April 29-May 3

We take our last Interim Assessment Monday morning. 
Tuesday we have our last CBMs of the year: MCAP and MCOMP
Thursday kids will take their Reading CBM.

Please send in the Hill field trip form as soon as possible.
Please send in the Fifth Grade Farewell permission slip as soon as possible as well. 

The Volunteer Appreciation Event has been rescheduled for Monday, May 6 from 2:00-3:30 (in Multi-Purpose Room). 

Spelling: The new spelling list and homework will be posted in the spelling tab after school Monday. 

5H Math: On Monday and Tuesday this week we will continue practicing multiplying mixed numbers, but our focus will be on dividing fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by fractions. As usual, encourage your child to visit Xtramath at least 3 times a week. 

The unit 8 math test will be Wednesday. There will be an optional study session during lunch/recess on Tuesday. 

Reading/Writing:  We are continuing our "firsts/pioneer" project this week. The students and I came up with research requirements last week. While we will have time for research in class, it will be assigned for homework at least 1 night this week.  Students wrote their reading response letters on Edline last week, and I have responded to each of them. Students will need to write another response by the end of the week. 

Science: This week we will begin our small life unit by gaining an understanding of the parts and functions of microscopes. 

Social Studies: We will pick up from where we left off (The American Revolution) and start working our way through history toward The Civil War. The kids are working in groups this week to learn about different important events in order to present to the class. Kids are using their textbooks, books I've gotten from the library, and some will use internet resources to gain a thorough understanding of each event (War of 1812, Gold Rush, Trail of Tears, Westward Expansion (multiple events), and the writing of the Constitution). 

Kids need to be watching the news or checking the news web sites in the social studies tab to prepare for a current event presentation. I've only had 2 students present so far.

Sixth Grade Parent Night

Please join the Hill administrative team for a parent night to discuss your child’s success next year.

 

When: Tuesday April 30^th 7:00 p.m. -8:00 p.m.

 

Where: Hill Middle School, Commons

 

What to bring: Questions about middle school

 

Any questions about the meeting, please contact Michelle Stoehrmann, 630-428-6200

April 22-26

Monday: WVHS Planetarium Field Trip 
I believe I'm still waiting for a few permission slips.
Remember to send a cold lunch with your child- Thank you! 

Interim Assessments as well as the field trip will cause some shuffling of the schedule this week, in particular math. 
Spelling: We will take last week's spelling test on Monday as well as get the words for our new list.  The new spelling list and homework will be posted in the spelling tab after school Monday. 

5H Math: We will continue learning about multiplying mixed numbers (change to improper fractions then multiply normally).  We will also discuss how finding area uses multiplication and could use multiplication of fractions. We will begin learning about division of fractions this week as well.  As usual, encourage your child to visit Xtramath at least 3 times a week. 

The unit 8 math test will be the week of April 29th. 

Reading/Writing:  We are beginning a new project this week that ties into our theme of moving forward. We will discuss the importance of famous "firsts" in history, and students will choose one "first" to research. This project will last several weeks, and we have some exciting ideas for how kids will share their research...recording their presentations with an iPod Touch to be uploaded to a class YouTube  channel. Lots to do! This week kids will decide on their area of research, we will come up with requirements, and kids will begin their research. 

Science: Kids will take the Solar System test on Monday, as well as turn in their science notes for points. 

Social Studies: This week we will jump back into social studies.  We will pick up from where we left off (The American Revolution) and start working our way through history toward The Civil War. 

Solar System test tomorrow

Today we went over the important ideas from the test and students began looking through their notes and reviewing for the test. The test will be open note. Here are the main topics we discussed:

-What happens in a nebula?

-How are black holes formed?

-How are supermassive black holes formed?

-How do stars make energy?

-What is dark matter?

-What is a constellation?

-How does light escape the sun?

-CMEs  (Coronal Mass Ejection)

April 15-19

Proof of Residency forms are due Monday!! 
Field Trip permission also due Monday.

Remember, the volunteer appreciation event is this Thursday from 2:00-3:30 in the multi-purpose room. Thanks for all you do, volunteers! 

Spelling: The spelling list and homework will be posted in the spelling tab after school Monday. 

5H Math: We've focused on how multiplication of fractions is just like repeated addition of fractions to help us understand why you can multiply the numerators and denominators.  Drawing pictures to prove our understanding is very important and we will continue to practice this. Tuesday we will have a quiz on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers as well as multiplying fractions by whole numbers. Most kids are doing well in these areas, but some have problems when they have to regroup their mixed number in order to subtract (e.g. 3 1/4 - 2 1/2). 

We will continue learning about multiplying mixed numbers (change to improper fractions then multiply normally).  We will also discuss how finding area uses multiplication and could use multiplication of fractions. As usual, encourage your child to visit Xtramath at least 3 times a week.

Reading/Writing: Picture Book Mash Ups are due Wednesday morning. Students will have time in class Monday and Tuesday, but will most likely be completing parts of their books for homework. 

We are wrapping up our nonfiction reading groups either Tuesday or Wednesday. Kids have one more day of reading time and then we will take some time to synthesize what we've learned and share between groups. Students will have options in how they'd like to share their learning with each other. 

We are also beginning a new project this week that ties into our theme of moving forward. We will discuss the importance of famous "firsts" in history, and students will choose one "first" to research. This project will last several weeks, and we have some exciting ideas for how kids will share their research...recording their presentations with an iPod Touch to be uploaded to a class YouTube  channel. Lots to do! This week kids will decide on their area of research, we will come up with requirements, and kids will begin their research. 
Science: This week we will learn about constellations. We will review on Wednesday, and students will take their open-note solar system test Thursday and Friday. 

April 8-12

Young Author's Breakfast is Friday AM! 

Spelling: This week we are using words related to our solar system unit...posted in the Spelling Tab. 

5H Math: We began with multiplying fractions by whole numbers today. Later this week we will learn about and practice multiplying fractions by fractions (finding part of a part). We will do basic computation, work through story problems, as well as draw pictures to illustrate finding part of a part.  As usual, encourage your child to visit Xtramath at least 3 times a week.

Reading/Writing: The kids are working diligently on their picture book mash ups. It's nice to see their creative brains working as well as see how well most kids are able to cooperatively work with one another. Our tentative goal is to finish books by Friday, but I will be checking in with kids again Wednesday to see if this is reasonable. 

This week kids will be reading a nonfiction book and discussing with a small group. Students will have different roles and be responsible for helping themselves and their group members learn about the given nonfiction book (different groups will be reading different books). Students will be answering questions in response to their books, finding evidence to support their answers. We will work through our books for several days. The main purpose is to strengthen nonfiction reading skills including vocabulary development and the ability to answer questions using information from the text.  

Science: So far we've learned a lot about black holes and stars. Later this week we will learn more specifically about the Sun. Students will learn about the basic parts of a star using the Sun as a model. We will also discuss the motion of the sun and compare it to the other objects in our solar system. 

April 1-5

I hope everyone had a safe and restful spring break! I can't believe it's the beginning of 4th quarter!  I'm envisioning lots of good hard work this last quarter...we're not slowing down, keep up the good thinking and challenge yourself, kids! 

Report cards come home Friday! Please remember to send the signed envelopes back with your child. 

Spelling: Students received their spelling lists today, I will upload the list tomorrow. 

5H Math: Students will get their unit 7 tests back later this week. We started unit 8 today with a review of adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers (from unit 6). This week we will also learn how to multiply whole numbers by fractions and fractions by fractions.  As usual, encourage your child to visit Xtramath at least 3 times a week...as I'm checking students' work I see fact errors as causes for incorrect answers. 
 
Reading/Writing: Students are finishing up their courage books from the week before break. Students' books will be due Wednesday morning. This week we will begin discussing the idea of "moving forward". We'll think about how we sometimes have to move forward, how characters in our books experience change and who helps support us when moving forward. This will be a common theme throughout subjects for several weeks.  Incorporating these themes helps us to make connections between subject areas and the world around us. 

Grammar: This week we're learning about adverbs and how they're similar to adjectives because they modify other parts of speech. 

Science: This week we will be taking part in science learning with Mr. Schumann's class. We are beginning our unit on space with black holes, stars including the sun. We will watch several videos (and take notes) so the kids are able to connect all the facts they'll be learning to visuals.