March Madness (5th grade style :))

We have had a busy month! I thought would share a few highlights before Spring Break. We visited the Middle School! The students went on a tour around the school led by student council members. They seemed nervous, but excited about what lies ahead.

We had our annual Zinser Talent/Art/Science Show! It was a great success! I hope that all that attended and participated had a fun filled experience!

We had a visit from Rob the Drummer. He had a great entertaining message about bullying and self esteem.

Mr. Hopkins came in to our classes to read to the students as a part of our March is Reading Month events. It was nice to get to know him a little better.

We had to say good-bye to Mrs. Huizen. :(

Hopefully many of you were able to attend our Famous American night at Central. It was a huge success. I was able to visit each of our students' stations that night. They were all so amazing. I can speak for all of us and Mr. V when I say we are so proud of our students! They looked great and their behavior was wonderful! Thank-you parents for all your participation and cooperation! Thank-you Mrs. Frost for all the time, effort, and organization you put into that project!

Subject Area Updates:
Math
The students just finished their unit on Multiplication. After Spring Break they will begin a unit on Division.

Science
We are at the end of our Classification unit. I tried hard to complete the unit before break and we almost made it but not quite :) We will have our review and test the week after break. Our next unit will be Adaptations and then the Solar System.

Social Studies
We just completed our unit on Colonialism. Our final unit will be Independence. We will begin that unit after break.

Language Arts
Our last quarter will consist of a review of all the writing traits we have learned and implemented this year. We will then focus on incorporating these into a narrative.

Reading & RtI
We will be doing some fun things with reading in the last quarter. We will be doing some book projects and presentations. We will be exploring the genres of Science Fiction and Historical Fiction.

Please keep in mind we have our school spring concert on April 16!

Have a fantastic safe Spring Break!

Miss Noble

Body System Assessment

To review for Body System Assessment we played review Football and review Tic Tac Toe. Be sure to ask your child about these fun games!

To celebrate and reward the students for their hardwork I made "body system cookies! The cookies must have worked their scores were awesome! ;)

yummy the digestive system!

Be sure to use your brain!

Veins and arteries

Kidneys

mmmm body systems :)

Housekeeping

We are now half way through our school year! In some ways it is hard to believe! As the students have become more comfortable with each other they have begun to "joke" or "mess around" with each other. We want the students to enjoy their time at Zinser. However, some of this comfortableness has resulted in some students saying hurtful things to others both in the 5th grade and in other grades as well. Please discuss with your child the utmost important golden rule- treat others the way you want to be treated. This also applies to how they treat school material. We have had several issues with students writing in and defacing school books and materials. These items are costly to replace and we would hate to have a family have to replace them.

Personal items should be taken home at the end of each day. We do not have lockers for 5th graders. Our classroom closets resemble a bedroom closet at the moment. Your child is welcome to keep a pair of P.E. shoes here-EVERYTHING else should go home EVERYDAY! We have numerous water bottles, sweatshirts, shoes, and other items being left on the floor everyday. This is frustrating to our cleaning staff that then have to pick up after our students.

We appreciate your support!

Science Update

Our unit on Body Systems is finally coming to an end this week on Friday! By now I hope you have been told and saw for yourself in your child's planner we have a test on this Thursday and Friday. Due to the length and depth of this unit I decided to break this test up into 2 parts. On Thursday the students will take part 1, which covers the Skeletal, Muscular, Respiratory and Circulatory systems. On Friday they will take part 2, which covers the Digestive, Excretory, and Nervous systems. Each student received a pink study guide that needs to be signed acknowledging that they have studied.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Teaching this unit has been so amazing! I had not thought about the functions of many of these systems since my college courses. I think that the students had as much fun as I did discussing the miraculous events that happen simultaneously in our bodies everyday. Hopefully your child has shared some of the fun facts they have learned.

For each system we labeled the main parts of that system. They made detailed drawings of some of the major organs, such as the heart.

We also made other tools to help the students better understand the system and how it works. We made circulation wheels.

We conducted taste tests to better understand how our taste buds work.

We ate different foods to see how the enzymes in our saliva break down the foods we eat to make them more easily digested in our intestines.

We experimented with water and vinegar to better understand how water and gastric juices further break down food and prepare it for digestion.

We did an experiment with our breath rate to help us better understand how a relaxed breathing rate differs from an active breath rate. We also applied some of our knowledge of algebraic equations to determine an average of how many breaths we take in a minute, a hour, a day, and a year.

We made study packets to help review and organize all the fascinating information we have learned! Be sure to look through and enjoy your child's packets on Body Systems!

Kids Food Basket (KFB)

We will be taking a trip to Kids Food Basket on Friday, January 20. We are not in need of chaperones, however if you would like to attend please contact Mrs. Frost. We will leave school at 8:50 and return by 11:45. We do have an early dismissal that day! Students will be released at 12:00 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. We do not have school on Monday, January 23! Be sure to ask your child about their experience!

Blog Survey

I will be sending home a blog usage survey if you follow our blog PLEASE be sure to complete it and return it to school promptly! Your participation is greatly appreciated! Miss Noble

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season filled with good times! Here is a look at some up coming topics and information. Miss Noble :)
Social Studies
We have completed our first unit. We are now focusing on the 13 colonies and the 3 colonial regions. We will learn about the differences and similarities, geography, climate, and politics of the colonies.

The students will watch videos, read from text books, interact on the computer, complete
some hands on projects during this unit. We will even learn a few songs :).

Science

We began our unit on Body Systems before break. It is a lengthy unit and therefore it will not be completed before the end of the semester. We have learned about the Skeletal, Muscular, Circulatory, & Respiratory systems. We will be learning about the Digestive, Nervous, and Excretory systems over the next few weeks. The test for this unit is quite extensive. We will spend a better part of a week reviewing. Please plan on studying at home!

The Science grade for the second marking period will be based on our Force and Motion unit.