Edited By: Gabriel S

Newsletter 1/30/15 Reading By: David Oh Edited By: Gabriel S. This week during reading we have been working on our Book Ads. We are trying to make our chosen books appealing to our other classmates. We just finished writing our speeches and are now we are working on our visuals and note cards. We are making visuals to help our audience understand what we are trying to explain to them. Some examples of visuals are a homemade board game, a skit, a map, or a power point. We also did a MCAS practice called the “In the Ebony Room.” We read the poem and answered the questions. We had an open response question involving why the students in the ebony room like rain and why they don’t. We looked at it in all ways and tried to make it as best as we could giving reasons showing why and including details from the text. This will help us prepare for the reading MCAS that we are doing later in the year. Also, it will help us to remember to go back in the text to include specific details so it can enrich our writing.

Writing By: Maya Shimron Edited by: Rebecca Voss In writing these past few weeks we have all been working really hard to finish our persuasive essays. To start out persuasive essays unit we all did an essay about why or why not to have chocolate milk in schools. Now that we already finished that and learned some essential things about persuasive essays, we started an essay on a topic of our choice. We were given four options to chose from like why or why not kids should be playing competitive sports, why or why not kids should be watching tv, why or why not people should be using plastic bags, and why or why not to have kids wear school uniforms. Everyone chose their topic and we wrote essays that we worked on for lots of time and now almost everyone is finished (yay!). Now we are allowed to address our essays to anyone we want, and see if they make a difference. Once everyone is finished we will all start a new unit. None of us know what the next unit is but were all excited to get started. We also learned a little bit about debating because persuading and debating are very similar. We learned that when we do a debate we argue calmly and respectfully rather than yell and scream at each other. This past few weeks were full a lot of hard but fun work and we are excited to see our results.

Math By: Anna Luterman Edited By: Rebecca Voss In math we have been working on number strings and finding relations between operations and numbers. We have also been working on a unit where we are given a problem, and then we figure it out and make a clear and detailed poster. We then go to the rug area and share our posters and talk about what we did to find our answer. We call it Math Congress! We are working on showing our work and drawing our problems out instead of just doing it in our heads, because we learned you are probably more likely to be correct if you draw it out and think. The unit closely resembles a unit we did about a month ago, but in this unit we have be working more with fractions and decimals. So far, it has been a fun adventure and I think I’m speaking for all of us when I say that we can hardly wait for the next problem we’ll be given!!!!!!!!

Social Studies

By:Charlotte He In Social Studies we have been working on three-fold brochures that invite people to one of the thirteen colonies. We are making the brochures colorful, attractive, and have a lot of information split between the sections. In those brochures we must include some specific information such as the founder, the reason why it was founded, the geography of the colony, and the interactions with the Natives. Of course, the information must all be about the colony, and not the state, so we have to find the right information. We also must include pictures, because what kind of brochure doesn’t include pictures? Everyone is done, or close to done with their brochures, and we will be presenting them soon, and inviting people to the colony that was given to us!

Everything Else Edited by: The Whole Class (we work together as a team!) Now, we haven’t just been writing, reading and all the things that you would normally do! We do much more activities to help us learn in new exciting ways! We are doing things like Aimsweb, a program to monitor how well each students reading and writing skills are. We are also looking forward to our spring chorus, however far away it might seem. We have begun to practice songs for our spring concert, and are loving the songs that we are going to sing already! Also, in library, we are learning about the internet, and the different parts of it. The internet is a big place, and not everything on it is trustworthy! Spaghetti Supper update: We had our Spaghetti Supper! Everyone had a fantastic time munching on yummy spaghetti,salad,and bread ( Thanks to:Kudos to Mario’s Italian Restaurant and our sponsors!) while catching up with family gossip. Winter concert update: Everyone sang and played their hearts out and we became the stars we are inside.Everyone loved it! We can’t wait for the next one which will happen at the beginning of June.We know we will do great under the watchful eye of Mr. Hart! Thank You! Coming Soon Artist in Residence ------5th grade: People of North America (historical figures, common people faces). Their images will provide inspiration and will not be part of the finished piece. Variety would be highly appreciated since we want to depict North America thoroughly. The children will create paper cutting projects on the above named subjects with Giles and Tami's help. Giles will then assemble them in one bigger piece per grade to be displayed in the school. In the event that children don't finish their piece during the regular hour of art instruction, they will be allowed to do it at home or during indoor recess. We are also working on completing a piece of artwork which consists of bottle caps glued to plywood. We make shapes out of these bottle caps, and later on will hang the artwork up. Feel free to check Giles artwork at: [http://www.gileslaroche.com/ ]http://www.gileslaroche.com

Field Trip- Symphony Hall - 2/6/15 Science Fair deadline to sign up - Feb 11th February Break- Feb 16-20th Sign up genius Book Ads! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f094aaea62fa6f58- book If you are not able to come in for your student’s presentation, kindly let us know. It would be ok.