Week 26 Newsletter

It's hard to believe that the second trimester is coming to a close! We are already 2/3 of the way done with 5th grade... it seems like just yesterday we were all getting to know each other and now we're almost done with elementary school.

Next week is extremely busy with a few last projects before report cards. As a reminder, there will not be any Friday Folders/Progress Reports for the next three weeks as I grade and work on report cards.


Module 4 Test
On Monday, students will see their grades for Module 4. Any student who received a 2 or a 1 on the test will be invited to a Retake of the test on Thursday, March 8th. Students need to return the signed permission slip to have a second chance at a better grade before the trimester ends.


Science Fair Update:

The annual Mohr Science Fair is just around the corner. We are looking forward to seeing the many different projects and science exploration from our students.  In order to have this event, it takes many volunteers.  The good news is that the time we are asking you to volunteer for is SHORT!  PLEASE consider helping out this year and sign up for a volunteer time that works for you.  Here is the link for signing up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4ca4ab23a5ff2-mohr

We still have a few science boards for $3.50 in the school office that can be purchased. Please refer back to previous science fair emails and the PTA Eagle Express for Science Fair specifics.

Thank you for considering volunteering for this school wide event!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Monday, March 5
• Wear silly socks (Read-a-thon)
• Historical report SPEECHES
• 5th Grade Panoramic Picture (1:20pm)
• Tuesday, March 6
• Wear green (Read-a-thon)
• Historical report SPEECHES (may continue based on time)
• S.S. Timeline project due
• S.S. Study guide due
• Wednesday, March 7
• Random act of kindness (Read-a-thon)
• Field Trip to Livermore Lab. Please be at school at 9:00AM
• S.S. Unit 5 Test
• Thursday, March 8
• Hat Day (Read-a-thon)
• Module 4 Retake
• Friday, March 9
• Dress as a story character (Read-a-thon)
• printed copy of Historical Report due

Week 25 Newsletter

Another week has flown by! It's almost the end of our second trimester. Students have been hard at work on their historical reports, we're finishing up Module 4, and we are getting close to the American Revolution. A lot of big things are happening in the coming weeks. Please make sure you mark your calendar for all upcoming events.

Today in class I went over the speech requirements. Each student has a copy of all the necessary items. They will be giving a speech to teach us about their topic. They should be informative and knowledgable about their topics. Speeches begin on Monday, March 5.

Tonight, Friday 2/23, is our school's Lunar New Year Event. Families can come from 5-8pm in the MPR to help celebrate the Year of the Dog. It should be a fun event!



UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Monday, Feb 26
• Band and Strings! Don't forget your instrument
• Field trip forms due
• Friday, Mar 2
• Minimum Day, dismissal at 12:30pm
• Module 4 Test
• Monday, Mar 5
• Historical Speeches begin
• Read-a-thon begins (until Mar 16)
• Wednesday, Mar 7
• Lawrence Livermore Lab field trip
• Unit 5 SS Test
• Friday, Mar 9
• Historical Reports due

Week 24 Newsletter

We are continuing to work hard on our Historical Reports. Students have been researching, building timelines, creating mini-biographies... our final drafts will be due on Friday, March 9th. We will also be giving speeches about our topics. The speeches will be given Monday, March 5- Wednesday, March 7. This will be the last big projects for the second trimester report cards.

Last fall we read the book Wonder which is always a big hit. Now we are reading The Julian Chapter which shows a different perspective to the story. It's always enlightening to learn more about a character instead of just seeing them as the villain. While Julian has not been a nice person, we are leaning to see more from his point of view.

Today we were lucky enough to have Jacob's grandfather, Mr. Callen, come and talk about airplanes and flying. Mr. Callen is a retired pilot and he shared his knowledge on flying. It was fun to hear about all he was able to accomplish. Lots of questions and stories were shared. Creating their own engines was a big hit!


Upcoming Events:

• Monday, February 19
• No School, President's Day
• Tuesday, February 20
• Safety Valet pizza lunch

And just a reminder we have many important dates coming up for our writing project. Please plan accordingly. 

• Monday, March 5- Wednesday, March 7
• Speeches & visual aides due
• Friday, March 9 
• Final drafts due (printed)

Historical Reports & Speeches

REMINDER!!!


For the last seven weeks students have been working on their Historical Information Reports. We have drafted, researched, created, typed... and finally we are ready to present!

On Tuesday (Feb 21st) they need to have a printed copy of their report with them when they come to school. With this report they are also giving a speech about their topic. I have attached the speech requirements HERE. Speeches begin on Tuesday as well, and students should have a visual aide to help enhance their speech.

Mr. Marx's writing students will be giving their speech on Thursday (Feb 23rd). The requirements for their speech are HERE.

Speeches start next Tuesday!

Starting next Tuesday (Feb. 21) students will be presenting a speech based on their Historical Report. Each student has been working on a topic from United States history which they have been writing about, and now they will become the expert to teach the class about their event.

The instructions for the speech can be found at classroom.google. com as well as linked HERE.


Next Tuesday students should have two things ready to go:

• their Historical Report printed, and 
• their speech & visual aide

Weekly News: Week 10

This week we finished the story of "Wonder!" The students loved hearing Auggie's story of fitting in with his 5th grade class. We are looking forward to reading "The Julian Chapter" and learning more about what made Julian so mean to Auggie. There's always two sides to every story!

We've also started our poetry unit in writing. We've been writing haikus, quatrains, and cinquains. As we study more types of poetry, we will eventually be creating our own poetry anthologies.

There are several things happening in the next two weeks. Please keep track of these important dates. On Monday, students should have a completed Exploration Flipbook for social studies. If students want to earn full credit it needs to be colored and their words need to be covered in Monart pen.

If you have not yet signed up for a November Conference, please click HERE and choose an open timeslot.


Upcoming Events:

• Monday 10/24
• Exploration Flipbooks due
• Tuesday 10/25
• Vascular Plant Flipbook due to Ms. Britto
• Wednesday 10/26 
• Scholastic Book Orders due
• Thursday 10/27
• Pumpkin Speeches 
• Monday 10/31 
• Halloween Parade 
• Party 
• Minimum Day
• October Pay Day
• Tuesday 11/1 
• October Auction
• Wednesday 11/2
• Outdoor Ed Parent Meeting, 6:30pm, Multi-Purpose Room

Weekly News: Week 9

We had our first field trip to the Blackhawk Museum this week! Students loved exploring the Native American and Settler perspectives of the Old West through dioramas, artifacts, and our wonderful Gallery Guides.

Thank you to all our parents who took time out of their days to drive and help chaperone at the museum. It was a great day for everyone!

I've added the few pictures I took while at the museum. Parents, if you have photos to share, please click HERE and become a part of our picture website. It will allow you to add pictures directly and then we can all have access. This will be very helpful for all our field trips this year, particularly Outdoor Ed.  I've been adding pictures of things that are happening in the classroom as well.


Upcoming Events:

• Mon 10/17-- Library... books are due!
• Tues 10/18-- Picture Retakes
• Fri 10/21- Fall Fun Fair, 5-8pm

• Mon 10/24- Explorer Flipbook due
• Thurs 10/27- Halloween Pumpkin Speeches
• Fri 10/28- No School

• Mon 10/31- Halloween Parade and Party. Wear costumes to school.

Halloween Speech- 10/27

Today, students learned about their first speech! We are doing a Halloween inspired "Pumpkin Speech"

Check out the requirements below. All students should be prepared to give their speech on Thursday, October 27th.

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Pumpkin’s Halloween Night Speech

Thursday, October 27, 2016

October’s speech is Halloween themed!  You’ll be telling a two-minute Halloween Night NARRATIVE about your costumed pumpkin!

To begin:

1. Brainstorm Halloween costumes for your pumpkin until you decide upon one that sparks your imagination
2. Brainstorm story ideas for your pumpkin’s Halloween night adventure.  

Use any of these prompts as inspiration! You are not limited to these ideas.

1. It was a dark and stormy night when….
2. My friends and I were trick or treating and knocked on the door ….
3. Meow! The black cat was scared….
4. The white sheets with black eyes peering through holes of the costume gave no clue as to who the kid was…
5. Running down the street with candy flying, I saw….
6. A yellow glow was coming from the jack-o-lantern, only…
7. I couldn’t believe it… my brother was a werewolf!
8. They claim the house was haunted, but it looked okay to me, so….
9. I was counting all my candy when all of a sudden…
10. At the Halloween party...
11. The mad scientist was creating a new monster that could…
12. The large cauldron of purple liquid started to boil when…
13. I got an eerie feeling when I heard…
14. The mysterious object started floating in the air and…
15. The Halloween pumpkin turned into a…
16. Something in the closet made a strange noise, so I opened the door and…
17. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw…
18. You won’t believe this story, but it is true…
19. As I carefully entered the haunted house, the door shut behind me and…
20. The silliest Halloween ever started when….

3)  Find a JUST-RIGHT pumpkin at the market - be sure you can carry it to school!!!!!

4)  Decorate your pumpkins’ costume using material/paint/carvings, ANYTHING creative       

   Ex:  felt, fabric, sequins, ribbon, cotton, feathers, foil, yarn, paint, foam, markers, clothing, buttons, hair

For no more than two minutes, you will narrate your story.  Know it well enough to tell it from memory!

Include the following details:

• All Narrative Story Elements:
• Characters/Setting
• Initiating Conflict/Rising Action
• Climax/Falling Action/Resolution

• A Heart to the story - a lesson that should be learned or understood

• Sensory Details, Action, Main Character’s Thoughts and Feelings, Emotion

Grading:  pumpkin design, narrative content, preparation, time, volume, eye contact, gestures, expression, enthusiasm

Speeches start Tuesday, April 12th

Today, students learned about their upcoming speech. They will be presenting information on their Historical Informational Report that they have been writing for the last month and will be submitting their final draft papers on Friday, April 1st.

Below is the sheet that was handed out today with all of the speech requirements. Students should be an expert on their topic-- ready to teach everyone and answer questions afterwards. They should try to memorize as much as possible and have a visual aide.

Speeches will begin on Tuesday, April 12th.

Santa Speech

Today the first speech of the year was assigned. Students will be creating a narrative story, imagining themselves as Santa. Based on the book, "How Santa Got His Job", which can be seen the in video linked below, students will tell us all about how they became Santa.

There is a lot of creativity involved in this speech and practice is extremely important! Speeches begin on Monday, December 14th. I encourage all students to memorize as much as possible, and keep within the 2 minute timeframe.

Sinking Ship Panels

Today the students were introduced to their next speech... a persuasive panel. They have each been assigned a specific colonial job, however the ship they were traveling on is sinking. The life boats spaces are limited and there is only room for 5 people to be saved. Who will give a speech persuasive enough that they will be saved?

Our Sinking Ship Panels will be on Monday, January 26th. Students were able to collaborate with others to try and create a persuasive speech, though I recommend they continue to work on their speeches this week.

Recommendations: memorize your speech & don't forget the goal is to be persuasive!