Week of September 4-7

Monday - No school today - Labor Day

Tuesday -
     Social Studies: Read pages 70-75 on the Native Americans of the Plains.
     Science: Read "Sink or Swim", pages 10-11. Partner read and complete questions.

Wednesday -
     Social Studies: Begin study of Southeastern U.S. states and capitals. Quiz on September 11.
     Science: Continue investigation of lifeboats and use graphs to make predictions.

Thursday -
     Social Studies: Read pages 76-81 on the Native Americans of the West with a study of the Tlingit
                               culture. (art technology, and social ceremonies)
     Science: Continue investigation of lifeboats by applying predictions to other boats.

Friday -
     Science: Read "Science in the Bathtub", pages 12-14. Partner read and complete answers.

Week of August 27-31

Our science classes will be continuing study of variables and experimental design this week with an investigation of lifeboats. In this investigation students will:

• Identify variables that might affect the number of passengers (i.e. pennies) a paper-cup boat can hold without sinking.
• Measure the capacity of paper-cup boats in metric units.
• Conduct controlled experiments.
• Graph the results of experiments and use the graph to make predictions.
• Relate the capacity (displacement) of a boat to the number of passengers it can hold.
• Use scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations: observing, communicating, comparing, organizing, and relating.

Students will also be adding the concept of dependent and independent variables to their understanding of the use of variables in scientific methodology.

[Science work should be shared at home and then returned to the science binder to serve as a study guide for future quizzes, tests, and project work.]

The social studies class this week will look at cause and effect (which also relates to scientific thinking) and will play some Native American games. There will be a test on the Northeastern states and capitals on Friday.
=========================================
This week's agenda -

Monday, August 27 (Blue Day)
1.Bellringer
2.Science Investigation 2.1 - construct and explore a 3 cm. paper-cup lifeboat
3.No homework

Tuesday, August 28 (Gold Day)
1.Bellringer
2.Social Studies - Biography of Hiawatha: text pages 66-67
3.Science Investigation 2.1 - find capacity of 3 cm. boats in metric units and set up controlled experiments.
4.Homework - Northeastern states and capitals worksheet (Study for Map Test Friday)
[Fundraiser kick-off today]

Wednesday, August 29 (Blue Day)
1.Bellringer
2.Science Investigation 2.1 - construct new different sized lifeboats and find capacity of each; add new vocabulary and content to notes
3.No homework

Thursday, August 30 (Gold Day)
1.Bellringer
2.Social Studies - Read "Cause and Effect": text pages 68-69
3.Science Investigation 2.2 - identify variables and set the standard boat loading procedures
4.Homework - Northeastern states and capitals worksheet (Study for Map Test Friday)

Friday, August 31 (Blue Day)
1.Bellringer
2.Northeastern states and capitals map test.
3.Science Investigation 2.2 - graph experimental results and use the graph to make predictions; relate the capacity of a boat to the number of passengers it can hold
4.No homework

No School on Monday, September 3 - Labor Day
=========================================
Links:

• Native American games and toys: http://www.nativetech.org/games/index.php
• Native American stories: http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/loreindx.html
• Online geography games: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm
• Maxwell fifth grade gold team newsletters: http://apps.gcsc.k12.in.us/blogs/dknecht-strong/newsletters/

Week of August 20-24

Week of August 20-24

Science

* Finish up the work with pendulums by investigating the result of changing the length of the pendulums.

* Read the science story "Swingers Through History"

* Review pendulum notes and graphs

* Play "Swinger Bingo"

Social Studies

* We'll be starting our unit on Native Americans.
     {Take a look at this website on Native American games and toys}
      http://www.nativetech.org/games/index.php

* The project of learning states and capitals will be a long-term ongoing project. This week we're concentrating on the Northeastern states.

_____________________________________________________

(The newsletter should now be available on the MIS website at http://apps.gcsc.k12.in.us/blogs/dknecht-strong/newsletters/ )

Newsletter - August 13-17

Until our newsletter section is working on the Maxwell website, I'll post the weekly newsletter on the blog.

============================================== Maxwell Intermediate Fifth Grade Mrs. Knecht-Strong Miss Greulich Mr. Ellars

Maxwell Intermediate 102 N. Main Street Maxwell, IN  46154 Phone: 317-326-3121 Fax: 317-326-4711 Email: dknecht-strong@gcsc.k12.in.us            agreulich@gcsc.k12.in.us            jellars@gcsc.k12.in.us

5^th grade Team Gold Study Reminder

For the Week of August 13-17, 2012

Math with Mrs. Knecht-Strong:

• Mon L1-6 Prime & Composite Numbers; HW SL L 1-6; Game “Factor Capture”
• Tues L1-7 Square Numbers; HW SL L 1-7; Game “Factor Bingo”
• Wed L1-8 Unsquaring Numbers; HW SL L 1-8 Game “Multiplication Top-It”
• Thurs L1-9 Factor Strings and Prime Factorization; HW SL L 1-9 Game “Name That Number”
• Fri Power Day- in class assign Journal pg 15 and 22 for a grade; review games from this week

Social Studies with Mr.Ellars:  (http://maxsci.blogspot.com)

• Continued work on states and capitals this week
• Review of latitude and longitude
  

Science/Health with Mr. Ellars:  (http://maxsci.blogspot.com)

• Students finished constructing pendulums and have been investigating pendulum systems.
• This week we’ll investigate the effect of changing variables in the pendulum system, such as mass and pendulum length.
• A short quiz on the pendulum investigations is scheduled for Friday, August 17.

 Reading with Miss Greulich: Unit 1

·        Homework: Make sure students are reading 15 minutes every night and parents are signing their reading calendar!

• Discuss the Riley Poetry Contest
• Continue working with our Daily Five- read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, work on writing and word study.
• Continue working with our café board- Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and vocabulary
• Frindle test Friday, August 17^th

English/Writing with Miss Greulich:  

·        We will introduce our Student Tale Writing Project this week. Students will begin writing a book that they will later on publish into a hard back book. Please help your child think of a topic or person they would like to write their book about. It can be fiction or non-fiction.  Look for a letter coming home explaining this project in-depth very soon.

Good BEHAVIOR = “FUN FRIDAy”

Please monitor your child’s behavior and responsibility by checking their assignment notebook each week. Four or less marks for the week,  (codings- see chart taped in the front of their assignment notebook) earns Fun Friday rewards.  Otherwise your child will be meeting with a 5^th grade teacher for study hall to make up missing homework. 

We ask that you sign your child’s notebook at the end of each week to indicate you have checked their assignment book and have discussed any situations necessary.

Reminders this week:

*Related Arts Days – Monday, Wednesday, Friday

* Picture Day- Thursday, August 16^th

Name ___________________________  Week________________________

How I studied my multiplication and division facts this week

(Check all that apply)

Regular     Everyday Math                                   Ten Marks      Acuity

       Flashcards                 Games                                  Website                      Activities

Other Website                  Other Method

       ___________                                        _____________

Must have at least 45 minutes to earn extra credit for the week

Number of minutes spent studying facts each day:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Total

Parent Signature _____________________________________________

“Frindle” Vocabulary

Vocabulary Word	Meaning
acquainted	made aware; informed
assignment	something assigned, a piece of work to be done
essential	absolutely necessary; very important
expanded	made larger; increased in size
guaranteed	made certain that something would happen as a result
procedures	ways of proceeding; methods of doing things
reputation	what people think and say the character of someone or something is
worshipped	paid great honor and reverence to

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

Attached you will find information on how to access SuccessTracker, our online reading resource. SuccessTracker can help you stay informed on your child’s progress in reading. Fourth grade students take online bi-weekly reading tests, and a benchmark test is given at the beginning of the year, after each unit, and at the end of the year.

Go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com

1.     Login using the user name and password given on the letter attached.

2.     From the home page, click on the Parents tab at the top.

3.     Check the rectangle that says review all tests and activities assigned and completed so far.

a.     Make sure to choose Reading Success Tracker.

4.     Click View assignments and progress.

5.     You may click on anything with an underline to get more information.

6.     If you click on the test it will show you the exact test.

7.     If you click on View Results you will see your student’s score and the questioned answered incorrectly.

8.     IF you click on the underlined number next to a red x you will see the incorrect answer chose by your student.

9.     At the bottom of the Test Results page, you will see the skills that your student needs to continue to work on. These are skills that will be focused on in small groups and during center time.

10.                        From the Home page you can access an online version of your student’s reading textbook.

We hope that you will take advantage of this resource! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank You,

Miss Greulich

Reading Teacher

Week of August 13-17

We got off to a great start on our first science investigation this past week! Everyone was able to construct the pendulums with no trouble and conducted the first investigation with great success. After building the "swinger" with string, a paper clip, and a penny, groups used a pencil taped to a desk edge as a fixed point and counted the number of cycles the freely swinging pendulum went through in 15 seconds. The results showed that a 38 cm. pendulum with a mass of 1 penny swung 12 times in 15 seconds. Minor variations in swing count were discussed by accounting for a number of observed external variables, such as release point, counting technique, and pendulums that hit the legs of the desk. This coming week, we'll be investigating the effect of changing variables with the pendulum system. We also added three words to our Science Word Bank this week: pendulum, cyle, and variable.

In social studies, we started looking at latitude and longitude. (And everyone remembered the latitude-longitude dance from fourth grade!) On Friday we also took a video trip around North America that visited festivals in Mexico, Canada, Wyoming, and New Mexico. The video trip to Mexico generated a serious discussion on the ethics of bullfighting and animal cruelty.

=======================================================

Outline of Next Week's Activities:

Monday
    Science - Reading about the work of scientists.

Tuesday
     Science - Continued science investigation of pendulum systems
     Social Studies - Map Worksheet  (Homework if not finished)

Wednesday
     Science - Continued science investigation of pendulum systems

Thursday
     Science - Continued science investigation of pendulum systems
     Social Studes - Latitude/longitude worksheet (Homework if not finished)

Friday
     Science - Quiz on pendulums and variables
     Social Studies - Map worksheet
 
=======================================================    

Notes for the Week -
* Student Council paragraphs are due before Friday, August 17
* School pictures are set for Thursday, August 16. Send payment in with your child or pay online. (See the sheet sent home on Friday, August 10)

MIS Science News 08/06/2012

Dear Parents,

Our class is beginning our first science unit of the year, the Variables Module in the FOSS science program. 

The big ideas in this module are system and variable. Any collection of objects that is working together is identified as a system.  The systems your child will be using in this module are pendulums, boats, windup airplanes, and little catapult systems called flippers. In each system the interacting parts influence how the whole system behaves or performs.  If the parts of the system can change, those parts capable of change are called variables.  An understanding of the idea of a variable and the ability to identify and control variables are the cornerstone of scientific experimentation.

Here’s an example. The pendulum students use is made from a piece of string, a paper clip, a penny, a bit of tape, and a pencil.  When hung from the pencil and put into motion, the penny, held by the string and paper clip, swings back and forth.  The number of swings can be counted, and that number is the outcome of our experiment.  The length of the string can vary, as can the mass of the system, the point from which the penny is released, and the length of time the swings are counted. Which variables influence the number of swings? And how does the answer to that question help us get a slow grandfather clock to run on time?  That’s one of the challenges we’ll be tackling in this Variables Module.

Your child may bring home one or more sheets called home/school connections. On them you will find suggestions for activities you can do at home with the whole family.  They will give you a glimpse into the kinds of investigations we’ll be undertaking in our classroom.  If you have any questions or comments, please call or come in to visit our class.

Mr. Ellars
Maxwell Intermediate School
326-3121 / jellars@gcsc.k12.in.us
http://maxsci.blogspot.com/

Learning States and Capitals Online

Here are some links to a few online games and resources to help in learning U.S. states and capitals. There are lots more available - just Google "learning states and capitals."

Games

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html

http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/CapitalUnitedStates.html


Printable Activities and Resources

http://www.50states.com/tools/


Apps for iPad and iPhone  (Some free, some for a fee)

http://appadvice.com/appguides/show/us-states-and-capital-study-aid-apps

Welcome to fifth grade! We're off to a great start already!
Ask your student about our wonderful talk this morning from Josh Bleil to start our year on a very positive note!

You can look for the assignment book to be coming home every evening. Please look it over with your child and sign the book on that day's section. (Gotcha slips will be given on Fridays for signed books.)
This week in Science we started by looking at Science Safety Rules and by a short visit to the fifth grade lab that we'll be using this year.Students should have brought home their Safety Rules Contract that needs to be discussed at home and returned as soon as possible signed by both the student and by a parent/guardian. The quiz on safety rules will be given next week on Tuesday, August 7.
_____________________________

We'll try to stick to the following schedule next week (August 6-10):

Science -
> Monday: Introduction to Scientific Method; Begin note taking; Homework - Review safety rules.
> Tuesday: Review safety rules and examples; Safety Quiz; No homework
> Wednesday: Begin investigation of variables; Build swingers (pendulums); No homework
> Thursday: Investigate changes in pendulum variables (weight, length of string); No homework
> Friday: Finish pendulum investigation; Read "What Do Scientist Do?" and answer questions; No homework

Social Studies -
> We'll begin learning states and capitals soon. Please start looking over them occasionally at home and during free time at school. Use the map in your assignment notebook to get started.
> This week in social studies we'll be looking at the handbook pages at the beginning of the book. (pages H1-H18). We're giving latitude and longitude special attention.