The first semester and second quarter are coming to a close next week. It is hard to believe that half of the school year is almost behind us.
In communication arts we are reading Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", as a group, in class, along with continuing to complete our daily language review, vocabulary, spelling, and journal writing.
In math we are finishing up the 'Going Bananas' multiplication exercise, and will be enjoying our well earned banana splits soon. We are also taking a sneak peak at the beginning of the next quarter by doing some preliminary exercises with time and money.
The students are working hard and looking forward to a break before starting the second semester.
Have a safe and happy holiday!

Second quarter progress reports are going out today. Be sure to look for them in your students backpack. After the Thanksgiving break, we will only have three more weeks of school before the winter break. It's hard to believe but we are close to halfway through the school year. In Communication Arts we are doing a review of our vocabulary. We are still writing themed paragraphs in our journals. We continue to work on our daily language review.
In math we are winding down our multiplication 'Banana Splits', and are planning to finish up within the next couple of weeks.
So, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Second quarter progress reports will be coming out next week. Now that November is here, it will not be long until the Thanksgiving break. Only three weeks after Thanksgiving we will be having the Winter break. This will mark the end of the first semester. It is hard to believe that the school year is almost half over.
In communication arts we have moved on from Narrative Writing and are beginning the 5 W's and an H of Expository writing (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How). We are continuing to work on our daily language review, vocabulary, journal writing, and "just right" reading books.
In math we are working on patterns, sequences, standard form, multiplication, and division.
We are looking forward to our Veteran's Day assembly this Friday 11/11, and the holiday season ahead!

First quarter is quickly coming to a close. Grade cards will come out next week at the parent/teacher conferences.
In Communication Arts we have finished our "Play Doh" writing assignment, and have them displayed on the classroom bulletin board. We are continuing to work on our Daily Language Review (DLR), vocab, spelling, cursive, and reading. In reading we are enjoying selections from the A-Z books.
In math we are still working on our multiplication facts with our "Banana Splits". We are also working on rounding, and parentheses, as a means toward learning the Order of Operations.
We are looking forward to the next quarter and the holidays coming up.

First quarter progress reports and classwork are going home today. Be sure to look for them in your students backpack.
We are moving along as a class into the year. In Language Arts we are continuing to complete our daily language and vocabulary lessons. We are still working on spelling. Your students spelling words will be written in their agendas every Monday. And we are beginning our second drafts of our individual fall writing assignments. We have finished the 1st draft, and shared what we have so far with a class presentation. The work on the final draft will be started after we finish our 2nd draft.
In Mathematics we have started our fall "Going Bananas" multiplication timed excercies. As each math fact is completed the student will get to work towards a banana split, with all the trimmings.
In Science and Social Studies we are studying the land masses, continents, and the food web, respectivly. The year is already going by fast, and we are forgeing ahead toward the end of the first quarter.

It is a new school year! Where did the summer go? It is great to see the students I had last year and to meet new students. After the first few days of getting settled in, we are beginning to do some review and set up for the new year! I am looking forward to working with all of the students this year! In communication arts we are beginning our daily language reviews, spelling, writing samples, and preparing for our fall DRA reading assessment. In math we are reviewing multiplication. The students are beginning to get into a routine. Here we go!

Summer break is upon us. It has been a GREAT year, and it sure has gone by fast. I have mixed feelings about my 6th graders moving on to middle school. While I am going to miss them, I am excited for them and the new page about to unfold in their lives.
I am looking forward to the new fifth graders coming in next year. I am also looking forward to see just how much my present fifth graders will mature over the summer.
I know the students are ready for their summer activities.
Enjoy your break, and I will see you all on August 15th at parent/teacher night!
Have a wonderful summer vacation!

There are 8 1/2 days left in the school year, and the last two weeks are proving to be very busy. The fifth graders are finishing up their Civil War projects. The sixth graders transition day is Wednesday 05/18, and their going away party is Thursday 05/19.
Our class is continuing to work on spelling, daily language review, writing paragraphs, and reading the book "The Borrowers".
In math we are reviewing time and money.
The school year has gone by quickly. However, we are still working very hard, in class, to finish out the school year while we adjust for the end of the year activities.

Be sure to check your students backpack for field trip permission slips.

We have had a busy week. On Tuesday we went to the Andy Dalton Conservation Area and spent the morning fishing. Then we went to the archery range and learned to shoot a bow and arrow. Finally, we had a huge cookout of hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks, etc. Fortunately the weather was dry and sunny.
On Thursday we enjoyed going to the High School for a performance of "Wiley and the Harry man". All of the students enjoyed this greatly.
We have more field trips coming up. We have transition day for the sixth graders in the next coming weeks. We are working on the spring DRA's the see how much we have improved our reading skills. Along with all of these activities, we are still maintaining schoolwork for the remaining of the year. The fifth grade students are working on their Civil War projects.
I know the students are looking forward to a well earned summer break. However, we still have work to be done before the end of the semester. It is an exciting time of the year!

With only four Mondays left after today, and MAP testing behind us, we are in the home stretch. The year is going by so quickly. In class we are getting back to our routine. We are also anticipating May, and all of the field trips planned for the month.
In communication arts we are continuing to do our spelling, daily language review, and reading of the "The Borrowers". We are starting a new project by making a ABC notebook about the Civil War.
In math we are looking at fractions, and reviewing time and money.
In social studies we are looking at the Southern States region.
Fourth quarter progress will be coming out next week, and we are poised to work very hard for the balance on the school year.

With the temperature in the 80's one day, and a chance of snow the next day, you know it's Spring time in the Ozarks! In class we are reviewing for MAP testing. In math we are going over numerical operations, math reasoning, and probability. In communication arts we are working on our daily language review, spelling, and writing in our journal. We have been reading "The Borrowers" as a class. While reading we have been looking ahead at the illustrations in each chapter, in order to try and predict what we will read about that in the chapter. We have mid term, 4th quarter grades coming out soon. And be sure to check for fliers and notices from your student for the activities and field trips coming up before the end of the school year. I know the students are all looking towards the summer break. However, we still have some learning and fun to have before then.

With 3rd quarter coming to an end, and Spring Break! right around the corner, our class is still concentrating on academics. We have finished the final draft on our writing assignment. We used the writing assignment in Ms. Harron's computer lab for a great keyboard exercise. We continue to work on our individual reading, language, and spelling skills.
In math we have been studying shapes, angles, lines, rotation, flipping, and other geometric shapes and strategies. We have been figuring perimeters and area. We have looked at how to find volume. But most of all we are anticipating our "division" pizza party. Each student had to pass a timed test on division. In order to earn a pizza, one topping at a time, they had to get 100% of the correct answers on mixed division, all the way up to their twelves. All students accomplished this task!
In science, the scientific method as been introduced. In social studies the subject is still early America.
We are gearing up for the home stretch, and looking forward to some warmer weather.

Our class has been working on a number of different projects. In Communication Arts we continue to work on our daily language review, reading skills, spelling, dictionary skills, and writing in our journals.
In Math we have been working with volume, and figuring length x width x height. We are reviewing division with our daily timed "pizza" division quizs.
Between snow days, we are trying to get back into a routine. The whole class is looking forward to an early spring.

It is the beginning of a new year and a new semester. The school year is going by very quickly. In communication arts we are continuing to work on our daily language review, spelling, and reading skills. In our daily journal, we are concentrating on mastering a complete and correct sentence.
In math we are working on timed testing division problems. We are continuing to work on regrouping of both addition and subtraction.
All of the students are getting back in the routine to school, after our winter break. We are all looking forward to spring.