News from Mrs. Roberts in M-5
Important Dates:
 Wednesday, October 7th Pumpkin Run
 Wednesday, October 7th Parent/Teacher Conferences
 Thursday, October 8th Parent/Teacher Conferences
 Friday, October 9th No School Teacher Meeting Day
 Friday, October 23rd Field Trip
 Friday, October 30th Halloween Parade and Class Party
Parent Teacher Conferences: Our first set of conferences is rapidly
approaching. Please remember to use Sign Up Genius to select a time
for your conference. Your child is welcome to attend the conference as
well. We will be meeting in our mobile.
Math: This week we will finish Unit 2 on place value. We have reviewed
two different algorithms to use in addition. The two algorithms include
partial-sums and the trade first method. This should be a review for
most students since it was taught in second and third grade. Here is an
example of the partial sums method.
763
+ 284
900
140
7
1 047
The second method called Trade First is the traditional algorithm that
is often known as carrying with addition and borrowing with subtraction.
After a couple of lessons reviewing partial sums, the students will be
able to select the algorithm that they prefer but they must be able to
demonstrate that they are able to use the partial sums method.
Writing: Our unit on personal narratives is coming to a close. Every
student will write a final copy of a personal narrative. We have been
working on many lessons in this unit. Their final piece should include:
dialogue, sensory details, transition words, varied sentence structure,
multiple indented paragraphs with supporting details, an effective lead
and closing, as well as strong nouns and verbs. Writing Bugs should
include these details as well. We have seen some extraordinary Writing
Bugs and some that need to be developed further. Every Writing Bug
should have three or more paragraphs and each paragraph should have
multiple sentences. I am happy to accept typed Writing Bugs.
Science: Last week we concentrated on learning that soil is made up of
earth materials of varying size. Soil might contain clay, sand, pebbles
and gravel as well as humus. Humus is an organic material that is
formed from dead leaves and animals and it provides nutrients for the
soil. Soil is improved by worms that help add air and nutrients to the
soil. Soil can vary from location to location and the pore space can
differ as well. This week we will learn about physical and chemical
weathering.
Reading: Love that Dog is our first read aloud that is a chapter book.
The main character Jack professes that writing poetry is for girls and
that he isn’t able to write poetry. The story is peppered with poems
from Robert Frost, William Blake, William Carlos Willliams as well as
contemporary poets such as Natalie Worth. Jack writes a poem based
on a poem by Walter Dean Myers about his dog. As the story
progresses we learn more about Jack and why he doesn’t want his poems
to be published. Our chapter book helps support our reading work on
figurative language.
Pumpkin Run: Our tenth annual Pumpkin Run will take place next week. I
believe that Mr. Obernessor has placed a schedule on his webpage.
Please make certain that your child is wearing shoes meant for running.
You are welcome to come and cheer on our class.
Have a great week,
Keri Roberts