Upcoming dates:

Tues, Jan 15th....Facilities meeting @ Poly Dr @ 6:30 PM

Wed, January 16^th ………………Report cards  J

Wed, Jan 16………………..Return science project choice sheet (or write me a note)

Thurs, January 17^th…Coffee w/ the principal                                                                             

Friday, January 25^th…………….……Spirit Day!

NEW: Peter Piper Paragraph Challenge

Expand on this alliterative tongue twister. It must make sense AND be appropriate.

Peter Piper picked a pack of purple pickled poblano peppers procrastinatively on Presidents' Day with a pickled pancreas with purple penguin pajama pants while eating pesto with parasites imported from Paris on a plane to Pakistan. BY SAM

Reading

5^th graders:

Beginning Unit 4: Forces of Nature

6^th graders:  WWII novels

Language

Skills:

Writing—Cause and effect format

Spelling—U 20

Math

5^th graders: Adding and subtracting fractions; finding common denominators; simplifying fractions (reducing); estimating sums and differences of fractions

6^th graders: More radicals; more proportions

5^th grade Social Studies

Ch 7: Comparing the Colonies—In-class project. This chapter will take a little longer.

Science—Please send back the note saying whether your child will be doing an invention project OR a science fair project by WED.

Clarification: I can supply materials for the science fair projects that I would have access to as a teacher. We do have some test tubes, measuring devices (calibrated cylinders, massers (scales), etc). I can also provide construction paper and stencils. Other materials that the student might need (salt, fans, etc) would need to be provided by you or neighbors.

I will be available in FEBRUARY on 2 different dates to help students with any aspect of their projects: compiling/analyzing data, generating graphs, organizing science fair display boards, etc. These dates are: SAT, Feb 16 from 10 –noon and SUN, Feb 17^th from 1-3. I will be at school. The students can knock on the windows or call me ahead of time.

We will do a small unit on DNA before we launch into light, lasers, and holography.

LWR (new format for LWRs)

Focus: foli 

The worksheets the students will be getting will be of a different format. EXCEPT for this week, quizzes will still be on Th. This week it will be FRIDAY.

The quizzes will be a combination of the words AND their definitions, rather than prefix, root, and suffix definitions.

Five of the questions will be a matching format. For the remaining five words, the students will provide the definition.  The words will be provided for them.

Words	Definition
1.   bifoliate (adj)	having 2 leaves
2.  folic acid (n)	a vitamin in leafy green vegetables
3.  foliage (n)	all the leaves of a plant
4.  exfoliate (v)	to strip of leaves
5.  defoliant (n)	a chemical wh. causes green leaves to drop off
6.  folio         (n)	pages (leaves) of a manuscript
7.  portfolio (n)	a portable case for carrying sheets (leaves) of paper
8. foil   (n)	a thin sheet (leaf) of metal
9.  trefoil      (n)	a three-leaf clover
10.               unifoliate (adj)	having one leaf

5^th grade spelling words

Unit 20 More words with –ed and –ing

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.

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

Challenge Words:

assigned, entertaining, operated, rehearsing, donated

6^th grade spelling words

Unit 20  Suffixes –bile, -able, and -ate

Dictation Sentences:

1. Let’s celebrate the win with a party.

2. That tall tale was quite incredible!

3. Who is responsible for cleaning up?

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

Challenge Words:

evacuate, irritable, exaggerate, improbable, elaborate

Real-World Vocabulary   Health: Noise & Hearing

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

Calvin and Hobbes cartoon from http://nationsreportcard.gov/civics_2010/images/gr4_civics_ty2_pic1.gif