Thank you for donating materials and your time for another successful STEAM Day! On Monday, students explored the questions What causes an oil spill? How does it impact the environment? How can it be cleaned up? We created models of ocean ecosystems complete with ocean floor land forms, fish sprinkles and feathers to simulate wildlife, and of course water. Then, students simulated an oil spill and worked as a team to engineer a way to remove the oil–all while maintaining a $10 billion budget! Ask your child, What happened during the BP Oil Spill of 2010? Which methods were effective for removing the oil? What can scientists do in the real world to prevent and recover from oil spills?
This week in Reading, we learned how to summarize nonfiction text. We learned all about water conservation and used our unlocking skills to write a paragraph summarizing what we read. We discussed different types of nonfiction text structures, such as description, problem & solution, order & sequence, cause & effect, and compare & contrast. When reading nonfiction text at home, ask your child What details in the book best support the topic? Can you summarize the important details in one or two sentences? How did you decided that these details are important? 
Next week’s vocabulary words are: quickly, immigrant, remove, clutched, longingly, prowling, looted, disagreed, and discouraged. Be on the lookout for a list of the week’s vocabulary words and their definitions in student’s agendas on Monday.
In Writing, we learned a new pre-writing skill of brainstorming with our 5 senses to help enhance our writing! We also began our unit on double negatives. We had fun reading and correcting silly sentences that contained way too many negatives! Remember…. don’t be a Negative Nancy! No, not, never, none, nothing, barely, scarcely, and hardly are all negative words.
A GLANCE AT NEXT WEEK:
- MATH: Rounding, Estimating, Adding, and Subtracting Decimals
- SCIENCE: Ocean Motion – Waves, Tides, and Currents
- READING: Predicting and Summarizing with Nonfiction & Nonfiction Text Features
- WRITING: Double Negatives and Ocean Descriptive Writing
- S.S.: Henrico History
UPCOMING EVENTS NEXT WEEK:
- Oct 14: Community Day 8:00-11:30
- Oct 16: NEW Study Island Signed Reading HW Log Due (See HW tab for details)
- Oct 17: Conservation Posters Due
- Oct 19: Reading IA Test
- Oct 20: Picture Day and Weekly Vocabulary Quiz
NEWS AND REMINDERS:
- In Folders:
- Are you ready for some pizza?! Our class has our heart sets on winning a class pizza party prize! Can you help us? Two copies of the order form have been sent home, which also include directions for ordering online at www.pjrva.com/schools. Invite your friends, family, and neighbors to participate and support our school! Who knows? I could show up at your door to deliver on October 24th!
- Study Island HW: New and improved Study Island reading homework expectations (see HW tab) were sent home on Wednesday. Please sign and detach the bottom portion if you haven’t already, and contact me with questions.
- Conservation Poster Contest: Yesterday, fifth grade enjoyed a visit with Lindy Durham from Henricopolis Soil and Water Conservation. We learned about the importance of soil as well as an exciting opportunity to participate in a county-wide conservation poster contest and earn prizes! All students are required to create a conservation design on the provided 11×17 poster for a science grade–due Tuesday, October 17th. If interested, students may choose to fill out the entry form on the back to submit their entries to the contest judges. This part is optional. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Click here for an extra copy of the directions.
- Aquarium Trip: Thank you for promptly returning signed permission forms and payments! We can’t wait for the trip! Thank you to Makaela and Samantha’s family members for joining us as chaperones!
- International Day: On October 24th, MTES will celebrate our diversity with International Day! Our class would LOVE to participate. We are seeking parent and student volunteers to send in a tasty international dish to share, dress in clothing that represents your culture, or share special photos or items ot help us learn more about your family’s culture. Can you help us? See next Monday’s folder for a flyer!
- Retake Reminder: Now that we’ve passed the half way point of our first quarter, it’s time to take a look at students’ averages to ensure we bring home report cards we’re proud of! Remember, students are allowed one quiz/test re-take per quarter per content area. I encourage students to take advantage of this opportunity to boost their grades in the next few weeks!
- (Repost) Gifted Referrals: The gifted referral window for students in grades 3-5 is open from October 9-27. Referrals will be accepted from parents/guardians, professional educators, community members, peers and students during the appropriate referral window. If you are interested in your student being referred, please submit your request in writing via email (subject: Gifted Referral) or paper to Mrs. Rhoden, associate principal, during the above listed dates. Please include: student name, grade level, homeroom teacher, and area of referral (Language/English, Math, or General Intellect—both Language/English and Math). For additional information, please visit the Parent Resources page on the Trevvett website (http://trevvett.henricoschools.us/).