Weekly Newsletters

March 7th, 2011
Dear Parents,

Last Friday we visited the retired drilling rig, Ocean Star, in Galveston.  The museum featured many models and interactive displays that helped us understand the story of offshore oil and gas seismic technology. We were able to walk out onto the drill floor of the rig as well as see exploration platforms, actual drill bits and remotely operated vehicles. I encourage you to visit the museum with your family and learn more about this petroleum industry. Big Thanks to our wonderful chaperons, Alex's mom, Will's mom, and Nadia's mom for helping me ensure our kids safety.  This trip concluded our Energy planner.

We are now delving into human migrations.  We talked about mammoth crossing the land bridge, westward expansion, industrial revolution, civil war and migration waves that followed.  We talk about reasons people migrate (cause) and effect of migrations, conflicts, assimilation and current event issues.   Next week we'll be reading The Circuit, stories from the life of a migrant child, by Francisco Jimenez, while reviewing reading comprehension skills.  After spring break, we'll read Jackie Robinson and the year of the boar, in LDC.

In math, we are going to review Geometry, and then start a spiral review for the TAKS test scheduled for April 5th.

You are invited to an exhibition meeting Tuesday, March 8th.  Mrs. Blakslee and the 5th grade teachers and I will be presenting in Mrs. Blakslee's room from 7:30-8:30.  I encourage you to come, listen and ask questions about this very unique journey, your child is about to embark.

Also this week is the growth and development program.  Girls will view the movie and talk to the nurse on Tuesday, while boys will view it on Wednesday.

Field day is on Friday, and the Gummy Bear Gods are ready!   Please send a healthy snack and come cheer as we have fun in the sun :)
As always, big thanks for all your support,
Merav Gilboa



December 3rd, 2010
Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for sending supplies to the classroom this week and for all your support throughout.
The Thanksgiving lunch you provided us was delicious and we enjoyed eating in the classroom as a community before we went our separate ways….
We shared how thankful we all were for having family, friends and each other ;)


Our Government Planner is coming to a close, we finished another LDC rotation today. The student delivered great speeches, and Mrs. Gee was very impressed. The last thing we are doing for this planner is a research activity. The kids are asked to research a person that influenced the American Government. They are to focus on their beliefs and values, and how that passion affected their ACTIONS. We will be working on this in class using the laptops. Please remind your child to bring a memory device to school so that they can save their work.


We are getting ready for a busy week next week. Starting our energy planner, we will delve into our 5th grade physical science objectives. Now that we understand and appreciate biodiversity we’ll learn all about alternative energy sources and their significance.


Mark your calendar - Our Holiday party will be on Dec 17th. We will start at 1:00 with a late lunch, so please send a bigger snack that day.  We decided we would like to celebrate our cultural diversity, so I encouraged the kids to share a family or cultural tradition with us that day.  It could be a game, music, story, food items, etc. One of the games we’ll play is the traditional secret Santa/book exchange. I placed some new scholastic catalogs on-line. Our Class Activation Code is: GM789. Once your child knows who they are shopping for, they can think about good fit books for their special friend, or what genre they might like.


Spelling Bee is scheduled for Jan when we come back from the break. In order to pick 2 students to represent our class, I attached a link on our classroom blog for the interested students to use and study. We will have a "mini" spelling bee in class next Friday.


Last, please check with your child as they might be running out of some school supplies such as dry erase markers, spirals or pencils.

Have a great weekend
Merav Gilboa

November 21, 2010
Dear Parents,



We'll be reading SHH! We are writing the constitution in LDC the next couple of weeks. It will be a very short LDC rotation due to the Thanksgiving holiday. It is very important that your child keeps up with their homework every day. This book by Jane Fritz, is a wonderful historical fiction, fitting perfectly with were we are in time and place in our social studies curriculum. In the next couple of weeks we'll be creating a time line of events leading to the Revolutionary War to practice sequencing.
I have been assigning homework using Pearson Success website. These are great as review, additional practice, as well as extra credit grade.


If your child doesn't have access to a computer for some reason, please let me know immediately so that I can provide a hard copy. In order to get credit for the math they are required to show work on a separate piece of note paper. Also, there are many math tutorials that can help solidify specific topics. Your child should know their username and password. Renzulli is another enrichment resource available for your child. At the beginning of the year each child got profiled and according to their interests, talents and learning style they can find activities to do.
Thanks for signing up to provide items for our Thanksgiving lunch. The plan is to eat in the classroom together, and share what we are thankful for.


Have a great week


Merav Gilboa

October 30th, 2010



Dear Parents,


I hope that you are enjoying this wonderful weather with your family and friends.


The car wash this morning seemed like a huge success both as a fund raising activity, and a social get together. And I am enjoying my clean car ;)


We had another busy week.


In math we learned about describing chance events and probability through hands-on experiences. The students had to guess the chance of a thumbtack landing point down. Each team got a small cup and 10 tacks. They had to shake the cup gently, toss it on their desks, and count the ones pointing down. Each team threw 100 tacks total, as a class we threw 1100 thumbtacks. We Collected the class data and expressed it as a fraction, a decimal, and percent. Verbally we described chances this week as certain, extremely likely, likely, 50-50, unlikely, and impossible. On a different day, we measured the kid's reaction time to stimulus using a hand gauge. We later used that data to find landmarks such as, mean, mode, maximum, minimum, and range. Last, the spinner experiment allowed us to explore probability.


Big Thanks to Alex's mom who came on Friday to teach the kids about self taught artists; Grandma Moses and Edward Hicks.


We are going to the Madam Butterfly Opera November 9th. To honor the event we have decided that attire should be Sunday's best.


Breakfast in the classroom starts Tuesday November 2nd.


Here is what will happen.....


Mrs. Ruth and Mrs. Liz will give out cards.


From 7:35 to 7:45, breakfast will be available in the cafeteria for those who are ready to eat.


After 7:45, Students who want breakfast will get their card from Mrs. Ruth or Mrs. Liz who will be stationed near the office.


Students will bring their cards to the carts that will be stationed around the school.


They will eat in the classroom and should be finished by the time announcements are over.


After the announcements, the trash will be picked up outside our classroom in the hallway.


You can still opt out using the specific pink form that was sent in the Tuesday folder. Once you opt out your child will never have breakfast. If you want him/her to have an occasional breakfast, they will get their card on those days and eat.


The students who currently eat breakfast in the cafeteria will still be able to do that.


As always please let me know if you have any questions or concerns,
Yours
Merav

October 22, 2010
Dear Parents,

What a great party! Big thanks to Claudia, Cathie, and Rene for organizing our class party, and to all of you for making it happen. I appreciate you making an effort to come after work, and bringing food to share. It was wonderful getting to know you all better, and see the kids enjoy themselves out in the field & playground.

This week we created ecosystems in a Jar. Each group is a proud owner of a land ecosystem as well as a water ecosystem. We talked about living and non living things that work together to make this a system. The Jars are sealed and therefore, we discussed what would enable this to work and sustain life. We discussed the role, or niche of plants, a.k.a producers as well as consumers. The importance of photosynthesis, the water cycle, and the carbon dioxide/oxygen cycle. You are invited to visit, discuss, and enjoy these ecosystems with your child.


Next week we will have Science common assessment over all the science concepts taught since the beginning of the year. It will cover the objective of Nature of Science as well as Life Science and some earth science cycles and systems. Your child has handouts in their science folder (purple) they should review. Also, we have been making science vocabulary index cards as a study tool. I believe that being familiar with the science vocabulary will make reading science passages (TAKS) more fluent and easier to comprehend as a result.

Mrs. Z-Hicks's class and our class will challenge each other in a science Vocabee later on this year. The vocabee is an annual friendly competition, motivating the kids to study their vocabulary. Last year Mrs. Hicks's class won and we want to bring the trophy home.


In social studies we are exploring colonial America. Using the Social Studies text book we are reading non fiction, taking notes and having discussions.

The kids finished talking earth in LDC, and we are back to Reader's notebook. They are expected to read at least 30 minutes a day, and write a letter a week to discuss what they have read.


I was disappointed to miss the Brazos Bend field trip, but happy to learn that the kids enjoyed it. Big Thanks to our parent chaperons, Cathie, Mike, Claudia, and Angela.


I hope to see you all at Spooky Spaghetti tomorrow 4:00-8:00.
Have a great weekend ;)
Merav

One last thing.....



Report card went home today with the graded work binder.
Please review, reflect and sign one copy.
You can keep one copy for your records, the other sign and send back to school on Monday.
Thanks
Merav


PS look at the blog for new pictures and updates



October 13th, 2010
Dear Parents,


Since Ragweed level is high and some of the kids and I suffer from Allergies, I have decided to offer indoor recess as an option. Kids that choose to go out will be supervised by Mrs. Z-Hicks, while I stay indoors and supervise the kids that choose to opt out. I hope that the allergens will go away soon, and we’ll all be able to enjoy this beautiful weather.



The blog has been updated with a few extra features I would like to tell you about:

• There is an LDC page where you can find the rubric for this LDC rotation. You can use it as a reference in case your child forgets their folder in class.

• There is a Research page (still under construction), where I will post links to good and appropriate websites for the kids to review and use during their research.

• Language Art Page – aka Spelling and Vocabulary page, where I will update word list for your reference. Please encourage your child to practice daily.

• Weekly newsletters Archive page.

• Math Games Page (still under construction)

• I also added some links to important websites for you. For example: quick link to Gradespeed, Mark Twain website, and to Lexile finder.



My hope is that you can use this blog and find it helpful, so if you have any suggestions please let me know. Also, at this point I only have 5 followers on record. Please go on-line and sign up to follow our blog and show your support.



Friday, October 15, is the end of this grading cycle. I will enter the last grades on Friday and generate report cards. Report cards will be given October 22.

Please remember that we have early dismissal on October 22nd. If you would like to schedule a parent conference at that time please let me know.



Have a great week,

merav


October 1st, 2010


Dear Parents,

Due to camp schedule, Brazos Bend field trip got postponed to October 20th.

I sent Tuesday folders home today, please sign conduct chart and return to school on Monday.

Also, please sign progress report and send it back to school on Monday if you haven't done so already.

Class party is scheduled for Oct 21st, 5:30 - Mark your calender.

Science - We completed Objective 1 - Nature of Science.

On Wednesday we will have a science test covering; Lab Safety, lab tools, and scientific method.

Your child has a purple folder with some handouts that can be used as a study guide.

Students wrote a passage (rough draft) about the relationship between Earth and the Sun in class today, they should revise it and bring final draft on Monday.

Math - Estimation, Subtraction, and Addition Review.

We have been Solving math puzzles, and producing multiplication chart up to 15 while observing and identifying patterns. This activity helps with numerical sense, and can provide a "tool" for your child on a test. If they take 3-4 minutes to produce this chart on any math test they can find square numbers, equivalent fractions, multiples, factors and so much more.... (it is a legal cheat sheet)

Social Studies - Explorations.... We started with an undisturbed continent, the land bridge theory (hunters following the mammoth), Vikings, and now we are learning about Christopher Columbus. All of these event leading to our government planner. I am using the social studies text book and passages as a resource for non fiction reading.

Reading Graphic Organizers - All about Venn diagrams, charts, line graphs and pie graphs.... which is which, when should we use them, and how to read and analyze them.

Reading - Students are expected to read a minimum of 30 minutes a night, and write me a letter in response to their reading. The letter is skill specific. For example, next week we'll be talking about theme and setting. After introducing the book they are reading (name, genre, good fit?) they should write a paragraph about the theme of the book (big idea), and in the next paragraph describe the setting and how it is supporting the theme. Every week we discuss different reading skill/strategy.

We will be reading the WOW magazine next week - Biodiversity issues of Habitat loss, Introduced species, population overgrowth, over consumption and Pollution. Please encourage your child to listen to the news, read newspapers, and watch nature shows. Everyday, there are current events that pertain to the issues we discuss in class. As we discuss the different issues they can share examples and knowledge with the class. (For examples, Jelly fish over population off the coast of Japan (due to overfishing), fire ants as introduced species, snakes in Guam) Reading Common Assessment on Friday - Please encourage your child to take their time and use test strategies.

I hope you have a great weekend with your family, and that the kids get a chance to rest and get ready for a busy week.

Take care

Merav Gilboa



9/17/2010

Dear Parents,

It was great seeing you all at open house! I enjoyed visiting with you and getting to know you.

You may have noticed that the work load is slowly increasing and it is my hope that the kids will gradually get used to it and be able to keep up with the activities.



READING - Reading log. Your child is expected to read 30 minutes a day, chapter book at his/her level. We talked about lexile level in class.

www.lexile.com is a wonderful website that can give you a book's lexile level as well as a list of books your child might be interested in according to his/her interest and lexile level. In addition, I will collect one letter a week, a written response to what they read.

We will be reading non fiction SOCIAL STUDIES text, starting with Exploring America.



Reading Graphic organizers - Charts, pie graphs, line graphs, and Venn diagrams. We will start reading different graphic organizers every day as well as record data using these representations.



MATH- Unit 1 Numeration (All about numbers) We will be writing about math this week, while reviewing for the common assessment test (Friday).

Last week, in our collaborative learning groups we learned 4 different multiplication algorithm. We had Box experts, lattice experts traditional experts, and partial product experts come together and share strategies.

Next week, Students will be asked to write a book explaining how to multiply. Each chapter will focus on a different algorithm.

Keeping their audience in mind, they will write a step by step procedure explaining how to solve a 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication problem. Students will illustrate their book, write a reflection on their favorite algorithm, and publish it on the wall.



SCIENCE - Comparing physical characteristics of the Moon, Sun and Earth (product - Venn Diagram).

Understanding seasons, Earth's tilt, Revolution and rotation.



LANGUAGE ARTS- Every Monday, students receive about 7 vocabulary words and 20 spelling words, and every Friday they will be tested on these words. Please encourage your child to practice writing these words, and test them Thursday night for last minute practice.

Other language Arts grades come from every written assignments. I look for Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, and Spelling (C.U.P.S) errors in everything we write.



Attitude of the week - RESPONSIBILITY - I talked to the kids about Responsibility this week. If a child is absent it is his/her responsibility to bring an excused absence note, ask for make up work, and find out what they have missed.... We have a classroom agenda where they can see what was assigned for homework the day they were absent. In general, If your child misses a Monday, he/she should ask for the spelling and vocabulary word list. If they miss a Friday, they should ask to take the tests they missed.

Also, we discussed their responsibility as role models in the school. Being the oldest kids in the building they should choose their words and actions carefully because the younger kids look up to them and follow their lead.



Have a great 3 day weekend with your family and friends.

Merav





September 13, 2010

Dear Parents,



I am excited to let you know that today we all registered on Renzulli Learning website (www.renzullilearning.com) I will assign homework on this website periodically. Please allow your child to check their mailbox and use the computer to complete assignments.



If you don't send the speech permission slip by tomorrow morning your child will NOT be allowed to watch President Obama's speech.



Last, I would like to invite you to join me at open house tomorrow at 7:00 in our classroom.

This will be a great opportunity to get to know each other and build our classroom community.

I plan on talking about classroom procedures, grading policy and share what we do in class everyday.

If you would like to discuss personal academic progress of your child, please email me and we'll schedule a different time to do so privately.



I am looking forward to get to know all of you, Merav Gilboa





September 7, 2010

Dear Parent,



The blog is updated with some pictures from last week - Enjoy ;)



Here is what we have been working on last week.....



SCIENCE - The Scientific Method

This week we investigated the question "Which coin holds the most water?" The students were asked to make an educated guess, or form a hypothesis. Then, together we designed an experiment to test it. This was a quick hands-on review of the scientific method.



MATH - Number Theory

All about numbers... even or odd, prime or composite, naming numbers (place value), finding factors, divisibility rules, and arrays.

5Th grade students are expected to recall their multiplication facts quickly. We have been reviewing them during morning math time for the past two weeks. Mastery of these will ease your child's math experience tremendously. Please encourage and help your child practice. They have RED fact triangles in their math journal (orange folder) you can practice with.



SOCIAL STUDIES - Reading Maps

Last week we reviewed the different map features; inset maps, compass rose, map legend, etc. Then using the World map we reviewed continents and oceans. Next week, we'll focus on finding places using longitude and latitude.



READING & LANGUAGE ARTS

LDC - My side of the mountain with Mrs. Gee In class - Reading non fiction articles (National Geographic, Kids Discover)

* Creating outline (identifying Main idea, and supporting details)

* Identify Cause and Effect

* Distinguish between Fact and Opinion



We are going to Brazos Bend State Park September 29Th, to explore the biodiversity of the native species at the park. We will start the day with a guided hike around 40 acres lake (1 1/2 hour), eat picnic lunch and visit the nature center.

Your child received a yellow permission slip on Friday. Please sign and return with $12.50 to cover bus and guided hike cost.



Have a great Labor day with your family and friends Merav





September 1, 2010

Dear Parents,

Yes, we all survived the first week of school! Our focus this week was on building a strong and respectful community, establishing classroom routines, acquiring knowledge and making friends. I am very excited about getting to know your children, and sharing their 5Th grade experience. I believe that together we can make it a memorable last year at Mark Twain elementary.



Please take the time and visit our classroom blog at http://mrsgilboas5thgrade2010-2011.blogspot.com/

I will update and post pictures as often as I can so that you can enjoy some wonderful moments from our daily learning experiences.

I suggest that you subscribe to our blog to receive these updates as soon as I post them. Also, please become a follower and show your support ;)



This year you child will need some additional supplies that were not included in the school store supply box:

USB memory stick

1 x 3 ring binder (for graded work)

3 spiral notebooks

mechanical pencil (very recommended but optional) pencil sharpener



Last, if you would like to help this year there is a sign up sheet with many wonderful opportunities out side our classroom.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you at open house September 14th, 7:00pm.



Have a great weekend,

Merav Gilboa