effect of location, temperature, and surface area on evaporation. Half of our time this week will also be used to get Water Planet tech projects ready for our May 21 due date. We’ll be reviewing rubrics to determine whether our research information, oral presentation component, and our technology work in progress meet the grade level standards for this type of work. Social Studies: This week we will continue to move forward in A History of Us. Students will also be introduced to the Wax Museum project later on in the week, so please ask your child for the details. This end of the year project requires researching, writing an expository essay, an oral presentation, a costume, and a backboard, which will be presented to you at Open House! Name that State! This state has the tallest state capital in the United States. At different points in its history, this state was owned by France and Spain. This state's counties are called "parishes." Ninety-eight percent of the world's crayfish are in this state. This state hosts a huge Mardi Gras celebration every year. Which state is it?