Welcome Back!

We have started back to school and everyone is excited as we meet new friends and reconnect with old ones. Our fifth/sixth grade team welcomes Mrs. Pope and Mrs. Strickland to out group. We have many new faces on our end of the hall.

My math classes have started out great! The children are learning many new math concepts. The children are so excited about their Tangram Project. These books will be fun to write and fun to share.

My fifth grade reading class will be reading to our "Pre-k" friends on Friday. This is a great way for us to practice our reading aloud skills and our little friends enjoy someone reading to them.

End of the Year!

Well we are at the end of another school year. Both my math classes have been very busy this year. We will spend the remaining two weeks of school touching on a variety of topics including: analogies, perimeter, area, measurement, geometry, spacial relationships, and many others. To keep your child up on their math skills over the summer, remember to visit some math sites and review what they know. Thanks for making 2009-2010 such a great year at S.A.

Some great math sites: www.sheppardsoftware.com or www.aplusmath.com. If you type the word "interactive" before any math skill you want to review into your search engine, you will get a list of sites (example: interactive fraction games).

Grandparents Day Pictures

Grandparents Day 2010 on PhotoPeach

Measurement Mandy...

5th Grade Fieldtrip to Richmond

Fifth graders went to the Virginia Science Museum. There they learned the importance of map making and watched a cow eye dissection! Afterward, we visited the cell exhibit. After a picnic lunch we returned to Courtland!

Sixth Grade Measurement People

Fifth Grade Events this week...

We will be going on our field trip on Thursday, March 18th. Please remember to bring a snack, a drink (non-carbonated) and your lunch. We will be leaving at 8:30 to begin our adventure to the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond. We will eat our lunch on the bus on the ride back to school. We will return for the afternoon buses.

On Wednesday, March 17th we will have our practice test on chapter 7. Remember if you score an A, you will not have to take the test on Friday, you get to have "Electronics Day". Our final test on chapter 7 will be on Friday, March 19th.

Pi Day!

Pi Day was a big success! We had over 40 delicious pies to eat on Friday. Gailen recited the most numbers of Pi (2nd year winning this) and Elizabeth was a close second. All the children enjoyed sampling the various pies. Thank you to all the parents that helped make this event a great day!

Our Pi chain is 1/2 way around the first floor of the lower school. We will soon be taking it down and going out to the football field to measure our chain. I wonder how long it is? Any guesses?

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT!

Here's an extra credit Math assignment. It will be worth up to 4 points of extra credit. Write a paragraph explaining what "our Pi chain" is. What do the colors represent? When is Pi Day? What are we going to do to celebrate Pi Day? What do you use Pi for? Tell me anything else you'd like to about Pi. This extra credit assignment is to be turned in by February 15th. You may type this paragraph for 1 extra, extra credit point. If you are the only one to turn this extra credit paragraph in, I will give you 5 extra, extra, extra credit points.

SOME OF THE PRIZE WINNERS!

We are playing a game. We had to pass the foil ball around. When the music stopped, whoever had the ball had to peel off a layer of foil and eat what was listed. Some of the stuff we had to eat so we could win a prize was mustard, white vinegar, Vienna Sausages, onion powder, cottage cheese, strawberries and chocolate kisses. If you what you saw, you won a prize!

We are enjoying all this wonderful food. Our Valentine party moms did a great job!

Mrs. Swenson and Mrs. Matthews are busy getting our wonderful Valentine's Day party started. They are passing out yummy treats for us to enjoy!

We've settled back in after our unexpected "snow" break. In Math 5 we are reviewing long division. Our Practice Chapter 4 Test will be on Monday, February 8th and the final test for those students that need to take it will be on Tuesday, February 9th.

Math 6 students are working on multiplying fractions, whole numbers, and mixed numbers. Students are mastering this skill and can solve 4 fraction/mixed number multiplication problems.

In Grammar we are finishing our paragraph about Abe Lincoln. We will be typing these papers and displaying them in the hall. Please stop by and take a look! We finished our class read of "The Celery Stalks at Midnight". All the children have taken their A.R. test and have gotten some or all credit for this book.

Remember, Sunday, February 7th is our Open House at the Academy. Invite friends and neighbors to take a peek at our school and see the wonderful things we are doing there!

Welcome back from our long weekend! I hope everyone enjoyed the break. This week in Grammar class we will be reviewing pronouns. There will be a test on pronouns on Friday, January 22nd. Remember, review packets need to be completed and turned in by Friday, January 22nd.

In Math 5 we are perfecting our long division skills. The children are getting quite accurate when dividing larger numbers. I am very proud of their efforts.

In Math 6 we are continuing in our unit about Fractions. We learned how to subtract mixed numbers when the top fraction has a smaller numerator then the numerator on the bottom fraction. Check with your child to see if they can explain the process to you.

In Word Study this week EVERYONE got 100% on the test on Tuesday. Great job 5A! New words will be passed out on Wednesday. The test will be next Tuesday, January 26th. Please review the sentences your child has written. Mrs. Hull has asked the children to have 8 to 10 words in a sentence and to not start every sentence with "I".

We've had a very busy week getting back into our school routine. The weather has been so cold this week we have had to have our recess indoors. Even Coach Russ has held PE classes inside this week. The forecast is calling for some snow tonight - let's all keep our fingers crossed. Friday is our hot chocolate and cookie AR day. Almost everyone has made their goals for the last several weeks. The warm hot chocolate will feel really good on a cold winter's day! The semester ends on Friday, January 8, 2010. Report cards will be sent home next Friday, January 15th.