Thursday, February 10, 2011

February 9th, 2011

FOUND: We cleaned out the closets and have a pair of black snow pants (Mens-Small) as well as a brand new backpack (black) that no one claimed. I will keep them for awhile to see if anyone claims them. There were no names in any of the items. We are getting new closets and had to clean out the old ones.


Book Orders should arrive this week. If you order online, please have your child tell me. I have to go in and click "submit" in order for the order to go through. 


Upcoming Dates

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. The PTA wants our class basket complete by Wednesday, February 16th (early out day). IF you would like to contribute cash instead of an item, Christy and I will shop for items for the basket.

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!  :-)


Early Out Feb 16th (noon)
No School: Feb 17th, 18th, and 21st

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

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


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. 

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; ABC poems, 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

No Latin Word Roots for the week of Feb 14th.

Math

5th grade: Chapter 4—double digit divisors--testing Thursday
4th grade:  Chapter 5 –multiplying 2 and 3 digit factors by 1 digit factors--testing Friday

Science

I will be at Poly Drive this SATURDAY from 10 AM to 2 PM to help students with science fair projects. They may use any science materials we have here (scales, graduated cylinders, etc), use the computers, or just ask for advice.  The next help session will be Sunday, March 8th from 1 PM to 4 PM.

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 15thItems 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)
Parent signature and date in the science fair notebook indicating that things are proceeding.
Procedure
Results (graphs, tables)
Conclusion
What (did you learn?) (do you want to know now?)
Abstract

Steps of the Scientific Process

Successful Science Fair Projects

How to set up your display board (Presentation)

Kids Corner of Science

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

5th 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.

4th 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

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

No spelling the week of Feb 14th.


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

No spelling the week of Feb 14th.

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