Scholastic Book Orders

Our online code for ordering is NFVJ8. Thanks!

Weekly Update Nov. 17-21

Announcements:

-Gibraltar Elementary is working with the Door of Life Food Pantry in Sister Bay and the Door County Community Resource Program Feed My People to help stock the Food Pantry shelves with items for local families. Starting November 3rd to November 21st, we will have a food we will have a food/personal care item drive to help local families in our area. Each grade level will be responsible for collecting a certain item. Please, if you are able, send that item to school to have your child put in the appropriate container in their classroom. There will also be a container in the lobby of the school to collect additional donations.  6th graders are responsible for bringing in peanut butter. Thank you for your support!

-My apologies for not sending the Scholastic Order forms home last week. They will be given to your student on Monday and orders will be due next Monday, Nov. 24th.

-With the new quarter underway and after receiving some feedback from conferences, I have decided to implement a few changes this quarter. First, your student is required to read at least 20 minutes three nights a week. To confirm that they have read, I ask that you sign their planner in the ELA section. Second, On days when tests are returned, your student will be required to get a parent/guardian signature on the test and return it the following day. Thank you for your continued support!


What are we learning???

Math:
Last week, we learned about variables in expressions. This is a difficult concept for many that requires practice for understanding. I have added helpful links to games and lessons on the Student Links page to assist your student with reviewing and practicing the skills we are learning in class. As planned, we will finish Unit 3 this week focusing on formulas, tables, and graphs. The test for Unit 3 will be Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 24th-25th. They will be given a study guide this Thursday before the test to prepare for the test and answers to the study guide will be handed out Friday, Nov. 21st.

Science:
At the end of last week, we hand a slight change of plans with Philae landing on a comet. We read the
Science World article to gain background information about the journey and mission. The students thoroughly enjoyed researching this topic as a class and seeing history being made! On Friday, we created a twitter board in our classroom in response to the successful landing on the comet. Here are some of their tweets:

• "I think that this expedition is going to open so many new doors to the universe's life." #rubberducky
• "I hope Philae will be able to maneuver enough to get the sunlight it needs."  #Philaecomet
• "It was so cool that it didn't break when it hit the comet going at that speed."  #cometsarecool
• "It's really cool that we are going to make history with Rosetta."  #Ilikecomets

This week, we will do one final wrap up conversation about Philae and Rosetta on Monday and then continue our Chemistry unit focusing on the periodic table and the elements.

ELA:
Spelling - We are continuing our normal Words Their Way schedule. Students will meet with their groups on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. We will not be having spelling the week of Thanksgiving due to the short week.

Writing - The students have been introduced to the Literary Essay unit and have already completed two challenging writing tasks this week. First, they had to write a flash essay (an essay written in one sitting) about a topic that really mattered to them. This will serve as a pre-assessment to see their growth as writers at the end of this unit. On Wednesday, we began writing an essay as a class about the classic tale, The Three Little Pigs. Our claim was that the third little pig was admirable because he was a hard worker, brave, and outsmarted his enemy. The students did an excellent job applying the structure of an essay and were able to complete two drafts all in three days!
       This week, we will be looking closely at a mentor text titled "Raymond's Run". We will begin the process of creating a claim for a literary essay and finding textual evidence to support our claims.

Reading - Through our writing unit, students will be challenged to use textual evidence to support an opinion about their book. They will also be doing this with a short story that will later be used when they write their very own literary essay. We will continue to practice this tricky skill as a class, in groups, and independently.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Weekly Update Nov. 10-14

Announcements:

-Thank you all for taking the time to attend Parent/Teacher Conferences! Our class had 100% parent attendance! I hope you found it helpful and encouraging as we continue the year working together for the benefit of your student! Please continue to let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

-Gibraltar Elementary is working with the Door of Life Food Pantry in Sister Bay and the Door County Community Resource Program Feed My People to help stock the Food Pantry shelves with items for local families. Starting November 3rd to November 21st, we will have a food we will have a food/personal care item drive to help local families in our area. Each grade level will be responsible for collecting a certain item. Please, if you are able, send that item to school to have your child put in the appropriate container in their classroom. There will also be a container in the lobby of the school to collect additional donations.  6th graders are responsible for bringing in peanut butter. Thank you for your support!

-Scholastic Order forms will be coming home this week. I will be submitting all orders November 20th.


What are we learning???

Math:
We have finished up Unit 2 and will be taking the pre-test for Unit 3 on Monday. Between Tuesday and Friday, we will be completing lessons 3.1-3.4. The week will focus on using one/two variables to represent expressions. We are hoping to test for Unit 3 before we break for Thanksgiving.The anticipated test date for Unit 3 will be Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 24th-25th. They will be given a study guide the Thursday before the test to prepare for the test and answers to the study guide will be handed out Friday, Nov. 21st.

Science:
The students greatly enjoyed a mini-project last week where we focused on the evolution of inventions. They answered various questions about popular inventions like cell phones, computers, and cars. In addition, they created a timeline that included significant stages in the inventions evolution. Presentations on this project will be on Monday. For the rest of the week, we will be diving into our new unit on Chemistry!

ELA:
Spelling - We will be back to our normal Words Their Way schedule. Students will meet with their groups on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. The homework expectations return to the usual three required activities. We will not be having spelling the week of Thanksgiving due to the short week.

Writing - On Monday, we will begin our second writing unit. We will be writing Literary Essays. This will be quite the challenging, but rewarding process for your student! We will keep you posted on our progress!

Reading - Through our writing unit, students will be challenged to use textual evidence to support an opinion about their book. We will be practicing this tricky skill as a class, in groups, and independently.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us

Weekly Update Nov. 3-7

Announcements:

-There is no school Thursday or Friday of this week.

-Parent/Teacher Conferences are right around the corner! Please let me know if you forgot or need to reschedule your scheduled time. I look forward to seeing you all again THIS Thursday, November 6th!

-Gibraltar Elementary is working with the Door of Life Food Pantry in Sister Bay and the Door County Community Resource Program Feed My People to help stock the Food Pantry shelves with items for local families. Starting November 3rd to November 21st, we will have a food we will have a food/personal care item drive to help local families in our area. Each grade level will be responsible for collecting a certain item. Please, if you are able, send that item to school to have your child put in the appropriate container in their classroom. There will also be a container in the lobby of the school to collect additional donations.  6th graders are responsible for bringing in peanut butter. Thank you for your support!


What are we learning???

Math:
Last Friday, your student received the Unit 2 study guide. We will review the study guide on Monday. They will be able to compare their work to the answer sheet Monday night as a way of studying for the test. Unit 2 test will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday, Nov. 10th, we will dive into Unit 3 (Variables, Formulas, and Graphs).

Science:
We will be completing a mini-project this short week on how inventions evolve. Students will be researching an invention that has changed over time. This will all be completed in class and will be displayed for Parent/Teacher Conferences.

ELA:
Spelling - Due to the short week, there will be NO spelling this week. It will begin again as usual on Monday, Nov. 10th.

Writing - We learned some great things from visiting author, Katie McKy. This week, we will be flash draft writing in various ways and then choosing one to polish up and publish. Through these flash drafts, they will be focusing on improving 1-2 self-created goals. As Katie believes, you become a better writer by writing, writing, and writing some more!

Reading - Students are thoroughly enjoying our read aloud! We are continuing to sharpen our skills on asking critical questions about plot, character development, and narration through Wonder and their individual DEAR books.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us