The Bridge:: November: Fall Back, Look Ahead :-)

We've been busy in room 401! Here are some highlights from October, and reminders of upcoming dates:

Peter Pan at the High School: Wednesday, November 8th
Wonder at Regal Cinema: Friday, November 17th
Parent Teacher Conferences: November 14th, 16th and 17th
Report cards will be given to parents at your conference.

5th grade writers have almost (finally!) finished a narrative unit. We also wrapped up a persuasive letter project as part of our chapter three in our Social Studies Text: Native American Cultural Regions.

In Science we're at the tail end of our "Objects in the Sky" kit. We now consider ourselves something of experts on moon phases, eclipses, seasons and why we have them, and tides. Our hands-on science is a favorite with the students.

Our Forty Book Challenge continues Your child's teacher is only on book SIX, which puts me a little behind, and I'm sure some of the students feel the same way. We have busy lives! There is, however, Thanksgiving break coming up, AND Christmas break after that. I have faith in us. We will make it. How can you support your child? Read a book to them, even though they can read themselves. Recollections of my mother reading Nancy Drew mysteries to me, long after I could read on my own, remain some of my most cherished childhood memories. Take your child to the library, the used bookstore, Barnes and Noble, shop for books on Amazon.

Kids: There are two important factors that make someone successful in this reading challenge: Read only books that you enjoy--DON'T waste time on books that don't interest you. Those take a LOT longer to read, if you finish them at all. MOVE ON to something you like. AND have a book wherever you are. Read in the EDGES of your life. It all adds up. Truly.

In Math we are wrapping up Unit 2 and will have an assessment before conferences. I'll be able to show those to you when we meet. The concepts we've been studying are multiplication and division. The method I've been focusing on is the Partial Quotient strategy. If students know the traditional algorithm and want to use that instead I'm okay with it. But I want them to understand how partial quotients work so that they can demonstrate that they thoroughly comprehend this mathematical structure.

Here are some photo highlights from October. Enjoy!