Happy Monday!!
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Today we had our usual spelling pretest. We then followed it with a classroom spelling bee. All of 4th and 5th grade today gave the same words to find the top three spellers for each individual class. Therefore tomorrow the final 18 spellers will compete to determine which two Sharks will represent us in the district spelling bee.
Spelling bees are always such a unique theatre. You will have a % of students obviously nervous, a % of students who clearly don’t want to participate and you also have the complete randomness of the event. Therefore how one deals with the uniqueness of spelling without pencil & paper and which word “lady luck” delivers, you can get years with just surprising results. You can have students who have earned 99% on their 12 weekly spelling tests be eliminated early while students that don’t shine in the typical environment (pretest, practice, take paper test at end of the week) -- can quickly acquire some spelling momentum and put on a spelling show. This year’s class is full of great camaraderie and they were all supportive of each other and we are all proud of our three winners.
Read A Thon --
We are only counting minutes read outside of class for our classroom and school competition. This is to ensure that all classes and individual students are participating and playing on equal footing. Some individuals and classes get very competitive regarding the Olympic Read A Thon medals therefore counting out of class only was agreed by the Olympic governing committee (i.e. the K-5 lead teachers).
As I stated last week -- if your child is motivated by competition then please play off their need to be the best and a medal winner by using that as motivation. If your child shuts down with competition or that is not a motivation - then build this up as a 30 day opportunity to exercise their brain and enjoy reading more. Instead of being the television show “The Biggest Loser” where in the end everyone wins if they try their best to live a healthier life and lose weight; the Read A Thon is our version of “The Biggest Learner” where everyone wins if they try their best to live a more literate life and learn more.
The yellow reading log needs to be brought home every single day during the competition and brought back to school every single day of the competition. Every two days that all 32 students can successfully bring their reading logs signed and completed will earn the class cookies. However no excuses, no calling home in the morning and no emails/notes from home -- the yellow form needs to go home and return to school every day.
This week we upped the challenge -- 45 minutes of reading at home every night.. Remember Scootpad counts towards the minutes, reading/working on the 2/19/14 book project, spelling practice, science homework and the weekly comprehension assessment counts.
Science -- planets / space with Mrs. Cargo
Math
Multiplying fractions by fellow fractions.
Students are strongly encouraged to:
First: prime factor the numerator and prime factor the denominator
Second: look for the power of one so you simplify the fractions being multiplied
Thirdly: finally find the product of the remaining prime factors in the numerator and denominator
Lewis and Clark:
We read a full chapter of Seaman today. Lewis and Clark are purchasing supplies for the long journey, more employees are hired for the trip, we meet Clark’s slave York and the author drives home the idea that having a dog on the trip will be great for the Corp’s emotional well-being.
End of the Day: Students had 35 minutes to work on homework, write down homework for the week and get ready to leave.
Kind regards,
Mr. Hubbard
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
Frederick Douglas
Homework for the week:
Math
12-2 273-274 7-41 odds due Tuesday
5-3 119-120 9-31 odds due Wednesday
16-3 368-369 1-14 all due Thursday
9-3 202-203 7-31 odds due Friday
Read 45 minutes every single night at home.
Bring the yellow form home every single night and have it signed every single night. No excuses = cookies
Science
164-166 Read and Answer; Vocab for lesson 1 (flash cards) and complete table page 1 (due on Tuesday)
167-169 Read, answer, and make flashcards -- due Wednesday
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