Weekly Reminders 3/11/13

Rockhopper Weekly Reminders
March 11- March 15


Mark Your Calendars:
Monday, March 11th: Start of 3rd trimester!
Thursday, March 14th: CA Missions Test
Thursday, March 21st: 5th Grade Level 1 Math Placement Test
Thursday, March 21st - Friday, March 29th: Parent Conferences: Dismissal at 12:30 each day!
Thursday, March 28th: Miller Middle School Parent Info. Night @ 6:00 p.m.
Friday, March 29th: Spirit Day: Ribbons or Pins Day

Portal Enrichment Program (PEP): The final date for enrollment in our fabulous enrichment program has arrived. During the April break, students enrolled in our PEP program are offered a wide variety of interesting and fun classes to help “enrich” their lives. If your family will not be traveling during the April break, you may want to consider this opportunity. The firm deadline for registration is TODAY- March 11!

Curriculum Flash!
Language Arts:
We have some fun projects planned over the next two weeks as we wrap up By the Great Horn Spoon and move into our shortened days of conferencing As we revisit the major themes of the book, students will be reviewing vocabulary, writing the final entries in their perspective journals, and completing a “One-Pager” open response to share their reflections of the novel.

A wide selection of award-winning, thought-provoking picture books have been chosen in which to continue our practice of the various writing formats within the fourth and fifth grade standards. As fifth graders reach towards mastery of these structures and fourth graders sharpen their understanding and developing skills, all students continue to write within these various styles to strengthen their mechanics, sentence structure, vocabulary, and voice.

We teachers are looking forward to meeting with you to share your child’s progress in the Language Arts as we look ahead and set new goals for the final few months of the school year.

Math:
4th grade: Algebra wraps up for our 4th grade mathematicians this week. We’ll be emphasizing the ability to interpret data in function tables; we’ll express our understanding of visible patterns in data with algebraic expressions and equations. We will also apply algebraic expressions and equations to complete data sets. Our week will finish with a short quiz to assess our understanding and a fun interactive reading/math experience on Friday. Hint: Farm animals, typewriters, and electric blankets may enter into the picture- don’t miss it!

5th grade:
We are currently learning about decimals. In addition to refreshing our addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills, students will be creating a variety of decimal based projects from a “menu”. Some examples of projects might be to create a keynote presentation on how to solve decimal problems, to look for examples of decimals in the real world, or to create a crossword puzzle where all of the answers are found by solving decimal problems. We will also introduce the “Dream Bedroom” Project. Students will work within a budget to create a three dimensional model bedroom and write a persuasive essay as to why their bedroom is the best choice for both parents and children to “purchase”.

5th Grade Math Placement Test: The Level 1 placement test for the fifth graders will be administered on Thursday, March 21st. Students should feel confident with their skills in the strands they have learned. They may review the 4th grade geometry concepts learned last year to re-familiarize themselves with the vocabulary. It is important that students are not stressed over this test since this is a placement test, and will be used only to place students in the appropriate math classes. Students will be given more placement tests throughout middle school. The Level 2 placement test is generally given to those students who pass the Level 1 test. At Portal, all students take the second placement test, which will be given on Thursday, April 4th. This test generally tests students’ proficiency in the sixth grade math standards.

The placement of students in math classes is determined and communicated to you by the middle schools. It is the responsibility of the middle schools to share the testing information and students will learn about their placement in August when the sixth grade students receive their middle school schedules. Per the District rules, there will be no challenge test for incoming sixth grade students. The middle school counselors and teachers will work with students and parents concerning all placement issues in the fall.

Social Studies:
Students should be reviewing all information on the study guide that was sent home in preparation for the Missions test, which they will take on Thursday. In class, we will play Jeopardy to test our knowledge and understanding of the material. Our next unit will focus on Mexican California; the transition from missions to life on a rancho. Students will create a related project in the coming weeks.

Science:
This week in science is a unique opportunity for students to review their understanding of the concepts presented during our Electricity & Magnetism investigations. We’ll be using these investigations as the basis for oral presentations that will be saved in a video format using iPads as our recording device. Students will be giving a 2 minute recap of the purpose of the investigation, the materials used in the presentation, the procedure for the investigation (including a look at the actual investigation setup), and the lesson learned from the investigation. These oral presentations should be available for viewing during the technology portion of our conferences later in the month.

CA Trivia:
Campers and hikers might encounter which kind of bear in the wild regions of CA?