Mrs. Alabakoff's 4th/5th GradeDearborn Public Schools

Apr 5th Week of April 4th-8th

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone had a restful break!  It sounds like the kids enjoyed a lot of fun activities with family.

Reminders for the week:

Popcorn on Friday–We are in need of popcorn poppers!  Please let me know if you can pop for us on Friday!

Assembly on Wednesday–Recycling

Fun Run on Friday afternoon

Martian Marathon on Saturday

We are learning:

Spelling–We are continuing our work on homophones.  Students will be tested on the words on Friday

Daily 5/Cafe–We have a lot going on!  We are working on Comparing/Contrasting using main ideas and details.  We are also integrating Social Studies into the Daily 5 by using organizers to analyze photographs and for stating viewpoints with reasons and details.  Students are also using the R.A.N. strategy (Reading to Analyze Non-Fiction).

Writer’s Workshop–We will be taking our viewpoints and reasons with details and will write a public discourse paper on Windmills in the Great Lakes.  Students are using their researched information.

Math–Our focus is Geometry and currently we are comparing and contrasting polygons by using our math vocabulary.

Social Studies–We are working on growth in Michigan and are using primary sources for information.

Science–We have started our study of plants.  Students are learning this week how to classify plants based on observable characteristics.  Students should be looking for different types of roots, stems, leaves and flowers.  They can bring in examples if they choose.

Have a sunny week!

Apr 4th Popcorn Poppers Needed!

This Friday is our turn for popcorn!  We are in need of 2 people to help pop popcorn.  If you are available, please let me know!

Thanks in advance!

Mar 21st Week of March 21-25

Spring is Here!……well, maybe the temperature is not springlike, but at least we are getting closer to warmer temps!  Please make sure your child dresses for the weather.  It is still chilly in the morning.

Reminders for the week:

Tuesday–PTA meeting

Wednesday–conferences for those scheduled

Friday–No School–beginning of Spring Break

This week we are learning:

Spelling–We are continuing our study of homophones.  The students are doing a great job with these.  Since it is a short week, we will be working with these words when we come back from break as well.  No test this week!

Daily 5/Cafe–This week we are continuing to work on Author’s Purpose.  We will also be using main ideas/details to summarize informational text.  Students also have been working on their book club books and we will most likely start our projects to present the books this week.

Writer’s Workshop–We are integrating our Social Studies into writing by starting on a public discourse paper.  Students are researching about wind turbines in the Great Lakes.  This will take us a couple of weeks.  Students will be stating their opinion and will be using reasons from their research along with details.

Social Studies–We are discussing growth in Michigan after statehood.  Students have been doing a great job analyzing photographs from the 1800’s to determine what life was like.

Science–We finished our unit on Forces and Motion and we now finish out the year with plants and animals.  We will just begin this week and will continue after the break!

Have a great week and an even better Spring Break!

Mar 16th (No Title)

One more thing—Don’t forget those Pennies for Pasta.  We are raising money for Leukemia Lymphoma Society!

Mar 16th Reminders!

Just a couple reminders:

Forces and Motion test tomorrow!  Students have a folder with a study guide.  We have gone over the study guide and your child made any necessary corrections.  Please study the contents of the folder for tomorrow’s test.

Conferences are next week on Wednesday.  I will be sending slips for some students.  If you do not receive one, it is not necessary for me to see you.

Tower of Books is still in progress!  Students should be reading their books and completing the task that goes with the book.  The tasks are short, so I expect best effort!   I check them in and the students receive their slip for their tower.  Students can check out books from me if they are looking for a certain genre they may not have at home.

Happy Reading!

Mar 9th March Readers!

Sorry for the late post, but it seems March arrived quickly!

If you would like to read to our class on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday either first thing in the morning (9:00) or at the end of the day (3:15), please let me know the day and time that would work for you.

Happy Reading!

Feb 26th Government Assessment

Update:

The Government Assessment was moved to Monday because of the snow day.  The students were happy to have the weekend for extra studying.  Your child should have brought home their purple folder, which has all the information they will need for the test!

Enjoy your weekend!

Feb 17th Week of Feb. 15-19

Sorry for the late post!  Welcome back to everyone!  I hope everyone enjoyed a restful, fun break with family.  I know I did!

Thank you to all for the Valentine goodies!  I definitely enjoyed them over the break.  Thank you also to all the parents for helping with our ice cream sundae party.  You made it so easy and it is greatly appreciated.  Once again, thanks to Mrs. Mathis for organizing!

This week we are learning:

Spelling–Oops, the Thursday before break was so busy we didn’t get to the Spelling test.  Students are doing word work activities with the words to practice and we will take the test this Friday.

Daily 5/CAFE–We are working on summarizing this week, using main ideas.  We are also focusing on strong verbs.  Students are flagging in their reading and sharing so we can then transfer these to our writing.

Math–Our focus this week is larger numbers–writing and reading them in different forms.  We are also working on pictographs.  Students are creating them using a key and are also answering questions based on the data in the graph.

Social Studies–We are learning about Michigan’s government.  Hopefully you saw the cool trees come home that students created based on what we have learned about the 3 branches of government.  We should finish up late this week or early next with rights and responsibilities of citizens.   Students will be assessed next week.

Writer’s Workshop–Our focus this week is a descriptive piece.  Students are creating stories about waking up to find out they have shrunk to the size of an ant.  We will be using our powerful, descriptive language in our stories.

Have a great rest of the week!

Feb 5th Reminders for Next Week

Tuesday-9th—–Mardi Gras Celebration Dearborn Hills Golf Course

Wednesday 10th—–Late Start

Thursday 11th—–Valentine Celebration with Ice Cream Sundaes and cards at 1:45

Roller Skating 6:30-8:30

Friday 12th——No School

Monday 15th——No School

Jan 27th Water for Flint!

Send A Sip…To Our Friends In Flint!

The citizens of Flint face a very serious and long term water crisis. People all across the state and country are stepping up to help and now we can too!

ALL THIS WEEK, ALL DEARBORN PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL BE COLLECTING CASES OF WATER FOR FLINT. THIS IS A DISTRICT WIDE EFFORT BY ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS.

Please drop off your donation of bottled water before January 29th to any school!