January Newsletter

January 2011 Newsletter – Room 20


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Happy New Year everyone! I always love this time of year. Everyone is so excited to get back to school. Just a reminder that the classroom blog is updated daily with our activities during the day as well as links to websites that can help students to practice the topics we are studying. I encourage you to access this site on a daily basis.

Here is a quick outline as to what will be happening in Room 20 during the month of January.

Language Arts
Centers - We will be continuing with Centers, including Guided Reading and Independent Reading. Throughout the next few weeks students’ reading levels will be assessed again using Fontus and Pinnell. If you are interested in how your child does, please don’t hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to speak with you on the phone, through email, or in person.

We will also be continuing with our weekly spelling lessons using words from the stories we are studying at Guided Reading. Students will be encouraged to use more detail in their spelling sentences.

Independent Reading (Mrs. Lippai) - Our focus during Independent Reading for the next month will be Questioning. Questioning is a reading strategy that helps a reader to anticipate and focus his/her reading. It sets a purpose for reading and allows students to interact with the text. As teachers, we will model for and help students explore how to ask their own good questions and then read to answer them. Students will also become familiar with questioning graphic organizers which will be linked to some beautifully written and illustrated stories we will be using to reinforce the Questioning strategy. Be sure to ask your child what he/she is learning in Independent Reading!

Writing – We will be continuing with the Organization trait of 6+1 Writing. We will spend time looking at Beginning/Middle/End. Students will also have opportunities to organize their writing within their research, particularly in Social Studies and Science.

Math
We are wrapping up our Multiplication unit and moving on into the Division unit. Students will be practicing division facts, using estimation with division, and solving 3-digit long division.

Science
We will be continuing with the Human Body unit throughout the month of January. We will be looking at the circulatory system, the nervous system, how our muscles help us move, and how our skin protects us. We will also be looking at how food we eat can help us to stay healthy.

Social
We will be wrapping up our Canadian Symbols unit this month. Students will be doing a research project on a famous Canadian. We will be incorporating the 6+1 Writing Traits (Organization) into this activity.

Art – Mrs. Schentag
Congratulations to all the grade 5 students for a wonderful Christmas Concert performance! I thoroughly enjoyed working with all of them on this special Christmas project.

January will finally bring about our theme change to a Visual Art unit entitled The World of Art. Students will learn about logos and slogans and create one of each for themselves. They will also create a Time Capsule Me Box and decorate it with items which depict will their values, interests and culture. Students are asked to bring a few items from home that they can use to decorate their boxes. As well they will be asked to bring 3 items to place into their boxes which are important to the students and that they can describe to the class in their Me Box presentations. A letter will be sent home shortly providing more information about this assignment.

Phys. Ed./Health – Mr. Leidl
Emphasis will be on ball handling skills with a focus on basketball lead up skills and game strategies. Educational gymnastics, cross country skiing, and outdoor pursuits will also be explored before the February Break. Students will participate in a variety of drug awareness projects focusing on healthy decision making and increasing self esteem.

French – Mrs. Orosz
Students will review vocabulary learned before Christmas, and continue to reinforce their comprehension with guided written activities. We will sing some familiar as well as new songs, and practice French in a variety of game activities.