The Final Count Down

A Week in Review

June 10 - 14

 

 

Dear Families in Room 210,

 

It is hard to believe that this was the last full week of school, the year zoomed by! This last week was spectacular as students worked to finish up assignments, learn about their summer reading packet for sixth grade, and of course their amazing performance in our 5th grade play, "U.S. Constitution Reviver: Philadelphia".

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Isabelle E. has earned a Virtues Award this week for demonstrating the virtues of COMMITMENT and SERVICE. She volunteered, without hesitation, to step into a role in our play when someone couldn't make our school performance. Thank you Isabelle!

 

My entire class has earned a Virtues Award for demonstrating the virtues of JOYFULNESS and DILIGENCE. They worked hard ALL year, whether it was learning something new, listening attentively to a guest speaker, or rehearsing endlessly for our play, the were AMAZING. I will miss them.

 

 

Reading:

We finished our class read aloud, Johnny Tremain. We had a thoughtful discussion on the ending and how the author left a lot of room for the reader to infer what they think happened to the main character after the book closed.

 

Writing:

Students worked on their Classroom Based Assessments (CBAs) all week long. Students completed rough drafts, revised, and had teacher conferences to ensure they were on the right track. The final drafts are DUE MONDAY!
 

 

Social Studies:

Our final assessment is right around the corner! Students spent time in class studying for the end-of-trimester test. Our play aligns so nicely with the test, that if they're stuck on an answer, all they'll have to do is sing song lyrics and "blammo" they'll find the answer!


 

 

Science:

We made our final plant observations testing the salt tolerance of our plants. Students discovered, although it was no surprise, that plants grew best in the 0mL salt environment. The 5mL salt environment produced pretty good results and the 10mL salt environment was mediocre. The 20mL salt environment was out of the plants range of tolerance and the plants did not grow.
 

 

Drug Education:

As per our common curriculum in the Bellevue School District, we spent time this week learning about the effects of using tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. Students examined the consequences of these substances in a safe and respectful environment.

 

 

As always, thank you for another great week. I can't believe that the last week of school is already here. Where did the time go? I have enjoyed this year so much and I have YOUR fabulous students to thank for that.

 

Enjoy your weekend,

~Mrs. Hatlestad


Upcoming Events:
June 17^th: Medina Family Lunch BBQ: 5th grade at 12:10-1:10

June 18^th: End of Year All-School Assembly 8:30-9:30am
June 18^th: Field Day 12:15-2:15pm
June 19^th: 5th Grade GRADUATION (8:15) and Last Day of School (school ends at 10:10)

Looking Ahead:
03-September - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL as 6th GRADERS!
23 Dec-03 Jan, 2014 - Winter Break
17-21, 2014 Feb - Mid-Winter Break
7-11, 2014 April - Spring Break

 



A Week in Review

June 3^rd- June 7^th

 

The students are beginning to count down the days, hours and yes…minutes they have remaining in 5^th grade!  As you know, the end of the year always lends itself to chaos and craziness; with finishing the multitude of assessments, to writing that final persuasive essay and don’t forget our Class Play!  There is only one more Friday of school after today, we in Room 210 are MAKING EVERY DAY COUNT! 

 

Virtue Awards:

Jack Dev. has earned a virtues award for showing responsibility and assertiveness during our fire drill. He made sure our class was lined up, all present, and held up our "okay" sign without having to be asked! Thank you for your leadership!!

Linnea L. has earned a virtues award for demonstrating reliability and responsibility, as she works hard to complete ALL of her assignments, ON TIME, and with quality work!


 

Reading:
This last week really took off with the storyline.  Johnny has been working on recon work to try and determine which regiments are being deployed.  Students are making instant connections with this text as we compare our studies of the Revolutionary War to Johnny’s story.  These connections deepen their understanding of the character's viewpoints and also what we're learning in social studies.





Writing:
This week students have worked tirelessly to organize their persuasive essays– Classroom Based Assessment for Social Studies and Writing.  Students independently took a position (patriot or loyalist), they decided on their three reasons, and worked to develop sound reasons and examples to elaborate and convince the opposition of their position. Students also partnered up to check their reasoning and ADD MORE research, ideas, and reasons to support their position. We will start our rough drafts, revise, edit, and publish NEXT WEEK! This CBA is due Monday, June 17^th! 

Science:
The UW was back to film our "Salt of the Earth" investigations. Students designed a controlled experiment in which they test plants' tolerance for varying amounts of salt water. Students planted four containers, each containing the exact same amount of soil and plants - the changed variable was the amount of salt in the water they used for their plants. Next week, UW will be back to videotape our final lesson as we analyze our results.






Math:
We took our last and FINAL Math Assessment this week!!  Students worked to find the mean of several different fractions.  This was a challenging task as it required multiple steps, many different operations and simplifying fractions.  WOW!  We are officially done with Math for the year!! 

 

Social Studies:

Chapter 14 is all about the CONSTITUTION!  The lesson began with the analogy of a "three-legged stool" and that our government is balanced by the three branches: Legislative, Judicial, and Executive. The picture here shows how students started the lesson by trying to balance their textbook (aka government) on one pencil - it was very difficult and no one in class was successful. When they were able to use three pencils, it balanced! We took diligent notes about the many different branches of the government. This chapter aligned perfectly with our 5th grade play and helped students to make important connections and increase their understanding of our national government.

 

5th Grade Play:
Speaking of the 5th grade play....just a reminder that our evening performance will be:   Wednesday, June 12 at 6pm and our school performance will be Friday, June 14 at 1:20. We hope to see you at one of these shows!  Please remember to send your child 15 minutes early (5:45) on Wednesday night. 

 

Thank you for another great week. There are only 8 more days of school left!! Oh Mylanta!  Now is the time for focus, hard work and “get-R-done”! 

 

Have a great weekend, I will be joining the Medina Auction winners at the SOUNDERS game!! 

 

~Mrs. Hatlestad

 

Upcoming Events:
June 7^th:          Medina Elementary Family Night at Safeco Field
June 12^th:       5th Grade Play 6:00pm
June 14^th:       5th Grade Play 1:20pm
June 17^th:        Medina Family Lunch BBQ: 5th grade at 12:10-1:10
June 18^th:         End of Year All-School Assembly 8:30-9:30am
June 18^th:        Field Day 12:15-2:15pm
June 19^th:        5th Grade GRADUATION and Last Day of School (school ends at 10:10)

Looking Ahead:
03-September - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL as 6th GRADERS!
23 Dec-03 Jan, 2014 - Winter Break
17-21, 2014 Feb - Mid-Winter Break
7-11, 2014 April - Spring Break