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The Shakespearean Sonnet

December 1, 2008

Hello all,

I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for the wonderful multicultural feast that we celebrated on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  We had lots and lots of great and interesting foods to enjoy, and the kids loved the chance to sample one another’s dishes.  We had foods from Nepal, Poland, Germany, and many, many family dishes.  We also had lots and lots of parents help out, which is always wonderful, and we ended our day with a one-hour recess marathon featuring four square.      

Great fun and an excellent way to send the kids off on a Thanksgiving Day break!

Important Reminders

Please remember that Tuesday evening, I will be hosting the adults-only class on strategies that you can use to better prepare your child for the CMT’s and middle school.  The class begins at 6:00 and should last no more than an hour.  Three-five strategies for math, reading and writing, and perhaps a few science tips as well.  I hope to see you there!

Information about the school play also went home last week.  Dr. K needs volunteers in order to make this 5^th grade play happen.  Please be sure to take a look at the information. 

Much congrats!

I wanted to take a moment and congratulate Kaity, who read her poem I’m Here at Harambe.  It was a unique and interesting piece that Dr. K and the rest of the audience enjoyed a lot, and Kaity miraculously read it at human speed instead of the speed with which she typically operates.  Brava Kaity!

Congratulations to Amanda as well,  She has been chosen as the next PINGO Poet and will be reading to the school over the intercom later this week.  We can’t wait to hear your wonderful words, Amanda!

I also wanted to congratulate all of the kids from our class who participated in the four square tournament this fall.  It was an exciting time for the kids, who learned to play the game at a whole new level while experiencing the joy of victory and the agony of defeat.  Both important skills in life.  And quite a few kids from our class were playing in the championship game and rematch, The Geek Squad versus the Dream Team.  Both games were very close and couldn’t have been more exciting.    

Congrats to our two all stars, Michael S. and Jordan, who were chosen out of many, many players to represent the fifth grade as the best of the best.  We are all very proud of their accomplishments, as well as those of the rest of the players.  

We also had two more Presidential candidates from our classroom deliver speeches to the school this morning.  Meghan and Matthew both did an outstanding job, and as I write this, we are still awaiting the results.  Win or lose, they did us proud, and how remarkable to have five of the last six Presidential candidates from our classroom!

Update:  The votes have been counted and Matthew is the next President.  He will be assuming the helm from Laura next week.  I want to congratulate Meghan and Matthew for outstanding speeches and for handling this news with dignity and maturity.  It’s always tough to have two candidates (or three!) from the same class and we were all rooting for both of them to succeed.    

Homework

Lots of homework this week, as we return to a normal five-day school week, and I’ve sent home some homework for you as well. 

Yes.  I’m inviting you into your child’s homework life this time.   

MATH

The kids went home with some homework pertaining to fractions, which we began studying last week.  Specifically, we are working with equivalent fractions and converting fractions to mixed numbers this week.  With our move onto fractions, this means that we are leaving two-digit time two-digit multiplication and long division (one digit into three or more digits) behind us.  Though we will practice and review, and I will continue to work with small groups, these are skills that your child should have mastered by now. 

Some do not. 

Therefore, I invite you to provide additional opportunities at home for your child to practice, particularly if your little one is one of these kids who have not mastered the concept yet.  And I am always willing to provide practice sheets here in class and often do for kids.  In fact, two kids in our class have been practicing double-digit multiplication on their own at home and managed to master the skill without any additional teaching from me.  They took on the challenge and ensured that they mastered the concept on their own!

READING

Your child went home with two stories to read and answer CMT-styled questions this week.  This should be fairly routine for your child. 

GEOGRAPHY

Your child also went home with this week’s geography packet on North America.  As always, he or she will be quizzed on the material contained in this packet on Friday. 

EDITING

I returned three editing assessments to your child today and asked him or her to review these assessments with you.  Specifically, I am asking your child to look at the questions which he or she answered incorrectly and determine the source of the mistake.  Then, I want your child to explain the error to you and indicate the correct answer.  This will accomplish a couple important things:

It will better familiarize you with the editing and revising requirements of your child this year.   

It will force your child to process and communicate his or her mistakes with another, which is one of the best ways to learn. 

It will allow your child to identify patterns in their errors, if any exist, and this will likely reduce future mistakes. 

Thanks for helping out!

WRITING

The Essay of the Month is due on Friday, which gave your child an extra week to complete it.  I have already reviewed about a dozen essays for kids already and welcome any student to bring me in a draft this week to critique.  So far they are looking excellent!

SCIENCE

Your child should have already met with and completed his or her Science Fair planning sheet, which describes the project that he or she intends on completing.  Science Fair projects are due after the December vacation, but work should begin soon if it has not already! 

Charlie Awards

I have been remiss in announcing Charlie Awards this week, so here are the last two Charlie Award winners:

Two weeks ago, I judged a math homework assignment, and Kiera’s assignment came out on top.  Kiera did an outstanding job showing her thinking on the page and demonstrating the processes and strategies that she used to solve the problems.  Well done, Kiera!  I was very impressed.

Last week I used the kids’ district wide math assessments as the Charlie  Award assignment, looking for kids who double checked work, showed their thinking on the page, and made every effort to impress the scorers with their mathematical skills.  Laura’s assessment came out on top.  Her pages were full of strategies, reasoning, and calculations, just like any good mathematician might do.  Congrats Laura on another great job!   

Thanks!  I hope to see some of you on Tuesday night at our class!

 Warmly,