Announcements



Announcements

Check this page frequently to keep up with what is going on in 5th grade.

 
 * WE HAVE A STUDENT WHO IS** **DEATHLY ALLERGIC TO TREE NUTS** **. IF YOU SEND IN TREATS FOR A CELEBRATION OF ANY SORT,** **PLEASE DO NOT SEND IN ANYTHING WITH NUTS OR ANY KIND OF NUT BY-PRODUCT** **.**

DATE ** || **ANNOUNCEMENT **
 * **ACTIVITY

If you need further information or would like to let us know about something related to any of the announcements below, please feel free to e-mail one of us. candicewest@waynesville.k12.mo.us .................... ahensley@waynesville.k12.mo.us ............................................................................................................................................ || For your teachers to teach you best, we need to know how you learn best. Two kinds of information about how you learn that will help us create a learning environment that is best for you are: what kind of learner you are (multiple intelligences) and how you learn best (learning style). While your teacher can observe you for a while and try different ways to teach you, this takes time--valuable learning time. To avoid wasting your learning time, we will defer to the experts who have created instruments that give us this information about you, right away. Please follow the directions below to complete the Multiple Intelligences Inventory and the Learning Styles Inventory.
 * ASAP || Learning Inventories

Please click on the links below. Complete the inventories, print out your results, and __**give them to your teacher as soon as possible.**__

Multiple Intelligences Inventory: [|Multiple Intelligence Inventory] To create a printout of your Multiple Intelligences Inventory results: 1) Complete the inventory and get results (follow instructions on the page) 2) Print the pie graph of your results. 3) Please be sure you **write your name and the date on the top of this printout**!

Learning Styles Assessment : [|Learning Styles Inventory] To take the Learning Styles Inventory: Select Learning Style Test 2 from the menu bar on the left of the screen on the Berghuis website (linked above). To create a printout of your Learning Style Assessment results: 1) Complete the inventory and get results (follow instructions on the page) 2) Take a "screen shot" (for MACs, open apple-shift-4) 3) Open a Word document 4) Type your name and date on the top line then insert the screen shot 5) Print your document

. || Please review the online 5th Grade Student Handbook pick5thgrade.wikispaces.com/Student+Handbook with your student then complete the online forms pick5thgrade.wikispaces.com/Forms and e-mail the completed forms to your student's teacher.
 * 8/13/09 || Welcome students and parents! We are looking forward to a fun and challenging year for our fifth graders.

When you get a few free moments, you might want to visit our teacher work area at Parent/Student Welcome 5thgradelc to see what we have planned for the year. . || Parents, we have set up a private wiki, Pick Student Pages. Unlike our other wikis that can be seen by anybody, this is a private wiki and can only be seen by people who have been given permission to join it. The kids and teachers will be doing a great deal of our discussions on this wiki and the kids will be able to see, edit, and comment on each other's work as well as communicate online with their peers in a very secure, safe, online environment. We think you will find their postings to be very interesting and worth a visit from time to time. If you would like to be able to see this wiki, you may sign in to the wiki by using your student's first initial and full last name (no spaces) as the username and their student number as the password. Please remind your student of the importance of not giving out his/her password to anybody besides parents. . When time allows, we will be creating a private page on the Pick Student Pages wiki for each of the students. Each page will be able to be viewed only by the student, his/her parents, the 5th grade teachers, and Mrs. Hays. It will take some time to get this set up. However, you can speed up the process if you would be willing to devote a couple of hours to setting this up for us. Please contact Mrs. West or Ms. Hensley if you could help us out with this. . || 7 p.m. Pick Elementary School Library The first of our Parent Forums will be held. Parent Forums are a time for the parents and teachers to get together to discuss matters of importance to the fifth grade students. At this meeting we will be looking at the 5th Grade Wiki and answering any questions you have about it and explaining Layered Curriculum.
 * 8/13/09 || Private Wiki for Students
 * 8/17/09 || Parent Forum

Our next Parent Forum will be on Tuesday, September 8th at 6 p.m.

At the Parent Forum it was voted on that we would begin all future Parent Forums at 6 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. || . || We have suspended the layered curriculum units for the time being. We hope to be returning to the layered curriculum format very soon. To see the revised math and science lessons for the week of 8/31/09, please click on this link:Revised Lesson Plans. Please note that there will be a Science Test over Chapter 1 on Thursday, Sept. 3rd. __//, //__ || Some situations have arisen in the classroom that have prevented us from making the progress on this unit we needed to make to have the time to make our PowerPoint presentations. We will end the unit on Thursday (9/3/09) but we will not be having the PowerPoint presentations. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We hope to be able to make PowerPoint presentations for another unit later in the year. PowerPoint presentations by Students 1:00 to 3:15 in the library Parents, we hope you can join us for these presentations, the culminating activity for our Research Unit. Be sure to bring a disk or thumb drive so we can get you a copy of your child's PowerPoint slide show. . || Monday, September 6th at 5 p.m. the voting box will be picked up at Rocky Top Pets. If you haven't already done so, be sure you stop by Rocky Top Pets and vote for your three favorite fish. The fish will the most votes will be purchased for our classroom aquarium. Winner of the voting will be announced Tuesday, September 7th, at the end of the day. || 6 p.m. Pick Elementary School Library This Parent Forum will focus on how the first few weeks of school have gone. We will be discussing this year's Science Fair timeline and expectations for student projects. || We will be providing after-school tutoring, free of charge, every Thursday for any 5th grade student who could benefit from some extra help. Please note that there will be times that we will not be able to have Academic Assistance (because of weather issues, meetings, etc.). If we must cancel an Academic Assistance session, we will announce it on this page as soon as we know about it. . || The kids who stayed last night to work on division are begging for another night each week for tutoring. When we discussed this with the whole class this morning, many of the children thought tutoring two nights a week would be a good thing, so... until further notice we will have after school tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. || Parents, please note the change in schedule for Unit 2 in math. 5thgradelc.wikispaces.com/MATH-Detailed+Unit+2 || Parents, please be sure you read the note that was sent home today about the Science and Social Studies Weekly subscriptions for your student. A gentle reminder, all subscriptions must be paid for by September 15th. Feel free to postdate checks as nothing will be deposited until after 3 p.m. on the 15th. || Bring in at least 3 clean, empty containers - jars, boxes, or cans **by 10/5** Ms. Hensley and Mss. West have a training after school today. || We will begin our 1st quarter conferences starting on Monday, October 5th. Each conference is scheduled to last approximately 30 minutes. We are asking that the conference be attended by both parents (if possible) and the student. Both teachers will be part of the conference. Students should bring his/her binder to the conference.
 * 8/24/09 || Picture Day!
 * 8/29/09 || Change in Classroom Schedule/Format
 * 9/3/09 || UPDATE (8/29/09)
 * 9/6/09 || Fish Ballots
 * 9/8/09 || Parent Forum
 * 9/ 10 /09 || Academic Assistance Begins
 * 9/10/09 || __**After-School Tutoring**__
 * 09/11/09 || __**Date Changes**__
 * 09/11/09 || __**Science/Social Studies Weekly Subscriptions**__
 * 9/24/09 || **__HOMEWORK__: **
 * 9/28/09 || **No after-school tutoring on 9/29/09**
 * 9/28/09 || **No after-school tutoring on 9/29/09**
 * 9/28/09 || **__Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences__**

Your student will bring home a note today with conference date and time. Please sign the conference note and return it to school tomorrow. || A big "Thank You!" to Antonio Williams' mom and dad. Recently they asked if there were any supplies we needed. I suggested that we could use some extra mechanical pencils for those students who do not have one. A few days later Tony arrived at school with a plastic bag brimming with brand new mechanical pencils. There was enough for every 5th grade student to get a new pencil and still enough left over for everybody to get another in the future. Thank you so much for your generosity, Mr. and Mrs. Williams. || We have been told that one of the ways the district will be trying to control the H1N1 virus is reducing the temperature in the classrooms. All classrooms will be kept at 68 degrees which may feel chilly to some of the students. To ensure your child's comfort, please be sure (s)he has has a light jacket, sweater, or sweatshirt in his/her backpack and that (s)he dresses in layers.. || As we begin a new grading period, a greater emphasis is going to be put on building your child's vocabulary. To this end, we will be giving vocabulary quizzes several times this quarter. The vocabulary words are the same as the week's spelling words. We will be giving your child age-appropriate definitions for the words. Please do not have your child get definitions from the dictionary as these are often unintelligible to a 5th grade student. || Parents, please keep in mind that our goal for your children is to master the skills and concepts presented in class. This may take more practice for some kids than others. If your child receives a grade on work that indicates the material has not been mastered (80% or better, or a note on a paper indicating it needs to be redone), on most assignments your child may redo the work and turn it in for regrading. Students __may not change any answers on their original work__. When corrections are made, they need to be done on a separate piece of paper (with full heading--student number, name, date, homeroom teacher, and assignment title), stapled to the front of the original work, and turned in together.
 * 9/28/09 || **THANK YOU!**
 * 10/15/09 || **BRING A JACKET**
 * 10/15/09 || **SPELLING/VOCABULARY**
 * 10/15/09 || **REMINDER: REDOING ASSIGNMENTS**

Please keep in mind that the reason we encourage children to redo work is for them to learn what was not learned the first time around. To ensure that your child has truly learned the material, the teacher may base a regrading on a discussion with your child about the work that has been redone. Only if your child can demonstrate (s)he has __mastered__ the work that was redone will (s)he be given a new grade.

Most quizzes and tests can be taken again, but your child will have to come tell us that they need to schedule a time to retake the quiz or test. Needless to say, the identical quiz or test will not be given. Instead, an instrument designed to evaluate the same information will be given to your child. Often times this will be an oral discussion between your child and the teacher. Spelling tests and basic facts timed tests may not be retaken. Any assessment or work that has true/false answers may not be done over.

There is a time limit on this, however. Your child has one week from the date the original assignment or assessment is done to redo it and turn it in for regrading. || Due to missed Parent/Teacher Conferences, we will be conferencing with parents and will not be able to have after-school tutoring today. || Please remember to check your child's folder each night for papers that have been graded. Graded papers will be behind the subject tab in your child's binder.
 * 10/22/09 || **NO AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING**
 * 10/22/09 || **YOUR CHILD'S GRADES**

Also, remember that you can check your child's grades 24/7 on PowerSchool. If you do not have your password, contact the office (329-6262) and they can assist you with this. || Due to teacher professional development, we will not have after-school tutoring today. || Due to teacher professional development, we will not have after-school tutoring today. || It's Red Ribbon Week at Pick. This year's theme is Just Wild about Being Drug Free. MONDAY: Wear something red and sign a pledge for a drug-free future. TUESDAY: Wear sunglasses/visor to represent your bright future when you're drug-free. WEDNESDAY: Wear bright colors to show that your future stands out as drug-free. THURSDAY: Show pride in your drug-free future by wearing orange and black. FRIDAY: Dress up showing your future drug-free career. || Please join us for Family Math Night on Thursday, October 29th, from 5:00 - 7:00. Dinner is free for everybody and a grand time should be had by all. Any 5th grade student who participates in Family Math Night and signs in with Mrs. West or Ms. Hensley will receive 10 points extra credit. || At last night's Parent Forum we had an extensive discussion about the upcoming Science Fair. If you missed this meeting, your child has his/her Science Fair packet. Please read this packet from cover to cover and discuss it with your child so both of you know what is going on.
 * 10/27/09 || **NO AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING**
 * 10/29/09 || **NO AFTER SCHOOL TUTORING**
 * 10/26/09 || **RED RIBBON WEEK**
 * 10/30/09 || **FAMILY MATH NIGHT**
 * 11/4/09 || **SCIENCE FAIR**

After much begging, pleading, and arm twisting by the children, Ms. Hensley and I have agreed to sponsor a 5th grade Book Club. The kids want to do something like Oprah's Book Club where we all read the same book and discuss it. This seems to be something they really want to do, so we will give it a shot to see how it goes. The first book we will be reading is //Facing West: A Story of the Oregon Trail.// We have several copies but the kids will have to share.
 * Please be advised that your child must have his/her experiment picked out and pp. 1-3 of the Science Fair packet completed and turned in by Friday, November 13th. ** ||
 * 11/6/09 || **5th GRADE BOOK CLUB**


 * The next two books we will be reading are from Scholastic. You will need to order these next two books from the November Scholastic Arrow online.** Instead of having the the little papers to order from, all orders will be done online. You will not have to send any money to school, just pay online--it doesn't get much easier than that!

Please follow the steps to get to where you need to order these books: Go to 

Our class name is: pick5thgrade Our username is: pick5th grade

If your child will be joining us for the book club, please order the two following books: and
 * 1) 75 Sign of the Beaver
 * 1) 73 Seekers: The Quest Begins

Of course, you may order any of the books in the November flyer. __**All orders are due by November 16th.**__

The books will be delivered to school and we will pass them out to the kids.

** IF YOU HAVE ANY DIFFICULTY DOING AN ONLINE ORDER, PLEASE CONTACT SCHOLASTIC AT 1-800-724-6527 M-F from 6AM-11PM CST and Sat from 8AM-5PM CST. THEY ARE VERY HELPFUL AND WILL TALK YOU THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS.

IF YOU COME TO A SCREEN ASKING FOR AN ACTIVATION CODE, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE--CALL SCHOLASTIC AND THEY WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU NEED TO BE. ** || This week's spelling words are the same as the words we had last week. The daily assignments for the words have been changed, however. Please see this week's detailed lessons for changes in the daily assignments for spelling. || Parent Forum tonight, Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m. in the library. Please ring any Science Fair questions or concerns to this forum for discussion. We will do our best to have one of the district Science Fair Coordinators here to answer any questions you may have. ||
 * 11/9/09 || **THIS WEEK'S SPELLING WORDS**
 * 12/1/09 || **PARENT FORUM**
 * 12/07/09 || SPELLING HOMEWORK

Beginning this week, your child will have spelling homework every night. The assignments are as follows: MONDAY: Copy spelling onto spelling sheet; classify spelling words according to their parts of speech. TUESDAY: Look up words in dictionary; write spelling word and the pronunciation as shown in the dictionary. WEDNESDAY: Write each spelling word five (5) times. THURSDAY: Use each word in a seven word sentence. (Be sure that the way the word is used in a sentence clearly demonstrates that you know the meaning of the word and how to use it appropriate.

If your child is absent on Monday, please check the spelling list on the LC wiki. Spelling Words by Week || We will be having a Pizza Party on the last day of school before Christmas break, December 18th. Each student needs to bring in $5.00 for pizza and soda. Instead of bringing in a gift to exchange, each student is asked to bring in something small (erasers, holiday pencils, candy canes etc.) for each student in the classroom. Students in Ms. Hensley's class will need to bring in 20 items and Mrs. West's students will need to bring in 22 items.
 * 12/18/09 || **C** **L** **A** **S** **S** **C** **H** **R** **I** **S** **T** **M** **A** **S** **P** **A** **R** **T** **Y**

If you would like to send in some baked goodies for our party, please feel free to do so. We will be eating at about 2:00.

**WE HAVE A STUDENT WHO IS** **DEATHLY ALLERGIC TO TREE NUTS** **. IF YOU SEND IN TREATS FOR A CELEBRATION OF ANY SORT,** **PLEASE DO NOT SEND IN ANYTHING WITH NUTS OR ANY KIND OF NUT BY-PRODUCT** **.**   ||
 * 12/16/09 || **LAST DAY TO TURN IN CORRECTIONS OR MISSING WORK**

Wednesday, December 16th is the last day to turn in missing work or corrections for the week. || Although our time for social studies has been drastically reduced, Ms. Hensley is still hanging in there and getting some of it in for the kids. At the moment she is having them work on a Native American Unit. The Unit 1 activities are due on Thursday, January 7th. The Unit 2 activities are due on January 28th. || ** Parent Forum tonight, Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m. in the library. Discussions about last minute things you can do to help your child be prepared for MAP. || 8/10/09
 * 1/07/10 and 1/28/10 || **LAYERED CURRICULUM UNIT: NATIVE AMERICANS**
 * 1/12/09 || **PARENT FORUM**
 * Parent Forum tonight, Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m. in the library. This will be devoted to Science Fair. This is the last opportunity to discuss your child's needs before Science Fair. ** ||
 * 2/2/10 || **PARENT FORUM**
 * Parent Forum tonight, Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m. in the library. ** We will be discussing upcoming MAP testing and how you can prepare your child for this high-stakes exam. ||
 * 3/2/10 || **PARENT FORUM