Week of April 27

Can you believe it's almost May?

Reading: We are taking the Language Arts SAGE Test this week. Two sessions: Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:15.

Writing: We'll respond to our Pen Pals this week. It's been a while since we've written!

Math: Last week of math review! It's crunch time. Your students will be given the choice to work on the areas they need the most help on. We've reviewed pretty much everything, now it's time for them to choose what they need the most help on as week make our final preparations.

Social Studies: We will actually start our Revolutions Projects this week!

Homework: No homework on test days, Tuesday and Thursday. Homework will be given on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Skyward: Unfortunately, Skyward is down currently. Many students have turned in missing assignments. Thanks for following through! I promise I'll get them in the computer so you can see their updated grade as soon as Skyward is back up.

Any questions? Let me know!

Week of April 20

Sage Testing Begins This Week!

Reading: We're working on reading SAGE excerpts and answering questions. Getting all geared up!

Writing: Finish up commas and pronouns. We'll be ready for LA SAGE testing next week!

Math: Review! We'll be doing equations, inequalities, tables, and graphs this week.

Science: SAGE TESTING Tuesday, Thursday, and potentially Friday morning. PLEASE BE HERE!

Social Studies: With testing going on, unfortunately social studies gets put on the back burner.
But as soon as we can, we will be starting reports on the Revolutions.

This time of the year is CRAZY! We have SO MUCH going on. This review time is crucial for students to be ready for the SAGE test. Coming back to some of this tricky content the second time is just what students need to solidify and deepen their understanding. Please, keep your students in school as much as possible. We will be using every minute and more.

I have also tried to be very on top of assignments going into Skyward this trimester. Please visit Skyward with your child and see if they have any missing assignments. They can always get a second copy of a lost assignment from me.

Thanks for all you do!

Week of April 13

Welcome back from Spring Break! Hope you had a good week!

Reading: We will be reading excerpts and passages similar to what we'll see on the SAGE and practice answering questions using critical thinking skills.

Writing: Working on commas and pronouns.

Math: Review starts this week! This time of the year is CRUCIAL. We will revisit EVERYTHING we've learned this year to be prepared for the SAGE test which is coming right up!

Science: Last week of review this week, and we'll take the SAGE Science test next week.

Social Studies: We will begin reports on the major revolutions from around the world.

SAGE: Language Arts and Math Tests are still up in the air, but the science test is definitely happening next week. Computer lab and chromebook schedules are being solidified today. I will let you know exact times and dates for tests ASAP.

Week of March 30

Spring Break is next week!

We've got five days before break. We're going to work hard!

Reading and Writing: We're working on pronouns. Subjective, Objective, Possessive, and how to use them correctly.

Math: Math Test on Friday. Our last unit! When we get back from break we'll review for the SAGE.

Science: We've completed rotations and will start our review this week!

Social Studies: Finish up a short unit on Shakespeare. We'll start into Modern World History when we get back from break.

Let's work hard this week and have some fun!

Week of March 23

Welcome to Spring!

Hope you had a great weekend with the great weather!

Reading: We are working on pronouns this week! Recognizing them, using them, understanding them.

Writing: We'll finish up our essay on The Seasons this week, spend some time revising and editing it to make it better.

Math: We've just started the second half of our unit on Statistics. We will take the test the day before we go to Spring Break (April 3).

Science: Last week of Science Rotations, then we'll start reviewing for the SAGE Science test.

Social Studies: Although we will not be performing a Shakespeare play as a class, we are learning about him and many of his plays.

FIELD TRIP on Wednesday, March 25! The bus will be leaving promptly at 9:20. If your student is on B-Track they may come as early as 9:00 to get ready to go. If they don't come early, PLEASE make sure they are on time. We need to leave right on time to be to the presentation on time.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to be a chaperone. I've already talked with the parents who are going to come, so if you didn't hear from me, I don't need you. I appreciate your enthusiasm and support!

SAGE Testing times are still being sorted out, but here the tentative dates:

April 20 - 24: Science

April 27 - May 1: Language Arts

May 4 - 8: Math

If students will be absent during these weeks, please let me know in advance and we will schedule another time for them to take it.

I will let you know as we get closer more exactly when we will be testing.

Thanks for all you do!

Week of March 16

Here we are at another week!

Reading: We will be working with Central Theme and Author's Purpose this week.

Writing: We are writing an informational essay on why we have the seasons (Science Curriculum).

Math: Math Test on THURSDAY. Dot Plots, Histograms, Frequency Tables, Mean, Median, and Mode.

Science: Microorganisms with Mr. Brady.

Our Field Trip to the BYU Planetarium is NEXT Wednesday, March 25. If your student hasn't turned in their permission slip, please ask them about it. They will not be allowed to go if they don't have parent's permission.

Week of March 11

Hope you had a great long weekend!

Reading: We will be focusing on finding the central theme of a text and backing up our conclusion with text evidence.

Writing: We will actually begin writing information essays on our Science Standards.

Math: Statistics! Definitely new - it doesn't seem like it's math sometimes. That makes if fun! We will test next week sometime.

A few students are struggling to turn in their math homework, or are not completely it. 
Please check on your students that they are being responsible and completing and turning in their homework.

Science: Microorganisms

Still working on our video. Trying to have a lot of fun and be productive!

Remember that our fieldtrip to the BYU Planetarium is coming up on March 25. Permission slips and $5 are due ASAP.

Week of March 2

Welcome to March!

Reading: We are taking our reading to a deeper level and noticing what we call "Signs and Signposts". They are just specific things we can notice in fiction texts that help up think deeper about what the author is trying to communicate.

Writing: We will start some information writing on our Science core topics to help prep us for the upcoming Science SAGE exams. (Not until after Spring Break).

Math: We will take our Chapter 11 test on Wednesday, March 4. It is on surface area, and volume.

Science: Microorganisms rotation with Mr. Brady.

Social Studies: We have just started talking about the Renaissance as we move out of the Middle Ages.

Character Trait Video: As a class we are making a Character Trait Video for the month of April to show the whole school at our Character Trait Assembly the first Monday of April. It is all about being Positive. Your students are really being creative and coming up with some amazing ideas. We will be filming and creating the video throughout this month.

FIELD TRIP! We will be taking a field trip to the BYU Planetarium to have a "Space Experience" on March 25. A permission slip will be coming home this week. Please sign, attach money if possible, and return.

Week of February 16

Welcome back from the long break!

We've got a short but busy week.

Writing: Our second SAGE test will be on Wednesday again this week in the morning. Make up tests for students who missed last week or will miss this week will be on Thursday (19) and Friday (20). PLEASE do all you can to have your students be in attendance these days.

Math: We will take a math test on Thursday morning. We will be reviewing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Students taking the make up SAGE Writing exam on Thursday will miss the math test. We will find a time for them to take it on Friday.

Math Reflection Homework is due every night! If it can't be done on the computer, a hard copy can be turned in.

Reading: Continue to have your students read aloud as much as possible.

Science: We are starting a new unit with Mr. Brady this week! All about microorganims.

Social Studies: Hopefully we'll be moving on to the Renaissance this week or next.

Week of February 9

Hello everyone!

This week will be busy!

Reading: New reading groups! We are loving the new books we are reading.

Writing: SAGE Writing Test on Wednesday February, 11 from 9:15-11:45. PLEASE be present. We will take our second test on Wednesday, February 18 at the same time.

Math: We are working on finding the area of all kind of shapes: parallelograms, triangles, trapezoids, and we'll move into regular polygons and composite figures. We will probably take the chapter test early next week.

Science: Wednesday is the last day with Mrs. Sorenson, and next Tuesday we'll start a unit with Mr. Brady on microorganisms.

Talent Show on Friday! It will be in the afternoon. This is in place of our Valentine's Day Party. Students may not bring individual Valentine's for their classmates to school. If they would like to hand them out outside of school that is great. If students will like to bring a bag of candy to share, that is fine.

As always, let me know if there is anything more I can do for you.

Week of January 21

Hope you had a great MLK day!

Reading: We are done with DRA! Yay! I will discuss scores with everyone in SEPs in a couple of weeks.

Writing: The writing SAGE test will be in sometime the middle of February. Students only have 90 minutes to write their essays, so we will be practicing writing essays and quickly the next couple of weeks.

Math: MATH HOMEWORK HAS CHANGED. Students will have brought home a blue sheet with homework for tonight, tomorrow, and Monday and Tuesday of next week. They need to show their work for each problem on either the back of the blue sheet, or on a different sheet that needs to be attached. This will not be turned in until Wednesday of next week, so it's important that it doesn't get lost. This homework is a review of past concepts, with one or two questions about what we are currently learning.

In addition to the math problems, they need to complete a reflection each night on how they feel they are doing on the math homework. This is found on classroom.google.com. They will need to sign in with their gmail account, and a green Math Reflection box. In that folder will be an assignment called Math Reflection 01/21 and I will continue to add them as homework continues. Click on that and open the google doc. This is where the students will answer two questions. This is quick and easy, is good for the students to be reflecting, and is very beneficial for me to read.

If for some reason a computer is unavailable, students can complete this assignment in the first few minutes of class, or turn in a hard copy of the two questions. They are: "After tonight's homework I still need help on..." and "After tonight's homework I am doing well on..."

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about any of this. I know it's new, and we might all be confused here at the beginning, but we'll get used to it.

Science: Solar System and Universe with Miss Sorenson

Social Studies: We've just started a unit on the Middle Ages. The students are learning about fuedalism, and we are making our own coat of arms.

SEPs are February 4 and 5. I would love to see everyone there! You can sign up by clicking the Online Scheduler icon the school's web page.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns for me.

Week of Jan 5

Welcome Back!

I hope that you all had a great winter break!

Well, as always, we are diving right back into everything.

Reading: We will be DRA testing this week. Continue to have your students read out loud! This is so helpful in their preparation.

Reading Logs were due today, but will be accepted for partial credit if turned in late.

Writing: We are starting a new argumentative piece - Should Cell Phones Be Allowed In School. We'll see if we can improve our writing from our last essay.

Math: We are getting into some simple algebra: solving for a single unknown variable. This is new and exciting, but it's important that we lay a solid foundation that will carry them throughout their junior high, high school, and college math.

Science: New unit with Mrs. Sorenson on the Solar System and the Universe. So much to comprehend!

Social Studies: This week we will finish up our unit on Greek Gods and Goddesses. It's been fun to read about the adventures of the Gods and Goddesses.

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions. Email is the best way to get a hold of me.

Thanks for everything you do!