October 5-9, 2015

General Announcements:

• Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes: Earth Savers Science Club will be sponsoring a Gently Used Shoe Collection Drive that will go throughout the month of October.
• If any of your kids are interested in community service opportunities, please let them know about the BUC's Club.  They can pick up a form from the counselors office.  The first meeting will be next week.  The first community service project will be Saturday, Oct. 24 at Light House.  This is a women and children shelter in downtown Birmingham.  They will do an arts and crafts activity from 10-11:00. More details will be discussed at the 1st meeting and you will be contacted with information. The counselors are planning four events throughout the year.  These events have not been finalized yet, but as they approach more information will come out to students and parents. This is an opportunity for students to get community service hours.  Parents will need to provide transportation. 
• Don’t forget to check your child’s grades from time to time on INOW.  
• We are in the process of contacting parents if we feel a conference is needed at this time. If we don't contact you and you would like a conference, please let us know.

Important Curriculum Dates

10/9 DOL Test

10/9 Reading/Vocabulary Test

Looking Ahead

10/12:  No School for Students

10/14:  Report Cards coming home

Math News:

Topics of Study – 

**Math- We are starting our work in Volume and three-dimensional capacity. Our first goal is to understand and find the "base" of a rectangular cube. Then, we will locate and calculate the number of "layers" this cube shows. This will soon take us into making a connection with seeing that Volume is found when we know the three-dimensions of an object. Our prior skills in multiplication and division will serve us well in this unit.

Homework: IXL and Math Computation, Mathbook Unit #2 page 7-8

Test: Friday on Multiplication, Division, Order of Operation Only. No Volume questions

 Science News:

Topics of Study –   
**Science- We are working in class, on our spheres of the Earth project. In these representations, we are trying to show an ecosystem and examples of how these four spheres interact with each other. We will also take a more detailed view of the amount of water on the Earth, and how much is salt water, and how much is freshwater. We will then take this information and create a bar graph and a pie chart. After we wrap up these concepts, we will begin to look at the lithosphere and ways that people can help protect our planet from ecological disasters.
Test: Thursday on identifying things that are part of the four spheres. Ex: Trees are part of the Biosphere, the wind is part of the Atmosphere.

Language Arts News:

Topics of Study -

**Reading: We switched back to Reading this week.  We will be reading a passage about the origins of Southern food.  Our focus for the week will be locating the main idea and the supporting details.  We will have a reading comprehension test over this passage on Friday. There will also be a vocabulary test on Friday over the words we discuss throughout the week.
Homework: Reading comprehension/Vocabulary test tomorrow

**Reading Log-Reading logs came home today and will be due on Friday, Oct. 9.  Remind your child to add details to their answers.
Homework: Reading logs are due tomorrow.

**Language- Students work on DOL and IXL each day during the first few minutes of Lang. Arts. Please encourage your child to use their time wisely to complete this assignment.  For IXL, I average all 4 IXL scores for a grade in Language Arts each week.  We will have a DOL Test on Friday, Oct. 9.

Homework: IXL Language should be completed by tomorrow.

Social Studies:

Topics of Study – We started our unit on the Colonies today. We will be learning about life in the New England, Middle and Southern colonies.

                   

We hope everyone has a great week!

September 21-25, 2015

General Announcements:

• We are back into the swing of things after a great few days at camp! Thank you to our amazing chaperones for joining us! We couldn't have done it without you!
• Last turn in day is this Wednesday, September 23.  Internet Sales will be extended until September 30. Fourth and Final Prize day will be October 2.  If seven bears are earned by this date, the student will attend a Gametruck party. 
• www.gaschoolstore.com is the online shop for magazines, jewelry and more!  BGIS code is 2694313.  Let’s finish strong.  Thank you for all your support!
• Don’t forget to check your child’s grades from time to time in INOW.  

Important Dates for This Week

9/23/15 Wear YELLOW in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness month!

9/23/15 Last turn-in day for magazine sales!

Curriculum News:

Math News:
**Math: We are continuing our work with division. Today, we looked at how we could demonstrate division using an Area Array, just like with multiplication. We will continue to work with word problems and how to set up and answer problems involving division. Perhaps this Wednesday or Thursday, we will begin to challenge ourselves with order of operation problems that involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Homework: Unit #1 page 69 , IXL, and Math Computation

Science News: 
**Science: We are still looking at the four main spheres of the Earth. We are learning about the major characteristics of each. As we continue, we will observe and infer the many different ways that each of these spheres interact with each other. Our goal is to illustrate our own interpretation of these interactions in a unique setting or environment.

  

Language Arts News:

**Writing: This week is our first writing week.  We are beginning Argument Writing where students will learn to develop a thesis and support that thesis with reasons and evidence.  We will be writing in our writing notebooks.  We will start at the beginning of the writing process and eventually write a final draft.  

**Greek and Latin Roots:  During writing weeks, we will begin learning Greek and Latin Roots.  Students will be given a word list on Monday.  These roots will be hydr, aqua/aqu, and mar/mer.   We will complete several activities throughout the week in order to prepare for a quiz on Friday on the definitions of these words.  For the quiz, students will need to know their meanings, but also how a word would be used in a sentence.

**Reading Log-Reading Log is due on Friday. Remind your child to answer the questions with plenty of details to support their answer.

**Language- Students will complete DOL in class each day and we will go over it each day. If your child is paying attention in class, this should not be something they have to study. IXL is to be completed each day, as well. Along with DOL, they will have one skill to work on daily.

Social Studies News:

We are continuing our discussion of Explorers.  A study guide will come home next Monday to prepare them for a test next week. Remind your child about the importance of staying organized, especially in this subject. They should be organizing their papers behind their "Table of Contents" daily.

                   

We hope everyone has a great week!

On the way home from camp!

Our Camp Pictures