Mrs. Otto's Updates

Good morning!  Just a few tidbits for the week:

June 8th is Super Kids Day and the Barbeque (lunch at 12:35)…join us if you can.

Math class ended on Monday.  The students should receive their tests back on Tuesday and have until Thursday to retest if needed.

We are in the middle of our Variables science unit. The students have made swingers (pendulums), lifeboats and Foss planes.  They will experiment with the planes on Tuesday, work with Flippers on Wednesday/early Thursday and have their Variables test on Thursday afternoon.  The students have all they need to study for the test in their Variables packets (used each day in class).

Wednesday afternoon is our last Eagle Celebration.

Friday is a full day, with the sing-a-long/awards ceremony at 10:00, and yearbook signing at 2:30.  The honor roll should be posted on the WD website by Monday afternon (June 11), and report cards (along with MAP scores) should arrive at your home by June 18th.

Tuesday, June 8th, is the last day of Leveled Reading.  I have enjoyed the year with these great readers!  I hope they continue the love of a novel they can sink their teeth into (and enjoy an occasional light read).   I am amazed at the high quality of work that’s been turned in for the Charlotte Doyle Layered Curriculum!  I am in the process of reading and grading it all.  On a side note, I DID tell the students that they would have until late Thursday to get their final projects turned in.  It was an ambitious endeavor at the end of the year, but hopefully it kept their minds working during these “difficult to focus on school” days.  Have a great summer and I hope to see these kids back here in the fall.  Thanks much!

The students are wrapping up our Social Studies unit by sharing their Westward Expansion Magazine (which was a group assignment).  They have worked hard, used technology, and worked together to get their project finished.  They will be able to take their portion home next week once it is graded.

Next week, we will move into our last Science kit: Variables. It will be a fun way to end the year.

Students took their last computation test on Thursday, and will look at their results in class today.  Also, Mrs. Kust returned over the past few weeks to test all students’ fluency for the month of May.  You’ll get those results soon.

Lastly, here’s a heads-up.  Report cards will be mailed home this year instead of sent home with students on the last day of school.  This is new this year, and will be done throughout the district.  This means that they will most likely be mailed on June 15th, and will get to your homes by June 16th or 17th.

The students have been hard at work reading about the intrigue aboard the Seahawk in our novel, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.  We were in the computer lab for blogging this past week.  I am impressed with the level of detail and insight they are sharing.  In addition to comprehension packets, the students have been introduced to a new process called Layered Curriculum.  They are offered choices in each layer, moving up from C layer to B layer to A layer.  Projects increase in challenge as each layer is completed.  I am excited about the projects turned in so far!  I explained to the students that they need to pace themselves to complete 1 layer per week, with all Layered Curriculum projects due by June 7th.  Book commercials resume next week for all students who did not do a book commercial for their April Independent Reading book.  They were assigned a day for next week. All Higher-Level test Independent Reading projects are due by June 2nd (for anyone who did their book commercial last month).  Our final day of reading class is June 8th (after a fun morning of Field Day and the Barbeque).  I have thoroughly enjoyed these students and am amazed at how much they’ve grown as readers and thinkers.  Great job!

The students in my math group took the Chapter 11 test yesterday.  I am very impressed with the results.  They will see their scores in class today, but will wait to take the tests home until all classes have given the test (late next week).  We will begin chapter 12, the last chapter, which focuses on 3-dimensional shapes, surface area and nets.  There are just 4 lessons in this chapter.  The last day of math class will be June 7th, when the students will take the chapter 12 test.

• Remember that the General Mills field trip permission slips are due tomorrow, and we go on the field trip on Friday.
• There is a parent meeting on Thursday evening here at WD at 7:00 to discuss the impact class size reduction will have on next year’s 6th grade. 

Updates for next week (May 17-21):

• On Monday, we have our naturalist lesson from 1:30-2:30 and then will attend the WD band concert. 
• On Tuesday, we take the Science MCA in the computer lab from 11:00-12:30.  We’ve taken a look at some sample tests, and will continue practice on Monday afternoon.  The students need headphones on this day.  Many questions contain video clips with audio.
• On Wednesday, we have our last Character Education class with Mrs. Paton.  She has been working with the students on social issues such as bullying, respect, rumors and inclusion. 
• On Thursday, we head to the cafeteria at 10:15 for the 4-6 grade WD talent show.  Congratulations to Laura for making it through the auditions and making it in the show.  Also, that evening at 7:00 is a parent meeting regarding class sizes and staffing allocations affecting the loss of a teacher for next year.
• On Friday, we head to General Mills for our Snack Division field trip.  This is funded by General Mills and the bus, activites and lunch are no cost to students.  A permission slip/allergy information went home on May 14th.  Make sure it’s returned as soon as possible to help plan for this day.

Chapter 11 math is well underway.  We have been learning about ratios and proportions through ratio tables, multiplication column tables, factor puzzles and word problems.  Next week, we’ll move into probability and scale.  The test for this unit will be on May 26th, with our last chapter (12) starting on May 27th.  The students are reminded on a daily basis to check for understanding and ask questions when they rate themselves a 1 or a 2.

I have enjoyed looking at the students’ independent reading projects and Giver projects.  I am impressed by their effort, talent and creativity!  This week, we’ve finished our look at Shakespeare, and moved on to our new novel, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.  It’s a historical fiction mystery set aboard a ship on the high seas in 1832.  Our focus will be on higher-level reading skills, and we’ll be moving at a fast pace through the novel (with the end of the year approaching).  Next week, the students will receive a “Layered Curriculum” assignment.  It’s something new that I’ll share more about once we get going.  Lastly, your children all received another copy of the 5th grade writing standards to use when composing any pieces of writing in the remaining month.  Complete sentences and detail/validation are expected at this level and at this time in the school year.  Students should count on having some sort of reading/writing assignment each day.  Thanks for your support of these fantastic readers!

     Students received their chapter 9 post tests today.  They were asked to come in for re-teaching at recess today if they wished to retest on any of the learning targets.  Retesting will take place this week. 

     Chapter 11 began today.  This unit focuses on ratio, rate and proportion.