Mrs. Porisch's 5th & 6th Grade Class: December 2011

Thursday, December 29, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

READING

All groups will be finishing their books this week. We will choose new books next week.

MATH

All students are adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing of fractions. We are also tossing in the Pythagorean Theorem, as well as some algebraic expressions.

LANG

A reminder: Students have Latin Word Root ws and spelling books. If I make a mistake or do not get something posted, they are still responsible for the correct assignment/work. :-)

Writing will be focus these next few months. Diagramming sentences will pick back up. We are done with plays (for awhile) and public speaking.

SOCIAL STUDIES

5th grade: On to the colonies and slavery.

SCIENCE

We are done with Acid, Acid. We will be moving into a more activity based unit on Newton's Laws and analyzing data. Lots of whacking, tracking, and speeding balls!

A note about the Science Fair will be coming home this week in the Wed Watch. In case you miss it, it will have the following information:

SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT

Students will also be required to complete a science fair project for me. They may work in pairs or alone. Entering the Billings Clinic Science Fair Expo is optional (March 23^rd & 24^th). For elementary and middle school students, the deadline for submitting the paperwork for the Billings Clinic Science Expo is Friday, February 24^th (pgs 17 & 18 of the pdf document). The science fair project does not need to be completed by that time. More information is available @ http://www.billingsclinic.com/scienceexpo .

My timeline for completing the science fair project is as follows. Please note that I will be at the school 2 days on the weekends for students to come and get help or use materials.

	January 30^th	February 6^th	February 13^th	February 20^th

Assignment due dates—>	Question, Background knowledge, Hypothesis	Materials	Bring in science fair notebook with your parents’ signature. Make sure there is a DATE next to each entry.	Procedure Rough data table


Dates I will be @ school to help with materials or assemblyà	Saturday, February 4^th from 10 AM -2 PM		Sunday, February 19^th from 1-4 PM

Science Fair project is due the week of February 27^th .

Science Fair display boards can be purchased at Michaels or Home Science Tools located at 665 Carbon Street. You can also purchase foam board @ WalMart and tape it together.

I have read the information about accessing the math book online as well as the information regarding the science fair project that is required.

Student’s name Parent’s signature

LWR theo

Prefix
a- not, without

Root
mono one
nom law, order
path feeling, disease
poly many
psycho mind, spirit
the/theo god

Suffix

-ism act, state, condition
-ology study of, science
-y state, quality, act

SPELLING

5th grade

U 19 Suffixes: -ed & -ing

Dictation Sentences

1. I'm knitting a wool scarf for you.
2. Our floors have wall-to-wall carpeting.
3. These pesky flies are bothering me!

Basic: scrubbed, stunned, knitting, beginning, skimmed, chatting, shrugged, whipped, quizzed, scanned, upsetting, listening, carpeting, wandered, gathering, bothering, suffering, ordered, totaled, answered

Challenge: compelling, deposited, occurred, threatening, canceled

Real World Vocabulary: Fashion

designer, stylish, fashion, trend, fabric, wardrobe, linen, garment

U 20 Suffixes: More -ed & -ing words

Dictation Sentences

1. Isn't Mt. Rushmore an amazing sight?

2. I can't believe you two are related!

3. The band is practicing for an audition.

Basic: tiring, freezing, losing, decided, damaged, united, amusing, borrowed, delivered, whispered, performing resulting, attending, remarked, supported, expected, repeated

Challenge: assigned, entertaining, operated, rehearsing, donated

Real World Vocabulary: Basic Chemistry

matter, particles, gaseous, evaporation, cooling, condenses, substance, density

6th grade

U 19 Suffixes: -ent & -ant

Dictation Sentences

1. Jack was confident of victory.
2. We sniffed the fragrant lilies.
3. They enjoyed the excellent movie.

Basic: confidence, fragrance, excellence, decent, decency, truant, truancy, brilliant, brilliance, obedient, obedience, evident, evidence, occupant, occupancy, reluctant, reluctance

Challenge: inconvenient, inconvenience, buoyant, buoyancy

Real World Vocabulary DNA & Identity
investigate, laboratory, analysis, technician, fingerprinting, characteristics, molecules, verify

U 20 Suffixes: -able, -ilbe, -ate

Dictation Sentences
1. Let's celebrate the win with a party.
2. That tall tale was incredible!
3. Who is responsible for cleaning up?

Basic: enjoyable, valuable, washable, capable, miserable, noticeable, visible, horrible, audible, sensible, celebrate, desperate, cooperate, appreciate, considerate, delicate, graduate, fortunate

Challenge: evacuate, irritable, exaggerate, improbable, elaborate

Real World Vocabulary: Noise & Hearing

exposure, acoustics, vibration, sound waves, amplify, decibels, tinnitus, auditory

Calvin & Hobbes cartoon from http://www.funny-and-hilarious.com/2010/12/funny-cartoon-new-year-resolutions.html

Monday, December 19, 2011

Last BLOG of the Year! J

A BELATED Congratulations to COLLIN WRIGHT!! Collin won the Poly Dr Geography Bee last week. He now will take a test in January for the state level competition. WTG, Collin!!!

2:15 on Tuesday: Orchestra Concert in the gym

Secret Santas

Students are participating in Secret Santas within our classroom only. Some opted to not participate. We will reveal our Secret Santa on Thursday. Those who are leaving early will “reveal” the day before they leave. This should NOT be a big expense. I stressed just giving clues throughout the week and on the reveal day to just give a candy cane or some such item.

Which leads us to the …..

White Elephant Christmas Gift

On Thursday, we will have a little gift exchange, of the White Elephant nature. I gave an example of someone wrapping up a toothbrush. Keep it simple, and if possible, cheap! J The sillier the gift, the more fun it is.

***A reminder to parents of 6th graders from Sherry Ross ***

I need to get a digital copy of the following pictures of your child:

· a baby picture

· a kindergarten picture

· a 6th grade picture

If you have any misc pictures from last year or this year in Mrs. Porisch’s class, please send those, too.

The yearbook that Poly does for the graduating 6th graders is really neat! Please call me if you have any questions. Keep taking pictures... I will need LOTS!

SUBJECT UPDATES:

READING: 6^th grade is reading In the Year of the Hangman or Indian Captive. 5^th graders are reading Incident at Hawks Hill or Island of the Blue Dolphins

LANGUAGE: LWRs.; 5 paragraph paper on the Big Sky All Stars

SOCIAL STUDIES: 5^th graders: Chapter 6

SCIENCE:

MATH: 5^th graders: Christmas Math; Logic Puzzle (trade paper)—due Monday, January 2, 2012

SPELLING: Unit 17

KEYBOARDING: Continue

LWR miso

PREFIX

ROOT

mis/o to hate
log word, reason

neo new, recent

anthrop mankind, man

gam united, joined

gyn female, woman

SUFFIX

-ism act, state, condition

-ist one who

-y state, quality, act

SPELLING

5th grade: U 17 Final schwa + /l/ sound

Basic

1. What is a normal temperature for spring?

2. City Hall is in the central part of town.

3. The boat sailed out into the channel.

label, angel, level, quarrel, legal, normal, local, global, whistle, puzzle, angle, needle, struggle, bicycle, stumble, article, pupil, fossil

Challenge:

identical, vehicle, mineral, colonel, artificial

Real World Vocabulary Math: Geometry

polygons, rhombus, obtuse angle, acute angle, rectangle, right angle, triangle, hypotenuse

6th grade:

U 17 Final iz/, iv/, and ij/ sounds

1. After high school, I will attend.

2. In her costume, I didn’t recognize her.

3. If you criticize someone, do it kindly.

revise, memorize, organize, advertise, exercise, summarize, recognize, active, attractive, primitive, positive, sensitive, advantage, shortage, encourage, wreckage, percentage, heritage

CHALLENGE

utilize, mortgage, merchandise, aggressive, compromise

Real World Vocabulary Life Skills: College

freshman, registrar, sophomores, campus, semester, seminar, professor, collegiate

Email

porischt@billingsschools.org

Blog

http://tporisch.blogspot.com

For students who have Mrs. Beatty for Social Studies:

www.beattyblogger.blogspot.com

iKeepBookmarks.com

http://www.iKeepBookmarks.com/Terra_Porisch

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

A HUGE "Thank you!" to Neil Johnson for donating the pizzas we had at our cast party last Friday. Neil works for Bullman's Pizza (across from Shopko on 24th) and was able to provide and deliver pizzas to our room!

I will donate the money that was brought to the project for homeless students described at the end of this blog.

Field Trip for 6th graders today to the Western Heritage Center and the Moss Mansion. This is a “special” activity that 6^th graders do at Poly Driveil! J

Student Council is hosting a bake sale on Thurs, Dec. 15 before andafter the holiday concerts for the younger grades. If you have a sweet that you could bake up and donate, we will gladly sell it! The money will be used to complete gifts from the giving tree not already purchased!
If you haven't returned your gift for the giving tree, please do that by Thurs. Dec. 15th as well! There are a few cards left to be taken if you haven't had a chance to pick one up!

Midterms went home today (December 7, 2011). Please sign them and return.

Just a suggestion: As the Holiday Season approaches, I know some people consider getting teachers a gift. I have an alternative suggestion posted at the end of this email. I am in not asking for a gift nor do I expect one. But 30+ years of teaching tells me it will happen. :-) Please do whatever your heart and tradition tells you to do.

***A reminder to parents of 6th graders from Sherry Ross ***

I need to get a digital copy of the following pictures of your child:

· a baby picture

· a kindergarten picture

· a 6th grade picture

If you have any misc pictures from last year or this year in Mrs. Porisch’s class, please send those, too.

The yearbook that Poly does for the graduating 6th graders is really neat! Please call me if you have any questions. Keep taking pictures... I will need LOTS!

Just another amazing gifted child: Jackie Evancho. She is 10 years old. Her voice is amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Q7AFys6bA&feature=related

SUBJECT UPDATES:

READING: 6^th grade is reading In the Year of the Hangman or Indian Captive. 5^th graders are reading Incident at Hawks Hill or Island of the Blue Dolphins

LANGUAGE: LWRs.

SOCIAL STUDIES: 5^th graders: Present on Friday, December 7^th

SCIENCE: Finishing! WHEW!

MATH: 5^th graders: Fractions for all.

SPELLING: Unit 15

KEYBOARDING: Continue

LWR eu, onym

PREFIX

an- not, without

ant- against, opposite

syn- with together

ROOT

eu good, well

gen birth, produce, race

hydr water

nom law, order

onym name, word

phon sound

SUFFIX

-ic like, related to

-ous having the quality of

-y state, quality, act

SPELLING

5th grade: U 16 VV Pattern

BASIC:

1. It is cruel to tease an animal.

2. Did you see the artwork at the museum?

3. A patriot is loyal to his or her country.

actual, diet, casual, ruin, pioneer, trial, visual, realize, create, riot, genuine, area, annual, audio, dial, theater, violet

CHALLENGE:

diagnose, media, appreciate, society, prior

Real World Vocab. Art: The Color Wheel

indigo, aquamarine, vermilion, apricot, spectrum, hues, primary, complementary

U 17 Final schwa + /l/ sound

Basic

1. 1. What is a normal temperature for spring?

2. 2. City Hall is in the central part of town.

3. 3. The boat sailed out into the channel.

label, angel, level, quarrel, legal, normal, local, global, whistle, puzzle, angle, needle, struggle, bicycle, stumble, article, pupil, fossil

Challenge:

identical, vehicle, mineral, colonel, artificial

Real World Vocabulary Math: Geometry

polygons, rhombus, obtuse angle, acute angle, rectangle, right angle, triangle, hypotenuse

6th grade:

U 16 Prefix com-

BASIC

1. Black and white contrast well.

2. Does he commute to work by bus?

3. Asia is the largest continent.

compound, combine, comment, compete, community, composition, communicate, compliment, contact, conquer, conference, concert, conversation, constitution, conduct, consumer, condition

CHALLENGE

confidential, commission, compatible, combustion, comprehensive

Real World Vocabulary Health: Nutrition

nutritional, guidelines, portion, recommended, saturated fat, sodium protein, vitamins

U 17 Final iz/, iv/, and ij/ sounds

1. 1. After high school, I will attend.

2. 2. In her costume, I didn’t recognize her.

3. 3. If you criticize someone, do it kindly.

revise, memorize, organize, advertise, exercise, summarize, recognize, active, attractive, primitive, positive, sensitive, advantage, shortage, encourage, wreckage, percentage, heritage

CHALLENGE

utilize, mortgage, merchandise, aggressive, compromise

Real World Vocabulary Life Skills: College

freshman, registrar, sophomores, campus, semester, seminar, professor, collegiate

Instead of a gift for me, you might consider donating to this organization. You will have to email me for the donor PDF. I do not have the option of including it on the blog.

Hello Friends,

About this time last year, I wrote to you about a heart wrenching statistic – the number of homeless students living and attending school in our community. Hundreds more are living well below poverty level in circumstances we can only imagine. Bad economic times have only increased the number of teens in need.  Teens who who  may not know if they'll have a place to sleep or food to eat at the end of the day. Once again the holiday season is upon us and most of us give thanks for a place to call home, warm clothing and plenty of food for ourselves and our  families.

To those of you that contributed to last year’s Gift Card Drive, know that you had a profound impact on the beneficiaries of your kindness. The real-life stories known to counselors and staff are countless. Some kids try hard to hide their circumstances. They want nothing more than to be like other teens. They wish they didn’t need the help and we want nothing more than to offer it.  We know from years past, our help brought in tremendous relief and often overwhelming gratitude at the thought complete strangers cared what happens to all children. Many times over, kids were moved to tears. The value of the tangible gift is certain. The more profound benefit of letting a child know they are not forgotten cannot be measured but is undeniable. It delivers hope, a reason they continue to put one foot in front of the other one more day.

This year, we are proud to extend a chance to reach all of our schools and teens city wide. Tumbleweed has graciously agreed to partner in this effort to help facilitate collection of donations. Tumbleweed is a non-profit organization with counselor connections in each school.

I am asking for your help in easing these teens ' burden, if only for a little while. Join me in this citywide effort “ON THEIR OWN GIFT CARD DRIVE.” Please consider donating a gift card of any denomination that will assist a teen in purchasing personal supplies, food, clothing, gas and other necessities. Cards from Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart or a local grocery store would be especially welcome. Coupons from eating establishments would also be appreciated. School counselors at each location and homeless coordinators will assure the cards are distributed discretely, fairly and per your request to maximize your donation while respecting the students ' dignity. By your generous gift, they will know they are not forgotten.

Would you like to help?

Starting Wednesday, December 7 and no later than Friday, December 16, drop off your gift card donation as follows. Please do not drop off donations at the schools except for the designated times to avoid disruption to the school and staff .   Attached is a donor form.  Please consider printing it out, completing it and including it with your donation:

§                     Tumbleweed, 505 N. 24^th Street, Billings, MT 59101 - 8am – 5pm, Monday-Friday – accepting donations on behalf of all schools. You may also mail your donations to this address. Gift cards will be provided directly to the schools based based on staff and administration requests.
§                     Billings Senior High (collection table next to front office): Monday – Thursday 12:30pm – 1:30pm.
§                     Skyview High School (collection table next to front office): Wednesdays and Fridays, 8:30am – 9:30am.
§                     West High collection site is at Tumbleweed.

You may designate a specific school for distribution if you wish and your request will be honored. If you do not indicate a specific school, your contribution will be utilized based on need. Donation forms will be available at each site to indicate your contribution, need for a receipt and school designation. The form is also attached to this e-mail if you wish to print, complete and bring or mail with your donation.

If you would like to arrange a gift card pick up, or if you have questions, please contact Patty Fain at 698-5862 or Laurie Maddock (Tumbleweed) at 259-2558.

May this be a happy holiday for you and yours as well as for the teen you so graciously will help.   You will be someone's secret angel soon.

Please consider passing this e-mail along to your family and friends.

The Gift Card Drive Team

Email

porischt@billingsschools.org

Blog

http://tporisch.blogspot.com

For students who have Mrs. Beatty for Social Studies:

www.beattyblogger.blogspot.com

iKeepBookmarks.com

http://www.iKeepBookmarks.com/Terra_Porisch