Ms. McCarthy Teaches About Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
Students built ramps and adjusted heights to teach about speed, distance and time.
Looking for Books By Lexile Level
As you know, choosing “Best Fit Books” is an important component of our Daily 5 literacy model. Students were given their SRI recommended reading lists to have parents sign, and they were then stapled in their planners for easy access. At the top, you will find your child’s lexile level, according to SRI. Students can use the internet to search for books within their lexile levels at our Media Center, as well as other Media Centers in the district, to ensure they are choosing “Best Fit Books.” Steps to locate materials in the Media Center follow. I encourage students to go on the website, look up books in their lexile level, and make a list of books they find interesting. The website will also tell you if the book is available and how many copies we own. We only get 15 minutes once a week to check out books, so if this can be done at home, the student can use his/her media time to check out appropriate books. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks!
Math Retakes
The retake for our unit 2 math test will take place this Friday, November 1st. Anyone interested in taking it must sign up with Mr. Wahl so we now how many copies are needed. Thanks!
Spelling Stars
All students earning a 1 on their spelling test may wear a hat on Monday to celebrate! Congratulations!
A Word About Mini-Quizzes
As you know, we have had several mini-quizzes across several subject areas. These quizzes are based upon the content and language objectives of each lesson, each day. Typically, but not always, a class will have 2-3 mini-quizzes per week, per subject. Mini-quizzes serve one main purpose~to tell students and teachers who is paying attention and taking good notes, and who needs to concentrate more during the lessons. Often times, students will be told ahead of time what their mini-quiz will be covering, so that they can be prepared to concentrate on the day’s topic. Occasionally, students are even allowed to use their notes from the day.
In science, Mr. Wahl and I have devised a system to let you know exactly what the mini-quizzes cover. We have printed out the day’s content and language objectives on labels, and put how many possible points each quiz is worth. This way, you can discuss with your child the day’s science lesson. Mini-quizzes are usually worth about 5 or 6 points each, and they always need to be corrected, signed and returned, so that we know parents are seeing them.
While mini-quiz scores are used in figuring out the final report card grade for each cardmarking, each individual grade counts very minimally in the grand scheme of things. All mini-quiz scores are averaged, and the average counts as one test grade. So a few failed mini-quizzes will most likely not adversely affect a student’s grade. The main purpose of mini-quizzes is to focus students on the goals and objectives for each lesson. It gives them a purpose for listening, focusing and understanding.
If you notice that your child is not doing well on his/her mini-quizzes, I urge you to have a conversation about his/her study habits, note-taking and participation in class discussions. All students are always encouraged to take notes in every subject. Whenever there is an experiment, video, project or demonstration, students are always encouraged to take notes. These notes are what the students will have to study from, especially during hands-on experiments and video clips.
I hope this helps explain our mini-quizzes, and I hope it answers any questions you may have. If not, or please email me at gwizdza@dearbornschools.org, or leave me a voicemail at 827-7580. Thank you for your continued support!
Science Test on Friday!
There will be a short science test on Friday covering contact and non-contact forces. Students need to know the definition of each type of force and be able to provide examples. The green science book and their science notebooks will be key in studying. Thanks!
Our Native American Field Trip
We learned so much about Native Americans and their culture. Thank you to Mrs. Bublitz for coordinating!
XtraMath
Congratulations to the following students who have already gone on XtraMath:
Ali H.
Angela
Ayah
Hamza
Ibrahim
Janel
Kaleb
Salsabeel
So far, our winner for most XtraMath minutes is Ayah! I’ll have a prize for the student who spends the most time on XtraMath each week. Get busy!
Thank You!
A big “thank you” to Mohsen’s and Ayah’s family for the tissues! 🙂
Also, thank you to everyone for getting the field trip money in on time! 100% of our class made the deadline! Woohoo!
HELP!
We seem to have an overabundance of sneezy students in fifth grade, and we’ve run out of tissues! I am sending out an S.O.S. for boxes of tissues! Please donate a box or two to our classroom to help us get through allergies and cold and flu season. Thank you so much!