Friday, October 14, 2016

October 10th through 14

Vocabulary Hat Day!




 Keenoy Koala News

                                                  October 14, 2016


Dear Families,

I hope that everyone had a terrific week.  I was disappointed that the Cardinals did not make it to the playoffs this year, but the St. Louis Blues just started their season on Wednesday.   My father in law shares season tickets and I’m lucky enough to go to several games each year.  I hope they bring home a Stanley Cup this year!

The Keenoy family will be making a trip to Springfield, MO this weekend for Caleb’s soccer tournament.  Our kiddos are excited to see their uncle and cousins who live there.  It should be a great weekend!

***Last week I had the wrong dates listed for the Fall Party and Flu Shots.  I made the corrections this week in the Reminders section. 

Vocabulary Hat Day
Thank you for your assistance with the vocabulary hats. We had a great time parading around Paxton showing off our hats to students and adults. The creativity is amazing! Hopefully, all of the 5th graders learned a plethora of new wordsJ 

Parent Teacher Conferences
Please complete the Blue or Green conference form and return by Tuesday.  On this form, you will indicate the day and time range you prefer.  Every effort will be made to accommodate your request.

Fall Party
Thank you for those willing to volunteer time or items for our classroom party on October 28th

Math
We are continuing our work with division. This week students:
*Solved problems with one-digit divisors (with and without remainders.
*Analyzed word problems to determine what to do with remainders depending on the context of the problem

Writing
Our focus continued to be on elaboration and craft. We also examined how to use paragraphs and dialogue in our narratives by looking at mentor texts. Our last two lessons will revisit endings and beginnings.   These two lessons will wrap up the whole-group instruction for this genre of writing.  During the last week of October, students will write a final draft.  During this entire process, I will continue meeting with individual students to offer support, advice, and suggestions for improvement.

Reading
We will continue focusing on the comprehension strategies listed below during read aloud, independent, and book group reading.

Context Clues *Determining the meaning of words and or phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language (simile and metaphor).
*Using context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. 
Inferring *explaining the interactions between individuals, events, ideas, or concepts.
*Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says when drawing inferences from the text)
*Determine the meaning of phrases as they are used in the text
Theme *Compare and contrast stories in the same genre on their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Social Studies-Native American Regions
Students have investigated/researched information about how Native Americans lived in each of the four regions.  The regions discussed included Southwest, Northwest Coast, Plains, and Eastern Woodlands.  The big idea that I want students to understand is the resources that they used depended on where they lived.  Also, that each group had to adapt to their surroundings and use ALL of the resources available to survive. 

Science - Space Systems
This week’s lessons have continued focusing on……..
*Understanding that because of gravity, everything falls downward or toward the earth’s center.
*Explaining why and how the earth, moon, and sun revolve.
*Demonstrate that the earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours to cause day/night.

Reminders
Oct. 18            Parent/Teacher Conference Forms Due
Oct. 19            Early Dismissal (12:50)
Oct. 28            Student Flu Shots (parents had to send in permission form ahead of time)
Oct. 28            Fall Room Party 2:15-3:00
                                                                                               


Sincerely,
                                                                                                Dan Keenoy

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