MAY

With all that testing finally behind us, we are moving on to do some fun things here in fifth grade!

• We have just begun our third and final novel study: The Secret Garden. We have enlisted the help of some of the faculty and staff in order to gather a nice collection of "secret" seeds. We began planting yesterday. The idea is to create our own "secret garden." Meaning, we won't really know what we have planted until they start to bloom!

• We have also started a mini unit on Walt Disney. We will be exploring some classical work by Disney, writing summaries, inventing toys, researching movie making roles, and much more!

• In Math, we have started our final unit in geometry. The kids are learning to use a protractor, identify and classify triangles and quadrilaterals, and working with 3-D shapes.
• Our field trip to the Royalton Ravine is June 2nd, with a rain date of June 3rd.

• Towards the end of May, we will begin reviewing for our final exams.

• There will not be a final exam in Religion. The kids will be doing a service project instead. Details coming soon!

MARCH

March is a VERY busy month for us!

Please mark the following dates on your calendar:

• March 11th - Generation Mass (Gr. 2-3)
• March 16th - Niagara Chocolates are in!
• March 13th - Faculty In-Service: Half Day for students
• March 20th - NO School
• March 27th - Report Cards
• March 30th-April 6th - Easter Break

April marks the month that we begin our NYS testing. While I see some value in standardized testing, I feel it important to look at the growth of your child academically throughout the whole school year. Success should not be measured by one test.

• April 14th-16th -  ELA test
• April 22-24th - MATH test

Please make sure your child gets a good night sleep. I do my best to put as little pressure on them as possible the days of testing.

The first day of the ELA and the first day of the MATH, I will provide breakfast for the kids. 

Happy New Year!

2015

January is a busy time for us in fifth grade!

Here are a few things we will continue to work on throughout the month:

• Persuasive Writing (finding our voice, ideas and working on sentence fluency)
• Figurative Language (similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, personification)
• Close Reading

A few new things this month include:

• Fractions
• A new novel - The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
• Exploration of Non-fiction texts 
• Writing Non-fiction reports
• The Water Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle and Carbon Dioxide-Oxygen Cycle

January 9th - Field trip to The Harbor Center

January 19th - No school (Martin Luther King)

Please remember that our Annual Open House is this month as well. (January 25th)

Continue to encourage your child to read at least 20 minutes every night!

December

The Christmas season is upon us!

This morning, we began our day by attending an Advent Prayer service. It was a time to reflect on the coming season and remember why we celebrate. Back in our classroom, we discussed how the Holy Cross gives us hope. Hope for eternal life. Hope for the coming of Jesus. 

This week we will be finishing up our unit on multiplying and dividing decimals. The test will be Tuesday, Dec.2. We will then be shifting back to working on the Modules.

As most of you know, we are participating in Operation Scrooge. We have received MANY wonderful things to add to our Christmas box. We are still in need of some gift cards for the mother, as well as some Strawberry Shortcake and Tinker bell items for the girls. Books also make GREAT gifts! I can not thank you and your children enough for your generosity toward a family in need.

Our field trip to the Palace Theater to see "Scrooge" is Thursday, December 4th. Please make sure the children are dressed in their regular uniforms. We will be back in time for lunch. 

Please allow time in the evening for your child to be reading at least 20 minutes. Newspapers, magazines, books, comics, etc... 

Friday, December 19th is a Half-Day. We will begin with a school wide Mass. If you care to send in any treats, please have them bagged up to send home. We will have popcorn and a movie together to kick off our Christmas break.

NOVEMBER

A couple dates to keep in mind:

November 11 - Veteran's Day (no school)

November 27 + 28 - Thanksgiving Break

Operation Scrooge:

This year, the family our classroom has adopted is #52.

1 adult female (asking for gift cards)
James is 15. (asking for gift cards)
Samantha is 12. (asking for Monster High Doll or Justin Bieber)
Elizabeth is 8. (asking for a Barbie  or Monster High doll)
Marilyn is 7. (asking for Strawberry Shortcake or Tinkerbell)

Thank you so much for helping the kids participate in this service project. I know it will mean a lot to them knowing they have helped a family in need.


We will be having our Chapter 3 Science Assessment on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Please help your child out by reviewing vocabulary as well as the study guide.

As we continue to move forward in Math, please be reviewing multiplication facts, as this will help immensely when we move on to fractions.

Halloween Week

This week we will be reading several reading passages that relate to a Halloween theme.

• Bram Stoker's Dracula (excerpt: focus will be on elements of writing a letter)
• Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven (poetry and expansion vocabulary)
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (integration of art and literature)

There will be no Reading Selection test this week. Also, next week is a Review Unit. This means that the children will be taking a Unit Reading Test. It will focus on the skills we have been developing the last five weeks (making inferences, poetry, main idea and summarizing).

Monday, Nov. 3rd will be our next Math Assessment (rounding decimals, modeling, adding and subtracting decimals).

Halloween:

• The kids can wear their costumes to school (last year to do this!).
• We will have a normal instructional day until the afternoon.
• Around 1:45, the kids have decided on watching The Munsters and having some treats.
• I will provide Apple Cider and Donuts. (additional snack for kiddos with allergies - I will see those parents individually, and I will provide this as well.)
• Please feel free to send in any PRE-PACKAGED treat for your child to pass out. These will be sent home with the kids. Please, no baked goods, unless these are wrapped to send home as well.

Have a SPOOKTACULAR week!

Mrs. Rosenberg

Reading Buddies!

FIRE SAFETY