5th Grade
5th Grade Website (Updated 5/15)
NEW PROJECT: Please see the history project sub-page for details
- English enrichment club set for this friday from 3:20-4:00 at 5B
Mr. Eric Roloff (5B - Hurricane Ridge)
UPDATED 01-28-2012 11:00 aM
Wow! Can you believe that we are nearing the half-way point for this year? Your child is continuing to be challenged in all the curricula, and is most likely displaying higher levels of organization, dedication, and communication at home.
Thank you to those of you who are able to send your child to Friday's English Enrichment Club (3:20-4:00) in the Hurricane Ridge classroom. The past couple weeks have seen nearly a dozen students coming in to participate in fun, and engaging grammar-related activities. Unfortunately all the students have, as of recent, been female; there are several of my male students who could benefit from this kinesthetic review of English basics.
Your child is receiving some of the finest curriculum available, and my partner (Mrs. Anderson) and I are dedicated to fully preparing all students for the next grade and beyond:
Writing: Students are currently developing cover letters to attach to resumes focused on the application for one of the key roles to be filled during the Mars Mission field trip to the Seattle Air & Space Museum in mid-February. Thank you to Mrs. Weigand, a published author, for assisting me in the classroom during these writing classes.
Reading: We are entering the 3rd chapter of the Core Curriculum Classics edition of Don Quixote, and are using reflective questioning, in addition to vocabulary research and the review of instructed reading strategies to enhance reading comprehension and the overall love of reading. Congratulations to the majority of students that have already exceeded their annual outside reading goal of 50 AR points.
English: Students have just completed the Adjectives chapter and are conducting reinforcing reviews of previously instructed material.
Vocab/Spelling: Trends in errors are helping to pinpoint language shortfalls.
Technology: Typing skills are being developed during technology, as well as familiarization with the MS Office suite, to include even Excel. Students loved the creation of bar graphs from formatted columnar data.
Religion: Faith development continues to be our focus, and I applaud your support of the Family Life sessions that edified the family from a Catholic perspective.
Again, I want to thank you all for your continued support. In Christ,
Eric J. Roloff
Mrs. Cheri Anderson (5A - Mt. Baker)
We are quickly nearing the end of our chapter in matter, and I plan to give the Science test on March 30. After that, we will be using the new Science Kit, which we are piloting this year. Our kit is Ecosystems, and in order for the students to create their own ecosystem, they will need to bring in a clean, empty 2 Liter pop bottle. It needs to be clear. We will put in some small plants, and observe the terrarium as it changes. Please bring those in as soon as possible so we will be ready to go in April.
In Christ,
Mrs. Anderson
Important Dates
Writing: the scientific process
Students are using periodicals to analyze expository (fact-based; informative) writing using the techniques of the Step-Up to Writing program. Each color has a separate meaning, indicating background data, a topic, Reason/Detail/Fact (RDF), or an explanation. They work either individually or cooperatively to identify these elements of well-constructed text in contemporary writing that was good enough to be published in a magazine. As they highlight, we identify trends and work to apply what we find to our own writing style. Currently I'm using Food Network and National Geographic, but I'm several magazines shy. If you can donate a couple old magazines to our cause, I'd be grateful. Thank you.
Reading / Literature
Don Quixote
Students love this humorous character who just recently lanced a turning windmill which lifted and threw both horse and rider, wounded, to the ground. I'm not sure if I've ever heard students so entertained by a book in class ... they're giggling throughout the book!
Keep Reading! (Sally Forth!)