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

Jan 25th Week of January 25th — 29th

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend!  I showed the kids pictures my brothers sent of all the snow they received!  I think some were wishing that would have come our way!  Looks like we will be having a little more mild temps so hopefully we will get in some good outdoor recess time!

Reminders for this week:

Michigan’s Birthday–January 26, 1837 !

Math Workshop tomorrow evening 6-7 pm; PTA meeting to follow at 7 pm.  Please send in the RSVP for the Math.  It will be something you don’t want to miss.  Great math strategies!

Friday–1/2 day dismissal at 11:45

This week we are learning:

Social Studies–Thank you to the Bucks for the delicious Trenary Toast.  It was good to have a product from the U.P.  Not sure if I thanked the Mendez family as well.  They supplied the delicious   Jiffy muffins–three different flavors.   If I missed anyone else for thank yous, please know how much we appreciate the donations!  The kids are really enjoying it!

They have also been enjoying Michigan History and doing a great job!  They have a folder that will be coming home to study for the history test–probably this Friday!  We just have a couple last minute timeline activities to finish this week!

Science–We have finished our light unit and will take a short assessment tomorrow.  We are then moving on to another type of energy–SOUND!

Spelling–Our unit focus this week is gr, cr, br.

Daily 5/CAFE–We are integrating our Science and Social Studies by using text features to locate information.   Students are also working on reading and researching about an inventor.    This includes main/idea and details.

Writer’s Workshop–We have begun researching our inventors life and will then create a research paper based on our findings.  Students will then get to create their own invention and write about it!

Math–We finished our measurement unit and will now move on to place value with larger numbers.  We will read, write and compare larger numbers.

Enjoy your week!

Jan 13th DuVall Spirit Week next week!

Are the winter blues getting to you?  Why not have a little bit of fun.  DuVall will have spirit week during the week of January 18th.

Monday–January 18th  No School

Tuesday–January 19th:  Sports Shirt Day (wear a shirt from your favorite sports team)

Wednesday–January 20th:  DuVall School Spirit Day (dress in DuVall shirts; it is also Yearbook Activity Pictures Day)

Thursday–January 21st:  Tacky Day (wear a crazy hat or mismatched socks)

Friday–January 22nd: Twins day (dress up like a “twin” in your class)

Everyday we will keep track of the number of students participating in school spirit week.  The class with the greatest number of participants during the whole week will get a Penguin Point per student that can be used for our raffle on Friday, January 22nd!  Show your DuVall Spirit and have some fun!

Jan 4th Week of January 4-8

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone enjoyed a fun, restful break with family and friends!  I sure did!

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful gifts and all the help for the Holiday breakfast!  It is so nice to have all the parental support!  I look forward to all great things in 2016!

Please remind your children to dress for the weather.  When we are able, we will be going outside, so it is important students have hats, gloves and snow pants and boots when necessary.

This week we are learning:

Spelling–Our focus this week is the ow chunk, that makes the long o sound.  It is important students practice their words, but also the chunk with the sound.  We are making connections to other words with the same pattern.  We discussed how the ow doesn’t always make the long o sound!

Daily 5/Cafe–Students are working on their individual goals and strategies.  We are working on getting “deeper” into the books.  We also will be working on cause and effect utilizing our unit in Michigan history to integrate Social Studies.  Students will also continue working on collecting information for main idea and details.

Writer’s Workshop–This week we will be working on creating a quatrain snow poem!  We have a little inspiration now!

Science–We have begun our unit on light and sound by discussing the various forms of energy.  Students are creating a superhero that utilizes one of the types of energy we have discussed.  We will then delve further into the study of light.

Social Studies–We are continuing our unit in Michigan history.  Students will be learning the French and British explorers, how they affected Michigan and their interaction with the Native American tribes.

Math–Our focus will be area and perimeter.  We will be learning about the different ways to find area, including work on measuring to the nearest inch, 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch.

STUDENTS SHOULD STILL CONTINUE TO PRACTICE THEIR MULTIPLICATION FACTS AS WELL!

Have a warm week!

Dec 14th Week of December 14-18

Reminders for this Week:

Math Unit 4 Test.  Please also study multiplication facts with your child.   Short, frequent sessions work best!

Wednesday 16th–Pajama Day.  Students can wear pajamas to school and they may bring a blanket.  We are going to be watching a holiday movie with our Kindergarten buddies.  Students can wear slippers, but they should come in shoes.

Friday 18th–Our holiday breakfast.  Students voted and wanted the breakfast again.  We will start making pancakes in the morning right away.

Holiday Boutique—16th through 18th–Information to follow

Friday 18th—All school sing-a long at 2:30 in the Gym

We are learning:

Spelling–Our focus this week is the ou sound and spelling pattern

Daily5/CAFE–We are exploring elements of legends.  This corresponds with our Social Studies history as well, since many of the legends are Native American.  We will also continue with main ideas/details.

Writer’s Workshop–Most students are finishing their final copies of opinion letters.  We will do some holiday writing for the rest of this week.

Math–Unit 4 Test tomorrow.  Students need to practice their multiplication facts!  We are having timed tests of these facts.

Social Studies–We are focusing on the history of Michigan.  We are currently studying how the Native Americans used and adapted to their environment and how their stories were used.

Science–When we finish some of our history unit, we will move on to the study of light and sound.

Have an awesome holiday break!

Dec 1st Week of November 30-December 4

Reminders this Week:

Book Fair in the Library all week.  Students can bring in money and I will send them down to purchase.

Wednesday—Lamp Family Pancake Dinner Fundraiser 5:30-7:30.  Please join us to support the Lamp Family at this very difficult time.

We are Learning:

Science Test tomorrow on Earth’s Materials.  We have been reviewing in class and students have folders with necessary information.  Please review with your child.

We will be moving on to Social Studies and will begin the history of Michigan!

Spelling–Our focus this week is the VCCV pattern.  We are identifying where to divide the words into syllables when they have this pattern.

Daily 5/CAFE–We will be working on Legends this week.  Students will explore different Legends and will be identifying the elements of each.  We will also be working on extending our Science with main idea and details connected to fast changes on the Earth.

Writer’s Workshop–Students are working on opinion writing.  We are completing plans that include opinion, reasons and details.  Students will be writing letters for their opinion topic.

Math–Students are working on multiplication and division and different ways to represent them.  We will also be focusing on number stories and will even be creating our own to solve!

Enjoy your week!

Nov 9th Week of November 9th-13th

Conference slips are coming home today.  Please double check your day and time and return the bottom of the slip with your child letting me know if your are attending.  The majority of days and times were chosen at open house.   If the day and time no longer work with your schedule, please indicate so I can change it and reschedule.

This week we are learning:

Spelling–Our focus this week is consonant digraphs.  Students are working on th, sh and ch, along with their content words.   Students should be able to transfer these patterns to their reading and writing.

Daily 5/CAFE–Students have been working on informational text.  They are practicing with asking questions, along with main idea and details.  We will also be incorporating technology to read for information connected to our Science unit–Rocks and Minerals.

Writer’s Workshop–Students completed their informational writing with their Michigan’s human characteristic.  As a fun culminating activity, they built their own bridges using various materials and teamwork.  We will be testing them out this week.

We will now move on to stating our opinion in persuasive writing.

Science–Students are working on the study of Earth’s Resources.  We explored properties of various rocks and minerals using our senses.   Everyone had a great time and learned a lot!  We are going to be learning more about the types of rocks and minerals Michigan has and will then explore soil!  Good stuff!

Thanks again to all who have signed up for Michigan Made donations!  It is so great to have all the support!

Stay warm!

Nov 5th Math Assessment

Please review the Unit 2 study guide, which is coming home in your child’s planner tonight!

Thanks for your support!

Oct 28th Math!

Parents,

I apologize for the delay buy Math tests are coming home today along with a short quiz on the back of the Spelling test.  There were students absent that needed to make-up the test so that is why there has been a delay.  We will be having another assessment coming early next week on addition and subtraction money and patterns.  Please review the papers at home with your child and return them signed.

Thanks!

Oct 26th Week of October 26th-October 30th

Halloween is fast approaching!  Just a reminder that our Halloween breakfast is on Friday morning.  We will start cooking right away!  Thanks so much to Mrs. Mathis and Mrs. Buck for being homeroom mom and organizing this!  Thanks too for all the parents who signed up on the signup genius!  It is so nice to have this support!

In the afternoon, students will be changing into their costumes.  Your child should bring their costume in a bag to change after lunch.  No face makeup or weapons please!  We will be having an all school parade starting at 2 p.m.  We hope you can join us and see all the awesome costumes.

Reminders for next week:

Tuesday, November 3rd–No School

Friday, November 6th–half day

We are learning:

Social Studies–Your child’s Geography Folder is coming home today!  Students will have a test on Wednesday.  As you can see by the folder, we have been hard at work.  The cover has questions to answer for studying.  The answers can be found in the folder.   Your child DOES NOT have to write down the answers, but some of them have chosen to do so.  You can quiz your child orally to find out how much they have learned about Michigan so far!

We will be moving on to Science and studying Earth’s Resources

Spelling–Our focus this week is blends.  We are making connections with other words that contain blends.

Daily5/Cafe–We are working on non-fiction this week.  Our strategy focus is main ideas and details and we will also be asking questions.  Students will be receiving a non-fiction book at their level to practice these strategies.

Math–We are currently working on addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.  It is important that students practice (especially the subtraction) at home for reinforcement.  We will do some problem solving and a little bit or work with money and making change.

Writer’s Workshop–To connect to our Social Studies and informational non-fiction, students researched a human characteristic of Michigan.  We have begun organizing our information and started writing our first drafts.

Have a good week!  Happy Halloween!

Oct 21st Reminders

PLANNERS

Please be sure to check your child’s planner each night and initial after you have seen their completed homework.  It is a great communication tool between school and home.  It is important that your child complete homework when given as it is a reinforcement of concepts taught in class.  Please feel free to use the planner to write a note to me if you have questions.

Please practice addition and subtraction basic facts with your child.  Flashcards work well.  There are also many websites that offer practice with these facts.  Short frequent sessions work best!

ADDITION/SUBTRACTION

We will be having timed tests on Thursdays.  When students pass their addition, they will move on to subtraction.  If they master both I will have them start practicing their multiplication facts.  Many are excited to start into their multiplication!

Since we don’t have a lot of opportunity to practice these at school, support at home will help tremendously.

SOCIAL STUDIES ASSESSMENT

Students will be having a Social Studies assessment on Geography of Michigan coming up next week.  You will soon see a blue folder coming home with a page attached on the top.  The page can be used as a study guide, along with the papers inside.  Students have worked hard as they learn more and more about Michigan.  We will be reviewing the material in class as well, but they will also need to study at home as well.   As you will be able to tell by the papers in the folder, they have learned a lot!!

Thanks again for your support!