One more week!

A Week in Review

June 9 - 13

 

Happy Friday! We had a fun week of learning and wrapping up our 5th grade year. I have enjoyed teaching them so much, it has truly been a great year.

 

Virtue Awards:

Dylan has earned a virtue award for commitment and reliability. Dylan worked diligently to turn in all of his homework and class work for this trimester. Way to go Dylan!

 

Reading:

We enjoyed independent reading time this week - getting lost in our favorite books and discussing them with our classmates. Students also received their Summer Reading homework for 6th grade: a packet to complete based on the book Woodsong by Gary Paulsen. We went over the packet and book as a class to ensure that students understand the expectation for their summer reading.

 

 

 

 

 

Drug Education:

In our Drug Education curriculum, we learned about alcohol and marijuana. Students learned that alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows down brain activity, reflexes, and other physical skills. They also learned that marijuana comes from the Cannabis plant and has many dangerous short and long-term effects like paranoia, memory loss, and an increased risk of cancer.

 

 

 

 

Math:

Fractions continues to be our focus in math, as we used estimation and rounding to help us check our answers. We had a great discussion on the difference between estimating and rounding.

 

 

 

 

 

Social Studies:

Practice, practice, practice - to make things PERFECT! That was our focus this week as we practiced songs for our 5th grade play. We also studied the song lyrics and made sure we understood what we are singing about. We had a dress rehearsal, too!

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your weekend!

Go Seahawks!
~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

16 June - All School BBQ (please return your form to the main office!)

18 June - Field Day (8:45am-10:30am)

18 June - 5th Grade Play, The American Revolution (cafe @ 7pm)

19 June - 5th Grade Play, The American Revolution (cafe @ 1:25pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (8:30am)

23 June - Last Day of School (8:10-10:10)



Band/Orchestra Concert

A Week in Review

June 2 - 6

 

 

Happy Friday! It's hard to believe that the last day of school is right around the corner! It seems like just yesterday we were in September! These students have worked so hard and grown so much, I am very proud of all of them. The Band and Orchestra concert on Thursday was wonderful! I was so impressed with how well they did. Ms. Shaw and Mr. Gillespie are amazing teachers and it showed in the students' performance. You could tell our students worked hard and took their music education seriously!

 

Virtue Awards:

Elysia has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of kindness and reliability. You can always count on Elysia to treat others with kindness and respect! Elysia's kind heart is an asset to our classroom.

 

Trevor has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of joyfulness and friendliness. Trevor is always smiling and showing kindness to everyone. His positive attitude makes our classroom a better place!

 

 

 

 

 

Reading:

We finished our Crash book this week. We really enjoyed the story and the tough choices that the main character had to make. It really isn't easy, doing the right thing sometimes, but it is what makes a positive difference in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health/Drug Education:

Nurse Park joined us on Monday to teach the last Health lesson, HIV/AIDS. Then we started our Drug Education lessons. Today, we reviewed the harmful effects of tobacco and other tobacco related facts that students had learned in 3rd and 4th grade.

 

 

Math:

In Math, we finished Unit 9 Multiplication and Division with Fractions. Students took their final end-of-unit assessment, where they were tasked with demonstrating their understanding of the main concepts taught in the unit.

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students took their final Science assessment this week. They independently wrote a procedure for an isopod experiment, using previous investigations to guide their work.

 

 

 

 

 

Social Studies:

Our Social Studies unit also came to a close this week, as we took our end-of-trimester assessment! The test covered the American Revolution, the founding of our government, the three branches of government, and the Bill of Rights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!
~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

16 June - All School BBQ (please return your form to the main office!)

18 June - Field Day (8:45am-10:30am)

18 June - 5th Grade Play, The American Revolution (cafe @ 7pm)

19 June - 5th Grade Play, The American Revolution (cafe @ 1:25pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (8:30am)

23 June - Last Day of School (8:10-10:10)

 



A Week in Review

May 26 - 30

 

We had a short week, but a great week! Here's what we've been up to:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Sanjita has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of kindness and helpfulness. Sanjita is always willing to help a teacher or classmate with whatever it is they need! Thank you for making our classroom a better place!

 

Reading:

We continued our class read aloud, Crash. We enjoyed cocoa and discussion about the book. Students are reading independently and answering higher level thinking questions to deepen their comprehension.





 

 

Math:

In math this week, we worked to divide whole numbers by fractions and divide fractions by fractions. We learned WHY the "flip the second fraction and multiply" method works and we used models to help us visualize equations.

 

Social Studies:

Chapter 15: The Bill of Rights wrapped up this week. We watched a short video from the Constitution Center that explained the need for the amendments and gave examples of how the US Supreme Court has interpreted the laws.

 

Health:

For Health, we studied both the male and female reproductive parts. We used diagrams to label the parts and discuss each part's purpose or function. We also learned about pregnancy and the changes a fetus goes through in the womb. I brought in ultrasound pictures and videos of the twins to share with our class.


Go Seahawks!
~Mrs. Hatlestad

 

Upcoming Events:

5 June - Band/Orchestra concert (school time 8:45am, evening event 7:30pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (8:30am)

23 June - Last Day of School (8:10-10:10)

Glass Fusing and a Week of Sunshine!

A Week in Review

April 28 - May 2

 

I have to start off this Friday newsletter with three shout-outs! One to Ms. Bena who put together our glass fusing extravaganza! Thanks to Kea (Merin) for volunteering her time to support students during the activity. Our students had an amazing time showing off their creativity. Their work should be back next week. The third shout-out goes to SUNSHINE! What a gorgeous week we've had! We worked hard, learned lots, and had fun - all while our minds were competing with thoughts of summer! We did it though and here is all that we've accomplished this week:

 

Virtue Awards:

Sahar has earned a Virtue Award this week for demonstrating the virtues of helpfulness and joyfulness. Sahar is always willing to help a classmate or teacher when they need it and she does it all with a smile!

 

Roman has earned a Virtue Award this week for demonstrating the virtues of responsibility and self-discipline. He has worked hard to complete and turn in his class work and homework on time!

 

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was Lewis and Clark, by R. Conrad Stein. We used the text to help us practice our target skill of identifying the author's purpose and our target strategy of monitoring and clarifying as we read.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

Cats or dogs? Which is the better pet? Students were challenged to select their favorite pet and write a persuasive essay to convince their reader why their pet is the better choice. We brainstormed, planned, organized, and wrote our rough drafts.

 

Math:

"Unit 8 Algebra, Functions, and Graphs" has kicked off! We studied the Order of Operations, expressions, situation and solution equations, and inequalities. We solved misleading word problems and challenged each other to prove why our answer was right.

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students were hard at work in Science, as they observed isopods for their behaviors and body shapes. They designed and wrote an investigation to determine the amount of moisture the isopods prefer in soil.They also continued to grow their plants (barley, corn, peas, radish, clover) which is helping them learn the optimal environmental factors for plants to thrive.

 

 

 

Social Studies:

"Chapter 14: The Constitution" was wrapped up this week! We took the end-of-chapter assessment and went over it as a class. We are looking forward to our LAST chapter of study in our History Alive! curriculum. We will learn about the Bill of Rights.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

23 May - No School (1/2 day paid Professional Day for teachers)

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

5 June - Band/Orchestra concert (school time 8:45am, evening event 7:30pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (8:30am)

23 June - Last Day of School 

Memorial Day Weekend

A Week in Review

May 19 - 23

 

With MSP testing over, we are back to our normal schedule. I am so proud of our students and how hard they worked on each test day! They were focused and took tests very seriously, they demonstrated what it means to be successful students! Besides MSP testing, here's what we've been up to:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Soha has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of excellence and commitment. Soha worked diligently on her Patriots/Loyalists persuasive essay, making meaningful revisions and turned it in before the due date! Keep up the excellent work, Soha!

 

 

 

 

Reading:

We started reading the book Crash as a class. This realistic fiction chapter book by Jerry Spinelli covers many themes such as friendship, bullying, and family. Together we will deepen our comprehension and practice using evidence from the text to support our thinking when responding to text.

 

 

 

 

 

 Writing:
Students finished their final writing assessments of the year, as they worked on their Patriots/Loyalists essays. They brainstormed, planned, wrote, revised, and edited independently. I can't wait to read them!

 

 

Health:

Human Growth and Development started this week. Students learned about the importance of good hygiene, diet, and exercise. They also had an overview puberty and the changes that happen within the male and female bodies.

 

Math:

Our work with fractions continues ,as we multiplied fractions, learned to cross cancel, and find decimal equivalents of fractions. The students are asking good questions about these concepts in order to solidify their learning.

 

 

Science:

On Monday, Ms. Keenan and our students finished an investigation on whether isopods prefer dark spaces or spaces with more light. They wrote conclusion that explained their data, isopods preferred dark spaces.

 

 

Social Studies:

Chapter 15 is all about the Bill of Rights. Students learned about six of the ten, had an in depth class discussion about them, and analyzed their importance. The students saw the connection between the colonists' experiences and what the founders of our country were trying to protect: our individual rights and freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

Go Seahawks!
~Mrs. Hatlestad

 

Upcoming Events:

23 May - No School (1/2 day paid Professional Day for teachers)

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

5 June - Band/Orchestra concert (school time 8:45am, evening event 7:30pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (8:30am)

23 June - Last Day of School  (8:10-10:10)

Happy Mother's Day!

A Week in Review

May 5 - 9

 

Happy Mother's Day weekend! We enjoyed another great week in 5th grade! We took our first MSP test this week, Math. I'm so proud of the students and their hard work! They were focused during the test and did their BEST work!

 

Virtue Awards:

Madison has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of enthusiasm and joyfulness. Madison's positive attitude and willingness to help her classmates makes our classroom a brighter place!

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was a nonfiction article, "Animals on the Move". Our target skill was text and graphic features and our target strategy was visualizing. We used the article to practice these skills/strategies and deepen our reading comprehension.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

Students completed their final drafts of their persuasive essays, "What is the best pet?". All essays will be returned with feedback and students will use this feedback as they work on their final writing assessment of the year, writing a persuasive essay about the Patriots and Loyalists.

 

Math:

We wrapped up Unit 8: Algebra, Functions, and Graphs! We worked with function tables - identifying the rule, writing it in words, and as an algebraic equation. We took a practice test and the end-of-unit assessment is on Monday!

 

 

 

 

Science:

Due to play practice and MSP testing, we did not have Science this week! Ms. Keenan and our students will pick back up next week.

 

 

 

Social Studies:

The 5th grade play was the center of our attention this week as we rehearsed songs and watched a rehearsal. The songs align with our units of study and are solidifying our learning about the founding of our country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for another great week of learning! I am grateful for the appreciation you all showed me this week. It was a fantastic Teacher Appreciation Week - my absolute favorite day being NOTE DAY! The students' heartfelt letters were really special and warmed my heart. Thank you for sharing your children with me each and every day. I am truly blessed to call this my job.

 

To all you wonderful, fabulous, amazing mom's out there - may your weekend be filled with pampering, relaxation, and many heart melting moments.

 

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5148075

 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

23 May - No School (1/2 day paid Professional Day for teachers)

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

5 June - Band/Orchestra concert (school time 8:45am, evening event 7:30pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (afternoon time TBA)

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

Earth Day Week!

A Week in Review

April 21 - 25

 

Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week, I know we did! We celebrated Earth Day on Tuesday, finished Unit 7 in Math, and dug deeper into understanding our three branches of government. We also had a fantastic World Cultures Family Night here on Wednesday! Thank you to everyone who volunteered and those who came to celebrate with us.

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Meghnath has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of helpfulness and commitment when Ms. Arika asked him to help her read some books for her and give honest feedback on them. Thank you for being a reliable 5th grade leader!

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys was Rachel's Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl by Melissa Moss. We used this Historical Fiction text to practice our target skill cause and effect and our target strategy analyze/evaluate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Writing:

We've started writing persuasive essays. Students will choose either dogs or cats and write to persuade their reader to see their point-of-view. I will model the essay by writing about owning a fish. Our class beta, Russell Wilson, enjoys being in the spotlight!

 

Math:

Unit 7: Multiplication and Division with Whole Numbers and Decimals wrapped up this week. We took the end-of-unit assessment on Wednesday and continued practicing multi-digit multiplication and long division.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our class started their new science unit, Environments. They started the unit making a terrarium by planting five different kinds of seeds. They'll spend the next few weeks caring for them and observing them, while also conducting other investigations.

 

 



 

Social Studies:

This week, we examined the three branches of government more closely (legislative, executive, and judicial). We analyzed each branches' powers and created "power cards" that we used to play a game to deepen our understanding how the checks and balances work. The game gave different scenarios and students identified which branches would act and in what order.

 

Thank you for another fantastic week! Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

23 May - No School (1/2 day paid Professional Day for teachers)

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

5 June - Band/Orchestra concert (school time 8:45am, evening event 7:30pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (afternoon time TBA)

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

 

Paul Owen Lewis Visits!

A Week in Review

April 14 - 18

 

Welcome back from Spring Break! We've picked right back up where we left off, it doesn't seem like we even went on break! I'm proud of how our students have eased right back into their learning. We also had a school visit from publish author Paul Owen Lewis. He has written books like Storm Boy, Frog Girl, Davy's Dream, and The Jupiter Stone. He came to our class for a question and answer session with our students about his writing! A special thank you goes to Mrs. McClelland for organizing this for our entire school!

 

Virtue Awards:

Our entire class has received a Virtue Award for their hard work on their Science presentations. Read below in the Science section to see how amazing they were!

 

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was Vacqueros: America's First Cowboys by George Ancona. We used it to practice our target skill: main ideas and details and our target strategy: summarizing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We examined word families this week and word roots. We also practiced using transition words. Students worked to identify words that link one sentence to another and words that tell time order.

 

Math:

Unit 7 Multiplication and Division with Whole Numbers and Decimals is coming to an end! Only one lesson remains before we take our end-of-unit assessment (next Wednesday). We worked this week divide whole numbers by decimals and divide decimals by decimals. We also practiced long division, multiplication, and word problems that involved both whole numbers and decimals.

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students completed their Public Service Announcements. Students presented their pollution solution projects in front of our class, their purpose being to educate their audience on the pollutant their group chose. The students created posters, pamphlets, and PowerPoint sideshows to help make their point. Ms. Keenan was so very impressed with our student presentations, each Science group received a 4 on their presentation!! They were poised, clear, and presented their topic with confidence and expertise! Way to go!!!

 

Social Studies:

Did you know that the U.S. Constitution is like a 3-legged stool? Students compared the Articles of the Confederation (weak, limited power, like a 1-legged stool) to the U.S. Constitution. We tried to balance our textbooks on 1 pencil, witnessed how unsteady it was. Then we tried to balance one textbook using 3 pencils and saw how easy it was - this analogy helped students see how our government keeps any one branch from having too much power.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for another great. Enjoy the weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:
23 April - Explore World Cultures Family Night 5-7pm

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

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

5 June - Band/Orchestra concert (school time TBD, evening event 7:30pm)

20 June - 5th Grade Graduation in the cafe (afternoon time TBA)

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

 

 

Science Week!

A Week in Review

March 31 - April 4

 

Science week was a great success! We started and ended the week with Science assemblies and even Skyped with a professor from CalTech this week about Quantum Mechanics.Thank you to everyone that was able to make it to last night's Family Engineering Night. I was out sick, but I heard it was an amazing night!

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Sandy has earned a Virtue Award for displaying the virtues of orderliness and responsibility. Sandy works hard to stay organized and complete her assignments with quality work. She is ready for middle school!

 

 

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich. We used the text to practice our target skill theme and our target strategy infer/predict. Students worked hard to take their learning from Journeys and use it with their independent reading books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We finished up our Research Reports this week! Our students were focused and enthusiastic about their self-selected topic and attention to ensuring they had five complete paragraphs and a bibliography. I look forward to reading them!

 

 

 

 

Math:

Division, division, division! We worked hard this week on long division. We divided with single and double digit divisors. We examined the remainders and interpreted them. We will continue with Unit 7 when we return from break.

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students worked on their public service announcements for their Pollution Solution assignment. They worked in groups to create posters and PowerPoints to show the public how pollutants are harmful to our environment.

 

 

 

Social Studies:

Chapter 13: The Revolutionary War, was our lesson this week. We used the analogy tug-of-war with unbalanced team to describe what it was like for the colonists (the weaker team) fighting against the British (the stronger team). Ask your student how the game helped explain how the Americans won the Revolutionary War.

 

Thank you so much for another great week! I hope you have a restful and relaxing Spring Break!

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

7-11 Apr - No School, Spring Break
23 April - Explore World Culture Night (time TBA)

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

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

23 June - 5th Grade Graduation (tentatively scheduled) cafe at 8:30am

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

 

Heritage Night!

A Week in Review

March 24 - 28

 

Heritage Night was a HUGE success!! I have to give a huge THANK YOU to our room mom Tamara for her hard work and extra help in planning this event. Also, a HUGE shout-out to our students, for their excellence and the commitment to learning they each displayed in completing this long-term project. Finally, I must thank you parents for sharing your amazing students with me every day and for supporting them throughout this project. I feel very fortunate to call this my "job", it is a job I love very much. I look forward to teaching your students each and every day.

 

Virtue Awards:

Alan has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of helpfulness and service. Alan is always willing to help our class out when something is broken, he is excellent at fixing things, and we appreciate his talent!

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was a book by Gary Paulson, Tucket's Travels. It was a historical fiction text that took place during the westward movement. Our target skill was sequence of events and our target strategy was visualizing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We continued working on our research reports. We drafted our three body paragraphs, then worked on our introduction, and conclusion. We analyzed different ways to start our reports, as well as what to avoid using in an introduction (i.e. an apology, a definition, or dilly-dallying).

 

Math:

The decimal unit continues to move along smoothly. We focused on division this week, as we divided three digit whole numbers, then moved into dividing with decimals, and then we wrapped up the week converting fractions to decimals. Students also learned how to write a remainder as a decimal.

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students this week researched their chosen pollutant in preparation for the creation of their public service announcement. Their goal is to educate others on the hazards of common household pollutants that are finding their way into Bellevue waterways, and persuade their audience to make a change and protect our waterways.

 

Social Studies:

What an exciting Social Studies week! We had a very special guest speaker, Peter Donaldson, who led the students through a series of activities that helped them understand the colonists quest for independence. He will come back on Tuesday next week to finish teaching about the American Revolution. 

 

 

We only have one more week before Spring Break! I look forward to continuing to challenge these amazing students. Have a great weekend!

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

31 Mar - 4 Apr - SCIENCE WEEK

3 Apr - Family Engineering Night 5-7pm in the gym

7-11 Apr - No School, Spring Break
23 April - Explore World Culture Night (time TBA)

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

26 May - No School in observance of Memorial Day

23 June - 5th Grade Graduation (tentatively scheduled) cafe at 8:30am

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

St. Patrick's Day Week!

A Week in Review

March 17 - March 21

 

Spring is here and we couldn't be more excited! Our students were extremely focused and hardworking this week. Here is what we've been up to:

 

Virtue Awards:

John and Trevor have earned Virtue Awards for demonstrating the virtues of courage and service. John and Trevor addressed the Bellevue Schools Foundation a their series luncheon this past Thursday. They spoke about our STEM learning at Medina to over 100 people!

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was We Were There, Too! by Phillip Hoose. This book aligned with our Social Studies learning and provided even more background knowledge about the Revolutionary War. Our target skill was to compare and contrast and our target strategy was monitor and clarify.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We continued to gather research for our research report. We also began using the graphic organizers in our research packets to help us when drafting our reports. Students worked to make sure they were putting what they learned in their own words and extrapolating the main ideas from their research.

 

Math:

In math this week, we multiplied decimals times decimals and worked to understand how multiplying by tenths, hundredths, and thousandths is similar to multiplying by tens, hundreds, and thousands. We even used our target skill from Reading to help us compare and contrast multiplying by decimals and multiplying by whole numbers.

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students completed their Engineering Challenge this week! Students worked to clean up an oil spill with the lowest cost and least environmental impact. Then they revised their plan to focus on the least environmental impact.

 

 

 

Social Studies:

Students took their end-of-trimester assessment this week. I know they were pleased that the study sheet provided for them was harder than the actual test! They all felt prepared and worked very hard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

31 Mar - 4 Apr - SCIENCE WEEK

3 Apr - Family Engineering Night 5-7pm in the gym

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

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