Happy Holidays

In spite of the tragedy that has struck our nation and stained this holiday season with sadness, I wish you and your family a joyous holiday.  Hold your children close and enjoy the upcoming vacation time together. Our break begins on December 22 with school resuming January 7.

Field Trip

Caughlin's fifth graders are going on an Earth Science field trip this Friday, Dec. 21.  This field trip is in lieu of a holiday party. We will be visiting the UNR campus between 9:40-11:15 to tour the Keck Mineral Museum, the DeLaMare Earth Science Library, and seismology lab.  We will then head to the Bowling Stadium and view the Imax movie Ring of Fire. We will return to school in time for students to  participate in the Polar Express.  Students may change into pajamas at school.

Classroom News

Math: Formal division instruction is coming to a close, but the practice will continue. We are  beginning a fractions unit of study, which will continue in the new year.

Reading: In conjunction with our social studies American Revolution studies, we will be reading historical fiction relating to the Revolution and writing of the Constitution. We will also be reading informational text relating to our science study Mixtures and Solutions and Earth science.

Social Studies:  The American Revolution is still being studied.  We have spent a great deal of time analyzing primary source documents relating to the Boston Massacre.  The purpose of this intensive study to have students formulate an opinion on the "massacre" and cite the documents to support their opinions.  This is an activity that supports the critical thinking and writing aspect of Common Core Standards. 

We the People: We have begun one of the most important studies in our fifth grade curriculum, We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution program.  This program  is a supplemental social studies unit on the Constitution.  The program was created by a Supreme Court Justice in 1987 because he felt students were not receiving adequate civics instruction. He realized that in order to sustain a democracy, the citizens must be knowledgeable and informed on Constitutional topics. The program is designed to be used in fifth grade, with programs for eighth grade and twelfth grade, as well.  The highlight of the program is a mock Congressional Hearing at which students showcase their Constitutional knowledge and speaking abilities in front of a panel of judges.  Twelfth graders' Congressional hearing is a competitive event with the winning teams from each state competing in Washington D.C. Our mock Congressional hearing is tentatively scheduled for the first week in March. To learn more about this program visit the Center for Civics Education: http://new.civiced.org/programs/wtp

Science: We have started the FOSS unit Mixtures and Solutions.  This unit is activity based with several labs.  We will also be investigating Earth sciences in conjunction with our field trip.

Writing: Students have be using the writing process to write a personal narrative. I am sure you will enjoy reading them! And of course they continue to write in the content areas and to the prompts in their spelling books.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick up-date on classroom activities is below.  I hope each and everyone of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Reading:

• Independent Reading Assignment (AR points, story map, book review, and WOW! words bookmark) are due Wednesday, Nov. 21.
• Our whole class novel Sign of the Beaver is drawing to a close. We will be discussing the overall plot structure, theme, and analyzing the characters.  Students will also watch a movie version of the book and write an essay comparing and contrasting the two.
• Students also completed a Common Core close reading of the story Eleven. You might ask your child what they thought of the story.

Math:

• We will be finishing up our geometry unit of study and begin focusing on division following Thanksgiving break. 
• Students have also be engaging in mental math activities and collaborating on solving word problems.
• For Thanksgiving week, students will be planning a Thanksgiving dinner and calculating the cost based on grocery store ads. 

Writing:

• Students continue to write to the prompt in their spelling books.  Many need to remember to use spelling words and proofread their writing. No run-on or comma splice sentences is our motto.
• A focus  in writing has been comparing and contrasting paragraphs using the transition words but  and however.  The semicolon has been introduced for combining sentences, especially with however.

 Science:

• Student will conclude their study of minerals by identifying a mineral based on its density number.  In order to do this, students must find the volume of the mineral using displacement and then calculate the density. 
• We will have a short investigation of buoyancy, and then head into our next major unit of study "Mixtures and Solutions."

Social Studies:

• To support students understanding of our recent presidential election, the Electoral College was investigated.  Students wrote their opinion as to whether or not to retain or rescind the Electoral College. You view their opinions on the bulletin board in the quad.
• We are reading about the "taxing" causes of the Revolutionary War. Students are using a cause and effect graphic graphic organizer to take notes on the events leading to the American Revolution.
• Students will be analyzing primary sources of the Boston "Massacre": Paul Revere's famous engraving, a newspaper article written shortly after the event, and  trial transcripts.

November 1- November 9

Virginia City

4th Ward School

The Virginia City field trip was a huge success!  The weather was perfect and so were the students.  Many thanks to all the parents that volunteered to accompany us that day. 


Virginia City Cemetery



Lunch at historic Piper's Opera House



 

 

 

 Tuesday, November 6

Voting Day!  No school.
Please remember to vote (how could you forget with all the phone calls and literature!).  Encourage your child to watch the election results on TV to support student learning of the Electoral College.

Most Wanted Mineral Poster

Students have been working on creating a Most Wanted Mineral Poster these last two weeks in the computer lab.  The final project is due this coming Friday, Nov. 9. Below is an outline of the project and the scoring rubric.  Students have been given a copy of this information to keep in their science pocket.

Feel free to be creative and add any other information or visuals that will enhance your poster. ONLY INCLUDE INFORMATION YOU UNDERSTAND. The poster size is up to you.

 Wanted: Name of  Mineral (you may not use quartz)

 

AKA (also known as):  Give the chemical formula for this mineral and list any other names this mineral might have.

Description:  Identify the physical properties of the mineral. i.e. color, streak, hardness, luster, transparency, crystal habit, magnetism, density (also known as specific gravity).

Last Known Location:  Where is this mineral commonly found?

Wanted For:  What are the uses of this mineral? Is it valuable as a natural resource?

 

*Include a drawing, picture, or illustration of your mineral on your poster.
**Please identify two sources of information. When identifying a website, give the name of the website and the web address. 
 

Scoring Rubric

A range	* All information asked for in the outline is present * Poster is neat & easily read *Student has gone beyond the basic outline--creativity & effort is apparent.
B range	* All information asked for in the outline is present * Poster is neat & easily read
C range	* Majority of information asked for is present  * Poster is neat & easily read
D- F range	* Information asked for is missing * Poster is disorganized; difficult to read

October 22-25

I greatly enjoyed meeting parents during conference week.  The commitment and support you have for your child's education is truly appreciated and inspiring!  An outline of our week ahead is below.

Nevada Day

Nevada's statehood  birthday will be celebrated on Friday, October 26.  There will no school that day.

 

Virginia City Field Trip--Monday, October 29

Our Virginia City field trip to celebrate Nevada Day and in lieu of a Halloween party was originally scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 25.  That date has changed due to a busing issue.  The new date for our Virginia City field trip will be Monday, October 29. A permission slip will be sent home on Monday, October 22.  To prepare for the field trip, students will be learning about the history of Nevada and Virginia City this coming week. We will not be having a Halloween Party in our classroom.

Atoms to Minerals Science Unit Wrap-up

Students were given a study guide on Thursday, October 18 for the up-coming test Atoms to Minerals.  The test was originally scheduled for Wednesday but has been rescheduled to Thursday, October 25. We will review for the test on Wednesday. A successfully completed study guide earns a student extra credit points on the test.

To further their appreciation for minerals, students are investigating a mineral of their choice and creating a Most Wanted Mineral poster.  Students were given an outline of the requirements for the poster, a list of suggested minerals, and website sources of information on Thursday. We discussed a due date, and students felt 2 1/2 weeks was sufficient time.  So the poster will be due on Friday, November 9.

Independent Reading

Students were given a new Independent Reading assignment on Friday.  Story map, book review, WOW! words, and AR points will be due on November 20.  I suggest you question your child as to what she/he is reading and how he/she feels about.  If your child is not happy with a book choice because it is too difficult, encourage him/her to find a more appropriate book.

Spelling Book

Due to the Friday holiday and field trip on Monday, October 29.  Unit 7 in our spelling book will not be due until Thursday, Nov. 1.  We will begin the unit this coming week.

Thank You! & The Week of October 15

I realize I have not been a very consistent blogger, so I am in the process of improving by promising attempting to blog every week.  First of all, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all the parents that prepared fabric, cooked, set-up, served, and cleaned-up for Colonial Day.  It was a huge success; an experience the children will remember for years to come.  Thank you again!

Looking at the week ahead of us:

• It is Conference Week.  Students will be dismissed at 12:50 each day
• Students will be having a test on Colonization of North America on Wednesday, Oct. 17.  They were given a study guide on Tuesday, Oct. 9.  We will review the study guide on Tuesday.  A successfully completed study guide will be worth extra credit points on their test.
• I reviewed students' rough drafts of their explanatory essays on physical properties of minerals. Making comments on their individual essays. We also reviewed the organization of the essay as a whole class.  Students have also been given a scoring rubric to guide them in making revisions for their final copy.  The final copy is due Friday, Oct. 19.
• Students first Independent Reading Assignment was due Friday. Several students did not complete all the requirements which were the following: AR points goal, story map, book review and WOW! Words bookmark.  This assignment was given to students 5 weeks ago. Please make sure your children are reading for 20-30 minutes a night.  Thank you!

Topics being studied by subject:

• Math--We are focused on addition, subtraction, multiplication of whole numbers and decimal numbers and corresponding word problems.  We are also investigating volume through our science studies. Decimal place value is being reviewed using IXL.
• Reading--Our focus in the classroom has been reading informational text using our social studies and the weekly Time for Kids. Students are learning the importance of rereading text to locate answers and support their responses with evidence from the text.  As a class, we have been reading the historical fiction novel The Sign of the Beaver.
• Writing--Writing is being integrated with science and social studies topics.  Common Core Standards indicate students need to pull information from a variety of sources to write cohesive multi-paragraph essays.  To that end, we have been writing about the physical properties of minerals. On Monday we will be learning how to write a comparing  and contrasting paragraph on the topic of Colonial Children vs. Modern Day Children.
• Science--Our unit Atoms to Minerals is coming to a close.  The last physical property of matter we are investigating is density.  Students engaged in two density labs so far, we 3 more to come. Students will be given a study guide for the Atoms to Minerals test at the end of next week.  The test will sometime the end of the month.
• Social studies--We are leaving the colonies and heading to the American Revolution!

Colonial Day is Coming!

In order to bring American history alive and understand how children of the past lived, Caughlin Ranch 5th grade will be hosting the 11 annual Colonial Day!  Colonial Day is a culminating activity to our Colonial America unit of study.  During the day students will play, eat, and even dance (thanks, Mrs. Jackson!) as children living in colonial Williamsburg in the 1770s.  Colonial Day 2012 will be on Thursday, October 11 (note the day has been changed from its originally scheduled day due to picture day on the 12th).

An informational flyer asking for parental help went home in Friday's, September 28, Folder. We will need parents to prepare food, cut cloth, and assist in the rotation activities during the day.  In my classroom, students will be making and dressing corn husk dolls, the more helping hands the better!

To make the event as historically accurate and fun as possible, we encourage students to dress in a colonial fashion.  For girls this means a dress or skirt.  I will provide each young lady with an apron, and the girls will be making their own mob caps.  For the young gents, I suggest they wear football/baseball pants or roll up pants to simulate breeches, knee length pants, and tall socks.  A dress shirt and, if possible, a vest or dress coat, will complete their outfit.  Boys will be fashioning cravats, precursor to the tie,  out of material.  Don't rush out to purchase clothing--raid every closet in the house.  One of the best dressed colonial lads I ever saw wore his mother's full sleeved blouse and her vest!  If you do decide to buy something, try Savers or one of the other used clothing stores.  Old Halloween costumes can be fashioned into colonial clothing, too.

Below are some examples of student clothing from last year: 

Colonial Ladies

Colonial Lads

Hair Raising Science & Crystal Peak

I greatly enjoyed Parent Night last Tuesday.  If you were unable to attend, please stop by after school, and I will give you the parent handouts.  We had another wonderful week together:

In science we are investigating atoms and elements.  Students stripped electrons from their hair to negatively charge balloons.  It was a "hair raising" activity!

Students were then challenged to use the negatively charged balloons to move neutrally charged soda cans.



In other science news, as mentioned at Parent Night, Mr. Saulsbury and I will be leading a non-school sponsored field trip to Crystal Peak to dig for quartz crystals, feldspar and sericite minerals.  This is considered a group of friends out for a day of mineral adventure.  Teachers will not be responsible for students.  Parents will drive their own children or make arrangements with friends to drive their child. We will meet in Caughlin Ranch school parking lot at 9:30 am on Saturday, Sept. 22, and caravan out to the mine site through Verdi and Dog Valley.  A flyer will be sent home Monday, Sept. 17, with more information.  Hope you all can make it!

We are Well on our Way!

The first several weeks of a new school year focus on establishing rapport, expectations, and procedures to ensure a successful school year.  Below is an outline by subject of what we have discussed in class:

Math
We are using the Everyday Math program in our classroom.  Everyday Math is a leader in digital and on-line support for teachers, students, and parents.  The program supports teachers' instruction with ready made and easily modified Active Inspire flip charts.  Students have been given usernames and passwords to access Everyday Math's on-line resources.  These resources include Family Letters that explain the concepts and vocabulary of each unit and offer the answers to homework Study Links, videos demonstrating the use of various computation alogorithms, and games for practice. There's more, but that is all we were able to investigate in class!  Student log-in address is https://www.everydaymathonline.com/student_login.html or just google Everyday Math and the student log-in will pop right up!  I am in the process of laminating the students' log-in cards.  They should have them in their possession by the end of next week.

For math practice, we are also using IXL.com.  Students will be given three IXL skills to practice for one week.  The IXL skills will be announced on Monday and will be due the following Monday.  For some students having a weekend to work on these is helpful.  The IXL assignment is valued as 1/2 of a regular classroom assignment.. The IXL Smart Score is the score the student earns on the assignment. 

Spelling/Word Study
Zaner-Bloser is the spelling and vocabulary program we are using in all of 5th grade.  Students will have their own practice book which includes a dictionary and thesaurus. The books have not arrived yet, so students have been given photocopies of the practice pages. The spelling unit is introduced on Monday and students are given time in class to work on the pages that day.  The practice pages are to be completed by Thursday.  These pages may be worked on in class when other assignments are completed or as homework.    Each spelling unit includes a Connection to Writing page.  The writing page practice is not due until Friday. Students are expected to rewrite the model paragraph correctly and write their own paragraph on the prompt given. Students have been given a bright green scoring rubic for the self-written paragraph. I encourage students to word process their writing. Parents feel free to discuss the meanings of the words with your child and look over his/her work.

Reading
Students have been given their first Independent Reading Assignment. This assignment is linked to AR (Accelerated Reading). Students took a STAR test to help identify  their independent reading level.  I conferenced with each student to review the STAR test data. That information was used to determine an AR point goal suitable to their reading level.  Students are expected to read 30 minutes per day and attain their AR points goal by October 12. Students may read as many books as they want to attain their point goal.  Book levels shoudd be within the range indicated on their Independent Reading Assignment. For one book that they read before October 12, students are to complete a Story Map and write a Book Review.  Students will also collect 10 interesting words and the word's definition on a WOW! Words bookmark. Students will be given details on the Book Review and WOW! Words bookmark next week. 

Starting Monday, September 13, students will be given their first weekly fluency assignment.  This assignment promotes students' reading fluency and comprehension skills.  The idea is to have students read the given passage out loud to a parent several times during the week--they should become more fluent with each reading.  Corresponding comprehension questions are on the back of the paper along with a Parent Tip.  Parents sign of at the bottom of the page to indicate they listened to their child read. The fluency assignment is due Friday.

We will be focusing on reading informational text in the classroom in conjunction with our social studies and science units.

Writing
As many of you already know, students have been writing a Me Report. The purpose of this report was to highlight the writing process, review paragraph structure, and the structure of an essay (introduction, body paragraphs, and concluding paragraph). Their writing is definitely a work in progress and we will be continueing with this report on Monday. In order to prepare students for the state mandated Writing Test in February, students are encouraged to type their writing.  The Writing Test is taken in the computer lab and students are expected to type their responses to the prompt. Parents please review your child's writing especially to assist in spelling and punctuation.  Thanks!

Well, that's about all for now--probably more than you care to process in a single blog!  If you have any questions, please contact me! 

Looking forward to seeing you at Parent Night on Tuesday evening, September 14.

Support PTA to Support our School!

Caughlin Ranch's wonderful PTA is hard at work to raise extra funds to support our school.  The big fund raiser of the year, the Jog-athon, is right around the corner.  Students have been given packets to collect money for the Jog-athon.  The PTA is hoping every child in every classroom will be able to contribute something--every little bit helps!  Students will be jogging on September 21.  5th grade will be jogging at 10:45.  So come on down to the school and cheer your jogger on!

Another fund raiser PTA is encouraging is Box Top clipping.  Many products, cereals, can goods, even reams of copy paper, have a red and yellow symbol with the words Box Top for Education.  These box tops can be redeemed for money.  PTA is having a competition for the student, grade, and class collecting the most.  So start clipping and bringing those box tops to school.

The money our PTA raises helps to fund our Accelerated Reader Program, buy playground equipment and  technology for classrooms, and many other things the school district simply can't afford. 

Thanks PTA!

Day 1 down! 179 more to go!

I am so lucky to have this group of students! They are attentive, hardworking, and helpful.  We spent our morning discussing the traits of "good character" and how to conduct ourselves in the classroom and school. We adjusted to the new lunch schedule--3 waves of lunches:

• All day K, 1, & 2 eating at 11:15
• 3-4 eating at 11:45
• 5-6 eating at 12:15

The lunch room was not as crowded as last year and seemed a bit calmer and quieter.

In the afternoon we investigated multiplication patterns with multiples of 10 and played Human Bingo.

Thanks for making this a great first day.  We are off to a wonderful start!

The First Day of School!

Is anyone else a little excited and nervous all at the same time?  I sure am--and this is my 20th "first day of school!"

I hope your first day, last day, and everyday in between is all that you expect out of school. Please remember these things as you enter the front doors of our classroom:

• Be kind and supportive of others
• Stay focused and attentive
• Ask questions
• Mistakes are opportunities to learn!
• Be positive and prepared

 

I look forward to meeting you tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

Caughlin Ranch 5th Grade Happenings Spring 2013

Date	Time	Event
January 7 Monday	J	First day back after winter break
January 21 Monday	J	Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
Feb. 4-Feb. 15	9:30-11:00	Writing Assessment (Test will be given one day within the date range)
February 14 Thursday	11:30-12:00	Valentine's Day Luncheon
February 18 Monday	J	Presidents' Day Holiday
March 22 Friday	11:30-12:15	Columbian Exchange Buffet
April 8-12	J	Spring Break
April 29-May 3	J	Criterion Reference Testing Week
May  24 Friday	9:00-1:45	Donner Memorial Park Field Trip
May 27 Monday	J	Memorial Day Holiday
June 5 Wednesday	J	Last Day of School

Caughlin Ranch 5th Grade Happenings Fall 2012

Date	Time	Event
September 22 Saturday	9:00-2:00?	Crystal Peak Field Trip Not sponsored by the school.  If your family would like to collect minerals, we will be caravanning to the site.
October 12 Friday	9:00-1:15	Colonial Day
October 15-19	12:50 dismissal	Student/Parent/Teacher Conference Week
October 25 October 29 Monday	9:00-1:45	Virginia City Field Trip This field trip will be our class’s Nevada Day celebration
October 26 Friday	J	Nevada Day Holiday
November 12 Friday	J	Veterans' Day Holiday
November 22 & 24 Thursday & Friday	J	Thanksgiving Holiday
December 19 Moved to middle of February	6:00-8:00 pm	We the People Mock Congressional Hearing Evening Educational Event
December 21 Friday	9:00-1:45	Keck Mineral Museum/Bowling Stadium field trip This field trip will be our class’s winter holidays celebration
December 24- January 6	J	Winter Break



Supply List 2013-2014

• $50 made out to Caughlin Ranch School to pay for  science, math, and art supplies.
•  At least a 1 gigabyte flash drive (also known as a thumb drive or jump drive) for storing & transporting computer work from school to home and vice versa
• Durable expandable file folder (letter size), also known as an accordion folder, with at least 10 pockets to be used as a filing system for notes and assignments.
• 2 red pens for correcting
• Colored markers
• Strong scissors (like Fiskars brand)
• 3 large glue sticks
• Expo-brand dry erase markers in blue or black
• Eraser for white board—an old, clean sock will do!
• Small, hand-held pencil sharpener with a cover
• Colored pencils
• Highlighters
• Black Sharpie pens—thin and medium.                              

The following items will be available to students in the classroom; however, you may want to purchase your own.

• Pencils.  Students using mechanical pencils need to supply their own lead.
• 3” x  3” Post-It Notes
• Sturdy, transparent, plastic ruler (customary to 1/16” AND metric)

 Please mark all supplies with the name of your child in permanent marker.  If there is a financial problem obtaining these supplies, let me know.  We can work around it.