Monday, December 16, 2013

Projects and Christmas Craft

Welcome to the last week before Christmas break.  This is a fun week at school, one filled with learning experiences in the classroom.

Fifth graders this week will present both their Earth’s Systems projects to the lower and upper grade classes and their Cereal Box book reports later in the week.  The only thing your child needs from home is a prize for their cereal box before Wednesday.

On Thursday, we will do a fun winter craft.  I have all the materials except for each student will need a decorative pair of socks, either a matching pair or mismatched.  We are making a little rice-filled snowman out of a white tube sock.  The decorative sock will be used to make a sweater and a hat for the snowman.  If you want the sweater and hat to match, get a matching pair of printed socks.  I made one and used two mismatched socks that both had red and green, so that is fine too.  The socks for the sweater and hat should be colorful.  Please send the socks in this week, so we can do this on Thursday afternoon.  If you have extras at home, you can send those in too in case we need a few extras.  

Please email me if you have any questions.  
Thanks and have a great week!



Also, I wrote this but never posted from last week:
Sorry for the lack of contact!
Blog post 12/9

Welcome to another busy school week.  Here’s a few important items to keep in mind.  

We will work on Cereal Box Book Reports in reading every day this week.  Your child should have finished his or her book.  Each student needs a cereal box and a prize, the rest will be done in class.  
In Writing we are learning rules for comma usage.  There are a ton of rules, some with several exceptions.  We will practice that and look for examples of comma usage in other texts.  We are working on writing complex sentences, using subordinate conjunctions.  

In Projects, this is a work week for our Earth Science triads.  They will be putting the finishing touches on their presentations and displays.

We are at the end of the quarter, so even though kids are excited for christmas and other festivities, we have quite a bit of work to do still that counts for grades.  Please help your child maintain focus and keep up the hard work these next two weeks.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Christmas Party Info and Projects

Christmas Party:  We are having a great Christmas party this year.  The Fallon Theater is having an exclusive showing of the Disney movie Frozen for our school. The fifth graders, along with the 4th, 6th, and 7th graders, will walk to the theater on Thursday, Dec. 12.  We will have lunch a little early that day to get there in time for our movie at noon.  The cost is $6.00 for the movie and a popcorn and drink.  

Please send in the $6.00 with your student this week if possible.  I'll be gone a few days next week and I'd rather not leave that for a sub to worry about.

As for the academic part of school, here's what's coming up:
Reading:  Cereal Box book report, each student needs an empty cereal box by Monday Dec. 9.  Books should be read, if not, have your student finish by Dec. 9.  The work for this project will be done in class, except for getting the box and the prize.

Projects:  We are currently working on an Earth science project about rocks, weathering, and erosion.   This project does not require many supplies, but a few students volunteered to bring in tri-fold display boards for their group.  Thank you for providing these!  Our Earth science presentations are scheduled for Monday, Dec. 16.  We will have seven groups in our class, each with information about one part of Earth's systems that shape the landscape.  Each fifth grade team is working with a fourth grade team and they will have information about what is happening with the landscape, why it is happening, and where you can go to see a real world example of their focus area.   We hope you can come see their presentations.  We love having an audience!  Time and location to follow.  


Monday, November 25, 2013

Book Report

This week, my main concern is to make sure each student has a book selected for his or her book report. Most students have let me know their title, but a few have not.  This book can be any chapter book that your child has read as a fifth grader.  The book needs to be completed by Dec. 9, and each student needs an empty cereal box by that date as well.  The book report itself will be done completely in class.  The students will make a cereal box book report, creating a cereal to go with their book.  Please help your child select a book and get it read by that date.  This Thanksgiving weekend may be a great time for some extra reading.

As for projects, many groups selected digital presentations, so very few supplies are needed.  A few notes went home about tri-fold display boards, but check with your student about supplies for their Earth Systems project.

We have been writing gratitude journal entries this week and last week, and when I count my blessings, I count each of these wonderful students and families!  Each student add so much to our class.  Have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Here's the rundown

This week started off busy.  There is a lot to get in before our Thanksgiving break.  I am sure everyone is looking forward to the break, but we are not letting up in the classroom.  There is a lot we need to cover in class before that time.  Here's the rundown of what we're doing:

In Reading, we are back to doing more of our CAFE strategies, with more literacy blocks.  We are assessing each student's progress in their reading goal.  We have read some non-fiction texts about Earth Science to help build our background knowledge for our project as well.  With our increased time in reading in the classroom, we will have a book report due the week of December 16.  The only thing your child needs to do right now is read a chapter book before December 10 or so.  He or she can use any chapter book they have read this school year.  Unless there is an absence, all the work will be done in class.  Please save a cereal box for this project.  More details will be coming.

In Writing, we are shifting from writing narrative to expository texts.  We have almost finished the writing conferences from the last narrative.  These were the ones the students brought home to edit.  They were really good -  I was impressed!  Thank you for your help; it made a difference.  In these days before Thanksgiving, we are writing on a Gratitude Journal prompt each day.  This week, the students are writing about a person they are thankful for with three specific reasons and explanations.  This also reinforces our November Precept, which your student wrote to you about in the parent journal.  Speaking of which, you will have a parent journal letter this weekend, but not over Thanksgiving.

In Projects, we are learning about Earth's systems, which covers types of rocks and how they are formed, fossils and rock layers, weathering, erosion, and the patterns that bring change in Earth's landscape over time.  Your child will work in a triad or pair, with one of these topics.  Their group will have to choose a way to teach their peers about their topic.  We will share these projects in December.  We have a list of supplies for you this weekend.  Because there is choice allowed in these, it is hard to know exactly what each student will need. Please ask you child about supplies this weekend. We should have a pretty good idea by then.

We are reading a great read aloud right now, a Newbery Award winning book called Bud, Not Buddy.  It is a great book.  When I was reading it a few weeks ago, I actually woke up at 4 am one (weekend) morning thinking about it and had to finish it.  I hope your students are enjoying and finding value in this book.  This year is really flying by!  I am happy with all we are learning and how the students are working.  Thanks for all you do!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Museum Presentations and Projects

After much preparation, we presented our Wax Museum project today about people who have contributed to our community.  There were many areas of concern for me, from costumes, to speech memorization, to transportation, but as far as I could tell, everything went really smoothly.  Again, many thank yous to the staff of the Churchill County Museum for their help with our research and for their willingness to host our event.  Also, thanks to the 13 parent drivers who were on time and made that process so smooth.  I was really proud of this group of students.  To quote on of the museum staff members, "This is the cutest thing I've ever seen!"  I totally agree with her!

Our next project is an Earth Science project, and we will begin with some serious vocabulary next week and then start our study of things that shape the surface of the Earth.

Not to bombard you with projects, but we finished reading Tuck Everlasting and your child was assigned last week to find 10 items that represent a character.  These items should fit in a paper lunch bag.  Students need to have the items in class on Thursday when we present our items and explain why each item was chosen.  Thanks for helping your student be successful at these projects!




Monday, October 28, 2013

Halloween, P/T Conferences and Project Presentations

I have sent out many emails on these subjects, so a quick summary of this busy week:

Halloween - costumes are allowed.  No masks, at least for the school day.  For the parade is fine if they can see.  Our class party is at 2:00.  Colleen Colburn is organizing this, if you want to help, please contact her (354-7318), or me via email and I will forward it to her.  We need parents to bring food and some items for an activity and a game.

Conferences are Friday Nov. 1 and Monday Nov. 4.  Please email me a preferred time and I will schedule you.  If I don't hear from you, I'll schedule you anyway.

Project Presentations - Our Wax Museum project is shaping up.  We will present at the Churchill County Museum on Tuesday, Nov. 5, from 2:00 -3:00.  Thank you to all who have volunteered to drive.  I have overwhelming response on drivers, and thank you for that!  I will be contacting you to let you know how many kids I need you to take and the details of pick up and drop off.  If you are not needed as a driver, please come and see the presentations.  Bring family, friends, co-workers, the museum wants to get people in the doors.  If you know any relatives or descendants of the person your child is studying, I would love to have you invite them as well!

One more note about the project.  The kids need a costume that is historically accurate for their person.  I know this is really a job for the parents, very few kids can come up with a costume on their own.  I appreciate your help in this.  The costume will add a lot to our presentations.  A simple prop or photo is fine, but not needed. Costumes can come in this week, but we need them by Monday at the latest for a dress rehearsal in the classroom that day.  Also, many of you had made additional trips and calls to the museum. Thank you for that.  I know that this is a labor intensive project for the parents and I appreciate what you are doing to support your child's education.  I hope you will be impressed when you see these presented.  They are coming together nicely!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Character Matters Play, Thank yous, Writing Assignments

Today was the fifth grader's play, Character Matters.  The students did a brilliant job, but we owe many thanks to the Drama teacher,  Mrs. Missy Miller, and her helpers:  Mrs. Cherilee Sorensen with costumes, Mrs. Dana Barton with songs, and Mrs. Suzette Benecke with choreography.  They did a fantastic job on the set as well.  They worked tirelessly, well beyond the 45 minute class period twice a week to help the students put on an amazing performance.  Thank you also to Mrs. Anna Jessen who brought cookies for everyone!  What a treat!  It was so nice to have many parents and family members there on relatively short notice.  Having an audience makes it all real for the performers.

Thank you also to Monyca Jensen who sent in supplies for our classroom and refillable plastic water bottles for each student!  They are all labeled and your student will either bring it home or keep it in the classroom to use there.

The Book Fair is stocked with tons of great books.  It will be open all week. before and after school.

This week, we are starting two assignments that may need some parent involvement.  The first is in writing.  Writing has been challenging, and we are writing our last personal narrative from a prompt this week.  On Tuesday or Wednesday (or both nights), your child will bring home a printed out copy of his or her rough draft.  Please help with revisions and editing on paper.  Your child can then bring back the paper copy of the changes and make the changes on their chrome book.  I want the finished product to be the student's work, but I think some one on one help would really benefit these young writers.   Final drafts are due on Thursday, and most students should be done with a first draft for Tuesday afternoon.

The second assignment is in projects.  We have researched our people for our Fallon Wax Museum at the Churchill County Museum.  However, if your child finds he or she is missing information as they go to write their script, there are a few ways to help out.  Feel free to call Bunny at the museum, who will research specific questions like a birth or death date.  You may also take your child to the museum, where they can go to the research room and look for more information.  We can do internet research in the classroom if needed, but some of the people really don't have much information published online about them.  Also, your child will need a costume for their person, so keep that on your radar.

Let me know if you have questions about any of this.  It's a lot of info to take in.  I'll try to be more concise next week!

Monday, October 14, 2013

End of 1st Quarter, New Project

We had a great walk to the museum today and we learned a lot about the first families in Fallon. The museum staff was so helpful! We sure appreciated them spending so much time with us.  The next step is for each student to choose a person from Fallon’s history to research, which we will do in class on Tuesday.  We will go back to the museum on Wednesday morning, Oct. 16.  This is a change from the email that went out last week. We are going before lunch this time so that we have more time there.  We will leave right after recess at 9:30 and be back before lunch.  We will still have math and writing that day, just in the afternoon.

Because we are approaching the end of the quarter, we had auctions in the classroom today.  The students filled out applications for jobs, and each gets paid for being a student.  They save their money and we learn first hand about supply and demand by auctioning off a few food items and some other fun things.  We will have a few more auctions this week.  

With the end of the quarter, we are also at the end of our Drama class.  Our class will be performing for a large audience at the Book Fair family night on Monday, Oct. 21 at 7:00.  The family night time is from 6-8.  Please allow time for your child to get in costume before the 7:00 performance.  Mrs. Miller will give more instructions on exactly when and where to meet on that night.  But please plan to attend and enjoy the play and the book fair.

Also, with the walk to the museum and auctions this afternoon, I totally forgot to pass out reading logs.  Please have your child read tonight, even without the paper to fill out and sign.  They will have their reading log for tomorrow.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Have a great week!

Monday, October 7, 2013

School Pictures and Projects

Just a reminder, fifth grade school picture time is Wednesday at 2:45.  A hard copy of the order form went home last week and there are many extras at the front desk.  There may have been a form emailed out last week as well.

We are finishing up our weather and climate project this week with our weather report presentations.  The students have been working in teams and have tracked the temperatures of a chosen city.  On Wednesday, they will present a weather report, including a severe weather report for their city.  They will go to a commercial break where they will promote their design to reduce the impact of this severe weather on homes in the area.  There is a lot of thought, precision, and creativity going into this project.  We will present on Wednesday and take a test on Thursday. 

Our next project will go back to Social Studies and is called Famous Fallon Friends.  We will research people who have had an impact on our community and what they did to contribute.  Next Monday, October 14, we will walk to the Churchill County Museum to kick off our project.  We will also return on October 17 for more research.  Our final presentation will be a Wax Museum, where your student will dress as a person in Fallon's history and present a memorized speech about his or her contributions to the community.  We are not in need of any chaperones for these walking trips, but please make sure your child has shoes to walk in and is dressed for the weather.  We will go right after lunch both days and will return to school about 3:00, giving us about an hour in the museum each visit.  We are expecting to learn a lot about our community with this project, and just in time to celebrate Nevada Day.

The end of the first quarter is quickly approaching.  I appreciate the hard work I see coming from your students.  I can seen growth in them already!  Thank you for raising them to be kind and work hard.  It makes a difference in the classroom.  Have a great week!

Monday, September 30, 2013

Week of September 30

We started the seventh week of school today.  At this time in the quarter, we are totally in the thick of things we are learning. In Reading, we had our first vocabulary quiz today.  Your child will create a study guide each Monday so he or she can study for the quiz the following Monday.  A few minutes each night ought to do it.  They have 10 new words to learn for the week.  In Writing, the students turned in their first personal narratives.  They were really good, a few made me laugh and a few made me a little teary.  Very sweet stories from their lives.  We are working on elements of narratives, such as sensory details, description, dialogue, and solid beginnings and endings.  Of course, spelling and sentence structure matter too, but they really take a back seat to the focus, organization and elaboration of the narrative.  We will continue with narrative writing this week, but we are taking time to share in author’s chair, which gives us a chance to really compliment our peers and learn from their work.  


In projects, we are planning our weather reports.  The students tracked the weather, now they will prepare a weather report from one of the cities they tracked.  They will need to make a chart and a graph to share with the class to explain the weather and trends for their climate zone.  They will also write a commercial for the design they made last week to reduce the impact of severe weather that might hit their city.  It has been fun to see the depth of their thinking as they work on this project.  


In other news, we are using Thera-bands on our chairs to keep wiggle feet moving and bodies still to work.  Personally, I think they are great.  The kids are doing well with this new feature in their seating.


Thanks to all of you for responding to your child in their parent journals, for purchasing supplies for their projects, for studying with your child, and most of all, for sending them here to our classroom happy and ready to learn each day.  This is a wonderful place to be, and each child (and family) contributes to that!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Week of September 23

We are off to a busy start of another week.  We have a few exciting things going on in the classroom this week.  In Reading, we are starting to read the book Tuck Everlasting.  This is a great book that should prompt some deep discussions in the classroom.  This book is very well-written; it will probably help your child as a writer as well!  We will use it to study figurative language. Your child will have a literature journal to fill out in the classroom each day, as well as ten vocabulary words each week.  Starting next Monday, we will have a quiz each Monday on the previous week’s words.  The students made a study guide, so they can study this week to prepare.

In writing, we are writing personal narratives, true stories from our lives.  We are revising, editing and completing our final drafts of our first narrative this week.  In projects, we have been learning about severe weather. This is the final week for your student to track the weather for his or her chosen city.  We will begin building the students' designs in the second half of the week.  The students are working in teams to build something to lessen the impact of a weather hazard in their chosen city.  We are learning some really interesting facts about weather.  

Life is good here in Oasis Academy’s fifth grade!  Thank you for all you do to support your child’s education.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Coming up this week

Welcome back after what sounds like a very busy weekend for our fifth grade families!  In our Community Circle this morning, most of the students said how tired they were after the events of their weekends.  Busy families! This week we will be starting our small group instruction in reading, writing personal narratives in writing, and tracking the weather in cities from around the world.  I appreciate how so many of you are helping your child find the books he or she is interested in.  With no school library, it takes a little more effort, and I appreciate your trips to the public library or making book purchases for your child.  Most of the students have books they are really excited to tell the class about.  That makes me so happy!  In writing, we are trying to live like writers by noticing the small moment stories of our lives.  We will be working with techniques to make these stories come alive with detail and importance.  In projects, we have been learning weather and climate vocabulary, and today we got in pairs and chose two cities to track and graph the weather.

This weather tracking will be done for 14 days, so this will have to be done at home on the weekends.  We have used Weather.com and we are graphing the high temperature each day, plus recording a few words about the weather, like sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.  We will be learning about extreme weather conditions this week and designing a product to reduce the impact of severe weather.  Your child may come home Thursday with a few needed supplies for next week.  Also, we will have a test on the vocabulary words next week, so ask your child about these words at home.

We are halfway through the first quarter and the routines of the classroom and school day are getting established.  I sure appreciate the nice manners I see from the students in the classroom.  They are really a kind and considerate class.  I am really enjoying them.

Last thing:  Count Day is Thursday Sept. 19.  Attendance is really important on this day.  It is a street clothes day and students will be rewarded with a movie and popcorn in the afternoon.  Please make every effort to have your child at school this day.

Thank you for all you do to support our classroom learning!

Monday, September 9, 2013

Moving right along...

Looking ahead to this week, we have a walking field trip on Wednesday at 9:30 am.  We will go to hear the governor speak at the city’s 9-11 memorial.  This meets a Social Studies standard about why cities have memorials and monuments.  We have plenty of chaperones going with us.  Thank you for volunteering.  Please make sure your child has comfortable walking shoes that day, along with sunscreen and a hat.  We will be back in plenty of time for lunch.   

Parent journals are going well, thank you for responding.  I realize that this is kind of like homework for you on the weekends, but I wish you could see how delighted your student is to read your letter in the classroom.  Thank you.  We are really encouraging the use of writing as real-life communication.  We started learning about prepositional phrases today in writing, and we will wrap up our study of parts of speech this week.  Then we will go into a narrative writing unit.  

In projects, we are learning some vocabulary so we can begin a new project on weather and climate.  Your child will need to watch the weather in a few cities for several days.  

Things are moving right along in fifth grade this year.  Have a great week!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Thank You and Another Walking Field Trip

Last Wednesday, we had a great walking field trip to Maine Street.  We learned a lot of interesting facts about the history of our community and we got to practice making a simple community map while we walked.  I hope your student has shared something he or she learned with you.  




That trip could not have been as successful without many people.  Thank you to Cari Norcutt and Monyca Jensen for providing water and Dilly bars.  It was a hot day and we were sure glad to have both of those!   Thank you also to our chaperones, Racquel Feest, Dusty Casey, Cherilee Sorensen, David and Colleen Colburn, and Katie Dahl.  Having the kids in small groups made it possible to cover more ground in the short time we had on Maine Street.  Just another reason why I love Oasis Academy - great parents who are so willing to help!  


We will have another walking field trip on September 11.  One of our Social Studies standards is to recognize ways communities use memorials, so this is the perfect opportunity to go hear the Mayor of our town and the guest speaker, Governor Sandoval, speak at this ceremony.  If you are interested in walking with us and attending the ceremony, please email me.  We will leave at 9:30.  The ceremony starts at 10 am on Wed. Sept. 11.

I hope your all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Walking Field Trip

Our community project would not be complete without taking the walking tour of Maine Street in Fallon.  The 4th and 5th grade classes will be taking this walking tour on Wednesday, August 28 from 1:15 to 2:45.  We plan to learn more about the cultural influences that shaped our community.  Some of our students might even find the name of a relative on one of the plaques.  The students will also make a simple map while on our tour.  Please remind your student to wear walking shoes that day.  Students may bring a water bottle on the walk.  Also, please make sure your child has sunscreen and/or a hat.  There is not much shade on this walk.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Social Studies Project

August 19, 2013

Dear Parents,

In our first Social Studies project, we are studying culture.  Culture is defined as learned behavior of people, which includes their belief systems and languages, their social relationships and customs, their institutions and organizations, and their material. The standard we are working on is G6.3.3 - Identify ways people express culture.  

Please help your student select no more than two items to represent the cultures in their ancestry. They can choose two items from one culture, or one item from two different cultures.  We are hoping each student will have a country or two (not including the Unites States) that represents where their ancestors came from.  Then find an item to represent one part of the culture of that country.  Some ideas are native clothing, an item from a cultural tradition or holiday celebration, a religious or spiritual object, something showing native language, a food item that is eaten in this culture, (enough to share with the class if you choose this one), money, a craft, such as baskets, paintings or other handiwork, an item representing a sport or game, or any other item that shows a part of the culture of your child’s ancestry.   

Please have your child bring this into the classroom for a graded assignment on Thursday, August 22.  On Thursday, your student will write about where this item is from, how this item would be used, and how it expresses one aspect of the culture.  Your child should also be able to locate the country or region on a world map or globe.  

We will go over this in detail in the classroom, along with examples to help your child have a clear understanding of what is expected.  We hope this will be a great way for the students to build community and learn about ways people express culture.  

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Back to School Night

Hello Parents,
Don't forget about Back to School night for third, fourth and fifth grade parents.  It's Wednesday, August 14, 2013 from 6:00 - 7:00.  The first part will be in the lunch room and the last half will be in the classroom.  You will receive information about your child's CRT testing from last year and you can pick up their binder for the new year.  Bring your supplies as well so your child doesn't have to carry everything in the backpack on the first day of school.

Please email me if you have any questions.  jstockard@oasisacademyfallon.us.  Looking forward to seeing you all!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Supply List

It's that time of year again, time to get ready for a new school year.

Are you as excited as I am?

Here's a supply list for the things you'll need for the school year:

5th Grade Supply List


Shared supplies:  The following items will be collected from your student and distributed as needed during the school year.
  • 3 Tennis balls for chair and table legs, to protect the floors
  • 1 4-pack of toilet paper
  • 1 large box of tissues
  • Disinfecting cleaning wipes
  • 24 pencils - no mechanical pencils please
  • 4 large glue sticks
  • 4 low-odor dry erase markers
  • 2 black fine point Sharpie markers


Individual supplies:  These items will be kept by your students.
  • 1 gently used sock or eraser to erase individual white boards
  • 2 blue or black pens
  • 2-4 highlighters
  • 1 box of 8-12 colored pencils, basic colors
  • 2 composition books, with hard covers (no spirals)
  • 3 sturdy 2-pocket folders, no prongs in the center
  • 1 zippered pencil pouch for binder
  • 1 Plastic pencil box to hold classroom supplies (pens, highlighters, colored pencils, eraser)


I have a classroom set of rulers, scissors, markers, and crayons, so no need to send those in.  

Monday, May 20, 2013

End of the Year Info

It's hard to believe we are at the last week of school already!  This truly has been an enjoyable class and it has been a pleasure to work with each student this year.

Here are some schedule details of this last week.

Tuesday, 5/21:
12:00 - 12:45 - Adjusted lunch time
12:45 - Students walk to Convention Center for 8th grade promotion ceremony
2:15 or so:  Return to school for project time and PE

Wednesday, 5/22:
No rotations today - classroom activities and clean up
Yearbook signing in the afternoon.

Be sure your student has his or her backpack to carry things home.


Thursday, 5/23 - Field Day at Indoor pool on Sheckler.  8:00 - 2:00, all grades
Drop off and pick up at the pool parking lot.
Dress for the weather, it may be chilly so be prepared for that.
Hot dog lunch is provided.
Bring a labeled water bottle, there will be refilling stations.
Normal clothes, covering as much as a uniform.  No tank tops or short shorts.
Label everything - towels, flip-flops, water bottles, etc.
Swimsuits also need to cover midriff, not too low in front or back.  Girls, bring a tank top to swim in if needed.

Please email me with any questions.  It's going to be a great week!


Monday, May 13, 2013

Nevada History Project

For our last project of the year, the fifth graders are working in pairs or triads, each group with a Social Studies topic.  They have been researching their topic and will begin preparing their presentation.  We will have some slide shows, some skits, some museum displays and some models.  Then the students will teach the rest of the class about their topic with their presentation.  They are pretty excited about it and they are learning a lot about Nevada History.  We will work this week and present starting Thursday, May 16 and then again on Monday, May 20.  Thank you for your willingness to round up supplies for your students!  We want to keep them working hard until the end!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

State Writing Proficiency Testing

Our testing is not done!  We have the Nevada State Writing Test coming up next week.  This test will be held in 2 sessions on May 7-8.  The testing time is from 9:50 - 11:10.   For this test, the students will be given a writing task.  The students will organize their work on paper and type their drafts on the computer.  They will have time to revise and edit their work in the testing window.  Please help your child be present, well-rested, and fed on those testing days so they can concentrate on doing their best writing during the test.

Monday, April 22, 2013

First day of testing and Conferences

We had a great first day of CRT testing today.  I was really happy to see students who took their time on the test.  Thank you, parents, for sending in such healthy snacks!  Everything that came in was easy to serve and the extra food helps the students test on a full stomach.  Also, thank you to the parents who sent in extra pencils for the class.  I appreciate that!  Lastly, it was truly a delight to meet with so many of you at our student-led conferences.  I truly love this group of students.  Every one of them has grown and improved this year.  It has been a delight to work with them and I enjoyed watching and listening in as they shared their progress with you. Thank you for attending.  Oasis parents are the best!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Parent Journals

As I'm sure you have noticed, we took last week and this week off of parent journals.  We have been busy in the classroom with testing preparations.  So sorry for the change in schedule.  Be on the lookout for your child's parent journal to come home next Thursday.  Thanks  for your understanding!

CRT Testing

CRT testing will be April 22-24.  The fifth graders take three tests, each of them with two parts.  This means that they will test in the morning and afternoon of each of the three days. Their only homework assignment for the week is to get to bed earlier than usual and eat a healthy, low-sugar breakfast and come ready to work hard and do their very best.

These tests will require their full concentration.  To help with this, I am asking for parents to bring in some healthy snacks for those test days.  You can send in the food Monday morning and I'll take it from there.  Your child will volunteer you for this, if this does not work for you, please email me and I'll make arrangements, or talk to me at conferences on Friday.

Snack ideas:  (we have a peanut allergy in the classroom, so please no peanut butter)
crackers like graham crackers, saltines, or Ritz
string cheese
salami or ham slices
carrots or cucumbers and ranch dressing to dip
apple slices or orange slices
bananas or grapes
pretzels and cheese cubes
granola bars (low sugar)
dried fruit
applesauce cups with spoons
yogurt cups with spoons

There are so many options. No need to be very elaborate here, just so that we have no hunger distractions during the testing.

I also need a few people to bring in napkins and plates.

Please make sure your child has a water bottle in the classroom as well.

As always, if you have any questions, please email me.  Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Student Led Conferences


Just a reminder that our conferences will be held Friday, April 19, from 9:00 am - noon or again Monday, April 22, from 4:30 - 6:00 pm.  These are student led, which means that your student will conduct the conference for you.  There may be other conferences going on in the classroom at the same time.  If you want to discuss concerns with me privately, please email  me for an appointment time.

Because these are student led, there is no need for a set conference time.  Come to the classroom with your student anytime during the conference block.  If neither of these blocks of time work for you, please email me and we'll find a time that works.

I look forward to seeing you!


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Spring Conferences

For spring conferences, the fifth graders will be conducting student-led conferences.  These conferences are a great way for your student to take ownership of his or her academic and social progress and to review this together.  These will be held Friday, April 19, from 9:00 - Noon or Monday, April 22, from 4:15 - 6:00.  The conference itself should take about 15 to 20 minutes.  If you cannot come to either of these times, please email me and we will find a time that works for you.  Keep in mind that there may be several conferences going on in the room at one time, so if you want to talk about something personal about your student, we can set a different time to discuss your concerns.  I am excited for you to come in and have your child share what he or she has been learning with you!

Pencils Needed!

After a nice week off for Spring break, we came back to a snowy day at school!   The students were ready to work and learn - and there is so much to do with state testing still ahead of us!  We have new seats in our classroom, so many of the students are working with classmates they don't know as well. We have also found that we are very low on pencils in our classroom.  If anyone can send in a box of pencils, we would really appreciate it.  Thank you!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Heat Project

This week in Science we are learning about heat energy.  We have learned the three ways that heat is transferred, conduction, convection, and radiation.  The students have done experiments to see heat transferred in each of these ways.  They have used internet resources to review, they have drawn diagrams and even made hand actions that they have shared to help them remember.  They may have even asked if you have a convection oven at home and looked inside to see what makes it a convection oven.  We will finish this week of learning activities with ice cube races, where we use what we've learned about heat transfer to see how fast we can each make an ice cube melt.  We're hoping for a nice weather to do this outside!  We will have a week off before we write our book chapter on heat energy, so please talk to your child about this and keep it on their minds until we come back to school.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Explanatory Writing

In writing, we have been working on writing to explain.  The fifth graders are in the process of completing a five-paragraph essay explaining a subject of their choice.  They be writing to explain three qualities in a friend, three reasons that Fallon is a great place to live, or three reasons why something they have is valuable to them.  I love working with the students on their writing.  They have shown so much improvement in organizing their ideas.  This format of writing, the five paragraph essay, is the format they will use more of as the go into higher grades.  We have an introductory paragraph that introduces three ideas, one paragraph for each idea, and then a concluding paragraph.  The students have written a thesis statement with their main idea.  We have been writing and conferencing on these papers this week and we will finish them next week.  The students also wrote a paragraph about change that will be coming home soon.  Look for their writing to come home on Wednesdays in their graded work folder.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Eyeball Dissection

On Thursday, the fifth graders will dissect cow eyeballs.  The eyeballs are fresh with no chemicals and the students will work in pairs or small groups.  Some of the students may be squeamish about this activity, a feeling I can relate to, but there is an academic purpose.  They will get to really see the parts of the cow eye, which are very similar to a human eye.  We have been learning about parts of the eye as we learn about light energy and how the eye detects light.  We expect this to be a great learning opportunity.  Be sure to ask your student about this after school on Thursday!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Energy Project

We have started our new science project and it is all about energy.  We will cover light, sound, heat, and electricity. Our project will be to write a non-fiction book about these types of energy.  There will be vocabulary words that need to be included and the book will need to have non-fiction test features like a table of contents, diagrams, captions, a glossary and an index. The students will create these books in pairs.  We will share these books with the second graders at the end of the quarter.  There may be supplies that we need to complete some of our investigations in the classroom.  Watch the blog for these requests.  Thank you!

Valentine's Party

In case you didn't see the note, we are having a Valentine's party on Thursday, Feb. 14.  We will do a small craft, exchange valentines and have a few snacks.  If any student wants to make a valentines mailbox at home for a box-decorating contest, there will be a small prize for that.  The box-decorating is totally optional, just for those who are interested.  A note went home last week to let you know what your child volunteered to bring in.  Email me if you need a reminder. Thanks for your support!

Parent Journals

The fifth graders are keeping parent journals.  They write a letter each Thursday to their parents, and take it home to get a response.  This is something that I hope will be a nice keepsake when the school year is over.  We do not send them home on holiday weekends, so they will not come home this Thursday, but please ask your child to see his or her parent journal.  There are kids who do not get responses who would like them.  There are some students who always get a parent response.  Thank you for that.  This is a great way to see your child's writing and hear about their week.  Thank you for participating!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Native American Project Presentations

We have been hard at work creating some wonderful Native American displays and slide shows to teach our peers about the tribes that lived in Nevada.  Thank you for sending your students with such great supplies.  Each group is responsible for a display of clothing, shelter, tools, and artifacts.  In addition to the display, each group has summarized their information into a slide show.  We will present these slide shows to the class on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 2:00.  This is a change from my earlier post.  Parents, please join us in our classroom to see these presentations.  We would love to have you see what we have been learning and creating!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

PE Day

Our next PE day with Mr. Carter is Tuesday January 22.  Because of the Monday holiday, that may sneak up on us.  Don't forget to pack PE clothes and shoes for Tuesday!  Have a nice weekend!

January Projects

For the rest of the month our class is doing a Nevada Native Americans project.  We are learning about prehistoric Native Americans, like the Lovelock Cave people,and the more recent Native American tribes that were present in the 1800's in our state.  Students have been assigned a tribe to research, then they will work together to build a model of the home, clothing, and tools of their tribe so they can teach their peers.  We would like to invite parents to hear our presentations as well.  Presentations are tentatively scheduled for Jan. 28, which I may change if that date is too soon for the class.  It will be at 2:00.  We are all looking forward to what we will learn during this short project.  

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Back in the Swing of Things

Welcome back!  Hopefully you've all had a nice break.  We started off the new year in fifth grade with a great Tribes activity called Just One You, where the students shared something they just did over the break, one thing they want to do in 2013, and something that makes them unique.  When you stop by the school, you'll see the student work hanging outside our classroom. We are also working to memorize the 17 Nevada counties and be able to place them on a map.  The students have made flashcards and work with blank county maps to label the counties.  We will start a short project about the Native Americans of Nevada next week.

We will start up our parent journals again this week.  Please ask your child for his or her journal on Thursday.  Your child will write you a letter to tell you about his or her week and ask you a few questions.  Then write your response to your child in the journal.  I hope this journal will be a nice keepsake when the school year is over.  This is a real-life writing experience that I hope will encourage your student to express thoughts and feelings in writing.  Plus, your child gets his or her clip moved up if they get a response, which gives them a chance to earn some extra Bighorn Bucks!