November 28th-Dec 2nd

Hello. Sure hope everyone had  a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving.  We are back in the groove here in room 2306 with lots of exciting events coming up! Tomorrow night is the Joyner Market from 5-9.  Come and shop for holiday gifts as well as purchase yummy baked goods to support our Haiti project.  Next week is our school book fair in the media center. Look for the flyer in today's Wed folder with daily schedule and book suggestions.  Our class is scheduled to visit the book fair on Monday 2:10-2:25 to get ideas and Wed 2:10-2:25 to shop! 

This week we are wrapping up our discussion of conflict in literature and moving on to point of view. Both topics lend themselves to any book your child is reading and would make for great follow up questions when students finish nightly reading assignments.  I am pleased with the progress our collaborative groups are making on our Peak projects.  We used our technology time yesterday to refine our research and most groups have begun applying their research to their final product.

In math we are continuing our work with fractions.  We have developed multiple strategies for comparing fractions.  We also know how to create equivalent fractions and simplify fractions..."how low can you go?"  Students can identify mixed numbers and (gasp) improper fractions! 

Science finds us back to our weather unit after successfully completing the Human Growth and Development Unit.  Students will create vocabulary flip books this week as they are introduced to the new terms.

One need I would like to share for our classroom...if you have any old throw pillows/cushions that we could use to make reading time cozier we would appreciate the use of them.  Thanks so much!

Get all of your holiday shopping done at the…

Jolly

JOYner

Market   

Thursday December 1st

5-9pm

Joyner Elementary will be hosting a fabulous holiday market featuring local artists, craftsmen, jewelry vendors, and the world famous Help Heal Haiti Bake Sale! This is a great opportunity to support JYJ’s Haiti fundraiser and local entrepreneurs as well as find unique and beautiful gifts for all of your loved ones.

There is no entry fee for this event. Expect an evening of holiday cheer, great gifts, and helping a good cause. We hope to see you there. AND bring all your friends, too!

Joyner Elementary is located at 2300 Lowden Street, Raleigh, NC, 27608.

The market will feature…

Hand Printed by Matt Butler                                                              Tiny Peepers

The Butterfly Rodeo                                                                            Green Paynte Studios

Isabels Rose                                                                                        Angels & More

Kellie Lewis                                                                                          Usborne Books & More

Mary Kay Cosmetics                                                                           FABU Designs

Dawn Smith                                                                                          Pottery by Anne Terry

JoEllen High                                                                                         and more to come!

***Free babysitting will be provided by the Joyner Girls on the Run Club***

November 14th-18th

Well, we all felt some disappointment yesterday that our main character, Peak,  from the novel by the same name, did not make it to the summit of Everest.  He could have but didn't.  I hope you will ask your child to explain Peak's unselfish choice and corresponding actions to you.  In discussing Peak this week, we have also talked about conflict in literature. (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society, and man vs. himself) We used ipads yesterday and today to research our Peak end of unit projects. Students collaborated in teacher selected groups to find information and data.  Next week they will create final products using their research. 

In math we are continuing our unit on fractions with our focus on comparing and simplifying fractions.  We are on day 3 of our Human Growth and Development Unit.  Yesterday we talked about emotional changes during puberty. Today and tomorrow we will discuss the male and female reproductive systems in gender appropriate groups. Friday is our field trip to the Poe Health Center.  We plan to leave school at 9:30 and be back by 1:30.  Please make sure students dress warmly for our trip as we will be outside for part of the trip. Wednesday folders went home today.  There is an informational memo about an upcoming open house at Daniels Middle School on Thursday, Dec. 1st from 6:30 to 8:30pm if you are interested.

November 7th-10th

Another busy week in 5th grade at JYJ. Students have been learning how to identify the main idea of paragraphs during our mini lesson each day.This skill can be practiced at home by asking your child to pick a paragraph or page from their nightly reading and report the main idea.  Students are completing comprehension questions for Peak in class and moving through the drafting process with Peak "I Am" poems that demonstrate personification. Peak Vocabulary Test 4 is TOMORROW! (words can be found in language arts section of your student's binder as well as in their language arts journal.)

 In math we have completed our post test for multiplication and division and our pre-assessment for fractions.  In our new unit on fractions students will be learning how to compare and order fractions, how to reduce fractions to lowest terms and how to complete computational tasks with fractions.  In science we have begun our weather unit with a focus on the water cycle. Students have worked together in pairs to build their understanding of this process, ordering and labeling steps of the water cycle and answering questions that compare evaporation, condensation, precipitation and traspiration. (thats alot of ations!)

We will begin our 5th grade Human Growth and Development Unit next week which includes our field trip to The Poe Health Center on Friday Nov. 18th.

Thanks so much to everyone who has returned their conference form.  I am enjoying the opportunity to talk with you about your child's progress in person.

November 1st-4th

Welcome to 2nd quarter. We have begun our second IB unit, Decisions, Decisions which includes our science unit on weather and climate. Yesterday we did a web quest on the water cycle during our technology time in the computer lab. Today we watched a video describing the stages of the water cycle and began creating our own water cycle models.

Our math unit on multiplication and division concludes this week with a test on Friday.  Our next unit will be fractions. Strong working knowledge of multiplication facts will be important to your child's success in this new unit.

Students have begun work on our new vocablary list for Peak. There are 15 words and our test will be next Friday.  We have also been talking about personification with our favorite example from Peak being when Zoppa explains that the mountain (Everest) decides who it will allow to successfully climb it.

Final call for field trip money and permission forms for our Nov. 18th trip to the Poe Health Center.

Today's Wed folders included the spelling words for our classroom spelling bee on Friday Dec. 9th.  Students may choose if they want to participate.  Two winners from our classroom will compete in the JYJ Spelling Bee in December and the JYJ winner will continue on to the Wake County Bee in March. Spell on 5th graders!