Convection currents

Students working in Science today learning about Convection Currents by adding hot and cold water to room temperature water.  They learned that hot water rises and cold water sinks, and how it relates to our world.

Clouds and the Water Cycle

Today in Science, students learned more about the water cycle. We talked about clouds and what they are made of. Students also learned the weight of clouds.  Many students wanted to show the video we watched at school.  Here is a link to the video on "How much does a Hurricane Weigh?"

Halloween 2017

Friday, October 20th

Hello 5th grade parents,

 

I wanted to remind you that camp paperwork and money is due on Monday, 10/23. 

 

Camp Reminders:

Camp starts on Wednesday (November 8), please have your child here at school with their luggage at the normal school start time.

On Friday (November 10), students will arrive back to WLE by 11:30 with their luggage.  The office will provide sign-out sheets, before your child leaves, please make sure the sign-out sheet is signed.

There will be a 'Suggested Camping List' sent home prior to camp.

 

Parent Volunteers:

Many of you signed up to chaperone some activities. We will be sending home reminders of what you signed up for the week before camp.  We still need some help more help. 

-We need two bus chaperones for Wednesday, November 8^th from 9:30 - 10:30 and a driver on Friday, November 10^th from 10:30 – 11:30.  If you are interested in helping.  Please email me if you  can help.

 

 Curriculum Update:

 5th grade students have a Social Studies test on Monday, October 23rd.  Students have had a study guide since Wednesday, October 18th.  There is a study game that I put together that can be accessed here.

 

Have wonderful weekend.

Mr. Reed

A Great Beginning!

We had a great week here at school, and we certainly packed in a lot of learning.  Here are some of the things that we have been up to:

Readers' Workshop: 
Students are learning the expectations of the workshop.  They are learning how to pick books that are just right for them.  The students of room 15 are very good independent readers.  I even have students begging me for extra time.  Next week, we will begin finding ways to document our thinking as we read by working to set student written reading goals based on a reading survey students will think about and fill out. 

Writers' Workshop:
We have been filling their "ideas" section of their notebook so that when we write longer pieces, students have a place to pull ideas.   I introduced a quickwrite strategy today, and students found enjoyment in writing for short bursts of time.  Ask your child about the expectations of a quickwrite.

Social Studies:
 Students are learning about PaleoIndians and the theories of how early people entered the Americas.  Next week, we will begin learning about large Native American groups that lived throughout North America.

As you can see, we had a very busy and productive first full week of school.  

Mr. Reed

-Reminders:
No school September 21st
Camp Money due October 23rd
 

Curriculum and Camp Night

 Thank you for attending curriculum and camp night last night.  It was great to get a chance to meet you.  If you were unable to attend, I will be sending home information regarding our curriculum and camp. Please look over the information and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Mr. Reed

A great beginning...

 

Our school year is underway!  It has been great getting to know the children the past couple of days.  We have spent a lot of time learning classroom routines and getting familiar with each other.  We have a great class!

To help you better understand how things are working this year, I’d like to share how we will be doing a few things in our fifth grade learning community.

Team teaching and switching

The fifth grade students will continue to receive the same curriculum that they would learn if they were in a self-contained classroom.  The fifth grade students will remain with me during science and literacy.  Fifth grade students will be with Mrs. Rohde for math and with me for the rest of the subjects (science, social studies, readers workshop, writers workshop, and word study).

Friday Folders:

Every Friday students will be bringing home an orange folder.  Inside the folder you will find notes from myself and the office, as well as any finished homework your child may have done.  Please take a moment to check the folder during the weekend and return it by Monday.  These should be handed back on Monday with the Friday Folders.  It is important for us to communicate and this is a great way for us to keep in touch. Do not be concerned if your child's backpack is not bursting at the seams with work.  Much of the work we do is hands-on or in the form of a long-term project such as a piece of writing or a class project.  Papers for math, science, and social studies will be sent home when units have been completed.

Unfinished Work: ­

Any work not completed during the day will be sent home to be finished and returned the next day.  If your child is absent, he/she will need to complete the work that was missed.  At times, your child may need to stay in for a recess to complete work.  I will send a note home if your child is missing work.

Math/Homework:

“Everyday Math” involves group activities, hands-on activities, problem solving, logical thinking, and decision-making lessons.  Letters will be sent home periodically to keep you informed.  There are math study links that go with every lesson, so your child may receive up to five study links per week.  These sheets will help reinforce concepts learned in class.  Mrs. Rohde will always explain to your child how to do these assignments before they are sent home.  There is a math student reference book (SRB) online. Students have their username and password taped into their planners. The ConnectED website has many useful games, math tools, and the online reference book:

https://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/login.do

FAPES (Fine Arts Physical Education):

Our FAPES schedule has not yet been established.  However, please remember to either have your child wear gym shoes or you can send in a pair of gym shoes that will stay in the classroom.  The schedule will be released next week.

Snacks:

Students will be allowed to have a snack half-way through our morning.  Please pack your child’s snack separate from his/her lunch.  Thank you

Planner:

The planners are another way that we communicate with each other on a daily basis.  Your child is expected to take the planner to every class and fill it in.  Please check and sign their planner every day.  Each week I will stamp the planners that are correctly signed. 

Independent Reading

"Research has shown that reading ability is positively correlated with the extent to which students read recreationally," according to the "Reading and Writing Habits of Students" section of The Condition of Education. Please set aside at least 30 minutes each night for your child to read independently or even better, aloud to you.

Blog: http://reedsclassblog.blogspot.com/

Communication between school and home is crucial. This blog is the primary avenue of communication the fifth grade team will use to keep you up-to-date on what's happening in our rooms. The purpose of this website is to keep you informed about what your child's learning and doing at school, and provide you with opportunities to support your student's learning outside of school. Here you will find helpful resources, information regarding curriculum, important classroom news, as well as an updated blog. With our class blog, it is our intention, to keep you updated regarding our current goals, learning, and progress throughout the year. Each day you can expect to see homework posted as well as upcoming reminders. Please visit our blog frequently for the latest information on what we're doing in fifth grade!

·                     To Follow Our Blog: Have posts sent straight to your email by following 2 easy steps!  After you've completed these two steps, you will receive an email with a copy of my post, each time I post to the blog (once a day just before dismissal).  This makes it so you never have to visit the blog to see a post; i.e., you don't have to remember the web address.

1.            Enter your email address in the "Follow by Email" box.  Click "Submit", and type the given code to confirm you're not a robot.

2.            In your inbox, you’ll receive a confirmation email from “FeedBurner Email Subscriptions.” Click the link in the email to confirm your subscription. Done!

I anticipate a wonderful year working with you and your child!  Please feel free to contact me at anytime if you have any concerns or questions.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Mr. Reed

Welcome to Mr. Reed's Class!!!

Welcome to 5th grade and Mr. Reed's room!  I am so excited to begin my 17th year of teaching at WLE.  I've been busy in the classroom making sure everything is set for the new year.  

New this year, we are hosting a Meet and Greet Event for parents and students.  Come to WLE and meet me from 3 to 5 pm, Wednesday, August 30th.  Your child can bring in their supplies and drop them off early. Click here for the supply list. They can even find where they are sitting and arrange their desk. Hope to see you there.  

If you haven't had a chance to read Mrs. Nickel's welcome back newsletter, please click here.

Hoping everyone had a great summer,
Mr. Reed

Field Trip tomorrow

Sarah Banks Trip tomorrow

The fifth graders have their annual visit to Sarah Banks tomorrow.  We will be there for only 2 hours from 11:45 - 1:45.  Your child will have a chance to tour the building, as well as, get to meet the principal, vice principal, and counselor.   Their tour guides will be former Walled Lake Elementary students; encourage your child tonight to think of questions to ask their guide.  

We will also be eating lunch at Banks.  Students can bring a lunch, however most students are excited to buy at Sarah Banks' larger, more diverse menu.  If students have an account setup with our district's food department (and they have money in their account), then they are all set.  If students do not have an account, have your child bring around $5 to purchase lunch.

Please email me if you have any questions. 
mattreed@wlcsd.org

Friday, April 21st

Today students listened to a guest speaker, Caleb White.  He is a 14 year old student who has done amazing things.  Ask your child about him and if they were inspired by what he said to us.

I sent out an email earlier today about bringing in a baby picture for our front bulletin board.  The baby picture board is a yearly favorite and I would like everyone to participate. Please send in a copy with your child's name and classroom number (15).

Our spring fair basket also needs some more items.  The theme is anti-boredom items: different rub-ix cubes, puzzles, outdoor games, etc.

 Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful weekend.
Mr. Reed

Family Science Night

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had an excellent Spring Break.  The kids were super tired today, but they had a great time sharing their Spring Break stories.

We talked a lot today about the M-Step test (state assessment) which will begin tomorrow for all 5th graders at WLE.  The test will be entirely taken on the computer. The students will begin with the Reading and Writing test (ELA) tomorrow and hopefully finish by Thursday.  Tomorrow, the 1st ELA test will be a series of questions based on different reading passages.  

Then on Wednesday, students will begin the 2nd ELA test called the performance task. This task is designed for students to view a series of sources (audio, video, articles, pictures, etc.) surrounding a certain topic.  Students will have to write an opinion, narrative, or informational essay based on the information they read in the sources.  Students are extremely challenged to integrate so many learned lessons in order to create this piece of writing.

Please make sure your child is ready for tomorrow's test by being well-rested and having a good breakfast. Thank you!

Take a look at the pictures below.  Students are using their design and engineering skills to design a tower using 1 piece of thick card stock and tape.  Science time just seemed to fly by today.

Reminders:
-  Please donate anti-boredom items for our Spring fair basket. (see note)

Science BA Thursday

I created an online quiz game that will help with your studying.

Click on the link below and follow the directions to play.

Link - Click me

Friday, March 20

 5th graders had a very busy week.  During Writers' Workshop, students are learning more about nonfiction writing.  Each student has selected a topic and they have been researching information; then recording this information into their writers' notebook.  The students of room 15 are going to be creating informational books based on their research.

To compliment this, in Readers' Workshop, we are learning about nonfiction text structures and reading for the main idea.  At the end of this week, the students were learning about the authors' message in nonfiction books.  Along with this learning, students are continuing their book club assignments.

In Science, we just finished a unit called variables.  We have been doing many experiments and learning about scientific design.   Recently, students learned more about kinetic/potential energy and forces such as gravity and friction, then applying this new information to the recently completed experiments.  Students will be having a Science BA next Thursday.

During math, students were collecting data and creating line plots based on their reaction time.  They were using sheets of paper and dropping them so that a partner would grab them revealing their reaction time (pictured below).  We then used that data to find the mode, range, and average.  Today students completed chapter 6 BA test.

Have a great weekend!

Mr. Reed

Reminders: 

- next week is Spirit Week (see below)

- green Sarah Banks schedule form due 3/28

- Science BA (Thursday, March 30)

Next week is “Spirit Week” at Walled Lake Elementary.  Please follow the schedule below to join in the fun! 

- Monday, March 27^th:  Mismatch Day

- Tuesday, March 28^th:  Hat Day

- Wednesday, March 29^th:  Students Dress like Teachers

- Thursday, March 30^th:  Decade Day

- Friday, March 31^st:  WLE Spirit Wear Day

Reaction Time in Math....