A Hour of Code

A Week in Review

December 9 - 13

 

Did you know that this week was National Computer Science Week? Our entire school, participated in "An Hour of Code"! Students were inspired and excited to learn more about computer programming and I can't thank Ms. Benay enough for her leadership during our Computer Lab time!

 

Virtue Awards:
Merin R. has earned a Virtue Award for determination and perseverance. Merin put forth an amazing effort for her Science group's "Go Public" presentation! Keep up the good work!

 

 

Reading:

In Journeys this week, our main selection was a historical fiction piece, Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone. We used the target strategy "Conclusions/Generalizations" and the target skill "Infer/Predict" to deepen our understanding the main character.

 

Writing:

We've continued with our Poetry Workshop this week. We wrote Colorful Poems and Free Verse Poems. Students are busy revising and editing their final drafts! They also learned about alliteration and personification in poetry writing.

 

 

Math:

Unit 4: Circles, Angles, Polygons came to an end! We took our end-of-unit assessment and jumped right in to our next unit. Unit 5: Addition and Subtraction with Fractions. This unit is where 5th grade math gets a bit more challenging!

 

 

Science:
Students worked in their Science groups to prepare for the "Go Public" presentations, next Wednesday, December 18th at 9:30. An invitation via e-mail was sent out, we hope you can join us!

 

Social Studies:
In Social Studies groups, students continued to create their billboards that display the positive aspects of their assigned colony. Catchy slogans, meaningful statements, appealing visuals, and a one-minute presentation are all a part of the final Chapter 7 project!






We ended the week with our field trip to Chinook at Ringdall for the Advanced Band, Advanced Orchestra, and Advanced Choir performances. The middle schoolers were amazing, as were our 5th graders as an audience!

One more week until Winter Break!

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

17 Dec - Winter Assembly (cafe 1:55-2:25)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break

20 Jan - No School in observance of MLK Jr. Day

27 Jan - No School, Elementary Teachers Professional Development Day

17-21 Feb - No School, Mid-Winter Break

14 Mar - No School, Secondary Professional Development Day (Elem. non-paid)

7-11 Apr - No School, Spring Break

23 May - No School, 1/2 day paid Professional Day

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

20 June - Last Day of School (unless snow days occur)



It's Been a COLD week...brrr!

A Week in Review

December 2 - 6

 

Brrrr, what a chilly first week of December! Despite the cold, we accomplished a lot this week!

 

Virtue Awards:

Hilal has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of consideration and diligence. Hilal is working thoughtfully and diligently during our Poetry Workshop. His carefully crafted poems show his commitment to excellence!

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was a narrative nonfiction piece, Everglades Forever: Restoring America's Great Wetland by Trish Marx. Our target skill was persuasion as we worked to identify the author's viewpoint, what they were trying to persuade readers to think, and used evidence from the text to support our thinking.

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We continued our Poetry Workshop this week as we crafted new poems. Students wrote List Poems, Diamante Poems, Quintain Poems, and Cinquain Poems. Their writing is impressive, as is the thoughtfulness they put into their poetry.

 

 

 

Math:

Unit 4: Circles, Polygons, and Angles is another mini-unit, therefore we are almost done with it! This week we worked with circle graphs, answering questions using circle graphs, as well as drawing accurate circle graphs from a given set of data. Students also worked with line and rotational symmetry.

 

 

 

Science:

Mrs. Keenan and our class began wrapping up our science unit this week. They were introduced to the engineering challenge and discussed what an engineer is, what they do, and how we use technology in our daily lives. They also studied how to mitigate erosion.

 

 

Social Studies:

In Social Studies this week, we started Chapter 7: Comparing the Colonies. Students were put into groups, chose roles, and began learning about an assigned colony. In their groups, students will read about their colony and design an advertisement to persuade their classmates to move to their colony. While there were 13 original colonies, our lesson is focusing on six: Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia.

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm and remember to check the BSD website (www.bsd405.org) or a local news channel to ensure that on snowy days, school is starting on time. You can also call our Districts info line at 425.456.4111.

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

6 Dec - Report Cards sent home with students!

13 Dec - Chinook (@Ringdall) Field Trip: Band/Orchestra/Choir Concert (10am)
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)

17 Dec - Winter Assembly (cafe 1:55-2:25)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Week in Review

November 25 - 27

 

I am thankful for the amazing students in our room! Their sense of humor, diligence, and love of learning makes my job the best! I hope you have a relaxing and rejuvenating Thanksgiving Break!

 

Virtue Awards:

Jinkyo C. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of joyfulness and diligence. Jinkyo worked hard to complete his "I Am" poem with thoughtfulness and a positive attitude!

Did you know that ALL of the students in our classroom have earned at least one Virtue Award this trimester? Congratulations to our amazing and hardworking students!
 

Reading:

This week, we spent time getting lost in our books and sharing our thinking. My favorite part of reading this week was having 1:1 independent reading conferences with students. During these conferences we talk about our thinking, set goals, and just enjoy books.



 

Writing:

We started our new writing unit, poetry. Students read many different poems written by kids just like them! We analyzed what we noticed the writers did and then we began writing our own poems.

 

Math:

Unit 4: Polygons and Angles is underway! We reviewed how to use a protractor to measure angles. We also found measurements for missing angles in triangles and quadrilaterals.








 

Science:

Groups worked together to analyze the pros and cons of each of the three sites for the Evergreen Development Company. As a team students began to come to a consensus as to which site they think the company should choose.

This was a short newsletter for a short week! I look forward to picking up right where we left off on Monday. Until then, enjoy the long weekend - may it be filled with family, laughter, good food, and football!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break

13 Dec - Chinook (@Ringdall) Field Trip: Band/Orchestra/Choir Concert (10am)
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)

17 Dec - Winter Assembly (cafe 1:55-2:25)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break

Book Fair Fun & The Missoula Children's Theater

A Week in Review

November 18 - 22

 

 

Not only were we focused and working hard in class, we had the Scholastic Book Fair and The Missoula Children's Theater, too! Through it all, the students remained focused and diligent!! I know that we are all looking forward to Thanksgiving break next week.

 

Virtue Awards:

Dylan B. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtue responsibility. Dylan is working to ensure that he has ALL of his class work and homework completed on time! Keep up the good work!

 

Serene Z. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of respect and commitment. Serene is a very focused student who treats everyone with kindness and care! Thank you for being an amazing 5th grade leader!

 

 

 

Reading:

For our Journeys selection we read an excerpt from the classic book, Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. We analyzed the main character's thoughts, actions, and words in order to deepen our understanding of the characters. We discussed whether or not we thought the author created believable characters and supported our thinking using evidence from the text.

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We brainstormed, organized, wrote rough drafts, revised, and edited to produce final drafts of another memoir piece. This piece was written completely and independently by students. It is their final writing assessment before report cards! I'm proud of how focused they were on trying to use all of the strategies we worked on in class: vivid verbs, elaborating with specific detail, starting with a hook, etc.

 

Math:

Unit 3 Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers and Decimals wrapped up this week! We took a practice test to help us prepare and focus our studying on what we need to work on and then took the end-of-unit assessment, too! The pre-tests for Unit 4 Circles, Polygons, and Angles and Unit 5 Addition and Subtraction with Fractions was given, too! We will start Unit 4 on Monday!

 

 

Science:

Students conducted an experiment as a part of a science assessments. The investigative question asked students, "How does increasing the flow of water affect the length of the delta?" Students worked through the experiment with their group and will write their conclusions next week.

 

Social Studies:

In Chapter 6 Early English Settlements, students read about Roanoke (the "lost colony"), Jamestown (the first successful English settlement), and Plymouth (where the Pilgrims settled). Students analyzed what hardships the colonists faced and also discussed why they thought Jamestown and Plymouth  were successful settlements, while Roanoke was not.

 

 

Well, we're closing the books on another busy week! We only have THREE more days until our Thanksgiving Break! I know students are looking forward to their days off and they deserve it!

 

Enjoy your weekend!

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater (Shows at 3:30 and 6:00)

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break

13 Dec - Chinook (@Ringdall) Field Trip: Band/Orchestra/Choir Concert (10am)
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break

20 Jan - No School in honor of MLK Jr.

27 Jan - No School, Teacher Professional Development Day

15-23 Feb - No School, Mid-Winter Break 



Questioning, Verbs, Equations

A Week in Review

November 11 - 15

 

Our four day week has zoomed by and we were busy bees in room 210! Here is what we've been up to this week:

 

Virtue Awards:

Sanjita R. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of DILIGENCE and RESPONSIBILITY! Sanjita works hard to complete all of her assignments with quality work! Keep up the good work!

 

Sandy P. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of JOYFULNESS and COOPERATION! Sandy always has a positive attitude and works well with her classmates! You are an excellent 5th grade leader!
 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was Interrupted Journey: Saving Endangered Sea Turtles by Kathryn Lasky. We worked on deepening our comprehension by using the target skill, cause and effect. We also used the questioning strategy to clarify what has happened in the story, make predictions, and determine cause and effect.

 

Writing:

We identified main verbs, helping verbs, and linking verbs this week. We also looked at incomplete sentences and revised them. Students finished the final drafts of their memoirs as well.
 

 

Math:

In math this week, we examined situation and solution equations, as this is an important foundation for algebra. We focused on how situation equations match the action story problem, but aren't necessarily the equation a mathematician would use to solve the problem. We also worked through two-step word problems.

 

Science:

Students wrote their own conclusions this week for their group experiment. Their group experiment focused on one changed variable, a change that the groups decided upon. For example the slant of the delta, adding rocks, or loosely compacting the soil.

 

Social Studies:

Chapter Five: Routes of Exploration to the New World concluded this week when students took the end-of-chapter assessment. It was an open note test and students were grateful for the support!

 

Don't forget that next week the Missoula Children's Theater will be at Medina! Auditions are after school on Monday for the musical, Blackbeard the Pirate.

 

Enjoy your weekend!
 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break

13 Dec - Chinook (@Ringdall) Field Trip: Band/Orchestra/Choir Concert (10am)
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break

 



Veterans' Day

A Week in Review

November 4 - 15

 

 

We ended the week with a fantastic Veterans' Day assembly! Anushri and Madison represented our class well by reading a poem, "Home of the Brave" by Roger Robicheau. They willingly gave up recesses to practice for their reading and it showed! Gracie and Nate also participated in our assembly today by presenting the flag for the Pledge of Allegiance and our National Anthem. They did a great job!

 

We have a three-day weekend ahead of us, but before we get to that - here is what we accomplished this week:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Emily Z. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of determination and joyfulness. Emily is an extremely hard worker and always has a positive attitude!

 

Jaclyn Y. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of reliability and kindness. We can ALWAYS count on Jaclyn to meet or exceed expectations! She is also always kind to her classmates!

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection Journeys this week Elisa's Diary by Doris Luisa Oronoz Our target skill was understanding and theme and our target strategy was visualization. We worked to use details from the story (evidence) to identify the theme (author's purpose/message).

 

 

Writing:

It was a big week for me professionally, as I completed my first videotaping session with the District's videographer! The lesson I chose to showcase for my National Board renewal video was on teaching students to write SHOW ME sentences instead of telling sentences. We worked hard to revise our memoirs!

 

 

 

 

 

Math:

Did you know that the singular form of data is 'datum'? That was a snippet of our learning and we analyzed line and bar graphs. We also worked to round decimals to the nearest tenth, hundredth, and thousandth.

 

Social Studies:

We concluded Chapter 5: Routes of Exploration to the New World with an exciting team competition. We used the HUGE class matrix we created to answer trivia questions about the eight explorers we studied. The chapter test is NEXT WEEK - open note!

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students ran their second trial experiment on erosion and deposition. Their experiments focused on sites 1, 2, and 3 for the Evergreen Development Company.

Thanks for another great week of learning! I hope you have a relaxing weekend. I know that I am grateful for the sacrifices and commitment that our Veterans have made for our country. I have many family members that have served in the Armed Forces. Most recently, my brother in-law retired in 2012 after 22 years of service in the Air Force.

 

Enjoy your weekend!

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

11 Nov - No School, Veterans' Day

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

19 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater Workshop with Ms. Keenan's class (1:30)

21 Nov - First Heritage Project assignment due - maps!

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break

13 Dec - Chinook @Rindall Band/Orchestra/Choir concert (9:30 am departure)
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break



Halloween, PJ Day, Daylight Savings

A Week in Review

October 28 - November 1

 

It is hard to believe that we are already in NOVEMBER! I'm not sure where October went, let alone September, but somehow here we are starting the a new month!

We had another FULL week of LEARNING and FUN! I have to give a special shout-out to Mishele B. (Nate) and James Z. (Emily) for organizing and planning our awesome HALLOWEEN PARTY! Also, thanks to Janet L. (Jacob), Todd B. (Nate), Julia Z. (Emily), Tamara and Paul W. (Danny) and Laura V. (John) for volunteering their time to help supervise the party. The students could barely contain themselves on Thursday as they worked extra hard to focus during Math and Literacy!

The week wasn't just about Halloween and candy though - here's what we were up to:

 

Virtue Awards:

Anushri R. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of kindness and helpfulness. Anushri is always willing to help whenever anyone needs anything. Thank you Anushri for the kindness you show us each day!

Isabelle T. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of responsibility and diligence! Isabelle works extremely hard to complete ALL of her assignments with quality work, turn them in on time, and help others who need it. She is an excellent 5th grade leader!

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection story this week was a nonfiction text, Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood by Veronica Chambers. We used the target skill sequence of events and target strategy monitor/clarify to deepen our comprehension.

 

Writing:

We've begun heavy revisions on our most recent memoirs. We worked to strengthen our lead, to create 'hooks' that grab our readers' attention. We also experimented with using foreshadowing and developing our stories with details.

 

Math:

The decimal journey continues as we worked to use the Commutative, Associative, and Distributive Properties to add numbers mentally. We also practiced adding and subtracting decimal numbers, paying careful attention to lining up the place values correcting and using a second strategy to double-check our work. We ended the week analyzing and using pictographs to solve problems.



Social Studies:
Using the explorers' matrix that we created last week, students made their own versions this week, using their Interactive Student Notebooks. We reviewed the eight explorers and double-checked our work to make sure we were clear on each explorers sponsor, motivation, route, impact, and year of exploration.

Science:
Students wrapped up their science investigation by sharing their conclusions. They revised their own conclusion as well, ensuring that they had included the most important findings.







I hope that you have a relaxing weekend! Remember to "Fall Back" one hour on Sunday, as Daylight Savings Time ends.

 

 Enjoy your weekend!

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

4-11 Nov - BOX TOP Collection Week!

5 Nov - PTA General Assembly Meeting, 8:15

8 Nov - Veterans' Day Assembly (9:30, cafe)

11 Nov - No School, Veterans' Day

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break

13 Dec - Chinook (@Ringdall) Field Trip: Band/Orchestra/Choir Concert (10am)
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break



Explorers, Decimals, Venn Diagrams, Oh my!

A Week in Review

October 21 - 25

 

Explorers, decimals, Venn Diagrams, oh my! We were busy this week learning and challenging ourselves to find evidence in our texts to support our answers! We had many opportunities for group work and independent work. It was a great week, here's what we've been up to:

 

Virtue Awards:
Danny W. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtue of friendliness and kindness. Danny is always friendly and kind to his classmates. He is a great 5th grade leader!

Soha M. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of responsibility and diligence. Soha has 100% of her class work and homework turned in for ALL subjects! Keep up the good work!!

 

 Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was an excerpt from Gary Soto's book, Off and Running. We compared and contrasted the two main characters, Rudy and Miata to deepen our comprehension. Both students were running for class president, we had an in depth discussion about who we would vote for and why (using evidence from the text). We also discussed who we thought would win. With our own local election around the corner, it had a nice tie-in to real life.

 

Writing:

We wrote drafts for another narrative, focusing on using more description language and expanding our vocabulary. This is such a great group of writers and we are learning a lot from each other!

 

 

Math:

Adding decimals and identifying place value from billions to billionths was our focus this week. The students are grasping these new concepts quickly and applying them to problem solving in math.

 

 

Science:

On Tuesday with Ms. Keenan, students conducted an experiment investigating the question, "How does changing the amount of water affect the length of the delta?" Then students wrote a scientific conclusion with me today using the data they gathered from their experiment.

Social Studies:

Students researched seven explorers and analyzed their background, sponsors, motives, dates, route of exploration and their impact on the native people. We created a giant matrix to organize our findings and to help us learn more about how the "new world" was discovered and developed.

 

Thanks for another great week of learning!

 

 

Enjoy your weekend!
 

Go Seahawks!
 

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

25 Oct - 5th Grade Parents Cocktail/Wine Tasting Party (7:30pm-9:30pm)
31 Oct - Halloween Party (time TBD)

5 Nov - PTA General Assembly Meeting, 8:15

11 Nov - No School, Veterans' Day

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break
13 Dec - Class Store (time TBD)
21 Dec - 5 January - Winter Break

A Social Studies Test and a Fire Drill!

A Week in Review

October 14 - 18

 

 

Happy Friday! Our week has come to an end, but we were hard at work in room 210! I was out sick on Monday and had a meeting on Tuesday morning, but both guest teachers were so impressed with our polite, hardworking, and focused students!! It was nice to come back to such great news! Here is what we've accomplished this week:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Alan Y. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of responsibility and diligence. Alan always works hard and has 100% of his class work and homework turned in! Good job Alan!

 

Gracie S. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of responsibility and commitment. Gracie has 100% of her class work and homework turned in. She completes all of her assignments with quality work! Way to go Gracie!

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was a nonfiction piece, Blasting Off to Space Academy: From Ultimate Field Trip 5 by Susan E. Goodman. Students worked to use the text and graphic features to deepen their comprehension and analyze the author's craft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

In Computer Lab this week, students drafted their first descriptive paragraphs of their monster face. They brainstormed how the original sample was not clear or specific and what they needed to do to make sure their writing was.

 

 

 

 

Math:

We have started our third math unit of the year, Addition and Subtraction of Whole Numbers and Decimals. We worked this week to understand place value and how to correctly write and also compare whole numbers and decimal numbers.

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students continued analyzing the proposed sites for the development in their science groups. Then students began designing a procedure for a science experiment to answer the investigative question, "How does increasing the amount of water affect the length of the delta?"

 

 

 

astrolabe

Social Studies:

Students finished analyzing artifacts from the New World. We discussed the importance of the artifacts and how the explorers used them. We also learned about the reasons the explorers set sail and how each artifact related to their motives. We ended the week with by taking our Chapter 4 Social Studies test!

 

 

 

 

 

Another week of 5th grade has concluded and it ended with a planned fire drill. We have planned fire, lockdown, and earthquake throughout the year in order to ensure that we are familiar with all of the emergency procedures. Our students were very focused and determined to beat our school record of 5 minutes to evacuate! It's a tough time to beat!

 

Have a wonderful weekend! How about those Seahawks?!?

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

25 Oct - 5th Grade Parents Cocktail/Wine Tasting Party (7:30pm-9:30pm)

5 Nov - PTA General Assembly Meeting, 8:15

11 Nov - No School, Veterans' Day

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break



Watermelons, Walkathon, Sunken Ships

A Week in Review

October 7 - 11

 

Our week has come to an end, while it was only a four day week - we packed a lot of learning into it! I appreciate the students' eagerness to learn and their excitement for school! I loved their creativity with their superhero costumes, crazy hair, and pajamas! While it was a school spirit filled week, we also accomplished a lot! Here's what we've been up to:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

 

Shelby S. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of KINDNESS and HELPFULNESS. Shelby is kind to her classmates and always willing to lend a helping hand! Thank you Shelby for being a great 5th grade leader!

 

Meghnath D. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of EXCELLENCE and RESPONSIBILITY. Meg always puts forth his best effort, asks clarifying questions, completes his assignments in a timely manner, and looks for ways to challenge himself.

 

 

 

 

Reading:

A Package for Mrs. Jewls was our main selection in our Journeys anthology this week. We analyzed how the author, Louis Sachar, used humor in his writing. We also worked on using context clues in order help us as understand the challenging words we find as we read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We used the analogy of writing being like a WATERMELON. We looked at examples of "watermelon" stories (stories that read more like a list of events) and "seed" stories (stories that were focused on ONE event with lots of detail to bring the story alive for the reader). We realized the importance of narrowing our focus and adding description to our writing.

 

 

Math:

Unit 2: Perimeter and Area has concluded! Students worked to find the perimeter and area of complex figures this week, as well converting Customary Units of Measure (inches, feet, yards) in order to use one unit to find an answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan taught our students Science as they worked on their Skokomish River Challenge. Students continued studying topographic maps and researched more extensively the three sites proposed for the 'development'.

 

 

 

 

 

Social Studies:

What's in a sunken ship from 500 years ago? Students worked in pairs to investigate artifacts "recovered" from a sunken ship that set sail for the new world. Students read about each item in the ship in order to determine the importance of the artifact. and why it was important to explorers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Computer Lab:

We collaborated with the ever fabulous Ms. Benay this week during our lab time. Students have drawn a monster face using the program, Pixie. They also had a chance to "draw" a monster face using Pixie based on a description read to them. It was interesting to compare what they drew on the computer to the actual picture that was described. Students learned to be specific and clear! Next week, students will write their own descriptions of their monsters!

 

 

Thanks for another great week! We worked really hard this week (both on and off the Walkathon field) and I am proud of our students!

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!

 

~Mrs. Hatlestad

 

Upcoming Events:

11 Oct - No School (Teacher Professional Development Day)

25 Oct - 5th Grade Parents Cocktail/Wine Tasting Party (7:30pm-9:30pm)

5 Nov - PTA General Assembly Meeting, 8:15

11 Nov - No School, Veterans' Day

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break

 



Cocoa and Current Events

A Week in Review

September 30 - October 4

 

 

We had our first "Cocoa and Current Events" session on Thursday! Students were excited to share their articles, drink hot cocoa, and discuss current events. It was a great week, here is what we've been up to:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

John V. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of LEADERSHIP and HELPFULNESS. John saw a student who needed help and without hesitation, stepped up to offer his assistance. Through his actions, he showed his classmates what it meant to be a leader.

 

Hilal M. has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of EXCELLENCE and RESPONSIBILITY. Hilal is always focused, always completes quality work, and always, always, always puts forth his best effort. He is a 5th grade leader.

 

Reading:

We are conducting a joint read aloud with Ms. Keenan's class. Four times a week, we combine classes and enjoy a whole class read aloud. Currently, we are reading Five Pages a Day: A Writer's Journey by Peg Kehret. Students practice more than their listening skills, as they deepen their comprehension by discussing the text, making predictions, and answering higher level thinking questions. It is a beautiful book about a local author's journey to become a published writer.
 

 

Writing:

Students wrote descriptive poems this week. We analyzed an image, brainstormed words and phrases the image provoked in our minds and from there created beautiful pieces of poetry. The whole class sample was based on a picture of Arlington Cemetery. We will be sharing this poem with the whole school during the Veterans' Day Assembly.

 

Math:

Unit 2 Perimeter and Area is off and running! We worked this week to learn how to convert measurements within the metric system (meter, decimeter, centimeter, millimeter) to find perimeter and area of rectangles, squares, triangles, and parallelograms. For many problems, students had to convert the measurement into a common unit of measure in order to find the correct answer, while also using the area and perimeter formulas to solve the problem.

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan taught science to our students this week. They worked on creating a topographic map using a 3D model of Mount Shasta. These maps allow you to see the elevation levels and visualize the steepness of each side of the mountain. This will help students with their Skokomish River Challenge, as they look at the different sites for the Evergreen Development Company.

 

 

Social Studies:

Chapter 1 concluded, as students wrapped up their learning on US geography. Students took an assessment on Friday on different geographic terms and physical features  on a map of the United States.

 

Our next "Cocoa and Current Events" session will be Thursday, October 17th! Students need to find an article, fill out the graphic organizer and summarize the main ideas before the 17th!

 

Thank you for a wonderful weekend! It is a pleasure teaching and learning with your children each and every day.

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

9 Oct - Walkathon

11 Oct - No School (Teacher Professional Development Day)

25 Oct - 5th Grade Parents Cocktail/Wine Tasting Party (7:30pm-9:30pm)

5 Nov - PTA General Assembly Meeting, 8:15

11 Nov - No School, Veterans' Day

18-23 Nov - Missoula Children's Theater

28-29 Nov - No School, Thanksgiving Break