Classroom Updates

October is just flying by in our classroom and exciting things are taking place!

Miss Cowen is beginning to add grade level lessons and whole class subjects to her list of teaching responsibilities!

Genre Study--to accompany an independent project in the library special our class is doing a year-long genre study. We are reading a different genre each month and creating a project in class to display our learning. This month the genre is "mystery" and the project is a character poster. Students are reading a mystery (we did set a minimum number of pages) and then creating a character traits poster of a main character. Students must display a minimum of 4 character traits that accurately describe the chosen character. Students also will be completing a rubric to self-assess their work. They will grade the poster--the final project plus their effort. Character posters will be up for display in the hall at the beginning of November. The genre study for the month of November will be announced on November 1st.

Science and Social Studies lessons--this year I have chosen to focus our lessons by the week. We study a curricular area each afternoon for the entire week. It allows for projects & experiments to carry over more easily and we are actually getting more done each week! Last week we focused on science; this week we concentrate on social studies.

Spelling begins next week...the kids are SO EXCITED! :)

Many of the 5th graders are studying decimals, plus decimal operations. If you aren't already, this is a great time to begin working with your child on budgeting--having your child help you with your household budget or having your child create his or her own budget (based on allowance). These are wonderful lessons for teaching your child decision-making and personal responsibility!

We have just two left for the MEAP test--Tuesday (Math) and Thursday of this week. After MEAP, students will be fully integrating into a regular workplan schedule.

Volunteer schedules are coming home this week. On Monday students brought home a spelling, classroom store, and math list. I'll have the classroom helpers calendar out at the end of the week. I'm just waiting to hear from a couple of interesting volunteers.

Thanks for all your help, your support, conference suggestions, and more!

Mrs. Perrien