Good afternoon! Due to technical errors with the online computer system for Wake County, report cards for the second nine weeks will be distributed on Wednesday, February 1. If you would like to request a conference, please check the appropriate box on the report card envelope. Parents who have not yet had a conference will have first priority. Thanks.
As many of you know, Wake County is reformulating middle school math to correlate with the new common core standards. Titles for the new math classes include Common Core 6, Common Core 7, and Common Core 8. The county is still working on specific criteria and eligibility for each class. Mrs. Chamberlain, our AG coordinator, will be attending a meeting in late February about these new classes. I will post new information here. To view the new Common Core math standards, click on the "Curricuulum" link of this website and scroll to the bottom of the page. Thanks.
DARE GRADUATION: DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) graduation will be held on Monday, January 30th from 10:10-11:30 am in the gym. We will celebrate students completing the DARE program, and Officer Doxbeck will announce the gold medal
essay winners. Students are encouraged to wear a Hunter shirt with jeans to the graduation. Parents are invited to attend.
HOMEWORK POLICY REMINDER: Many students are turning in their homework on time; however, several students are having difficulty completing the work in a timely manner (i.e. leaving it at home, not looking at the homework board in class or th website or their planner, and so on). Therefore, I am implementing my homework policy from last year: If a student does not have his/her homework, the student will email the parent that day to notify them. That way, the parent is aware of the missing work and time can be used at home to make sure the work is turned in for credit. The email will be brief, but it provides a way for immediate communication.
FIRST IN MATH: Hunter also has a new math site called First in Math. Your child received his/her password last week. Students glued their password cards in the front of their math notebook. Check out the site (also listed on the card) to win virtual medals. Students can work up through an eighth grade level on the site.
BLOG: The blog (left hand column) is available for student comment. I will post questions to initiate student discussion. Students need to make sure that all comments are appropriate. All inappropriate comments will be deleted and parents notified. Thanks for helping make the blog a fun place for student discussions!
GUINEA PIG: If anyone is interested in taking our class guinea pig (Taffy) home for a weekend, please send in a note. List several available weekends—assignments will be made on a first-come first-served basis. Thanks.
REMINDERS: Remember to check out the Quia site with your child. Each student has his/her own login and password that allows access to the class site. Warning: These educational games are fun and can be quite addictive for adults, too. :-)
SUPPLIES AND HOMEWORK
Students are expected to be prepared for class daily with two sharpened #2 pencils, notebook paper, and completed homework (if applicable). Homework will be assigned on a weekly basis and these assignments will also be posted on the homework chart in the room. Students will be using their planners to write down these assignments.
DONATIONS--Updated
Thank you so much to all of the wonderful families who donated supplies for the classroom. Your generosity is GREATLY appreciated!
Notes section updated (see above): Sunday, January 29, 2012
Curriculum Update section (updated bi-weekly): Sunday, January 29, 2012
Homework Corner section updated: Sunday, January 29, 2012
Curriculum Update
MATHEMATICS
In math, we are continuing to work on our geometry unit. Students are completing their assessments on the names of polygons (3-20), the sum of interior angles, and the number of diagonals. Students used the formulas for both the sum of interior angles and number of diagonals to solve the problems.
We also focused on line and rotational symmetry through interactive videos. This week, we are working on fifth and sixth grade geometric concepts by completing a visual vocabulary project. Rather than copying definitions down, we are using the terms to create real life connections to the terms. For instance, students will
be given the meaning of the word intersection (this is an easy one) and they
will develop a real life connection such as the intersection of roads to
illustrate in their visual project. Students remember the terms much better when they have a basis of connection. Also, students should be studying their properties of quadrilaterals for a “surprise”assessment on Thursday. They have this information in their math notebook as well as a mnemonic device memory strategy from class. Then, we will be moving into measurement with conversions between systems (metric and customary). Students will create measurement cartoon booklets to help with the approximations. The measurement
unit also encompasses finding circumference and area of various polygons. If students have mastered the area objectives, they will continue with volume of polyhedra. We are looking forward to a great time of learning in math!
(goals 2 and 3 from the NC Standard Course of Study)
SCIENCE
Students will need their landforms composition book at school on Wednesday, February 1. In science, students completed their final observations of the polluted ecosystems. Many students were surprised at the results of the investigation, especially the fertilizer. We learned about the effects of salt, vinegar, and over fertilization on the plants. Students assume that
fertilizer always helps plants; however, the amount we used for our
investigation caused the entire ecosystem to diminish. We are beginning our landforms unit this week. We will start with the K and W portions of the KWLH chart (K=what I think I know, W= what I want to know, L=what I learned, and H=how I learned it). We will be writing the K and W on note cards and placing them on our class chart. Then, students will complete our first investigation, which is on creating models and scaling down these models for maps. We will be journeying to the playground to collect and illustrate data. This data will be used to create a model of the playground in our stream table trays. After students create the model in the tray, they will use an overlay grid to develop a bird’s eye view. Then, they will use this bird’s eye view to create a scaled-down paper map. The next lesson after maps involves pouring one liter water over the dand and clay mixture in the stream table tray to document the various landforms created. This unit has such great hands-on investigations for students to expand their knowledge of landforms concepts!
Landforms is goal 2 from the NC Standard Course of Study
Homework Corner
Homework is assigned on a weekly basis. It is very important that students are
completing QUALITY homework. If the work is not quality, the student
will be required to redo the assignment. There is a poster in the back of my room that has the following message printed on it: "If you don't have time to do it right, you must have time to do it over." This message is strongly enforced in fifth grade. Also, please make note of any incomplete and/or missing homework assignments on the bi-weekly report.
Reminders: How to log in to Study Island:
Your username is your lunch number followed by "huntergt." So, if your lunch number is 1234, then your log in would be 1234@huntergt. Your password is your lunch number.
MATH:
- Problem of the Week (due Friday, February 3) Remember to thoroughly complete ALL sections of the Problem of the Week:
1. Highlight key information in the problem and rephrase the problem in your own words
2. Solve the problem and show ALL work
3. Explain (in detail) how you solve the problem. Imagine that you are explaining how you solved the problem in front of the class. Simply saying "I guess and checked" or "I multiplied" will not be accepted for credit. How did you know to multiply? What numbers did you use to guess/check and how did you know you had the correct solution?
4. Rate the problem on a scale of 1-10 (1=really easy, 5=medium, and 10=stumped my brain). Explain why.
POW due 02/03 was distributed on Monday, January 30.
- Math Contract (due Tuesday, January 31) Students will receive a copy of this contract on Tuesday, January 24.
SCIENCE:
- Study Island Ecosystems (due by Friday, February 3) If you forgot how to log in, look under the homework corners reminder section (above the math homework).
- Ecosystems Vocabulary Four Square (due Tuesday, February 7)
Students received the list on Monday, January 30. Complete the four square strategy IN YOUR ECOSYSTEMS SCIENCE NOTEBOOK for each word that has a star beside it. If you need a reminder on the strategy, click on the "videos" link in the left column of this website.
What Can I Do When I Complete My Homework?
1. Celebrate and enjoy the natural world/outdoors (aka "exercise") :-) AND/OR
2. If a student completed the homework, he/she can work on completing seventh and eighth grade work (select math or science) in Study Island or continue to work on First in Math. If your student would like an additional Problem of the Week for practice, see below. An additional problem is not required, but several students have inquired about this possibility. :-) Or, explore the sites under the "resources" tab!
Additional Problem of the Week (not required):
What is the least positive integer meeting each of the following conditions?
Dividing by 7 gives a remainder of 4.
Dividing by 8 gives a remainder of 5.
Dividing by 9 gives a remainder of 6.
Students can see me for additional Problem of the Weeks--I have math problems that extend through high school! :-)
