October 10, 2012


5th Grade Newsletter



Field Trip: We are going to the McCallum Theater October 16 at 9:30 am to see the Shaolin Warriors. We have enough drivers for this trip already- thank you very much!!! Some students still need to turn in the permission form.

Progress Reports: Progress reports are going out today. I apologize for the delay- I did not review the reports and have them stuffed in envelopes before the end of the day yesterday.

Iowa Assessments: Testing has been completed. Results will be shared with parents at the Conference following the end of the First Trimester.

Science Fair: Science Fair is a few weeks earlier this year (January 23, 2013), so we are starting now. I have given the students a Science Project Proposal Form and Research Paper Information. By Friday, October 12, students need to know their question/topic and turn in the completed form. Please review this with your child, then sign and return the forms. I will give these back to the students for your records

Carnival: Mr. Watson sent a letter home earlier this week to remind parents to sign up for the Carnival booth and for all families to donate $5 to purchase supplies. Please do so by Friday October 12. Also, 5th grade will be performing a dance to Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party” at the Carnival. The theme is zombie party- so students can be in zombie costume or any other costume. The common feature will be faces painted with zombie/skull face, so they can be zombie (head to toe), zombie/doctor, zombie/ballerina, zombie/soccer player, etc. I only ask that the costume is easy to dance in (no zombie/banana or zombie/phone booth, for example). Students will have faces painted here at school so that all fifth grade faces look similar. I need a team of parents that day painting zombie/skull faces on the students. The time is yet to be determined.



Other reminders:

• Saturday, October 20: set up for Halloween Carnival

• Sunday, October 21: Halloween Carnival

• Monday, October 22: No School, Carnival Clean Up Day

• Monday, October 29: No School, Teacher Inservice Day

• Visit my blog at http://mrsbecerrasclass.blogspot.com/. You can submit your email and receive all updates- including this newsletter- in electronic form.



Thank you!

Mrs. Becerra

September 26, 2012


5th Grade Newsletter



Iowa Assessments: Thursday, September 27 is the day 5th grade begins standardized testing. The students will take the Cognitive Assessment Tests that day. Testing continues Monday, October 1 through October 10. See the schedule below.

• September 27:        Cognitive Assessments

• October 1:              Reading Test (Iowa Assessment)

• October 2:              Reading Test (Iowa Assessment)

• October 3:              Written Expression (Iowa Assessment)

• October 4:              Math (Iowa Assessment)

• October 5:               Social Studies (Iowa Assessment)

• October 8:              Math (Iowa Assessment)

• October 9:              Math Computation (Iowa Assessment)

• October 10:            Science (Iowa Assessment)

Please make sure your child is at school on time, is well rested, and has eaten breakfast.

Other reminders:

• 5th grade plans and leads readings and prayers in liturgy on September 27 at 8:30 am in the church.

• Friday, October 5: minimum day for faculty meeting

• Tuesday, October 9: First progress report

• Saturday, October 20: set up for Halloween Carnival

• Sunday, October 21: Halloween Carnival

• Monday, October 22: No School, Carnival Clean Up Day

• Monday, October 29: No School, Teacher Inservice Day

• Visit my blog at http://mrsbecerrasclass.blogspot.com/. You can submit your email and receive all updates- including this newsletter- in electronic form.



Thank you!

Mrs. Becerra

September 12 Newsletter 5th grade

September 12, 2012


5th Grade Newsletter



REMINDER!!:

Parents Club is TONIGHT in the Parish Hall at 7pm. Please be sure to be there and sign in. Attendance is required- remember you will be charged if no one from your family signs in your attendance.



Thank you to all families who attended Back to School Night. I am not able to upload my presentation to my blog- if anyone knows how to do this please let me know. The most pertinent information was sent home on the first day, but if you have any questions email or call me.

I did remind parents to make sure you have your Gradelink log in information. Find this at the office if you don’t have it.



Other reminders:

• Emergency backpacks and foods are due Friday, September 14.

• Picture day is September 18- uniforms required.

• No school on September 21- Faculty inservice

• 5th grade plans and leads readings and prayers in liturgy on September 27 at 8:30 am in the church.

• Visit my blog at http://mrsbecerrasclass.blogspot.com/. You can submit your email and receive all updates- including this newsletter- in electronic form.





Thank you! See you tonight at the meeting.

Mrs. Becerra

5th grade news

Thank you for a great first week of school, students and families! It has been a pleasure getting to know you and working with you this week.

Thank you to those who have brought facial tissue and paper towels- if you have not done so please bring them next week.

Also, many of you have turned in the $2 for the assignment books- thank you! Please send in the $2 next week if you have not done so already.

There are only a few earthquake backpacks and emergency food items in the classroom so far. Please bring those items as soon as possible. The fifth grade emergency food items are: canned tuna AND beef jerky or canned roast beef, AND canned corn (a total of three items)

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT is Thursday, September 6, from 6:30-8:00. Please meet at the lunch area for prayer and announcements. Remember, this time is for general information and questions. If you would like to speak with me about a specific question or concern about your child, we can make an appointment for another time.

Other reminders:

• Monday, September 3, is a holiday (no school) for Labor Day.

• Wednesday, September 12, is the first Parents Club Meeting. Meet in the parish hall at 7pm.

• Emergency backpacks and foods are due Friday, September 14.



Thank you! Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Becerra

Welcome 5th graders!

I am excited for the new school year to start! I hope you are too. We will work hard together to bridge your way to middle school, but I am planning for us to have a lot of fun too.  We will be learning dance for Halloween, songs for Christmas, field trips- including a trip to Los Angeles to the California Science Center- service projects- including the Divine Mercy Chaplet at Lent, and many hands on activities in the classroom.

I need to give you an updated supply list.  I have subtracted a few things.

#2 pencils/erasers                                              One 11/2 inch 3 ring binder

crayons/colored pencils                                     graph paper

1 ruler with centimeters                                    colored markers

glue/scissors                                                        4 composition notebooks

paper towels/facial tissue (2 of each)

pens- blue or black, also red

4 pocket folders

I have subtracted the 3 inch 3 ring binder, and the control paper.  I have added one more composition notebook, and request more paper towels and facial tissue.

SCIENCE NEWS

Over the summer, I created this blog for my science classes.  The purpose of the blog is to give me a way to give students and families updated information and to store important documents where everyone has easy access.  Also, I would like students and families to be able to give feedback on the information and have questions answered.  This is definitely an EXPERIMENT, which means that I may need to change or drop it if it doesn’t work.

Please visit this blog if you haven’t done so already and leave me feedback.  You can also subscribe to blog updates, which should inform you of any changes in the blog.

So far, the blog contains information about the 2013 OLPH Science Fair and also has supply llsts for each science class.  I am aiming to do more lab activities this year, but I need your help.  Please visit the supply list for your class to see what is needed.

The date for the 2013 OLPH School Science Fair is set!  Mark your calendars- its early this year.  Judging will take place on January 23, 2013.  I will be setting up a schedule as to when different checkpoints of your project are due- your topic, background research report, notebook and full report, etc.  We will start discussions and lessons about science fair as soon as school starts in August!

The school year of 2011-2012 is over, and we are all enjoying summer.  Like any teacher, I am reflecting on the past year- what worked, what could be done better.  I am working on Science Fair 2013 already- setting up schedules, organizing with teachers across grade levels and across the curriculum, and refining instructions and rubrics.  I will be posting information about Science Fair on this blog, and work on making it accessible to the students.