February 3, 2011

Upcoming Dates


Read-athon Dress up Themes for Feb 9-11:
Wed: Get turned around in a book--wear your shirt backwards
Thurs: Lose yourself in "print"--wear black and white
Fri: Cozy up with a good book--wear your pajamas

Valentine's Day
Monday, February 14th        1:45-2:45
We will be discussing activities, themes, games, food, etc on Friday, February 4th
If an adult out there is wanting to come to the party, let me know. I'm sure I could use some help with crowd control and clean up!  :-)


A list of student's names will be coming home next WEDNESDAY, February 9th

Poly Drive Dinner & Talent Show
Thursday, February 24th 

• 5:00 Silent Auction & Bidding on baskets opens
• 5:30 Dinner catered by Johnny Carinos   Cost $5/meal (dinner only--talent show is free!)
• 7:00 Talent Show
• Artwork displayed from select K-6th graders

Class Basket

At the Dinner & Talent Show, classroom baskets are bid on. Many schools do this, so you may be well aware of what a Class Basket is.  Our theme is "educational". That is wide open, I think. There is academic education (any subject), physical education, art education, music education, cultural education......almost anything fits in to that category. Books (any topic), puzzles, sports equipment, craft materials, or CDs are some suggestions.

If you are inclined to send an item for the Class Basket, please send it with your child. Christy Burke will be providing the basket and helping to organize it. I will .find out from her what date she wants everything in by.

NEW


SENG-Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted--is a national organization that provides information and support for parents and children. I received notice that SENG is sponsoring a new survey for parents to study gifted kids and healthcare. If you are interested in checking this out, go to the link below. It is the first  item on the page.

https://twitter.com/SENG_gifted

Also, here is a link to a database of articles on gifted children. You may want to check out the entire web site by clicking on the links at the top. But most parents, including me, have found this list of articles to be quite helpful.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/browse_by_topic_articles.aspx

Report Cards

Most of the report card envelopes have come back signed. Thank you so much for returning those. I am still missing envelopes from LC and MW.

AR goal sheets


Please ask your child about their AR goal sheet if you have not seen it yet. About half of them are back. Thank you for helping your child by supporting their reading goal!

PTA


Link to the Poly Drive PTA               http://www.polydrivepta.com

Chess Club is Back!

Students in grades 1st through 6th are welcome to join Chess Club beginning Thursday, February 24th at 3:05 to 3:45 in the gym. We will meet every Thursday at this time & place with the last meeting on March 24th. 

Note: Due to space limitations, we will NOT meet with the lower grades at 2:20. Students in grades 1-3 are welcome to join at 3:05, but there will be no supervision between 2:20 and 3:05.

Reading

Novel readings continue. Students have jobs to complete each time new chapters are assigned. They are due (usually) the next day.

Language

Poetry writing: Description poem; cinquains and haikus come next

Quiz on Thursday: duct, vol

duct lead

vol/voli will wish

ab-    away, from

bene- good, well

de-    away, down

in-    in, into, not

-ion     state, quality, act

-tion   state, quality, act

-ent    like, related to

Math

5^th grade: Chapter 5—double digit divisors--testing later this week

4^th grade:  Chapter 5 –multiplying 2 and 3 digit factors by 1 digit factors--testing later this week

Science

YES, students can work in pairs for  MY science fair requirement. However, if they want to then enter the Billings Clinic Science Fair, one of the pair will have to bow out. Beginning in middle  school, they can enter the BCSF as a team. If your child is working with another person, please fill out the ½ sheet that will come home on Thursday and return it to me. I need to know that you are willing to help get the kids together.

*If your child is working with a partner, they will receive the same grade on the final project.  However, as the dates for the following criteria are due, EACH CHILD must turn in the assignment. This is to make sure that they both have all the information in case one gets ill or has to go out of town. Also, I want to make sure that both have the complete understanding of the scientific process. 

Items in red are due Tuesday, February 8^th. Items in blue are past due.

What are the parts of the science fair project?  

Question

Background (research)

Hypothesis

Materials LIST (kids so not have to bring in the physical materials)

Procedure

Results (graphs, tables)

Conclusion

What (did you learn?) (do you want to know now?)

Abstract

Steps of the Scientific Process

http://www.jccschools.com/staff%20pages%20riverside/nurse/science%20fair/process.htm

Successful Science Fair Projects

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/fair.html

How to set up your display board (Presentation)

http://www.cool-science-projects.com/Science-Fair-Project-Display.html

Kids Corner of Science

http://scorescience.humboldt.k12.ca.us/fast/kids.htm

Doing a science fair project will be mandatory this year. Entering it in the Billings Clinic Science Fair will be optional. (March 25 & 26)

Social Studies

5^th grade: Map: South America. In the text, they have been assigned an explorer. They are reading books from the library on their explorer and the text currently.

4^th grade: Regions of the US: NE, SE, Midwest, and SW. Students have been divided into groups and make presentations to the rest of the class about their region.

Spelling

4^th and 5^th graders will now be taking spelling tests in cursive   and in blue or black ink pen. They may not use red ink on spelling tests. When studying with them, you may want to have them practice using pen and cursive.

4th grade spelling words Unit 22 Feb 7th-11th    Words  with the suffixes -ful, -less, -ness, -ment

BASIC:  colorful, truthful, cheerful, beautiful, peaceful, wasteful, endless, useless, restless, speechless, penniless, weakness, illness, clumsiness, fondness, neatness, movement, pavement, statement, treatment

CHALLENGE: numbness, ailment, resourceful, cleanliness, appointment

REAL-WORLD VOCABULARY: Reducing Trash

landfill, incineration, aluminum, dispose, mercury, hazardous,  banned, resources

5th grade spelling words Unit 22 Feb 7th-11th Words  with the suffixes 
-ful, -less, -ness, -ment, -ly

BASIC:  watchful, countless, delightful, forgetful, harmless, effortless, plentiful, lately, steadily, calmly, noisily, settlement, closeness, government, agreement, cloudiness, tardiness, forgiveness, enjoyment, appointment

CHALLENGE:  suspenseful, merciless, seriousness, contentment, suspiciously

REAL-WORLD- VOCABULARY: Snakes

slither, constrict, burrow, venom, fangs, viper, poisonous, antidote