A Debate: To Declare Independence or Not?

A Week in Review

March 10 - 13

 

 

Happy Thursday! We had a short week, as there is no school tomorrow, but we worked hard!

 

Virtue Awards:

Isabelle has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of determination and excellence. Through her determination and preparation, she modeled excellence during our class Social Studies debate! Keep up the good work!

 

Reading:

In Journeys this week, our main selection in reading was James Forten (from Now Is Your Time!) by Walter Dean Myers. Our target skill was sequence of events and our target strategy was summarizing. Students worked to pull out the main ideas of the story, in order to write an effective summary.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

Students were introduced to their newest writing assignment this week: writing a research report! Students selected their own topic of interest and are busy reading more about it to gather facts for their report. In grammar, we focused on active and passive voice.

 

Math:

We practiced 3-digit by 3-digit multiplication this week and use the zeros and fives patterns to help us solve problems. We focused on how when multiplying by fives, you really have to pay closer attention to the zeros pattern.

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students investigated different materials to see how well each one contained oil. They took detailed notes as they recorded their findings.

 

Social Studies:

Are you a loyalist or a patriot? We ended the week with our debate "Should the American Colonies Declare Independence or Not?" Our class did an impressive job, as they researched their historical figures viewpoint and backed their arguments up with sound reasoning. I was so proud of their enthusiasm and commitment to this project!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is NO SCHOOL tomorrow, so I hope you have a fantastic long weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

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

3 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)

Middle School Registration and The Talent Show

A Week in Review

March 3 - 7

 



 

Happy Friday! It's hard to believe that middle school registration is upon us. The assistant principals and counselors from Chinook Middle School visited each 5th grade classroom on Thursday afternoon. Your student received a registration packet with instructions for which forms are due on what day. Three forms (2 pink and 1 gold) are due next Thursday 3/13 to me, if they are not turned in on this date, you will have to take them to Ringdall.

 

Virtue Awards:

Serene has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of responsibility and diligence. Serene completes all of her assignments in a timely manner and with quality work. Keep up the good work!

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was They Called Her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell. It was a narrative nonfiction text that aligned with our Social Studies curriculum, as it took place during the Revolutionary War. Our target skill was drawing conclusions and making generalizations and our target strategy was analyzing and evaluating text.

 

 

 

Writing:

In grammar this week, our focus was on regular and irregular verbs. Students worked to recognize the difference, as well as identify them in a sentence.

Math:

We worked on 2-digit times 2-digit multiplication and 3-digit times 3-digit multiplication. Students worked to understand the algorithm and we used the Rectangle Method to explain it.

 

 

 

 

 

Social Studies:

Social Studies was cut short this week with our many special events, but we will start back up next week!

 

Science:

There were two science assessments this week! Students conducted an experiment to answer the investigative question "How does changing the substance from salt to citric acid affect the mass of solute that dissolves to form a saturated solution?" and then they took another assessment where they demonstrated their ability to write a scientific procedure. We also had a guest speaker from the City of Bellevue present on the importance of scooping our pet's waste!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended the week with the talent show and of course our Medina students ROCKED it! So many talented kids, it was a fantastic way to end the week!

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

12 Mar - BSD West Zone Concert @Bellevue High School, 6pm

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

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

 

 

 



King George, a Math Test, and the Noise Guy!

A Week in Review

February 24 - 28

 

Dear Families in Room 210,

 

We've had a fabulous week! Our students got right back to work after our week long mid-winter break and they've been busy! Here is all that we've accomplished this week:

 

Virtue Awards:

Danny has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of COURTESY and RESPECT. Danny is always polite, respectful, and helpful. His positive attitude and helpful nature make our classroom a better place.

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was Can't You Make Them Behave King George? by Jean Fritz. This text aligned perfectly with our focus in Social Studies, so through this story, students gained more background knowledge of the tensions between the Great Britain and the American Colonies. Our target skill was using fact and opinion and our target strategy was questioning.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

Students worked this week on verb tenses. We worked to identify and understand simple verb tenses in writing and speaking.

 

Math:

We wrapped up Unit 6: Volume, Capacity, and Weight this week. Students took the end-of-unit assessment on today and earlier in the week they worked on studying the passage of time, understanding Fahrenheit and Celsius, and practicing their metric and customary unit of measures conversions.

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students worked with three salt solutions. Students had to write a procedure in order to determine how much salt was in each container, without using evaporation.

 

Social Studies:

Chapter 11: To Declare Independence or Not is our current focus. Students were put into cooperative groups of 4. Each group was assigned a famous Patriot or Loyalist from 1775 and they are researching their assigned historical figure. Their research will be used during a debate on whether or not the colonies should declare independence or not.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for another productive week! Yesterday, we spent our afternoon with Charlie Williams, "The Noise Guy" as he tried out his new audio book with our students. He was fantastic and really brought to life for students the meaning of onomatopoeia!

 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

12 Mar - BSD West Zone Concert @Bellevue High School, 6pm

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

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

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Week in Review

February 10 - 14

 

 

Dear Families Room 210,

 

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a terrific day full of friendship, laughter, and of course learning! Yesterday, we had a presenter from the Beecher's Flagship Foundation visit our classroom. She led students through a series of activities designed to teach them how to be "food detectives" when label reading. We also worked together to make a big pot of homemade chili. Students should have brought the recipe home to you!

 

Here is what we've been up to this week:

 

 

Virtue Awards:

Nate has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of joyfulness and friendliness. Nate is friendly and kind to everyone he meets! His joyfulness is infectious and brightens our classroom!

 

Reading:

In Journey's this week our main selection was Dangerous Crossings by Stephen Krensky. This historical fiction story was set during the Revolutionary War and was centered around John Quincy Adams. Our target skill was cause and effect and our target strategy was visualize.

 

 

 

Writing:

For grammar this week, we worked on subject and object pronouns. We reviewed how subject pronouns are the subject of a sentence, while object pronouns are the "who" or "what" receiving the action in a sentence. 

 

 

 

Math:

We worked on deepening our understanding of volume, weight, and capacity. Students explored the relationship among metric and customary units of capacity and weight. We also solved problems involving metric and customary measures of capacity and weight.

 

 

 

Science:

Students investigated Kelsey Creek and selected three spots where they think the source of pollution might be coming from. They also sampled Kool-Aid in order to experience concentration and dilution first hand.

 

 

 

Social Studies:

We wrapped up Chapter 10 Growing Tensions between Britain and the Colonies. Students took their end-of-chapter assessment today! I'm so proud of their focus and hard work!

 

 

 

I hope that you have wonderful mid-winter break! May it be full of family fun and relaxation!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

14 Feb - International School Lottery Application Due

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

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

Auction Weekend!

A Week in Review

February 3 - 7

 

 

 

Dear Families in Room 210,

 

What an amazing week and not just because the Seahawks won the Super Bowl! We've been busy working, learning, and laughing in Room 210 this week. Here is what we've been up to:

 

Virtue Awards:

Emily has earned a Virtues Award for demonstrating the virtues of respect and responsibility. Emily is always respectful and follows directions. She has 100% of her class work and homework completed. Keep up the great work!

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was Don Quixote and the Windmills by Eric A. Kimmel. The story was humorous fiction and had us so curious about how it ends (since Journeys only gives excerpts of texts) that I bought it on Amazon and we are eagerly awaiting its arrival so we can finish it! Our target skill was understanding characters and our target strategy was questioning.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

In writing this week, we worked on our Social Studies letter, as well as writing our Coming to America story. We focused on thoroughly developing our paragraphs and using details and examples to elaborate on our ideas.

 

Math:

We finished Unit 5 Addition and Subtraction with Fractions and have moved into Unit 6 Volume, Capacity, and Weight. Our first lesson focused on how to find the volume of a rectangular prism and students learned the formula (l x w x h = v).

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

In Science with Ms. Keenan, students learned that a mixture is a combination of two or more materials stirred together. They worked in their science groups to separate a mixture. They also worked to separate a solution, while learning that a solution is a special mixture formed when a material dissolves in water. 

 

Social Studies:

What a fun (and frustrating!) lesson for the students this week. We started Chapter 10 Growing Tension Between Britain and the Colonies. In order to simulate these "growing tensions" for students, I had students "plan" their Valentine's Day party - with NO limits. They were so excited!! Then a PTA memo was delivered and many rules and restrictions were put into place, taking away the ideas they had planned. This fake party planning activity was designed to show students how after the French and Indian War, Britain started passing more taxes and laws in the colonies. The colonists felt frustrated because they weren't enjoying the liberties they had previously been given, nor did they have representation in Parliament when these laws were being passed. 

 

 

What a wonderful week of learning! I hope to see you at the auction tomorrow evening. Enjoy this sunny (brrrrr) weather!

 

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

10 Feb - Big Picture School Information Night

14 Feb - International School Lottery Application Due

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

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

Super Bowl Weekend!

A Week in Review

January 28 - 31

 

 

Dear Families in Room 210,

 

This was an interesting week, as we had no school on Monday and then I was out sick for three days! In my thirteen years of teaching, I have never had to take three sick days in row. Wow! It was a bad flu, but I'm happy to be back. The guest teachers left great notes about the students and the huge welcome I got upon my return felt wonderful! Thanks for all the birthday wishes and gifts. Thank you cards will be coming home with students, as they did during the holidays, so watch for those! :) I'm just so appreciative for these students and how they helped the guest teachers, worked hard, and kept the class running smoothly in my absence. It is good to be back!

 

Virtue Awards:

Mrs. Hatlestad's Class has earned a Virtue Award for displaying the virtues of respect and helpfulness. While I was out sick, they helped the guest teachers and kept the class running smoothly. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was a realistic fiction piece, Darnell Rock Reporting by Walter Dean Myers. We used the target skill persuasion and the target strategy summarize to deepen our comprehension.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Math:

We wrapped up our Unit 5 Addition and Subtraction of Fractions this week. Students worked to order fractions from greatest to smallest, as well as compare and order fractions and decimals. We ended the week reviewing for the end-of-unit assessment!

 

 

 

Social Studies/Writing:

As a class, students created a rubric for a writing assignment in Social Studies. The assignment is based on the hands-on activities that students participated in last week. Students wrote letters describing their experience, focusing on the descriptions of the "places" they "visited" and how it compares to their life today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science:

Due to the short week and the Taproot Assembly on Thursday, students did not have Science this week with Ms. Keenan. They will pick it back up next week.

 

 

Thanks again for the birthday wishes!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

10 Feb - Big Picture School Information Night

14 Feb - International School Lottery Application Due

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

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

 



A Tour of Colonial Williamsburg

A Week in Review

January 21 - 24

 

Happy Friday! We may have had a 4-day week, but we packed a lot of learning into it! Here is what we've been up to:

 

Virtue Awards:

Anjali has earned a Virtue Award for demonstrating the virtues of excellence and reliability. Anjali is always focused during instruction, seeking ways to go above and beyond, and pushing herself to achieve her goals. Keep up the amazing work!

 

 

 

Reading:

Our main selection in Journeys this week was from a read aloud we read earlier in the year, "The Dog Newspaper" from Five Pages A Day by Peg Kehret. Rereading this excerpt allowed us to deepen our comprehension even more as we used the target skill fact and opinion and the target strategy analyze/evaluate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing:

We worked to revise our parent and grandparent essays this week. I'm so impressed with how seriously students are taking their Heritage Project and the effort they're putting forth. Reading the essays has been amazing! I love the stories they are choosing to share about their family.

 

Math:

Wow! It was a jam-packed week in Math! We continued our fraction learning as we added/subtracted fractions with unlike denominators, had more practice with simplifying our answers, and began understanding how fractions and decimals are equivalent. We used our background knowledge of pennies to dollars to help make this concept more understandable.

 

 

 

Science:

Ms. Keenan and our students learned that their new challenge for this Science Unit is "Pollution Solution". Students will examine water quality and how it impacts us. They were introduced to "Russell" a water quality investigator and learned what his job entails. Students will help Russell investigate suspcious looking water in a nearby creek.

 

Social Studies:

In Chapter 9: Life in Colonial Williamsburg, students took a "walking tour" in order to learn about daily life in colonial Virginia. They visited six stations, each represented an actual site at Williamsburg. At each station, students examined written and visual information and completed a colonial task.

 

 

As you can see, we had a busy week - full of learning and FUN!

 

Go Seahawks!

~Mrs. Hatlestad

Upcoming Events:

29 Jan and 10 Feb - Big Picture School Information Night

27 Jan - No School, Elementary Teachers Professional Development Day

14 Feb - International School Lottery Application Due

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

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