Week of April 26-30

Hello everyone! I apologize for my blogging absence last week. No excuses, time just got away from me, and when I realized Thursday that I had not communicated with you as to the weeks events, I gave up. But I am starting fresh this week and reporting early!

This week in math we will continue working with factors and fractions. This weeks lessons will focus on finding common denominators and reducing fractions to simplest terms. Those students who have mastered these skills will be given alternate assignments while the others continue to practice. I hope to give the Unit 11 test next week, probably Tuesday. Check the blog calender for updates.
I am also giving an extra credit extension project today that will be due next Monday. This project will be a little different from the past, as their is no actual "math" to do. This assignment requires students to interview an adult as to their uses of math in their everyday lives and careers. Students will then take these answers and write a paper stating what they have learned. Typing preferred!

In writing this week students will be finishing up their research papers and typing those. Papers are due Friday!

We will have spelling this week. Check the blog for a list of words.

On Friday we will take MAPS test for math in the morning. Please make sure your student has a good breakfast and full night's rest. We want to make sure they can show what they have learned and the progress they have made throughout the year.

Week of April 5-9

This is a very busy week for 5th grade. With state math assessments and research projects students are spending a lot of time on the computers. Don't worry though, we are still getting some fresh air and exercise!

In math this week ...
Besides being bogged down with state assessments we are also continuing on with math, Unit 10. We will finish up Unit 10 this week when we finish covering slides, flips, and using coordinates on maps. Students will also get a chance to use their new math skills on an art project for math. This should be a fun way to the end stressful math week.

In writing ...
We continue on to Step 3 this week with our research papers. Students are learning the skill of writing an outline and using this to organize their notes, before they begin with the rough draft of their report. We are using the computer program Inspiration to help student learn how to format an outline. The outlines are due Thursday at the end of class. Next we will begin working on our Rough Drafts.

We again took the week off from spelling, but will get back to it next week when assessments are over.

Please don't forget . . .
* Class and Individual Spring Pictures are next Tuesday
* We DO have school next Friday!