December 15th

Wow!  Can you believe that it is the middle of December already?  Please read below to see what we have been working on in the classroom over the past couple weeks.

Readers' Workshop

In Readers' Workshop we have been working on formulating claims about our characters and providing reasons and evidence to support our claims.  We have been stating a claim, giving reasons for our claim and then providing evidence from the text to support our reasons.  The students are doing a great job of finding evidence to support their thinking.  We have been using our read aloud Fish in a Tree to state our claims about characters. This is now transferring into our opinion writing. 

Writers' Workshop

In writers' workshop we are working on writing opinion essays.  The students are reading about issues and then formulating their opinion. We are using multiple sources to provide reasons and evidence to support our opinions.  Our essays have a strong lead or hook paragraph, three reasons with evidence in the body, and then a closing with an echo.  Each week we will be tackling a different topic to write about. This week we are researching on rats and our question is "Does rats make good pets?"  Sorry if you child gets the idea that they need a pet rat at home.  

Today we focused on our hook.  How are we going to hook our readers to make them want to read our opinion piece?  We could do this by painting a picture, asking a question, giving background information, or sharing some statistics.  Then we wrote our lead with a hook, a claim, and a list of our reasons.  We have some amazing writers in our classroom.

Math

In Math we finished our unit on fractions.  Today we took our Unit 3 BA.  We had a lot of questions during the BA.  The BA results will be posted on Family Access by the end of the day Friday.  Please talk to your child and ask what was easy for them on the assessment and what was challenging.  We will send home the BA when everyone has had a chance to finish.

Social Studies

We finished our first unit on The First Americans and European Exploration.  To prepare for our first Social Studies BA we played a game called Kahoot (see pictures below).  Kahoot is a game where students answer multiple choice questions on their device and play against one another.  We had a lot of fun studying together.

We have now started our second unit on Colonial Life.  We have been studying the push and pull many people faced as they moved to the new world.  

Winter Party

On Thursday (12/22) around 1:45, we will be begin our Holiday Party.  We will be watching the Polar Express!! Around 2:30, we are going to break for a snack.  Students can bring something to drink from home. Please consider sending something with a lid.  Then we will continue the movie for the remainder of the afternoon. 

Important Reminders and Dates

• Permission Slips: Please return permission slips for our trip to Walled Lake Western if you have not done so already
• PTA:Please consider joining the PTA we currently only have a couple families that have joined.  You do not need to attend the meetings.  You can send in the PTA form with your small membership fee.
• December 22nd: Winter Party
• December 22nd - January 3rd: Winter Break

News Crew

Calling All 4th and 5th Graders Interested in NEWS CREW

Please click on the link below to apply for a WLE TV News Crew job, if you are interested.   Applications are due December 14th!  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Mrs. McDonald

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSep7lgxYZBhjdo58lI_whOBYbx-hGNT9ZecE117Vlv4RSISJQ/viewform

November 11th

Blog written by the students in room 14.

We have had a productive week of working together in room 14.  We spent some time working on understanding differences and respecting each other opinions. We learned that we can have friends that do not share the same opinions and views.  We all come from different backgrounds and experiences.  We understand the importance of respecting one another.

Read below to see what room 14 has been working on this week.

Readers' Workshop
By: Alex, Roman, Jordyn, Iker, and Damien
In Readers' Workshop this week we have been working on SWBST.  This stands for somebody, wanted, but, so, then/theme.  This strategy helps us to retell or write a summary of stories we read. We are going to use these summaries to help us write realistic fiction stories of our own.

Writers' Workshop
In Writers' Workshop we have been writing realistic fiction stories.  We have been working on thinking about the setting of our stories and how the setting can affect the characters.  We also learned that authors spend a lot of time researching before writing.  We spent some time researching caves so we could develop a strong setting.

Math
By: Karlee, Caden, Landon, and Carlina
In math we finished unit 2.  We spent some time reviewing to prepare for the upcoming BA.  We reviewed 4 digit by 2 digit traditional division.  We also worked on checking our work by using the inverse operation.

School Wide Updates

WLE Spirit Wear

Order Your Walled Lake Spiritwear Today!

Show your Tiger Pride and order your spiritwear today! All orders must be placed by MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21st! You may order by simply filling out the order form that was sent home with your child and returning it to the school OR ordering online at the link below!

https://walledlake.itemorder.com

PTA NEWS

PTA NEEDS YOU!  PTA has asked me to find a parent that would be our classroom representative.  As a representative, you would have to attend 1 meeting a month to help the PTA makes decisions about for school community. If you are willing to donate your time as a PTA classroom representative, your child will get FREE POPCORN FOR THE YEAR!  Please let us know if you would be willing to be our classroom rep.

We still need our parents to join the PTA.  Joining the PTA does not require any of your time.  You just need to fill out a registration form and pay the $6 membership fee.  PTA is a great way to get involved in your child's education.

SOCKTOBER CONTINUES: A WLE 5th Grader on a Mission

Check out this incredible video featuring our Fifth Grade students as they support their classmate, Zane. Click here to play…

Zane is collecting warm clothing items for the South Oakland Shelter. We are helping him reach his goal of 300 items. Any donation of new socks, warm clothes can be placed in the box outside Mr. Malonis' classroom. 

November 4th

*Blog written by the students in room 14

We have had a busy week in room 14.  It was a wonderful week that began with our last WLE Halloween parade.  It was different having the parade so early in the morning but we all enjoyed our last Halloween as elementary students.

Important Dates and Reminders:

PLEASE consider joining the WLE PTA. Our class currently has 0% PTA membership. Please support the students at WLE with your membership.

November 8: NO SCHOOL- Parent teacher conferences from 8:00-6:00

November 10: Cookie Dough Fundraiser Pick Up from 3:00-6:00

November 11: Popcorn Sale 50 cents a bag

November 18: Popcorn Sale 50 cents a bag

November 24 & November 25: NO SCHOOL

November 30: Holiday Shop begins

Readers' Workshop

By: Carlina, Caden, Iker, Justin, and Quincy

In Readers' Workshop this week we have been looking for signposts.  The Notice and Note signposts help us think about the stories we read and jot down our thinking.  We have learned about Contrast and Contradiction when a character acts in a way that is unexpected.  We also learned about A-ha moments where a character realizes something. These A-ha moments often times solve conflicts or support the theme of the story.

Writers' Workshop

By: Peyton, Roman, Landon, Lamar, and Chase

In Writers' Workshop we have been working on adding figurative language to our writing.  We have been working on adding similes, metaphors, hyperboles, personification, idioms, oxymorons, allusions,  and alliterations. We have also been looking for examples of figurative language in our reading.  Figurative language can help to engage the reader. As we have been working on this we are also working to publish one of our memoirs.

Math

By: Ashley, Jordyn, Damien, and Karlee

In math this week we have been working on division.  We studied the area model, partial quotients, and traditional division.  We looked at the similarities and differences between the different strategies.  We determined traditional division is the most efficient way.  We also learned that we need to memorize our multiplication facts in order to efficiently multiply and divide multi-digit numbers.  Please practice basic multiplication facts at home.

Science
By: Marwan, Nathan, Alex, Shokrukh, and Armani

This week in Science we learned about the water cycle.  We spent time learning about convection currents as well.  We have our first science BA on Wednesday, November 9th.  This week we worked on our science review to get ready for our first BA.  Don't forget to study room 14!

Social Studies
By: Alexa, Faith, Tyler, Leila, and Connor
In Social Studies we have been learning about European Explorers.  So far we have learned about Leif Erikson, Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Juan Ponce de Leon, Ferdinand Magellan, and Hurnan Cortes.  We found that the explorers we have studied were exploring looking for gold, a shorter route to the Indies, or land.  We had a debate about which explorer deserves their own national day.  We needed to provide a claim and evidence to support our claims.  Ask your 5th grader who he or she believes deserves a national day.

October 28th

Written by the students in room 14.

We all survived camp.  We had an amazing time getting to know one another and learning about environmental science.  Please read below to hear about camp from the students in room 14.  

Forest Community

By: Alex, Marwan, and Alexa

In forest community we went on a hike and smelled Sassafras and Wintergreen. We ate wintergreeen.  We also learned about forest succession.  We hiked through the forest looking at intermediate and climax forests.

Pond

By: Caden, Karlee, and Faith

At camp we had a class called pond we did many things there.  We learned that in ponds and streams there are things like insect lavras and other living organisms.  We went to a pond and a stream to find samples.  We took the samples and looked at them under the microscope.  We also learned about the succession of a pond.

Geology

By: Shokhrukh, Jordyn, and Iker

In geology class we learned about 3 types of rock, sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. After we learned about those rocks we got to go outside to a farmer’s field. When we got there we got shovels and we started to dig to find rocks. When we found rocks we used hammers to break them to see what’s inside them and what kind of rock it was. We got to keep the rocks and bring them home.

Water Cycle

By: Nathan, Chase, Roman

In Water Cycle class, we learned that we can find little animals in streams. If you use a microscope, you can find little insects that are really small in the pond/streams.   We found pollution in the stream. Water pollution can affect your body. The pollution in the water can kill the animals that lives in the water. We also learned ways that we can help save water and protect the watershed.

Evening Fun

By: Tyler, 

We did string tricks and it was hard to make the tricks and also we did Legos where we had to build something  about what you learned when hiking. We made bookmarks  with leaves in them. We had to find leaves  outside. We also did a camp print on a shirt.

Dorm Life

By: Peyton, Justin, and Ashley

At fifth grade camp we all had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the camp cafeteria. We had assigned table groups.  We were responsible to get our own food and clean up when we were done. We also watched a movie each night and took showers in the dorm. It felt good to get the dirt off. Then we would write in our camp folders. After we finished writing we were able to hang out and talk in the dorms.  We really liked the dorm life.

Owl Pellets

By: Leila, Carlina, and Connor

At camp, the grossest thing that we did (by far) was dissecting owl pellets (throw up).  We had partners and each pair of partners got an owl pellet.  We had different tools.  We had 1 toothbrush, 2 pairs of tweezers, and 2 paintbrushes.  The owl pellet felt like a hairball from a cat.  As we pulled it apart, we found skulls and bones from different rodents and other small animals.

October 7th

Written by the students in room 14

Reminders:

• Camp forms and money due on Tuesday, October 11th
• Ice Cream Social Donations due Tuesday, October 11th
• Ice Cream Social is on Thursday, October 13th from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
• American Indian Regions quiz on Thursday, October 13th
• Please send in party donations $10 covers all of our celebrations this year.
• NO SCHOOL Wednesday, October 12th

Readers' Workshop

In Readers' Workshop we have continued to work with partners and talk about our thinking.  We also worked on stopping and jotting our thinking while reading.  This helps us organize our thinking as we read.

Writers' Workshop

In Writers' Workshop we continued to write our memoirs.  We have been working on adding feelings to our writing.  We practiced showing our feelings and not just telling.  Instead of saying "I was scared." we would say "I felt like a mouse running away from a cat!" 

Math

We started Unit 2 on Place Value. We worked on place-value relationships and writing numbers in expanded form.

Science

We worked with the Water Cycle this week.  We focused on evaporation.  We placed two cups of water in the window, one hot and one cold.  Our question was "What factors make evaporation go faster?"

Social Studies

In Social Studies this week we continued to study the American Indian regions.  We also started studying European Explorers.  The first explorer we studied was a viking named Leif Eriksson.  

September 30th

Where did September go?  Our learning community in room 14 has been hard at work.  Read below to see what we have been working on in the classroom.

Reader's Workshop
In Reader's Workshop we have been working on strong partnerships.  This week we used the book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne.  The partnerships practiced using accountable talk to discuss the book. We were able to discuss the significance of character actions, the meaning of important elements of the illustrations and we were able to make inferences about the characters.  The conversations in room 14 this week were meaningful and considerate.  We are really developing a respectful and responsible classroom community.


Writer's Workshop
We have been studying memoirs in Writer's Workshop this week.  We have used a variety of mentor text to determine the important elements of a memoir.  We came up with the following explanation.



A Memoir is ...

• One memory of significance
• A life-changing event
• A moment that the author will never forget
• A story that makes you feel something (happy, sad, proud, furious, excited, etc.)
• Important to the writer

Math

We finished our unit on area and volume.  The students in room 14 took the Benchmark Assessment on Friday.  This assessment was lengthy and took most of the afternoon.  The assessment grades are now on Skyward Family Access.  Please login to see your child's grade.  The graded Benchmark Assessments will be sent home this week. Please review the assessment with your child.  Go over any areas in which you child needs support.  Then sign the top page and return it to school the next day.  Thank you for your support!

Social Studies

In Social Studies this week we have been studying the American Indian Regions. We looked at the lifestyle, environment, food, shelter and transportation of the different regions.  We were able to compare and contrast the life of the first Americans.  

PTA NEWS 

The 2016-17 PTA Membership Drive is off to an impressive start! If you haven't yet, please send in your membership form along with $6.00 per person who joins and supports our PTA! No time to volunteer? That's OK!!! You can still be a member and support or school, with zero obligation. Members will receive a student directory, coming out this fall. Your contribution supports most school activities, events, and assemblies! Please contact Amy Kurzeja with any questions. Amykurzeja@yahoo.com 

Important Dates

• October 3rd: NO SCHOOL
• October 5th: COUNT DAY (please try not to make appointments on this day)
• October 7th: Cookie Dough Fundraiser due
• October 7th-14th: WLE Book Fair
• October 11th: All camp paperwork and tuition due (if you need financial assistance for camp please check with the front office)
• October 12th: NO SCHOOL
• October 23rd: Walled Lakes Schools Open House 1-3 p.m.
• October 24-26: 5th Grade Camp
• October 31st: 1/2 day of school