Happy Mother's Day

A Week in Review

May 6 - 10

 

 

Dear Families in Room 210,

 

 

I definitely feel appreciated this week! Wow! Thank you so much for the flowers, treats, candy, gift card, and fish!! We have a new class pet, a beautiful Beta fish. He doesn't have a name yet, but we are brainstorming and searching for just the right one. He is the perfect addition to our classroom.

 

I enjoyed reading all of the cards and letters expressing your appreciation. Thank you for allowing me to teach your children each and every day, it is a job I much love. I am so very grateful to teach 5th grade at Medina Elementary.

 

 

Virtues Award:

The students and parents in Room 210 have earned this week's virtues award! You demonstrated the virtue of gratitude by writing heartfelt notes and taking the time to say thank you. Your thoughtfulness is truly appreciated.

 

 

 

Reading:

We are almost done with Crash and we are hooked! Students were given thought-provoking questions as we dug deeper into the book. We discussed who was the better friend to the main character and used evidence to support our thinking. We crafted responses to share what we would say to the main character if we were able to meet them, explaining to the character what we thought was their greatest strength and their greatest flaw. We will finish the book together on Monday and see the play on Tuesday!

 

 

 

Writing:

Cats? Dogs? Fish? Which is the best pet to own and why? We began pre-writing and drafting our rough drafts for a persuasive essay. This assignment is the lead up to our final writing assessment of the year, Patriot or Loyalist. Students will write a persuasive essay, using sound reasoning, rebuttal, and a call to action to convince their reader to see their point-of-view.

 

 

Math:

Unit 9 Multiplication and Division of Fractions is off to a great start! We worked to multiply fractions by fractions and whole numbers by fractions. We also used visual representations to help us "see" what it means when we multiply fractions.

 

 

 

Science:

Our UW graduate students were back to administer the inquiry assessment for our Environments Unit. The assessment took three days, students conducted an investigation to determine if isopods prefer light or dark environments (they prefer dark). Students also identified the variables in the experiment, wrote scientific conclusions, and planned a new investigation. All of these elements will be assessed on the Science MSP (5/20), so we will use this inquiry assessment as one last preparation.

 

 

 

 

Internet Safety Presentation:

Stefanie Thomas, a representative from the Seattle Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force shared the importance of Internet safety with our 5th graders. She emphasized the importance of keeping all personal information (phone numbers, age, full name, school) off of our profiles. The reality check for students was when she demonstrated how in 20 minutes, a person can figure out where you live or attend school with just a few pieces of personal information on a profile. Students were encouraged to friend only those people they actually know and to have user names that are not their own name. She also explained what cyber-bullying is and how it is against the law. She explained to the 5th graders that when they put something in writing, they need to imagine that their parent or teacher is standing over their shoulder, would they push send if they were? It was a fantastic presentation. 

 

MSP:

We continued our MSP practice sessions this week. We looked at producers, consumers, and decomposers. We also reviewed test taking strategies and practiced using the online tutorials in order to familiarize ourselves with the MSP tools (highlighter, sticky notes, etc.) Our first assessment is MONDAY for Math!!

 

Thank you for from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to express your appreciation for the work we do every day in Room 210. I can't think of a better place to be. 

 

I hope you enjoy this beautiful Mother's Day weekend.

 

With heartfelt thanks,

 

~Mrs. Hatlestad

 

Upcoming Events:

Upcoming Events:

13 May-MSP Math

14 May-Crash field trip to SCT

15-May-MSP READING

20-May-MSP SCIENCE 

22-May-Garbology Pacific Science Center (in our classroom)

27-May-No School in observance of Memorial Day

07-June-Medina Elementary Family Night at Safeco Field

19-June-5th Grade Graduation

19-June-Last Day of School