Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Have Fun!
We viewed one of these amazing light shows as a reward for completing our math test this morning. Here is a great one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAXMtUCcp7o&feature=related
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAXMtUCcp7o&feature=related
Enjoy!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thursday News 10/20
Hi, Fifth Grade Families!
Just a short newsletter for a short week. I have some kudos to sing!
First of all, I am proud to announce that Room 210 won both the nickel challenge and the quarter challenge for the book fair! Thanks to our generous (and competitive) class for their amazing collection! As a reward, our classroom will soon be receiving two bean bag chairs! As a part of the fundraising, each class at Swanson will also be receiving $100 worth of books for our classroom library. That is magnificent! In addition, Scholastic gives one book to a charity for each $1 we raise. I am so proud!!
Second, I would like to share my pride about the excellent behavior of our students at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center on Wednesday of this week. We were able to see an educational musical entitled We the People. If is a great preview for all of the American government and American history that we will be learning in social studies this year. While there were other groups who did not model proper theater behavior, you can be proud that our fifth grade group represented Swanson very well! Special thanks to Mrs. Stamn and Mrs. Kim for accompanying us on this rock-n-rollin’ history lesson!
Lastly, I would like to thank all of the parents for meeting with me this week to recognize the amazing abilities or your children!
It truly is a pleasure!
Have a great long weekend!
Cindy Stemper
Just a short newsletter for a short week. I have some kudos to sing!
First of all, I am proud to announce that Room 210 won both the nickel challenge and the quarter challenge for the book fair! Thanks to our generous (and competitive) class for their amazing collection! As a reward, our classroom will soon be receiving two bean bag chairs! As a part of the fundraising, each class at Swanson will also be receiving $100 worth of books for our classroom library. That is magnificent! In addition, Scholastic gives one book to a charity for each $1 we raise. I am so proud!!
Second, I would like to share my pride about the excellent behavior of our students at the Sharon Lynn Wilson Center on Wednesday of this week. We were able to see an educational musical entitled We the People. If is a great preview for all of the American government and American history that we will be learning in social studies this year. While there were other groups who did not model proper theater behavior, you can be proud that our fifth grade group represented Swanson very well! Special thanks to Mrs. Stamn and Mrs. Kim for accompanying us on this rock-n-rollin’ history lesson!
Lastly, I would like to thank all of the parents for meeting with me this week to recognize the amazing abilities or your children!
It truly is a pleasure!
Have a great long weekend!
Cindy Stemper
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Thursday News 10/13
Hi, Fifth Grade Families!
The focus of this week's newsletter is parent-teacher conferences.
I am really looking forward to meeting all of you again. You are welcome to bring your fifth grader along to join in our discussion. You should have already received your conference time. If you are unable to make it, please contact me to reschedule.
Here are some things that I might ask you during our conference time:
What does your child have to say about school at home?
What does your child enjoy doing at home?
What does your child spend most of his/her time doing at home?
Are there certain things that your child dreads doing?
What types of books or TV shows is your child most interested in?
There will also be some things that I will want to tell you about your child in school. Some of these might include:
How your child is progressing academically.
How your child gets along with others in class and outside.
What special talents or strengths I have seen here at school.
Tests and test scores
Goals your child has created as well as goals that I have for your child
The quality and quantity of work your child does.
There are some questions that you might want to ask me. If you cannot think of any, I can offer you a few as starters:
Does my child get the work done that should be done?
Does my child have good work habits?
How does my child respond to being told what to do?
How does my child respond when he/she makes a mistake?
Should I be expected to help with homework?
What can I do to help my child at home?
Our conference will be a good time for both of us to learn about your child. Unfortunately, our conference time is limited to 20 minutes. I know that we will all have a lot of great things to talk about this time will go quickly. I apologize if at any time you are feeling rushed.
In order for me to make the best use of our time together, if you have any particular questions or areas of concern, please email me ahead of time so that I can gather the data, answers, or information to best address this topic.
Thanks! Have a great weekend!!
The focus of this week's newsletter is parent-teacher conferences.
I am really looking forward to meeting all of you again. You are welcome to bring your fifth grader along to join in our discussion. You should have already received your conference time. If you are unable to make it, please contact me to reschedule.
Here are some things that I might ask you during our conference time:
What does your child have to say about school at home?
What does your child enjoy doing at home?
What does your child spend most of his/her time doing at home?
Are there certain things that your child dreads doing?
What types of books or TV shows is your child most interested in?
There will also be some things that I will want to tell you about your child in school. Some of these might include:
How your child is progressing academically.
How your child gets along with others in class and outside.
What special talents or strengths I have seen here at school.
Tests and test scores
Goals your child has created as well as goals that I have for your child
The quality and quantity of work your child does.
There are some questions that you might want to ask me. If you cannot think of any, I can offer you a few as starters:
Does my child get the work done that should be done?
Does my child have good work habits?
How does my child respond to being told what to do?
How does my child respond when he/she makes a mistake?
Should I be expected to help with homework?
What can I do to help my child at home?
Our conference will be a good time for both of us to learn about your child. Unfortunately, our conference time is limited to 20 minutes. I know that we will all have a lot of great things to talk about this time will go quickly. I apologize if at any time you are feeling rushed.
In order for me to make the best use of our time together, if you have any particular questions or areas of concern, please email me ahead of time so that I can gather the data, answers, or information to best address this topic.
Thanks! Have a great weekend!!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Writing Is Like Sculpting
I see the story as a lump of clay.
The story is more or less there. I need to bring in the detail.
The first stage then, whether we are short story or a 80,000 word plus novel, is to slap it down. Here comes the outline of the basic idea. It already looks like a story.
First, I check, does it really have the right balance. Have I got the right shape in my clay?
Then we go into detail. Is my story using the right voice for its reader? Is the sculpture right for its purpose? But whatever I do at this stage or late, I must not alter the basic shape.
Then comes a whole process which involves putting extra bits in and taking other bits out. Tinkering. Does the dialogue work? Would people really say that? Is it adding to character or plot? Am I writing enough with my senses? It feels like sculpting because I have to had and subtract and smooth over.
Finally, there is the last read through, the reading out loud, which slows you enough to notice clunky sentences, basic spelling and grammar mistakes and typos. You finally step back and take in the whole of your sculpture and look for any jagged lines. You smooth and make now minor adjustments which serve the integrity of the whole.
The sculpted story is complete.
We explored these similarities and discussed the writing process as we sculpted with Play Doh Friday.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thursday News 10/6
Happy Thursday, Fifth Grade Families!
I want to commend our wonderful fifth graders. They were recognized for their good behavior for the paraprofessionals at lunchtime by receiving the Golden Shoe Award for last week. I am very proud of them! Lunch transition can be a hard time to keep quiet in the hall. Way to go Room 210!
I also received a great report from our first guest teacher. On Tuesday, the students had a substitute and were very respectful and helpful.
Today, students are bringing home new book orders. You may wish to order via paper order form and check (made out to scholastic) or order on-line (our code is GVHY8).
Please keep an eye out in tomorrow’s home folder. The field trip permission slip is coming home. It has a rather quick turnaround time (Oct. 17th) due to our field trip on October 19th. If you need to set up a payment play or need some financial assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Upcoming Important Dates
October 12th Picture Make Up and Re-take Day
October 17th Field Trip Permission Slip and Money Due
October 19th Field Trip to Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
October 20th Half Day for Students/Conferences
October 21st No School for Students/Conferences
October 24th-26th WKCE Testing
October 27th-28th No School
So…with tests, conferences, fieldtrips, etc., I am sure you are wondering if there is time left for learning. The answer is a very big YES! We are keeping very busy to make sure we have a very productive month of learning as well. Here is what we are up to in a nutshell:
Math—Unit 2 (Test on 10/12) which focuses on the role of estimation while reviewing addition, subtraction, and multiplication algorithms and expanding those algorithms to include decimals. It also touches on probability and measurement. We will get a start on Unit 3 this month also.
Science—We will be finishing up our unit on Variables with our last experiment using “flippers” which are similar to catapults. Students will then be tested on our unit to check their understanding of controlled experiments, variables, and two-coordinate graphs.
Writing—Students will complete their personal narrative genre study. We are placing a great deal of emphasis on revising for content and editing for conventions. We will then be doing a short paragraphing unit while creating a letter for a veteran being honored in Washington D.C. (a touch of social studies, which we will be starting in the last week of the month). We have completed our first 3 units of spelling and will continue to do 2 more this month. We have also been working on many grammar and writing skills including: fragments and run-ons, correct ending punctuation, four types of sentences, when to start a new paragraph, subject-verb agreement.
Reading—We continue to work on our comprehension and accuracy skills while building a strong vocabulary. Our focus has been a fiction read aloud and our book clubs. I continue to be impressed by the transfer of what I am modeling through our read aloud into the discussions at book club. The kids are really putting their new knowledge into practice. Our discussions are becoming deeper, more meaningful, and more student-led. We also continue to work on our skills of reading like a writer. We are discussing and using point of view, figures of speech, strong leads and satisfying conclusions, analogies, and suffixes.
We are also continuing with DARE. We are very proud of our DARE officer, Marek Kotrly, who placed third over the weekend at the Lakefront marathon! He is a good role model for us in so many ways!
Thank you so much for continuing to keep in touch!
Cindy Stemper
I want to commend our wonderful fifth graders. They were recognized for their good behavior for the paraprofessionals at lunchtime by receiving the Golden Shoe Award for last week. I am very proud of them! Lunch transition can be a hard time to keep quiet in the hall. Way to go Room 210!
I also received a great report from our first guest teacher. On Tuesday, the students had a substitute and were very respectful and helpful.
Today, students are bringing home new book orders. You may wish to order via paper order form and check (made out to scholastic) or order on-line (our code is GVHY8).
Please keep an eye out in tomorrow’s home folder. The field trip permission slip is coming home. It has a rather quick turnaround time (Oct. 17th) due to our field trip on October 19th. If you need to set up a payment play or need some financial assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Upcoming Important Dates
October 12th Picture Make Up and Re-take Day
October 17th Field Trip Permission Slip and Money Due
October 19th Field Trip to Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
October 20th Half Day for Students/Conferences
October 21st No School for Students/Conferences
October 24th-26th WKCE Testing
October 27th-28th No School
So…with tests, conferences, fieldtrips, etc., I am sure you are wondering if there is time left for learning. The answer is a very big YES! We are keeping very busy to make sure we have a very productive month of learning as well. Here is what we are up to in a nutshell:
Math—Unit 2 (Test on 10/12) which focuses on the role of estimation while reviewing addition, subtraction, and multiplication algorithms and expanding those algorithms to include decimals. It also touches on probability and measurement. We will get a start on Unit 3 this month also.
Science—We will be finishing up our unit on Variables with our last experiment using “flippers” which are similar to catapults. Students will then be tested on our unit to check their understanding of controlled experiments, variables, and two-coordinate graphs.
Writing—Students will complete their personal narrative genre study. We are placing a great deal of emphasis on revising for content and editing for conventions. We will then be doing a short paragraphing unit while creating a letter for a veteran being honored in Washington D.C. (a touch of social studies, which we will be starting in the last week of the month). We have completed our first 3 units of spelling and will continue to do 2 more this month. We have also been working on many grammar and writing skills including: fragments and run-ons, correct ending punctuation, four types of sentences, when to start a new paragraph, subject-verb agreement.
Reading—We continue to work on our comprehension and accuracy skills while building a strong vocabulary. Our focus has been a fiction read aloud and our book clubs. I continue to be impressed by the transfer of what I am modeling through our read aloud into the discussions at book club. The kids are really putting their new knowledge into practice. Our discussions are becoming deeper, more meaningful, and more student-led. We also continue to work on our skills of reading like a writer. We are discussing and using point of view, figures of speech, strong leads and satisfying conclusions, analogies, and suffixes.
We are also continuing with DARE. We are very proud of our DARE officer, Marek Kotrly, who placed third over the weekend at the Lakefront marathon! He is a good role model for us in so many ways!
Thank you so much for continuing to keep in touch!
Cindy Stemper
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