Highlights of this month’s subject matter are included here in our newspaper. However, please take a look at our class website to view the particulars of many of assignments and projects. If you have any questions you can always E-mail me at sokada@csdo.org.
Please ask your child what they are doing in school! We are always up to something different and interesting!
Dear 5 th Grade Families,
October has been a very busy month! We covered a lot of curriculum in many subject areas. The students are really getting into the swing of things. Our field trip to Tilden
Park was a success, and we are eagerly preparing for our next field trip to
Brushstrokes Art Studio on November 13 th .
We still need more drivers. If you are able to drive us please let me know as soon as possible. Any parents who have photos of the
Tilden Park trip, please email them to me so I can add them to our website!
It was wonderful to see so many of you at the
Halloween Dinner Dance! It’s always a lot of fun to gather the St. Cornelius School
Community together!
November Conferences are coming up soon!
Please be sure to sign-up for a conference. It is important that I conference with each child’s parent or guardian. It helps clarify things for both of us and gives us both greater understanding as to how to best help each student reach their highest potential during the school year. I look forward to seeing you all!
Reading
The students really enjoyed reading Charlotte’s Web by
E.B. White. We read the story with interest and compared the information on spiders/Charlotte in the novel with real facts about spiders on our fieldtrip to
Tilden Park. Our spider hunt was quite successful! We also found a few other interesting insects! We learned all kinds of interesting things from the naturalist who will lead our group. Some of us even had the chance to let a tarantula walk across our hand! Scary, but fuzzy!
Our new novel is Island of the Blue
Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell
Using this book, we will relate what we know and what we learn about Native
Americans in Social Studies with the story line of the novel.

Math is a subject that integrates math, reading, and thinking!
That’s what the 5 th graders found out this month as they explored word problems in addition, subtraction, and multiplication. We have moved into our chapter on multiplication with larger numbers (3 and 4 digits), which is proving to be quite a challenge. Multiplying large numbers requires two skill be mastered proficiently.
1) Multiplication tables, and 2) Organization of the number problem on the paper. Most students have grasped the concept, but when doing the larger digit problems, careless errors can be made. You can help your child at home by checking for neatness and alignment of the math problems.
If your child is struggling with multiplication facts please go to our practice links under our math link on the website. If you would like further suggestion for study aides, please contact me for ideas.
Mathletics assignments always correlate to our topics in class. Students need to complete assigned topics before moving on to anything else. This data is reviewed and recorded in my books for assessment of our curriculum and prepare lessons to address student need.
Please make sure your child works on
Mathletics at home as well as at school.
“Writing is fun because you get to brainstorm ideas for writing. You get to use your imagination to make up Narrative stories.”
-Pamela Ferrufino
“I love multiplication patterns! They are easy because you look at the number and add the zeros. Doubling a number is tricky but fun at the same time!
-Rene Barba
Grammar, writing skills, and good spelling
are all part of Language Arts. We continue learning more about sentence structure and paragraph formation. We have also begun to differentiate between writing that captures our attention and factual writing. We also began to learn various forms of note taking and outlining through the use of graphic organizers.
The students have fun sharing their writing segments with the class and are getting quite good at making constructive criticisms to help make each other’s writing better. We have worked on our writing together and they are learning to peer edit and make suggestions for revising with partners.
Mostly though, they are learning that good writing is a process, one that requires time and care. in the skill set that addresses his or her individual needs. As they master that skill area they change to another color. The students feel success with each step. The weeks alternate between working on specific skills and building speed and comprehension.
All students are doing a great job in this program so far. Any parent who would like more information about this program or how your child is doing with it, please feel free to make an appointment to conference.
Reading is so important! I would be happy to discuss this with you.

October’s religion lessons are always beautiful as we study how to pray the rosary and learn more about our Blessed Mother,
Mary. Together we reviewed the Joyful,
Sorrowful, Luminated, and Glorious Mysteries to be remembered during the prayers of the rosary. We also became part of the rosary as we participated in the Living Rosary with Mrs.
Vidal. It was a joy this year to have the whole class actively involved in the recitation of the prayers.
“ I love Rosary time! I think it is amazing how many students formed a rosary, I was proud to be one of the Mysteries”
-Yoltzin Sanchez
During Red Ribbon Week we discussed the dangers of getting involved in things that are not good for us including drugs and alcohol, succumbing to peer pressure, and going against our morals and values “just to be cool”. The emphasis was on making good choices for ourselves and liking who we are.
Being your own best friend is a very important idea.
We will be going deeper into some of these
Environment later in the year.
Our practice book is connected to Religion in that the students learn a new Psalm each week as they copy and practice their cursive handwriting.
“What I learned about in Handwriting is the
Psalms. I also learned how to add a right slant to my writing. Handwriting also makes my coloring better.”
Jovan Hyson
With their beautiful photography, interesting videos and tantalizing information, National
Geographic Magazines help the students develop a love of our natural environment. The emphasis of the magazine is to Science, but the lessons also integrate reading and writing skill development seamlessly for a more comprehensive study. Students watch, read, learn, and write, developing a higher skill level though this integration.
This month the topics were:
Monsters and Vampires and Ghosts, Oh My!
All animals have adaptations that help them survive. Some animals have adaptations that make them seem to act or look spooky.
Dive In
A cenote is a deep natural pit, or sinkhole, that leads to a system of underwater caves.
Scientists sometimes study the underwater caves to learn about ancient cultures.
“ I’m so ‘creeped out’ with some of nature’s creatures! I didn’t know these creatures were out there! Now I know that their creepiness helps them survive. “
-Jossilete Serrano
“Science is probably the best subject ever!
I never knew about the Spook fish or why its head was see-through!
-Jose Figueroa

Special Achievements:
Congratulations to Joselyn, Victoria,
Fatima, Aileen, Brianna, and Pamela for their Academic Achiever SLE awards. Good
Job girls! Keep it up!
Congratulations to all those who continue to work hard in Mathletics and receive awards for their efforts.
Congratulations also to all those who completed all their assignments in 5 th grade and are awarded a free homework pass.
The students’ co-operation is essential to having a fun and productive school year!
We really have some super spellers in our class! So many students study for that A+ on their spelling test each week. I am so proud of all of them! Now let’s work on Spelling in our daily work!
Congratulations to Yoltzin and Jossilete for getting 100% on Unit 7 in the workbook!
Parents, every few weeks I change the kind of Spelling Test the students take. This is both for increasing the difficulty of the test and teaching them different testing styles.
Regardless of the kind of test, I find that having them do their practice, Spelling
Connections Online, increases their ability to spell correctly. Although you may think they are just playing games, they are learning!
Please allow them to do this practice at home,
We have a limited amount of time to do this at school.
Again, Please visit our class website often at https://sites.google.com/a/csdo.org/mrsokada-s-class/. Many links related to our schoolwork are posted there. Homework is posted daily. Homework from previous days/weeks can be found there as well, (in case of an absence) The students are always advised when a new link is up for their use.
New Book Orders are available monthly. Please ask your child for the due date so we can order on time. The books take approximately 10 days to arrive, so if you are thinking of ordering for
Christmas, please order early.
Parents- Please double-check your child’s total amount and if possible, write a check for the
As always…
Congratulations to Jossilete, Evan, books (Make the check out to the book company ex: Scholastic Books). If you must send cash,
Thank you to all the wonderful parents who have shown great support for the school rules,
Vanessa, Rene, and Andrea for their orders more difficult. If any parent would like to volunteer to count and tally the book orders,