T5W6 - Spring Break Here We COME!

Please take the Student Led Conference survey.  

We want to know what you think! 

(especially if you share compliments...)

ELA - We are currently reading two books, Son and Navajo Code Talkers, and I can tell students have really grown as thoughtful readers.  This week students will be completing their opinion essays.  Most of them are done with their rough drafts and they will be focusing on revising their work.  The essays are due on Friday; however, many students will be done before then.

Math - We will be completing our quadrilateral activities and I'm giving the assessment on Thursday, March 30th.  Students should study the Quadrilaterals Quizlet, complete their homework, and watch the following videos to review the material.
Homework
Quadrilaterals 
Interactive Quadrilaterals
Volume
Area

SS - We are concluding our WWII unit.  Early this week we will discuss the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Homefront, and post-WWII reconstruction.  Some students are interested in completing an extension project.  More information about the extensions are posted in Classroom.

Science - Students began working on their Constructive & Destructive Forces project last week.  They will complete their projects on Tuesday and present their findings to the class on Wednesday.

Study Resources 
Quadrilaterals Quizlet - assessment on Thursday, March 30th
Landforms Quizlet - assessment on Friday, March 31st
WWII Quizlet - assessment on Friday, March 31st

Tybee Update
-Please send in medications by Wednesday, March 29th.  Please make sure they are clearly labeled with directions and your child's name.

Art Display
Our class must have done an awesome job on the last drawing assignment, because all of the pictures around the art room door belong to students in our class! 

 

Conferences were a SUCCESS!

Thank you for coming to Student Led Conferences.  Please fill out the following survey:

Student Led Conference Survey

One of the positive aspects of student led conferences is that it helps students to be accountable for their own learning.  They become advocates for themselves and they take a more active role in identifying and pursing academic goals. 

Some parents may feel that they need to have a short conversation with the teacher about how to help their child in challenge areas.  After Spring Break and our Tybee trip, I'll open up a few conference spots for this purpose.  As always, if you have a short or simple question, feel free to email me.  

T5W5 - Mid-Week Update

My apologizes for the lateness of this week's update.   We have had a busy week and Student Led Conferences are tomorrow.  Please sign up if you haven't done so already.

Math - Last week students learned how to complete multi-step area problems.  Many students have the concept down and they're still working on attending to precision.  This week we have shifted to geometry and we're focusing on quadrilaterals.  We are calculating internal angles, measuring sides, and drawing shapes.  Some students are reluctant to use their rulers and protractors; however, I'm going to keep encouraging them to use the appropriate math tools.  

 Genius Hour - Students created and played their own landforms/Earth forces board games.

 ELA - Students are entering the revision and editing phase for their summative opinion essays.  I reviewed different ways to begin an essay and we discussed several ways to write a conclusion.  Now that students aren't ending their papers with, "The End", I wanted to give them additional tools so that all of their conclusions don't begin with, "In conclusion...."

In reading we are reading two texts, Son, and Navajo Code Talkers.  With both texts students are working on analyzing text details, note-taking, and summarizing.

Science - Students are working on a group project about erosion, weathering, and conservation.

Social Studies - We are continuing our WWII unit.  Students presented excellent projects last week and this week I'm sharing additional information and reviewing.  

Student Led Conferences - Thursday, March 23rd

We're using SignUp.com (the leading online SignUp and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming SignUps.

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/D1j9ka
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

T5W4 Update

Unit of Inquiry:  How the World Works 

Central Idea: Changes occur in our world that are within and outside of our control. 

Homework, Lesson 12, Lesson 13, Lesson 14, Spelling City 

Since there's a teacher workday on Monday, homework is due on Friday.  

Please ask your child to log into Spelling City so that they can show you their progress.  Students complete sentence work and are allowed to study during their morning work time.  Unfortunately, some students aren't using this time productively and they are getting low scores on the spelling and vocabulary quizzes.  I will continue to allow time for in-class study; however, students who find learning new vocabulary challenging should incorporate more study into their homework time.

ELA - Last Friday we completed Messenger and students will be working on their final reflections and group project this week.  We will begin reading Son later this week.  Students will be finishing their research and begin drafting their essays this week.  Additionally, we will continue reading WWII related informational texts.

Math - We are continuing our work with volume and area.

Social Studies - This week we will continue our WWII unit with an inquiry project.  Students were put into groups and each group will research a WWII subtopic.  They will present their topics to the class on Friday.

Science - Last week we went on a walking field trip to Hawk Hollow and the kids really enjoyed it.  This week we are going to continue learning about constructive and destructive forces that shape Earth landforms.  Today students learned about how water works as a destructive force.

Spanish Announcement
Queridas familias de F.AVE, 

We are rapidly approaching the end of our fifth term! During the week of March 27- 31, students will be assessed in Spanish over Writing and Listening.  Please be on the lookout for our mid-term vocabulary quiz in the red communication folder. It is very good indicator of your child’s progress this term and which areas he or she may need to work on before the end of term assessments. And as always, for extra, at-home review, please visit our Quizlet page and practice

Term Five activities:  https://quizlet.com/subject/fourfiveacademy/

¡Gracias!

Maestra Wagner
hwagner@csdecatur.net
http://favespanish.weebly.com/

T5W3 - Weekly Update

Unit of Inquiry:  How the World Works 

Central Idea: Changes occur in our world that are within and outside of our control. 

Homework, Volume L-Shape (decomposing shapes), Spelling City (Ask your child to log in so they can show you how they did last week.)

Math - We are continuing to learn about volume.  Students will be taking the mid-module on Wednesday.

ELA - We are continuing our literary study of Messenger and students are working on their research for their opinion papers.  As part of our morning work students will work on vocabulary and write their weekly reading response.

Science - We are working on understanding the constructive and destructive Earth forces.  Last week students plotted points on a map that showed where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have happened.  Students also looked at data for American earthquakes and ranked the regions according to their 

Social Studies - Last week we read several books about the Holocaust and we concluded those lessons today.  For the remainder of the week we will learn about WWII battles and about how Americans helped the war effort on the homefront.

Hawk Hollow - Field Trip Correction

Our field trip to Hawk Hollow is on WEDNESDAY, not today.  My apologies to the parents who I startled on Sunday evening.  

Georgia Parent Survey

We would like to invite you to participate in F.AVE's parent survey.  This survey consists of 24 questions and parents may complete the survey using their personal computer, smartphones or tablet.  If you do not have access to the internet, you can complete the Georgia Parent Survey at F.AVE.  All parents are encouraged to participate in the Georgia Parent Survey because the data will be used as part of the calculation of the School Climate Star Rating. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis.  The URL address for the Georgia Parent Survey is posted below.

Georgia Parent Survey:

http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/parents.nsf/Survey.xsp

CSD Student Media Festival Submissions

DUE:  Friday, March 10th

It's that time of year to recognize all the student-created classroom multi-media projects.  Teachers and students are encouraged to integrate technology into the classroom.  Students create websites, movies, podcasts, and presentations with images for classroom projects.   School districts in the state of Georgia hold student media festivals to determine who might represent the district at the State Student Media Festival held in April.

Step 1:  Submit your entry online using this google form:

http://tinyurl.com/2017CSDSMF

Step 2:  Share your project via CSD Google drive to kboswell@csdecatur.net OR burn project to disk.

Email Kim Boswell, kboswell@csdecatur.net with questions.