The Evelyn Smith Wray Village Sc


Kindergartners and 5th and 6th graders are listening to instructions from Ms. Harts.	Fifth and sixth graders are cheering on Chloe during the pumpkin roll relay.	Prizes for winners and good sports	Settling in for a hayride	Waiting for Mr. Galloway to start up the motor

Fifth and Sixth Grades

News from the 5th & 6th Grade S.S. and C.S. Classroom
With Ms Jane November 2008

Next week is our last week to prepare for our school’s fund raiser “Are You Smarter Than a Village Schooler ?”. We are delighted to be the class featured at this fund raiser. We feel fortunate to be paired with such outstanding community members. It will be a fun night, but we are a bit nervous. We want to do well for our school!

PLEASE check-out how to vote on-line for your favorite pair to win the People’s Choice Award!!!!

This entire month we have been studying and reading about immigrants coming to America through Ellis Island. We are finishing our class book dealing with a Russian family coming to America. After checking out facts and photos about Ellis Island, we will create a tabletop version of Ellis Island. We will also be writing creative stories about our experiences leaving our European country and sailing to America. A day will be set aside as Ellis Island Day. Students will be invited to dress as an immigrant coming to America. Visas will be required to enter the classroom. Each student will then tell of his/her adventures or tribulations immigrating to America. A day of cooking some Scandinavian or Western European dish will culminate our studies of immigrants to America.

5th grade
This week we will be continuing with weathering and erosion. What is the difference between mechanical and chemical weathering? We will be doing some interactive learning using an internet website. In the middle of the week we will be doing our own experiment on mechanical weathering and observing and recording our own results.

6th grade
This week we will focus on the third of the four main definitions for technology which is system of productions. During the week students will get to see an assembly line for Wilson footballs as well as Crayola crayons on an internet video clip. We will also be conducting our own assembly line and identifying the different jobs as well as the benefits and costs.

5th Grade students are working on division of decimal numbers. Continue to practice multiplication tables at home. It is essential to know the multiplication tables in order to divide. First we will be dividing decimal numbers by whole numbers, then decimal numbers by decimal numbers. This involves moving the decimal in the divisor and the dividend the same number of places so that we will be dividing by a whole number. There will be some examples with zeros in the answer. Some students have had difficulty with this concept in the past. Upon completion of Chapter 4 students will begin fractions. Students must take responsibility for writing assignments in the Manatee book each day and making sure they take their math book home to complete assignments.

Just a note to all classes: we go over two or three “Math Star” problems each day, so that students can decide how to work them. They must complete the exercises at home. Some students are not paying attention to the Math Star hints given in class and some are not completing their problems by Friday. This is a grade every week.

6th graders are finishing up their chapter project on statistics. We will begin Chapter 4 soon. In November student will work on number patterns, fractions, and percents. They will learn rules for divisibility and find prime factorization by making factor trees. Students will explore arithmetic and geometric sequences and will examine some familiar patterns (Fibonnaci sequence, Pascal’s triangle) Students will find Greatest Common Factor (GCF) using factor trees. Using the GCF they will simplify fractions and ratios. Students will explore the connection between fractions and percents. They will learn to use multiples in finding the Least Common Multiple(LCM). Students will compare fractions by finding the lowest common denominator. (This is the LCM) There is a lot of important information in this chapter.

In Music, we are preparing for a wonderful Christmas program. Students know almost all the words to the songs from “Angels Aware” and hopefully those with speaking parts are learning the dialogue. We have costumes and scenery. Keep practicing.

If you have any questions or concerns, or wish to talk to me about your child’s progress, don’t hesitate to call 754-2072 to set up an appointment. Better yet, make a note in the Manatee Book, and I’ll get back to you.