Classroom News
Welcome 2013-14 Students and Parents!
This is the online newsletter that is updated weekly. You will read about general news on this page and specific subject matter news at the links above.
APRIL NEWS
We have been busy finishing up projects at school. In Science, kids are working in collaborative groups designing an iMovie presentation. Each group is responsible for beoming the class expert about one of the Biomes of the world (Temperate Forest, Tropical Forest, Desert, Grasslands, Taiga, Tundra.) The presentations will take place the week of April 21.
In writing, the students are completing magazine articles that they are writing about a person/place/thing they were interested in researching. Our magazine should be completed by the end of April.
We are beginning to read Tuck Everlasting. Please go to the Reading page to read about it!
FIELD TRIPS - Our Earth Day field trip will take place on April 22. The students have returned pop cans for cash to use for the field trip. This goes along with our theme of "saving the earth". The movie we will see is Bears by Disney. Disney donates some of the proceeds to help endangered animals.
The second payment for CAMP TANUGA was due. I hope ALL kids are going! It will be a blast and a great way to end elementary school.
FEBRUARY NEWS
January just zoomed by with all the snow days and subzero temperature days. We had a busy month as we were completing units in several areas. In SCIENCE we completed the Variables Unit with a fabulous Science Fair to share our at home projects. The kids were very creative this year! We will begin our Ecology Unit now. In MATH, we are completing our unit on Mulit-digit and decimal dividing. We we begin working on fractions. In WRITING, we are currently working on a poetry unit. We hope to invite parents to share them with us at our POETRY COFFEE HOUSE. In READING, we are working on Book Clubs as we read and learn about Historical Fiction. The kids are learning to communicate at a higher level with one another.
FIELD TRIPS - We will be scheduling several field trips between now and May. We are planning to see a play at the Masonic Temple to tie into our Social Studies curriculum. We are visiting a museum in Ann Arbor to tie with our Science curriculum. For Earth Day, we are going to see the movie Bears at an Imax theater.
CAMP TANUGA - Fifth grade camp is an amazing and growing experience. I hope all our fifth graders will attend. It's so neat to see how the kids grow in three days as they experience all that camp has to offer. Here is a link so you can see what it's all about! Camp Tanuga LINK
NOVEMBER NEWS
PINE TREE READING - We are well into our Pine Tree reading program. This year there are 20 books to choose from! The students have set goals and should be working towards them. Please encourage them to read these for the "at home 30 minutes of reading". Click HERE for the Sheiko Pine Tree information site.
HOLIDAY GIFT - We will be making a special gift for parents at school. Please send a scrap book paper book (can be purchased at Micheal's for under $10) This will be used for your child's projects throughout the year. They will also need two packages of 2-sided tape. We will be starting the project the week of December 3rd. Thank you!
REPORT CARDS ~ Report were available online on November 8. There are NO LETTER GRADES! This is a change for us all but the district feels that it is progress as we move towards the State Common Core Standards. We will be reporting on the State Standards with a 1,2, or 3 depending on if the goal has been securely met. 3 is secure, 2 is developing, and 1 is beginning.
PARENT CONFERENCES ~ Parent conferences are scheduled for November 21 and 22. If you have not scheduled a meeting time with me, I scheduled a time and sent a note with your child. Please let me know if your conference time no longer fits your schedule. At the conferences, I will explain the grading system more clearly.
SHEIKO POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SYSTEM (PBS)
We have begun using an economy system at Sheiko. Kids are earning "Sheiko dollars" for demonstrating good behavior, responsibility, and respect. They then have an opportunity to spend the "Sheiko Dollars" at the Sheiko Shark store each month. Ask your child what they recently purchased!
October NEWS
Wow! It's already report card time! If you have forgotten how to access your child's progress reports please contact Neil Currie at 865-6445. Report Cards will be released November 8th for the first marking period.
PARENT CONFERENCES are scheduled for November 20th and 21st. A reminder note will be sent home with your child of the time you signed up for. If you did not sign up, please call the office to schedule a time. They have the
MARCH 2013
OLMS tour for parents is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th. This is your chance to see the school in action. We have recently been able to see the OLMS strings, band, and choir. Hopefully this sparked an interest in our students and they are able to choose one of the performing arts for sixth grade.
CAMP - We are looking forward to Camp Tanuga! Please be sure to send in the Camp Permission slip ASAP! They are trying to get a count of students. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet other kids that will be attending OLMS next year. Click on the link above to see what the camp is all about!
BAKE SALE - Our class will be hosting a BAKE SALE on Thursday, March 14. Please send your bake sale item in on that morning. We will then have an opportunity to sell the "left overs" on Friday. This is a Fifth Grade Fund Raiser for end of the year activities. It is wonderful that EVERYONE can contribute in some way. Thank you!!
JANUARY NEWS 2013
The new year is off to a good start. Everyone is finally here and healthy! This month we are beginning several new units which you can read more about on the Language Arts and Science pages. There are a few upcoming events I want to highlight.
January 16th (Wednesday) is our Variables Science Fair. Parents are welcome to come and see what the kids have been doing. It takes place from 2:00 to 3:00 in the Fifth Grade Centrum.
NO SCHOOL on January 21st due to Martin Luther King celebration. Please check the district website for details about the celebration at the High School. There is NO SCHOOL on January 25th due to end of marking period records day. Hard to believe that is already upon us!
HOMEWORK ~ You should expect homework on Monday through Thursday each week. Typically, the students will have math and reading every night. There are writing assignments on Monday and Tuesday with Reading Responses on Wednesday and Thursday. Science and Social Studies will have weekly notes review and an occasional project.
CLASS DONATIONS ~ We are always looking for donations for our class store. Items that kids would like to "buy" with their class cash is what we are looking for. Popular items include squishy balls, pencil grippers, fancy diaries, large candy bars, recess toys, etc. Of course, a money donation to use to buy items is also very much appreciated!
We switch classes for SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, and MATH this year. All science questions will be addressed to me. If you have Social Studies questions you may email Mrs. Daniels at danielsc@wbsd.org For Math questions you may email Mr. Germansky at germansky@wbsd.org
Please go to the links above to read about what we are doing in each curricular area.
Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions. It is easiest to contact me by email : thomasde@wbsd.org
AVID Elementary information
Video link below
APRIL NEWS
We have been busy finishing up projects at school. In Science, kids are working in collaborative groups designing an iMovie presentation. Each group is responsible for beoming the class expert about one of the Biomes of the world (Temperate Forest, Tropical Forest, Desert, Grasslands, Taiga, Tundra.) The presentations will take place the week of April 21.
In writing, the students are completing magazine articles that they are writing about a person/place/thing they were interested in researching. Our magazine should be completed by the end of April.
We are beginning to read Tuck Everlasting. Please go to the Reading page to read about it!
FIELD TRIPS - Our Earth Day field trip will take place on April 22. The students have returned pop cans for cash to use for the field trip. This goes along with our theme of "saving the earth". The movie we will see is Bears by Disney. Disney donates some of the proceeds to help endangered animals.
The second payment for CAMP TANUGA was due. I hope ALL kids are going! It will be a blast and a great way to end elementary school.
FEBRUARY NEWS
January just zoomed by with all the snow days and subzero temperature days. We had a busy month as we were completing units in several areas. In SCIENCE we completed the Variables Unit with a fabulous Science Fair to share our at home projects. The kids were very creative this year! We will begin our Ecology Unit now. In MATH, we are completing our unit on Mulit-digit and decimal dividing. We we begin working on fractions. In WRITING, we are currently working on a poetry unit. We hope to invite parents to share them with us at our POETRY COFFEE HOUSE. In READING, we are working on Book Clubs as we read and learn about Historical Fiction. The kids are learning to communicate at a higher level with one another.
FIELD TRIPS - We will be scheduling several field trips between now and May. We are planning to see a play at the Masonic Temple to tie into our Social Studies curriculum. We are visiting a museum in Ann Arbor to tie with our Science curriculum. For Earth Day, we are going to see the movie Bears at an Imax theater.
CAMP TANUGA - Fifth grade camp is an amazing and growing experience. I hope all our fifth graders will attend. It's so neat to see how the kids grow in three days as they experience all that camp has to offer. Here is a link so you can see what it's all about! Camp Tanuga LINK
NOVEMBER NEWS
PINE TREE READING - We are well into our Pine Tree reading program. This year there are 20 books to choose from! The students have set goals and should be working towards them. Please encourage them to read these for the "at home 30 minutes of reading". Click HERE for the Sheiko Pine Tree information site.
HOLIDAY GIFT - We will be making a special gift for parents at school. Please send a scrap book paper book (can be purchased at Micheal's for under $10) This will be used for your child's projects throughout the year. They will also need two packages of 2-sided tape. We will be starting the project the week of December 3rd. Thank you!
REPORT CARDS ~ Report were available online on November 8. There are NO LETTER GRADES! This is a change for us all but the district feels that it is progress as we move towards the State Common Core Standards. We will be reporting on the State Standards with a 1,2, or 3 depending on if the goal has been securely met. 3 is secure, 2 is developing, and 1 is beginning.
PARENT CONFERENCES ~ Parent conferences are scheduled for November 21 and 22. If you have not scheduled a meeting time with me, I scheduled a time and sent a note with your child. Please let me know if your conference time no longer fits your schedule. At the conferences, I will explain the grading system more clearly.
SHEIKO POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SYSTEM (PBS)
We have begun using an economy system at Sheiko. Kids are earning "Sheiko dollars" for demonstrating good behavior, responsibility, and respect. They then have an opportunity to spend the "Sheiko Dollars" at the Sheiko Shark store each month. Ask your child what they recently purchased!
October NEWS
Wow! It's already report card time! If you have forgotten how to access your child's progress reports please contact Neil Currie at 865-6445. Report Cards will be released November 8th for the first marking period.
PARENT CONFERENCES are scheduled for November 20th and 21st. A reminder note will be sent home with your child of the time you signed up for. If you did not sign up, please call the office to schedule a time. They have the
MARCH 2013
OLMS tour for parents is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th. This is your chance to see the school in action. We have recently been able to see the OLMS strings, band, and choir. Hopefully this sparked an interest in our students and they are able to choose one of the performing arts for sixth grade.
CAMP - We are looking forward to Camp Tanuga! Please be sure to send in the Camp Permission slip ASAP! They are trying to get a count of students. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet other kids that will be attending OLMS next year. Click on the link above to see what the camp is all about!
BAKE SALE - Our class will be hosting a BAKE SALE on Thursday, March 14. Please send your bake sale item in on that morning. We will then have an opportunity to sell the "left overs" on Friday. This is a Fifth Grade Fund Raiser for end of the year activities. It is wonderful that EVERYONE can contribute in some way. Thank you!!
JANUARY NEWS 2013
The new year is off to a good start. Everyone is finally here and healthy! This month we are beginning several new units which you can read more about on the Language Arts and Science pages. There are a few upcoming events I want to highlight.
January 16th (Wednesday) is our Variables Science Fair. Parents are welcome to come and see what the kids have been doing. It takes place from 2:00 to 3:00 in the Fifth Grade Centrum.
NO SCHOOL on January 21st due to Martin Luther King celebration. Please check the district website for details about the celebration at the High School. There is NO SCHOOL on January 25th due to end of marking period records day. Hard to believe that is already upon us!
HOMEWORK ~ You should expect homework on Monday through Thursday each week. Typically, the students will have math and reading every night. There are writing assignments on Monday and Tuesday with Reading Responses on Wednesday and Thursday. Science and Social Studies will have weekly notes review and an occasional project.
CLASS DONATIONS ~ We are always looking for donations for our class store. Items that kids would like to "buy" with their class cash is what we are looking for. Popular items include squishy balls, pencil grippers, fancy diaries, large candy bars, recess toys, etc. Of course, a money donation to use to buy items is also very much appreciated!
We switch classes for SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, and MATH this year. All science questions will be addressed to me. If you have Social Studies questions you may email Mrs. Daniels at danielsc@wbsd.org For Math questions you may email Mr. Germansky at germansky@wbsd.org
Please go to the links above to read about what we are doing in each curricular area.
Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions. It is easiest to contact me by email : thomasde@wbsd.org
AVID Elementary information
Video link below
Avid ppt
View more presentations from Christa Herring