DMS 5th Grade Newsletter
Friday, April 22, 2016
Important Dates
April 29 Mystery Cave / Forestville field trip
May 6 Save the Date- all day field trip- more info coming
May 25 NOT a late start on this Wednesday
May 27 Last Day of School (dismiss at 1:30)
Middle School Parents Still Make a Difference- April Issue
The Parent Institute (Education’s #1 Source for Parent Involvement Information) provides a free resource for parents of middle school aged students. The monthly publication provides articles relevant to issues middle schoolers (and their parents) face. Check it out out here.
Safe School Reporting Form
Just a reminder- you can find a confidential online form to report bullying on the Decorah Middle School web site! Locate it here.
CODING CONTEST (through NASA)
“Imagine Cup Earth” is open to ages 6-18 with two categories. Register by: June 15. Tutorials and information are included when you visit the web site for more information and to register. https://www.imaginecup.com/earth?__af3b91cc=_af3b91cc Cash prizes are available. For more information contact Kathy Hay at [email protected].
NEWS FLASH!!
From Mr. Peterson: In science, we have been preparing for our cave field trip by learning about interactions between the geosphere and the hydrosphere. In reading, we have been reading a first person narrative to extend our understanding of point of view and how authors construct narratives. In writing, we have been using Joyce Sidman’s book, Song of the Water Boatman, as a mentor for our poetry and informational writing. We also wrote letters to the 4th grade.
From Mrs. Nowack:
Today we say good bye and best wishes to Miss Arney. We enjoyed having her in our classroom the last seven weeks and wish her well as she begins her teaching career.
Science: This week we reviewed changes to the earth, rocks, and caves in preparation for our field trip next week.
Reading: This week we learned about a new genre- science fiction. We’ve read several selections and have been identifying the genre features.
Language: This week students wrote friendly letters to 4th grade pals. We also continued to play review games with synonyms and antonyms, idioms, and homophones.
From Mrs. Suhr:
Social Studies - We tested on the Bill of Rights on Thursday. Next, we are doing a “Mini-Poster Project”. Students will each learn about and event or person from history during the 1800’s through the present. Each will present their poster and information learned starting Tuesday, May 3rd.
Language - We finished our work with friendly letters to the upcoming 5th graders. We will be learning about the parts of speech and starting to do research for writing a paragraph of informational text.
From Mrs. Halweg: In math this week your student took their Unit 11 assessment. They’ll be bringing these home on Monday to share with you and get signed. We also began our new unit on the coordinate grid. We practiced plotting points on a grid and writing ordered pairs for given points. We’ll continue this unit next week as well.
From Mr. Kelley: In reading students are participating in book clubs. They are each reading a different novel with their group and meeting on Wednesdays to discuss the book. Next Wednesday is their last day. In social studies students are beginning a unit about Iowa history, culture, and geography.
Friday, April 22, 2016
Important Dates
April 29 Mystery Cave / Forestville field trip
May 6 Save the Date- all day field trip- more info coming
May 25 NOT a late start on this Wednesday
May 27 Last Day of School (dismiss at 1:30)
Middle School Parents Still Make a Difference- April Issue
The Parent Institute (Education’s #1 Source for Parent Involvement Information) provides a free resource for parents of middle school aged students. The monthly publication provides articles relevant to issues middle schoolers (and their parents) face. Check it out out here.
Safe School Reporting Form
Just a reminder- you can find a confidential online form to report bullying on the Decorah Middle School web site! Locate it here.
CODING CONTEST (through NASA)
“Imagine Cup Earth” is open to ages 6-18 with two categories. Register by: June 15. Tutorials and information are included when you visit the web site for more information and to register. https://www.imaginecup.com/earth?__af3b91cc=_af3b91cc Cash prizes are available. For more information contact Kathy Hay at [email protected].
NEWS FLASH!!
From Mr. Peterson: In science, we have been preparing for our cave field trip by learning about interactions between the geosphere and the hydrosphere. In reading, we have been reading a first person narrative to extend our understanding of point of view and how authors construct narratives. In writing, we have been using Joyce Sidman’s book, Song of the Water Boatman, as a mentor for our poetry and informational writing. We also wrote letters to the 4th grade.
From Mrs. Nowack:
Today we say good bye and best wishes to Miss Arney. We enjoyed having her in our classroom the last seven weeks and wish her well as she begins her teaching career.
Science: This week we reviewed changes to the earth, rocks, and caves in preparation for our field trip next week.
Reading: This week we learned about a new genre- science fiction. We’ve read several selections and have been identifying the genre features.
Language: This week students wrote friendly letters to 4th grade pals. We also continued to play review games with synonyms and antonyms, idioms, and homophones.
From Mrs. Suhr:
Social Studies - We tested on the Bill of Rights on Thursday. Next, we are doing a “Mini-Poster Project”. Students will each learn about and event or person from history during the 1800’s through the present. Each will present their poster and information learned starting Tuesday, May 3rd.
Language - We finished our work with friendly letters to the upcoming 5th graders. We will be learning about the parts of speech and starting to do research for writing a paragraph of informational text.
From Mrs. Halweg: In math this week your student took their Unit 11 assessment. They’ll be bringing these home on Monday to share with you and get signed. We also began our new unit on the coordinate grid. We practiced plotting points on a grid and writing ordered pairs for given points. We’ll continue this unit next week as well.
From Mr. Kelley: In reading students are participating in book clubs. They are each reading a different novel with their group and meeting on Wednesdays to discuss the book. Next Wednesday is their last day. In social studies students are beginning a unit about Iowa history, culture, and geography.