WELCOME to 08/09 at St. P's!

We just finished 1st quarter - and have headed into 2nd quarter...We concluded our study of the Civil War with our unit on Western Expansion after the war. We are now studying the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas. After this week, 5th grade will head to Maounis for a science unit, and I will have the 4th graders - we'll finish our state folder and then start our unit on Constitutional Government. What a perfect time to study the balance of power in our country - right after the election.

We also read City of Ember over the last weeks, and we joined MISS Lockrow and her 80 6th graders at Northgate Mall for a private viewing. It's been interesting to compare the literature with the movie. A must read and must see for all!

Stop and visit our Cubism art pieces in honor of Halloween and Picasso! Also, take a look and laugh at the silly epitaphs in the "graveyard" on the side of the stairs. For a good read, glance at our sequels to Which Way Freedom? posted outside the 5th grade room, with nice watercolor covers, too.

We will host an election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. All students and staff are encouraged to vote. The fifth grade math classes will count the votes. Each grade will count as a "state" with an electoral number applied, depending on their population. We will announce the winner of the Electoral College and the Popular Vote. Let your voice be heard. VOTE!

Our first big fundraiser is coming up - we'll be selling roses for Grandparents' Day. Forms will go home soon - buy a special rose for a grandparent/guest AND help support our end of the year retreat. :)

General Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my "Year At A Glance," subject to change, but a good general guideline for our plan. I will start an Academic Update section soon that will report current studies and any important dates for classes or field trips. Feel free to contact me through e-mail/note with any questions. The Friday folder is a weekly source of communication - please sign and return on Mondays.

FIFTH GRADE YEAR AT A GLANCE:

LOCKROW: LANGUAGE ARTS, FINE ARTS, and SOCIAL STUDIES

See MAOUNIS (4th grade web page) for MATH, SCIENCE 

1st Quarter: 

·        Novels: The Perilous Road,  Which Way Freedom?

·        Word Studies: Units 1 and 2

·        Vocabulary Workshop: Units 1-4

• English Workshop (We will focus on more needed skills first, and then move on. Each quarter will use some chapters on grammar and some chapters on writing application.) Units 9, 10, 11, 19...1,2
• Art: focus on what art is (all kinds - visual arts, theatre, music, and dance), skills - drawing, making colors, and shading, Civil War photography and music
• Social Studies: Civil War

2nd Quarter:

• Novels: City of Ember, Streams to the River, Rivers to the Sea
• Word Studies: Units 3 and 4
• Vocabulary Workshop: Units 5-8
• English Workshop    Units 20,21,22,12...3,4
• Art: focus on American Art, skills -  still life, landscapes, clay sculpture 
• Social Studies: Native Americans, Meso-American Civilizations

3rd Quarter:

• Novels: Bronze Bow,second to be selected
• Word Studies: Units 5 and 6
• Vocabulary Workshop   Units 9-12
• English Workshop   Units 13, 14, 15...5,6
• Art: Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome - roots for the Renaissance, Renaissance study, skills -  linear perspective, stained glass
• Social Studies: European Exploration, Renaissance and Reformation

4^th Quarter:

• Novels: Master Puppeteer, (2^nd to be selected)
• Word Studies: Units 7 and 8
• Vocabulary Workshop   Units 13-16
• English Workshop   Units 16, 17, 18...7,8
• Art: focus on Asian art, skills - calligraphy, origami, haiku, silk paintings
• Social Studies: England, Russia, Japan

4th grade parents: WELCOME - I'm excited about teaching your children this year ~

4^th grade Year-at-a-Glance for Social Studies and Fine Arts:

The following Social Studies topics are from the 4^th grade Core Knowledge Pearson History & Geography book (except for the States unit which has its own book) and will be addressed in units. They will often connect with novels in Reading, writing assignments in English, and Fine Arts activities.

1^st Quarter:

·        States

·        American Revolution

·        Art: focus on  “What is art?”, basic drawing, color wheel, color creating, and shading skills 

2^nd Quarter:

·        Constitutional Government

·        Presidents

·        Reformers

·        Art: Cubism study with Halloween, American art

3^rd Quarter:

·        Middle Ages

·        Islam

·        Art: Middle Ages art ~ paintings, castles, manuscripts, tapestries, Gothic architecture, Islamic art and architecture

4^th Quarter

           Africa

           China

         Art: Chinese art ~ silk scrolls, calligraphy, porcelain painting, African art ~ masks,   headdresses, sculptures

It is a tradition for the oldest class to go on an outdoor educational retreat in Hendersonville, NC, right before graduation. We stay at Kanuga, an Episcopal center, and we are a part of MTOS, the Mountain Trail Outdoor School.  This is a wonderful trip full of celebrating our friendships and enjoying all the beauty of the great outdoors. We raise money all year to pay for the trip, and the final day we conclude with a rafting trip on the French Broad - parents encouraged to join!  Students go home with their parents or another student. We hope many parents can join us. The following week is used to wind the year down, prepare for graduation, and the celebration of graduation.

Please support our fundraising activities:

• Snack Store: open daily from 8:15-8:30 and 10:10-10:20. We have juice, sports drinks, and a variety of healthy snacks. Come visit us - most items are 50 cents. Support the snack store - Stop by for your reasonably priced  snacks!
• Grandparents' Day in November - we'll be selling roses for our sweet grandparents.
• Each classroom has a container for Box Tops. Please clip them off cans, boxes, and bags. 5th graders will pick them up from the rooms, and a parent sends them for our reimbursement. 
• Candy Grams and PJ Day are great fundraisers on Valentines Day. And too much fun for one week!!!
• The Work Day will be a lot of fun this year with 17 students to work for siblings, friends, teachers, etc! We offer our services at the annual auction in February, and we make sure everyone gets hired! We work on the half day in May.
• Got Talent? Share It! - new in 2007, now an annual tradition. Hosted in May...Juggling/pianoplaying/dancing/singing/joke telling/tumbling....you name it...we love to display the talent of studio arts, too!
• A production by the 4th and 5th brings money from tickets, intermission snacks, and sometimes a pre-performance meal. And we learn a lot and have a lot of fun, too.

This totals $5450 - beyond our goal! Let's go for it - if we make more than we need, it's always fun to leave something special to the school. The fifth graders really do MOST of the work; I will need to call on parents for help with the play and talent share. We will keep track of our budget across the year, and the students will learn about "profit" and get a general feel for running a small business. 

(07/08 UPDATE)

WOW! It's exciting that we raised more than we needed for our MTOS trip at Kanuga in Hendersonville, NC. How did we get to $6400 plus???

Grandparents' Day roses (262), Box Tops (755), Snack Store (400), Work Day (720), Alice in Wonderland - tickets (1450), concessions (361), and photo albums (215), Pajama Day (295) and Candy Grams (783), gOt TaLeNt? sHaRe iT! tickets (1024) and concessions (211), donation (100)....We treated ourselves to rafting trip dvd's with the excess cash. Fun end to a great year!

So, we made it. And not without help from the parents - thank you for supporting your children as they learn about becoming more independent. I sincerely believe that their trip means more to them because they worked so hard to pay for it.