Week 30 (5/6/24 - 5/10/24)

Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Important info about Outdoor School / Farewell Crêpe Breakfast 

Please look for a packet sent home on Friday with important information about both upcoming events. If you can't find this in your child's backpack, click here to see the letter. If you need an additional copy of the forms sent home, please email Mme McLaren. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Study guide, Weeks 30-32

Devoir n°42, Verbes de la cuisine, due: Friday, May 10

Devoir n°43, Une recette à faire à la maison, due: Tuesday, May 14 (if they need more time, take it!)

Students have been working hard designing their food trucks in our final creative project of the year! Entrepreneurial groups have been selected by students, and I have approved. Please take a look on p. 7 of your student's design journal to see who they have selected to work with, and sign it so I know that you approve. If you haven't yet seen the email I sent on Tuesday, you can find it here, explaining the project in greater detail and important deadlines.

Our caterpillars have officially left their chrysalises and are now... six beautiful butterflies!  

Doing a design challenge!

Practicing our collaboration and communication skills!

How tall can you make your tower?

When conflicts arise, how are you going to compromise or share your thinking?

 Many thanks for your kind notes, gifts and words of appreciation this week! A special thank you to the PTO for breakfast and snacks in the staff room, lunch on Wednesday, and I'm not yet sure who is responsible for the big beautiful bouquets delivered on Friday... but we feel very seen and appreciated. Thank you for trusting us with your kids everyday. ♥️

Math

We started off wobbly on multiplying decimals, but really nailed it by Friday. Whoo hoo. 

For support at home:  

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students learned how to record sources and source information into graphic organizers and chose their Breaking Barriers Biography Spotlight. Please see this document to learn about their writing process and deadlines. 

Week 29 (4/29/24 - 5/3/24)

Math

Students began experiencing multiplication of decimals to reason why the summed number of decimals places in both factors indicated the total number of decimal places in the product. 

For support at home:  

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students submitted their essay on Google last Monday. We moved on to how to use research questions to gather data. First by watching a mini documentary about Bobbi Gibb, first female to run the Boston Marathon (without permission). Then on to a runner, Tahmina Kohistani, and Afghani Muslim woman who overcame barriers to run in the 2012 Olympics in London. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

No homework in French class this week.

Science questions included:

We continued our scientific illustrations in our nature sketchbooks, labeling different parts of each organism to develop our vocabulary. We read books about the human body, including the skeletal and muscular systems. We talked about how both plants and animals have vascular systems, they ways in which they are similar and different, and how they transport nutrients. We looked at the unique structures of leaves -- the "factories" of the plant -- responsible for performing photosynthesis. We watched a video about maple syrup, a product primarily from Canada, which comes from the sève (sap) of the maple tree. We wrote our final conclusions from our wheat seeds experiment. We reviewed reflexive verbs around our daily routine. We even watched the Magic School Bus episode (in French!) from inside the human body! 

Turns out valves can be a little more complicated than they look!

Tracing the circulation path through the body by making a model of the circulatory system

Simulating the lungs inflating and blood pumping through each ventricle

Youpi! On l'a fait!

Final observations of our wheat plants

Do seeds germinate in the dark? With or without water? Why are they yellowish-green unlike the plants in the full sun that are dark green? What role does chlorophyll play in photosynthesis? What is the structure of the wheat leaves?

Gotta make sure the valve goes in the right direction...

Be sure to walk by the front office to see our mushroom art project on display! 

Note the unique characteristics of each mushroom.

Creating a model of the heart and lungs using a system of tubes and valves

You have to look very closely to observe a plant's unique vascular structure...

Week 28 (4/22/24 - 4/26/24)

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°40, Lecture indépendante + a nature poem, due: Friday, April 26


It's a fun time to be in 5th grade science class! Students prepared for Science Fair projects, we've been watching wheat plants grow, caterpillars move through metamorphosis, and worms decompose organic materials in individual habitats. We've been reading about bizarre plant and animal adaptations to survive their environments. So many hands-on activities... and so much to discover!


Students took a comprehensive test over the past two weeks of content on Wednesday. 


We've just started talking about how nutrients are transported to animal and plant cells, exploring the similarities and differences between vascular systems. Next week, we'll explore the systems of the human body in greater detail.

Our chenilles are preparing to move into the chrysalis phase... 

Taking initial observations of wheat seeds that we planted a week ago to note any changes. 

Students chose their best worm observation to perfect and submit as a copie finale, checking spelling, verb conjugations and adjective agreements with nouns.

With Marine, student practiced conjugating reflexive verbs out loud related to our daily routine. (Je me réveille à __h, m'habille, je me coiffe...)  

With Mme McLaren, student developed their animal and plant vocabulary in reading groups with texts focused on unique adaptations and life cycles.

Using white boards, we played a conjugation game to help us practice butterfly- and plant-themed verbs au présent, au passé composé, et à l'imparfait.

Marine read a beautiful book by Alain Seres titled C'est ainsi que nous habitons le monde, a fantastical story about a boy and his cousins that love to draw things found in nature. Much like we are doing in class, the character François looks closely at each plant's unique characteristics and labels them in each drawing.

The Science Fair was a hit!

On Wednesday, we walked through the gym with our 2nd grade buddies to admire the work of all ages... all in the name of science! It was awesome!

Un champignon n'est ni une plante, ni un animal...

Following our science investigation about yeast, where we conducted a series of experiments to determine how to interrupt yeast's dormancy, we learned that yeast is an unicellular mushroom. Each science group was responsible for illustrating a type of mushroom, highlighting the unique characteristics of each genus. We also learned about the important role that mushrooms play in any ecosystem.

Marine encouraging students to make verbal observations of organisms, using descriptive vocabulary

Some very exciting insect and arachnid specimens in resin to examen up close for nature drawings!

La dionée gobe mouche, une plante carnivore

La sarracénie, une plante carnivore

Students each chose an ecosystem to represent how energy moves through a food chain. Then, we illustrated the water cycle, how gases are exchanged between organisms, and what is happening on a molecular level during photosynthesis.

Math

We added and subtracted decimals and practiced with decimals games. 

For support at home:  

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students revised and edited their essay, wrote notecards and practice giving their essay as a speech. On Thursday and Friday, delivered the content of their essay through a short speech. The class, as a whole, did an amazing job delivering their speeches. There were a handful of people that show real need in organizing their time to meet deadlines. I was on the strict side of timing this go around. They have had a great deal of writing practice and should get quicker with each pass, so I did not extend students' times unless they have a specific need. 

Week 27 (4/15/24 - 4/19/24)

Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Quoi de neuf en français?

Math

We spent this week exploring decimals to the thousandths place and reviewing work of the last two years with decimals on the number line and comparing them. The students recalled the numbers lines quickly, so next week we go straight into adding and subtracting decimals. 

For support at home:  

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students finished the planning phase of their essay regarding Jackie Robinson Day and how it relates to the content in We are the Ship. Each day, students had tasks to complete. I moved the class along by giving a day for the opening paragraph including the thesis. A day to collect evidence for the three points they made in their thesis. A day to elaborate on the evidence and write the closing. A day to type the essay from their notes. Students have been given examples, graphic organizers, sentence frames and starters. I showed a sample essay and how it reflects each piece required and showed them how to cite the text. Each day, I explained where they should be in the process and encourage students to continue at home as needed. Next week, the students will revise and edit, write notecards and practice giving their essay as a speech. On Thursday and Friday, students will stand and deliver the content of their essay through a short speech. I will urge them to also practice with families on Tuesday and Wednesday night. This assignment will be reflected in your child's Speaking and Listening semester 2 performance level on the report card. 

Health

Red class  reviewed the lungs and the parts of the lungs. 

Blue class explored the effects of asthma on the lungs and how it affects a persons ability to breathe well. They also learned general triggers for asthma. 

Week 26 (4/8/24 - 4/12/24)

Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Quoi de neuf en français?

Week 27-28 Study Guide

No real homework assignments this week, other than to finish up Devoir n°36 which was due on Wednesday.

Building on ecosystem drawings from last week, we continued to learn about different cycles in our ecosystems. On Monday, we finished adding organisms and tracing food chains, showing how energy is transferred in our ecosystem. On Tuesday, we learned about how producers make their own food using sunlight through a process called photosynthesis, how gases are exchanged between plants and animals, how carbon moves through our ecosystem. On Wednesday, we learned about how water moves through our ecosystem and is recycled in different ways by different organisms. 

On Wednesday, we took a quiz to confirm that we understood how energy moves through an ecosystem. Students with misunderstandings were retaught in small groups. We read a text called La nature réutilise et recycle on Learning A-Z, which details the important the role of many decomposers. 

On Thursday, we wrote our second worm habitat observation in our science notebooks, using vocabulary from this unit. Lots of changes! Those worms have been busy! We also designed and conducted an experiment around yeast, attempting to isolate and identify the variable that causes it to break its dormancy. We learned that yeast is a type of fungus, neither a plant nor an animal. We watched some time lapse videos of mushrooms growing while we waited to see how the yeast would react when cereal and animal crackers were added. We wrote down our observations.

To practice our oral production, students were asked to close their eyes and listen to music composed by Hans Zimmer from the animated film Fantasia 2000. With a partner, students shared what they visualized while listening to the music, given the theme of nature. Then, we watched each video to see if the artists at Disney imagined the same things as we did, describing what they saw. Musical excerpts included Flight of the Whales, Yo Yo Flamingo, and Mother Nature. 

What does it take to interrupt yeast's dormancy?

Checking out our red worm terrariums to track decomposition after one week

Making sure our water is below 50°F using a thermometer so we don't kill the yeast!

Hmm... which variable will activate the yeast?

Math

We dove head first into place value operations with decimals. To set a firm foundation, we used expanded notation to ficus on the decimal places. Ex: 5.304 = (5 x 1)+(3 x 0.1)+(4 x 0.001) 

For support at home:  

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

We finished We are the Ship and moved on to gathering content, evidence, and vocabulry for our multi-paragraph essay explaining the positive contributions of the Negro Baseball League on baseball. 

Health

Red class had rewards times instead of health for positive behavior. 

Blue class visited Smoke Free Oregon to determine to look for ways to help reduce respiratory illnesses caused by smoking. 


Week 25 (4/1/24 - 4/5/24)

 

Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°35: Temps du passé (conjugation review), due: Tuesday, April 9


Devoir n°36: Mon écosystème - les chaînes alimentaires, due: Weds, April 10


As expected, students are LOVING our new Living Systems science unit. This week, we practiced developing our animal vocabulary through a series of short reading comprehension activities from the book Ces animaux qui nous étonnent, highlighting unique characteristics and adaptations of different mammals, insects, fish and birds. 


On Tuesday, using organism cards from a kelp forest ecosystem to make food chains and food webs. We identified producers, consumers and decomposers. On Wednesday, we read and wrote about bizarre plants with unusual adaptations, some of which were carnivorous. On Thursday, we chose an ecosystem to study and started to research and illustrate how energy moves through it. We also made worm terrariums in science groups, reflected on how the worm's new habitat was a "sub-system" and wrote observational journal entries in our science notebooks to practice new vocabulary. Next week, we will make predictions about how the terrariums will change as we continue to study a variety of different decomposers and the important role they play in every ecosystem.

Que se passe-t-il quand les vers de terre interagissent avec du compost organique?

Math

Practice, practice, practice was the name of the game. Students tested on Friday (today) for the ability to use the standard algorithms for multiplication and long division. This is just another tool in their toolbox as they move forward into decimals. :-) 

For support at home:  

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

We made it to the 9th Inning of We are the Ship. This chapter brings us to integration of major league baseball by focusing on the removal of barriers whether they are concrete, cultural, racial or perceived.  I'm happy to report that an assessment of text structures students recently learned and used through this book was a raving success. The students really understand text structure and the importance of each struacture when telling a story. 

Health

We began learning about our respiratory system by drawing our main parts and learning what they do. We will move forward in learning about lung illnesses and how to prevent some lung illnesses. We will also be visiting Smoke Free Oregon to determine what we can do to support our community in becoming a healthier place. 



Week 24 (3/18/24 - 3/22/24)

 

Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Quoi de neuf en français?

After last week's practice interpreting a variety of maps, we spent this week illustrating maps of our neighborhoods or the whole city. We used Google Maps to help us see both physical and political maps of Eugene. We used a map archive to look at historical maps of Eugene. We used digital scale feature on Google Earth to help us estimate distances around town. We practiced writing creative legends to help our readers interpret the map that we chose to represent.

We finished our timeline of the American Revolution on Tuesday, which was sent home with students to study before Wednesday's quiz.

Wednesday's personal hygiene lesson in French, as a part of the Human Growth & Development series of lessons, included a practice opportunity of reflexive verbs (ex: se laver, se brosser les dents, se coiffer, se doucher, se baigner).

On Thursday, we took a quiz over how to identify features of a map and how to interpret them. Both quizzes will be sent home after the break.

I continue to grade student autobiographies. Thanks for your patience. 

In science, we've started a new unit called Living Systems. We will be looking at a number of life science concepts from the standpoint of a system -- a collection of interacting parts. We will start with ecosystems and describe the feeding relationships in food chains and food webs involving producers (plants and algae), consumers, and decomposers. To investigate the role of decomposers, we will set up red worm habitats after the break and provide organic materials in the form of shredded moist newspaper, fresh kitchen scraps and leaf litter integrated into the habitat. We will observe the action of the red worms for many weeks and analyze the result of their activity at the end of the module.

Working on our maps of Eugene!

Math

We finished up the processes for the standard algorithm for multiplication and long division. Now, we will just have practice problems to increase the fluency. Test will be the Friday after we return from Spring Break. 

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

This week, we focused on integration of baseball and began reasoning if this would be a difficult thing to accomplish or easy given the evidences in the text. Next week, they find out. We are going into the last inning of the book.

Health

Human Growth and Development lessons: Norm setting, Consent and Boundaries, Puberty and Pregnancy were addressed in English class. The student packets will go home. 

Week 23 (3/11/24 - 3/15/24)


 Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates


Human Growth & Development schedule this coming week

Please feel free to preview strategies for staying calm and in control when discussing potentially stressful topics. We will set clear discussion norms before beginning lessons on Monday.

Quoi de neuf en français?

All students were sent home with a copy of the Week 23-24 study guide on Tuesday. Look for this green sheet in their home folders, as it includes notes from this week's study of maps (including some very helpful vocabulary!) and how to give directions when navigating around a town. I also share a preview of next week's science investigations.

Devoir n°33, Une carte d'Eugène, due: Friday, March 22


Students have been practicing interpreting a variety of different types of maps -- physical, political, altimetric, and historic -- as well as maps on population density, carbon emissions by country, limitations on freedom of the press by country, movements of ocean currents and related temperatures, etc. We've been practicing estimating distances using a variety of scales, orienting ourselves using a compass rose, comparing and contrasting maps, and using a legend to help us interpret symbols on a map.


As a whole class and in partners, we've practiced giving directions and navigating our way around an imaginary neighborhood.


On Wednesday, we reenacted how a bill becomes a law (one of three lessons I do in English all year) which was a big hit! Students were selected at random to fill different positions in our government that have a role in our legislative process. Roles included concerned citizens, news reporters / members of the press, democratic and republican members of the House of Representatives, democratic and republican members of the Senate, speakers of both houses, the Vice President and the President of the Executive Branch. Students engaged in rigourous debate, finding it difficult to settle on just one issue to bring to a vote. Issues included free health care for those with medical disabilities, smaller class sizes in public schools, and more books in the library.

Math

We have been deep into looking how long division works by studying partial quotients written vertically rather than horizontally. 

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students spent more time this week explaining text structure and will continue to do so for every chapter of We are the Ship. We have focused in on integration and segregation this week and discussed how baseball played a role in bringing some people together and helped to start changing mindsets. 

Health

Students finished reading through the curriculum circular and recorded any data or information they felt especially spoke to them in their health journal. That journal went home with them. 

Week 22 (3/4/24 - 3/8/24)


Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

2024 Charlemagne Auction 

EARLY BIRD tickets are on sale NOW! Get your tickets online at: auctria.events/2024CharlemagneAuction

OBOB Regionals are here! 

Come support Pi r^2 as they battle against other elementary finalists at Thurston High School tomorrow, March 9th. The festivities begin in the gym for Opening Ceremonies (a very energetic and thrilling assembly) promptly at 9AM. Battles commence at 10:00 am in various classrooms. Look for Mme Poppy and Mme Racheal or see the informational table to find out where to go to support our Charlemagne team. They'll be wearing purple. 

Outdoor School / Human Growth & Development Lessons

If you weren't able to attend Tuesday's parent meeting this week, please check your email for links to the presentations. You should be able to preview what the outdoor school experience will look like, visit the camp's website, and preview the puberty lessons that will be taught in a few weeks.

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°32, Independent daily oral reading for 10 minutes (choice text), due: Tuesday, March 12

Nearly all autobiographies have been submitted! I'll be grading these over the next few weeks. Your kiddos have been doing some beautiful self portraits. 


This week, we explored how different levels of governments function -- at the state, local and federal levels. We investigated Oregon tribes and their governmental structures, introducing tribal sovereignty, while comparing and contrasting different tribes and their councils. We explored the first 10 amendments in our Constitution -- the Bill of Rights -- and explored what civil liberties are protected by law. Next week, students will reenact how a bill becomes a law in Congress. 


On Friday, students responded to their choice of two writing prompts: 1) choose one of the amendments in the Bill of Rights and defend why it is the most important amendment in the constitution, or 2) choose the most important of the three branches of government and defend your answer.

Math

We finished up the standard algorithm for multiplication. If your child was absent last week, they missed the bulk of it. At home you could support with 3 digit by 2 digit multiplication using the standard method. We moved into dividing starting with ANY strategy. We took the strategies they currently know and compared it to a vertical partial quotients method. I showed the process of long division, and we will start running with that. Feel free to use long division with remainders (or decimals if your child chan FULLY do long division correct all the time) with your child at home.

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students spent more time this week explaining text structure and will continue to do so for every chapter of We are the Ship. We also learned how to paraphrase and how to find direct quotes that supports a paraphrased idea. 

Health

Your child learned how to strategically look at the federal requirements for labels like cage free and free range. They also learned that many phrases are unregulated and have no value or federal regulation for them. We are focusing in on what raises red flags and how to make informed decisions. Next week will end the nutrition unit. 

We have been reading about early European settlers and the 13 colonies in our social studies textbook. Students have been learning about life in the colonies, the exchange of goods through trade, and practiced interpreting maps from this time. Next week, we will create a timeline of the American Revolution up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Thanks to our French intern Marine, she translated the book Encounter by Jane Yolen, and read it to the class. It's written from the a perspective of a native American when confronted by a European explorer. 

Working on our auction project! 

Practicing our state capitals and finding states on a map

Civics and government themed vocabulary from the "word wall"

Preamble of the US Constitution, en français

For Women's History Month, we've been taking turns this week reading a short biography each day, presenting that woman to a partner, and sharing out the stories of the notable historic female figures featured on these cards with the whole class.

Week 21 (2/26/24 - 3/1/24)


Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates


Volunteer Opportunity: Help with Auction Art Project

In preparation for this year's annual action fundraiser, 5th grade will be creating an art project. We plan to have it be an activity during independent work "centers" time in French class, 1-2 students at a time, supervised by a parent volunteer for periods of 20-40 minutes over the course of several weeks. This allows for a variety of available times, and this flexibility may be just the way to give those of you interested in volunteering our class a way to support! If you're interested, please sign up HERE if you have already been cleared to volunteer in the building.


Planner Update

The fifth grade has been experiencing some sporadic completion of planners. The planners are meant to keep all the learning goals and work organized as an academic skill. We's also encouraged using the monthly calendar in the planner to track activities outside of school as a life skill. That being said, in English, students who are keeping their planner up-to-date as required daily, will receive a stamp next to the date at the top of the page. If you check your child's planner and their is a stamp, recognize and reward with words. If there is not a stamp, ask why and encourage daily completion. Our goal is independent organized students with effective planning skills to manage all they will be doing now and in their future. 


Yearbook Donation Update 

We made enough to cover the costs for all students to receive a yearbook. Thank you for all the donations. If any remaining donations come in, the donations will be used to provide yearbooks to interns and certified staff who support students all around the school, every day,  in so many ways, tirelessly, and lovingly. 


Math-a-thon

Please set a reminder for your child to return the Math-a-thon packet to school any day next week. There will be volunteers standing by to collect the packets at the beginning of each day. Prizes are given based on turn-ins each day along with the Pi Day party for the class with the highest participation. Remember, even a nominal donation is participation. Let's go 5th grade! 

Scenes from Friday's Black History Month Celebration March, 

following an all school assembly featuring a video produced by our 5th grade Student Leadership Club!

We have had lots of fun learning salsa dancing with our Artist in Residence!

Students learned how to lead and follow, to listen to the beat and wait for cues. We even learned how to spin our partners!

Calm Lunch

This student driven project was an initiate led by our 5th grade Leadership Club, hoping to bring a positive and more relaxing lunch experience to 3-5th graders.

So... what'd you think?

Students report: "It was cool." "Yeah, I'd do it again." "It was nice to relax and have it be less chaotic." "The flowers were a nice touch!"

Quoi de neuf en français?


Devoir n°31, Independent daily oral reading for 10 minutes (topic: government) + 1 connection, due: Tuesday, March 5

I sent home students with their graded copy of the quiz from Weeks 19-20 on Friday.  Please ask to see it, as it demonstrates your child's mastery of vocabulary on the theme of government, their progress in conjugation of verbs à l'imparfait et au passé composé as of one week ago. 


This Wednesday, students took a comprehension quiz over the text they have been reading in small groups at their reading level. I should have this back to you next week.


Students are revising and adding final details to their autobiographies. Many started with their final drafts this Thursday or Friday. Final copies of autobiographies and self portraits are due next Tuesday, March 5, typed on Google Docs or written neatly in erasable pen or pencil. 

Math

We made it to the standard algorithm for multiplication using 3 digit by 2 digit numbers with regrouping (a.k.a. carrying, carry over, composting, etc.). This is your time to shine parents. Feel free to get your math grove on. You know this strategy. Racing with challenge problems at home would be so much fun. Maybe even worth some chores. (wink, wink) 

Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

We are three innings in to We are the Ship by Kadir Nelson. This has been a joyous and lively read and also eye opening for some. We have been focusing in on the text structures the author uses to tell the story. The first chapter (inning) gave the chronology of the formation of the Negro League Baseball with Rube Foster as the main player in getting the league going. The second chapter (inning) focused on descriptions of the teams and league while comparing/contrasting  the team and the league to the majors. The third chapter (inning) continued vivid descriptions within the problems the teams faced and the solutions they chose to deal with the problems. 

Health

We focused in on sugar this week. We learned that our bodies require ZERO ADDED sugar and how/why the sugar we find in whole foods is different than the sugar that is processed out of foods and added for sweetening.  We learned there are over 50 ways manufacturers list sugar and, even if they are in smaller quantities within the recipe, can add up to be the main ingredient if you add them all up. They were really floored to know that fruit snacks and fruit bars were a huge culprit. They asked why manufacturers add sugar to an already sweet food. I had no answer for this. (Preservative? Filler? I don't know.) Perhaps continuing the food conversation at home would be great. I am not a nutritionist but we are presenting research and having loads of questions we haven't solved. If anything, we just hope they become thoughtful consumers who can find ways to maintain excellent health. 

Week 20 (2/19/24 - 2/23/24)


Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates


Volunteer Opportunity: Help with Auction Art Project

In preparation for this year's annual action fundraiser, 5th grade will be creating an art project. We plan to have it be an activity during independent work "centers" time in French class, 1-2 students at a time, supervised by a parent volunteer for periods of 20-40 minutes over the course of several weeks. This allows for a variety of available times, and this flexibility may be just the way to give those of you interested in volunteering our class a way to support! If you're interested, please send Mme McLaren an email at mclaren_g@4j.lane.edu and she'll reach out via email to get you scheduled.


LAST CALL: Yearbook Money Collections

Thank you for the donations submitted thus far. As a school, we have approximately 47% of the money needed to purchase yearbooks. Please continue to submit $20 by check with your child's name on the memo line (cash okay, but gets lost easily).  If you have the means to donate a book to another student, simply add another $20 to the total. Thank you for helping to ensure all students in the school have this memorable treasure to remember their time here at Charlemagne. 


Math-a-thon

Your child received the math packet today. The directions are on the back of the envelope. Students return the pledges the week of 3/4 ending on 3/8. The class with the highest participation wins a Pi Day party. Participation is any amount, but the envelopes have to be back. Let's make the 5th grade winners!!! 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Here's a LINK to the Weeks 19-20 study guide. All students received a print copy of this. It covers all of the content that we focused on over the past few weeks in class, plus a few new vocab words. 

Devoir n°30, Mon autobiographie -- à rendre (due): vendredi le 23 février

This week, students have been hard at work on their self-portraits and autobiographies. We have been working on our drafts, and should be approaching paragraph 5 or 6 already! We continue to practice conjugating our verbs in the present or past tense, depending on the context of the response -- retelling major life events in the past, descriptions of who we are today in the future.

In social studies, we've just started a new civics-themed unit of inquiry. We have started to develop our vocabulary around the government.

Next week, we will begin to explore our constitution, the bill of rights, our liberties and civic responsibilities, the way in which we can make changes to the laws, how our government is structured, how power is divided, and how we can participate / share our voice in the democratic process. Over the next month or so, students will recreate the process of a bill becoming a law, explore our local / state and national governmental leaders and structures, explore tribal sovereignty in Oregon and beyond, and learn how our voting process works. We will also explore voices of Americans that are underrepresented, stories and dilemmas that challenge "equality and freedom" under the law, and force us to reflect on whether or not our democratic system is functioning as intended for all Americans. Finally, we will explore the founding of our nation, from the 13 colonies, the American Revolution, and the declaration of independence.

Students will have a comprehension quiz over their small group text (biography of Barack Obama) next Wednesday. It will be open book. If you'd like to practice reading it together at home, here's a LINK to the printable text. 

Lots of skin colors to choose from, for illustration of our self-portraits

Making a poster for the march

Preparing for the Black History Celebration Walk on 3/1

What makes you... you?

For the covers of our autobiographies, we are illustrating self portraits and uncovering the different levels of our identity.
Featured biographies to practice reading fluency. Sois toi-même means "be yourself"
Conversation groups with Mademoiselle Marine

Who is in my community?

Discussing different types of employment, while developing our social vocabulary 

How is power divided in our government?

Telling jokes with our 2nd grade buddies

Math

Students reviewed multiplication and division of fractions and took the test. Results will be out next week. 

How to study at home on all past, current and future work: Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students engaged in a text called Raymond's Run with a narrator who tells stories from her home base -Harlem, NYC.  We looked at how the narrator viewed her brother and her rival in the beginning of the text and how/why the viewpoints she held changed. The students ended the week with a preview of "We are the Ship" by Kadir Nelson which is a story of black league baseball from the 1920s to the decline in the 194os when Jackie Robinson crossed over into the majors. 

Week 19 (2/12/24 - 2/16/24)


Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Please add the following to your calendars:


Yearbook Money Collections

Thank you for the donations submitted thus far. As a school, we have approximately 47% of the money needed to purchase yearbooks. Please continue to submit $20 by check with your child's name on the memo line (cash okay, but gets lost easily).  If you have the means to donate a book to another student, simply add another $20 to the total. Thank you for helping to ensure all students in the school have this memorable treasure to remember their time here at Charlemagne. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Here's a LINK to the Weeks 19-20 study guide. All students received a print copy of this. It covers all of the content that we focused on over the past few weeks in class, plus a few new vocab words. 

Devoir n°28, Quand employer? -- à rendre (due): vendredi le 23 février

Devoir n°29, La conjugaison au passé composé -- à rendre (due): vendredi le 23 février


In writing, students started their autobiographies. Here's a LINK to the timeline for this writing project in English, so feel free to check in with your student at home to make sure they are on track. 


In small groups, we continue to read the biography of Barack Obama. Next week, we will begin a civics-themed aligned to 5th grade standards around US government. 


I sent home the Week 16-18 quiz this Friday with corrections. Please look for this in your student's home folder.

Self portraits

Students have been working on an autoportrait (self-portrait) which will become the cover of their autobiography, highlighting the  different parts of their identity that make them unique or connected to our / other communities.

 Mardi Gras fun!

Such creative masks and costumes!

In small groups, we practiced how to say someone's nationality.

In oral conversation, students participated in an art critique in French, making connections between what they saw and why the artist (Bria Goeller) chose to represent a shadow of Ruby Bridges walking in front of Kamala Harris. We also explored ways in which they are similar, and ways that they made history.

Math

Students learned the reason why we can Keep, Change, Reciprocal to divide fractions. (I don't us flip because it's not a mathematical term for what is happening.) Then, our world became muddy when I presented them with situations that they had to evaluate as division OR multiplication of fractions. This causes students discomfort when they have to decide for themselves which operation should be used. However, they did it. They drew models of what was happening and provided both multiplication and division equations to show the situations. Then they had a slight competition to see who could make the largest/smallest products and quotients using the same numbers. I love it when they realize the patterns that will get them the results they want without even checking. Next week is the BIG UNIT test. Here's a link to the content and practice problems for studying purposes. They can also work on Khan Academy using the 4J Google email (username@4J.lane.edu). They all should know their username and it's written in their planners. 

ELA

Students began the new unit called Breaking Barriers which focuses on integration, inclusion and celebration of Black History through sports worldwide. We started with defining apartheid in South Africa and how Nelson Mandela used rugby to help rebuild relationships in South Africa after he was democratically voted in as President. 

Health

We began analyzing the content of our food. The students were VERY excited to share all the incomprehensible ingredients in some foods. We also took a look at the Nutri-Score used in Europe to help consumers make better choices with their food selections. In the end, we decided that we should second guess food ingredients that sound foreign because it's probably "made up" food. 

Week 18 (2/5/24 - 2/9/24)


Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Please add the following to your calendars:

Looking for volunteers! Black History Celebration Walk: Friday, March 1

Charlemagne will celebrate the bravery of American hero Ruby Bridges with an all school "Black History Celebration Walk" on March 1st from 9:15am-10:00am around the Amazon Bark Path. We are looking for volunteers to walk with their child's class, help stop traffic and motivate walkers!

*Volunteers will need to have an up-to-date field trip chaperone background check on file, and should plan to meet us in the front parking lot of Charlemagne at 9:10am on March 1st. Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering for the walk! 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Here's a link to the Weeks 16-18 study guide. All students received a print copy of this last Tuesday. It covers all of the content that we focused on over the past few weeks in class. Students took an assessment on Thursday over this content.

Devoir n°26, à rendre (due): vendredi le 9 février

Devoir n°27, à rendre (due): vendredi le 9 février

In small reading groups, we continued to read the biography of Barack Obama, identify verbs in the past tense, and copy common phrases in past tense in our French notebooks. Next month, we will begin writing our own autobiographies in French. 


In conjugation, we continue to practice conjugating verbs au passé composé, and just introduced how to write them in the negative form. We also practiced conjugating verbs à l'imparfait and how to correctly pronounce the verb endings (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient) when reading aloud / speaking. 


In reading, we read a familiar fairy tale, identifying verbs in the past tense. We reflected on why the author chose to conjugate the verb au passé composé or à l'imparfait, and visa-versa. We also continued to read the biographies of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama and take notes in the past tense about their major life events. We will use these familiar expressions and verbal phrases to help us with when writing our own autobiographies.


In social studies, as a part of an oral reading exercise, students read short biographies of the contributions of:

Ada Lovelace, British mathematician and first computer programmer

Sau Lan Wu, Chinese American particle physicist

Harriet Tubman, American abolitionist 

Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian pioneer for women in mathematics

Discovering new books during Black History Month

Hanging out in the library

Practicing verb conjugation au passé composé

Making Valentines for our 2nd grade buddies

Math

We worked toward understanding dividing a fraction by a whole number versus dividing a whole number by a fraction. These exercises helped students to see how the standard algorithm works (keep the dividend, change to multiply, and use the reciprocal of the divisor in order to multiply). 

ELA

We finished the final stages of the writing process and turned in final drafts of the End of Module task or the writing contest, whichever each student chose to complete. 

IRC was due Wednesday. We have a short break and then we will start IRC 3. 

Health

We watched a video that shows how to read a food label, read two articles about nutrition and pasted in our chosen food label into our journal for further scrutiny next week. 

Week 17 (1/29/24 - 2/2/24)


Next Week


Important Upcoming Dates

Please add the following to your calendars:

Outdoor School form sent home

It is yellow! Please return by mid-February. This will help with our planning. If your child will not be attending outdoor school this year, please let me know on the permission slip or send me an email so we can plan an alternative educational experience.

OBOB volunteers still needed

We are coming up on our final month of OBOB. In February we will be starting our final battles. We will be running these battles every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in February except for the 13th and 14th (Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day). We have four spots we can hold battles each day and each battle needs at least two volunteers. 


Each battle needs a moderator and a time/score keeper. As a moderator, you are the Alex Trebeck of the OBOB Battle. 


If you have any time to volunteer it would be greatly appreciated. 


Here is a link to sign up.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4DACAD23A3FC1-47266409-obo

Valentine's Day card exchange coming soon!

Your child will have the opportunity to exchange cards on Valentine's Day. (SVP, no candy). This is optional. If your child chooses to write a card for one student, they will need to write a card for everyone. We will also be making valentines for our 2nd grade buddies. Class lists are being sent home. 

Last call for packaged food label

We are starting unit 3 for our health studies next week. The topic...You are what you eat! So, to keep it relevant, I ask students if they can bring in a snack food or food package from something normally in their diet with the food label clearly visible. Think a box from mac and cheese, OJ bottle, cereal box, chips bag, snake cakes box, etc. We have already started collecting, and will star to dive into the ingredients on Feb 7th. 

Making up work when out

In English class, the way students make up work when they are out is to look on the blog for the Weekly Agenda to see what was missed and obtain any handouts from the absent folders next to the pencil sharpener. The Weekly Agenda houses every lesson and linked resources. I've noticed that students who have been out have had a hard time making up work. This is true for days absent or missing assignments for leadership time out of class. I appreciate your support in helping them stay accountable. 

Math

We had two lessons of math this week focused on dividing a whole number by a unit fraction and dividing a unit fraction by a whole number. We are working to conceptualize this through the use of tape diagrams and examples that they would come across in their daily life. We are also linking the lessons back to our fraction multiplication lessons to bridge the knowledge of multiplying by the reciprocal. 

ELA

We finished the prewriting stage of our end-of-module task and will type the rough draft in a Google Doc assigned through Google Classroom.  Students will work independently and together to check for revisions and edits. Final draft is due on Friday. 

Also note: Because we were out a week, we are behind a week for reading IRC and writing. I had originally planned on grading these for the report cards, but instead will be the first indicator of mastery level for semester 2. 

Health

We made a food journal to start the new unit and recorded information from a Ted ED, "The Effect of Food on the Brain." It felt fitting since we just finished out brain study. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Here's a link to the Weeks 16-18 study guide. All students received a print copy of this on Tuesday. It covers all of the content that we focused on this week in class, and a preview of next week!

Devoir n°25, à rendre (due): mardi le 6 février


In small reading groups, we continued to read the biography of Barack Obama, identify verbs in the past tense, and copy common phrases in past tense in our French notebooks. Next month, we will begin writing our own autobiographies in French.


We continue to practice conjugating verbs au passé composé and à l'imparfait through word sorts and games. Next week, we will build an understanding of when to use which tense.


In social studies, as a part of an oral reading exercise, students read short biographies of the contributions of Albert Einstein and Jane Goodall.

"Imagination is more important than knowing." - Albert Einstein

From "Einstein, sur un rayon de lumière"

...a book we read in class this week, which aligned well to many concepts we studied this fall in science!

Reading biographies

Jane Goodall

Building our vocabulary with word work

Playing math games and drawing like Picasso with our 2nd grade buddies

Week 16 (1/22/24 - 1/26/24)


Next Week

Young American Poetry Digest 

Your amazing student has a great opportunity to enter a poetry contest. The contest features haikus, but encourages as all other forms of poetry as well. There is an 80 word limit, and students can enter multiple poems as long as they all fit on one page. Your child will be given a flyer if they are interested. For this contest, I prefer that the families enter the submission from home as I will be handling all the other writing submissions for the afore mentioned writing contest. The deadline is April 19th. Submissions are entered at www.youngpoets.org. I will be introducing this opportunity to them in the upcoming week. 

Call for packaged snack with food label

We are starting unit 3 for our health studies next week. The topic...You are what you eat! So, to keep it relevant, I ask students if they can bring in a snack food or food package from something normally in their diet with the food label clearly visible. Think a box from mac and cheese, Takis bag, snake cakes box, etc. We have already started collecting, and will really dive into the ingredients on Feb 7th. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°23, à rendre (due): vendredi le 26 janvier

Devoir n°24, à rendre (due): mardi le 30 janvier


In conjugation, we reviewed how to conjugate verbs au passé composé (taught in 4th grade) and expanded on understanding of conjugation rules. We newly learned how to conjugate verbs à l'imparfait. For more information about these verb tenses, click here and here. We practiced organizing verbs on a timeline to develop our conceptual understanding of how the verb ending (la terminaison) communicates whether the action takes place in the past, present or future. We took notes on how to conjugate verbs in the past tense, both au passé composé and à l’imparfait in our French notebooks. 


We have started a new six-week social studies unit with a focus on biographies. In small reading groups, students began to read the biography of Barack Obama. Next week, we will begin to work through verb tense identification, common expressions in the past tense, and comprehension. This is in preparation for an autobiography writing project, written in past tense (au passé composé et à l'imparfait) to begin mid February.


As a special MLK Day, I designed a series of "what do you notice / what do you wonder" lessons looking at images from the Civil Rights Movement in the US. We read a short text about the March on Washington in 1963, we practiced interpreting a series of timelines of American history with a focus on the Civil Rights movement, and made connections between issues of liberty during the American Civil War, the CRM and today.


In social studies, we read short biographies in French to practice reading in the past tense. This was a great exercise to practice our reading fluency! This week, we learned about the contributions of:

Amanda Gorman,  

Youth Poet Laureate

Susan B. Anthony, 

feminist who fought for women’s suffrage &  the 19th amendment

Katherine Johnson, mathematician whose calculations helped launch Apollo 11

Nelson Mandela, 

anti-apartheid activist & first president of South Africa

Josephine Baker, 

American born French dancer, singer, artist, spy & revolutionary

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Social studies vocabulary for this mini-unit

We shared our celestial legends with classmates!

Conjugation game led by our intern, Marine

Organizing ourselves on a timeline... to help us understand how to conjugate verbs correctly!

Practicing using expressions au passé in partners, as a movement break

Math

We used fraction multiplication do discover the area of different regions of flags (see photo) and began rationalizing the quotient of fractions. This work was cut short with EasyCBM for math. 

ELA

We started the week with a Socratic Seminar to flush out the values and beliefs of Chief Joseph based on the text evidence in his Lincoln Hall Speech. Students said he valued freedom, equality, honesty, action, karma, and balance of power based on evidence. Students then had to commit to either the End-of-Module task or the writing contest. Check with your child to ask which one they decided upon. This was followed by the EasyCBM for reading comprehension and vocabulary. 

Health

We had our final lesson regarding the CNS (central nervous system) focused on brain disorders and TBI's (traumatic brain injuries). 

Students used fraction multiplication to find area of flags and stripes. Do you know which country this flag is for? 

Your student took their brain study art response poster home on Wednesday.  There are heavy topics on it that should be followed up on at home such as substance abuse effects and TBIs. 

Students participate d in an inside-outside circle Socratic Seminar to discuss the values and beliefs present in a speech given by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe.

Week 15 (1/8/24 - 1/12/24)


Next Week

Leadership club videos

Thanks for your patience getting these out to you! I've put together a collection of all student-written, -filmed and -edited videos HERE. They were inspired by all school initiatives (like kindness month, our new school-wide positive behavior motto: "I am helpful, safe and kind" and school choice tours). 

STAMP Testing.... Complete!

Some of the scores are already in, and they are very encouraging. Students did a great job bringing their water bottles, using breathing strategies, exercising grit and patience when they felt frustrated. As a whole, students were very respectful of the testing environment to their peers, so it was a pretty painless week of testing. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°22, à rendre (due): mardi le 16 janvier

No new content this week, as to avoid overload with STAMP testing. 

Mme Wolf administered the Winter Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) assessment 1:1 to each student to monitor progress from the beginning of the year. This will be reported on the Semester 1 report card, along with the results from the series of STAMP tests this week. 

On Thursday, students took a "dictée" on Thursday over spelling words sent home last week. We played verb bingo to practice verbs 51-75. No quiz until next Wednesday over these. 

Over the course of the week, in social studies, we've read one story a day from La Terre est mon amie, a beautiful book (written by a former colleague's friend!) that illustrates the lives of children around the world. Each portrait includes a snapshot of their community and ways that they interact with the earth in sustainable ways: conserving resources, responses to climate change, rain water collection in different climates, farming methods, fair trade practices, eating locally, and ways to reduce one's carbon footprint. The kids are enjoying making connections with countries they are familiar with and finding them on a map.

Math 

We finished the week strong by stating what is happening when we multiply fractions and writing steps that could be followed by a fourth grader who hasn't multiplied factions yet. I tested the students to see if their steps work whole group. Such a fun way to end multiplying fractions before the unit switches to dividing fractions which we all know is simply multiplying by the reciprocal. 

ELA

Students have been working to define the cultural values and beliefs Chief Joseph implied in his Lincoln Hall Speech 15 months after he surrendered at Bear Paws. They will be using the text evidence to help them with their End of Module task. However, there is a choice which your child may have mentioned. Each student can choose to either write the EOM task: 

Your task: For an audience who has read and studied Chief Joseph’s “Lincoln Hall Speech” as you have, write an essay to explain how his speech conveys two important beliefs and values of the Nez Perce people. Develop your ideas with evidence from Chief Joseph’s “Lincoln Hall Speech.”

(OR)

Enter a writing contest depicting "What it means to be a welcoming nation." This also focuses on cultural values and beleifs, but in the present time versus the content we studied. Your child should pick up a flyer in class to bring to you, but you can also access the information here. I will be submitting for them and copying you on their submissions. I asked anyone who wanted to enter to pass it by their families for support and encouragement. This can be done in class at the same time as the EOM task is being completed. 

Health

We had a dynamic and engaging guest speaker and parent from UO, Dr. Nicole Dudukovic Kuhl. Nicole is a neuroscientist who supported our brain unit by presenting relevant information in a fun way with the class. She engaged them in scenarios and trivia. I'm proud to say that the students knew exactly when their brains would be fully developed when asked. :-) Feel free to remind them, that until they are 25ish, they probably should lean on your expertise as experienced humans and parents. 

Brain Health

What we can do to keep our brain's healthy.

Role of the hippocampus

What does the hippocampus do and what could happen as a result of a TBI. 

Week 14 (1/3/24 - 1/5/24)


Next Week


STAMP testing next week

For those of you who were here in 3rd grade, this is a standardized assessment through AVANT you are likely already be familiar with, designed to measure overall language proficiency in four domains -- reading, writing, speaking and listening. Results of this assessment will be shared with Semester 1 report cards in early February. This data is *very* helpful for middle school planning, as it will help you understand your child's performance in relation to grade level benchmarks, which may impact your child's success in future immersion learning experiences. Testing will occur primarily Monday - Wednesday. If at all possible, please limit absences during these days unless due to illness. 

Please make sure to send your student with a full water bottle, healthy snack, silent fidget and a hearty lunch. 

Fidgets 

All students have the knowledge that no slime or thinking putty should come to school. Additionally, only students with a permanent plan in place or a plan with the teachers should bring quiet fidgets. We are seeing an uptick of fidgets that are being used as toys. We iterated the the students that a fidget is a tactile tool for students who NEED that in order to focus and complete tasks. Fidgets should not be a distraction from focus or work. If it is, this is a self-selected habit of avoidance we do not want to foster. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°21, à rendre (due): mardi le 8 janvier

On Wednesday, we revisited school rules and expectations. We also revisited our "class charter" to make sure we know what strategies we agreed on in the fall to ensure everyone feels safe, respected, included, understood and welcome in our classroom. We reviewed our class technology agreement ("can dos" and "can't dos") on iPads to ensure we are using our technology responsibly and respectfully.

Now that the rough drafts of our celestial egends are complete, students have each been assigned a partner for collaboration during the editing part of the writing process. In pairs, students will reach each other's writing, evaluate and share feedback for clarity, and be a support for brainstorming or finding errors, if needed. We did a lesson on identifying subjects and verbs, played a conjugation game to review present tense conjugation, underlined all of the subjects and verbs in our legends, and then used notes in our French notebooks to check our work.

On Thursday, we practiced accessing the STAMP testing portal, discussed strategies for managing test anxiety, and made sure all students could access the exam. We took a few practice tests and previewed what meeting expectations in 5th grade looks like. I think this helped orient students to better understand how to most accurately demonstrate their language proficiency.

On Friday, we had a class meeting to set some intentions for things we want to do plus souvent (more often) and things we want to do moins souvent (less often) in 2024. We reviewed how to best engage in a class discussion, norms for participation, and took turns sharing in partners. We watched a few fun videos about how people celebrate the new year around the world on December 31, and how Chinese New Year is celebrated. We welcome the year of the dragon!

Math 

We opened the week slowly with a day of Khan Academy followed by two lessons of multiplying unit fractions using the area model and algorithm to build conceptual understanding of how the multiplication of fractions results in a smaller fraction. They are doing great! 

ELA

Students learned what happened to the Nimiipuu after Chief Joseph and other tribal leaders surrendered at Bear Paws. It was very heart heavy. This followed two days of using book creator to create their own Nimiipuu name and present content in their book as if they are a member of the tribe in the period of time studied. This activity has been very upbeat and exciting. 

Students have an IRC book and task activities due on January 31st. Encourage your child to ensure their book is in their backpack daily. They have time in class to do activities and reading but should also be filling some minutes 10-15 a day reading at home. 

Health

Continued with the central nervous system and how drugs/alcohol/some meds affect the it. 

Comment se souhaite-t-on la bonne année dans le monde?

C'est quoi le nouvel ans chinois?

Reviewing class meeting norms in our own words together

Week 13 (12/11/23 - 12/15/23)


Next Week

Thank you

A big shout out to Dr. Matt Barber of the UO, a parent of one of out 5th graders, for delivering an exciting presentation. The students were very excited to learn about the smallest things like viruses directly after learning about the largest objects we know of the day before. What a contradiction and fun. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°19, à rendre (due): vendredi le 15 décembre

Devoir n°20, à rendre (due): mercredi le 3 janvier

No spelling homework this week.

Students took their Week 11-13 exam on Wednesday over numbers up to four digits. I will have these graded and sent home after Winter Break.

Our visit to the Eugene Science Center and Planetarium on Thursday was a hit! Students got to see two shows in the Planetarium: 1) Stargazing Tonight & Earth Moon and Sun and 2) Exploring Our Solar System. Visit their website to learn more.

During the week, we read a text called La crise de l'ours polaire (The crisis of the polar bear). We took notes while reading, and recorded a series of causes and effects, making connections between human actions, climate change, and its effects on all polar bears.

On Friday, we celebrated the end of our science unit with a positive behavior party for both classes. We danced under black light and had fun drawing with highlighters. The classroom felt a bit like a planetarium, and we it was fun to imagine we were in space!

Basically, science is the coolest. 

Math 

We opened up the new fraction multiplication unit using area models. We also had fun with tricky Jeopardy math during our popcorn party. The kids did great, so Mme Ky and I felt accomplished. 

ELA

Students discussed the actions of select Nez Perce tribal members as we finished the core text Thunder Rolling in the Mountains. Our conversations are fully focused on the values and beliefs that the Nez Perce carry that guide their decision making using text evidence. 

Students have the option to read their IRC choice book during break. Maybe bedtime or cozy time reading. It's option but might also take the load off when they return. It's due at the end of January. 

Health

Continued with the central nervous system venturing down the spinal cord all the way out to the dendrites. 

Create your own turbine to discover the most effective way to harness renewable wind energy

Discover how water and air patterns move and develop with changes in speed and temperature

simulation of the gravitation pull of the universe

thermal camera

Guess what's happening in this photo? 😂

Students got to talk over a UB radio system!

Week 12 (12/4/23 - 12/8/23)


Next Week


Mme Ky bids us farewell: Allergens? Read on...

As you know, Ky VanDeWater has been a student teacher this year in English and also served as student teacher with Mme Shelli while your child was in 4th grade. I am happy to announce that she has finished her program and will be serving children in a classroom of her own soon. Her last day is Friday the 15th. She has maintained strict professionalism and was such a gracious and supportive part of our days this semester. She will be missed. I am planning a surprise popcorn party for her in both classes next week. Please let me know if there are any dietary restrictions for popcorn. 


Lost and Found

Lost and Found will be in the hallway until Winter Break. Please have students check for lost items.

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°17, à rendre (due): vendredi 8 le décembre

Devoir n°18, à rendre (due): mardi le 12 décembre

Spelling homework, for those who needed practice after Tuesday's pretest

Our French intern Marine has been reading a series of celestial-themed legends -- stories around the origin of constellations, why the moon changes its form, where the sun goes when it sets, etc. -- to give students inspiration for their own legends. 

On Wednesday, students took a comprehension quiz on space-themed texts they read in small groups. 

In science, we've started making connections between human activities and climate change. In our science notebooks, we took notes on renewable and nonrenewable energy sources to develop vocabulary on the subject. We read a text called Le pour et le contre des sources d'énergies to evaluate the reasons why we might use one energy over another. Students used a graphic organizer to help them take notes from the reading.

We started working on our légendes célestes (celestial legends), a month-long writing project. These will go back and forth from school. Look for a yellow booklet in your student's home folder.

Math 

After our last unit review, students did a very good job on their end of unit assessment. This was the first unit of 3 dedicated to fractions. The next unit for fractions is multiplying. 

ELA

Students worked to determine the mood of different scenes in the core text Thunder Rolling in the Mountains. They were asked to choose different quotes or sections in the passage they could use as evidence to prove that the mood they have chosen is accurate. They are chomping at the bit to finish the book next week. 

Health

We have been using non-fiction text and free hand artistry to explore the parts of the brain and their functions. Next week, neurons. We also got serious about safety with Erin's Law content. Ask your child to explain the difference between an unsafe touch and an unwanted touch. They also brought forward previous learning that private parts are parts covered traditionally be swimming suits. We spent time deciding how to deal with unsafe/unwanted violations of our personal body parts by using scenarios from the Second Step Curriculum. 


NATIVES Presentation

Today, Josh Davies, the NATIVES Program Director for 4J and a Hanis Coos Tribal Council Member, came to present an overview of the historical changes of the Native Tribes in Oregon said through the tribal member/family lens. The students were fascinated by the presentation. It was such a hit, I have invited Josh back for an artifacts presentation in early 2024. Here is more information about his tribe and about the NATIVES program in 4J. If your family shares Native lineage, your child may be eligible to receive benefits from the NATIVES program. Please feel free to email me or Josh directly for more information. 

Presenting the daily local weather report

Reviewing numbers by making a number line

Taking a movement break, throwing scarves with partners

Brainstorming celestial phenomenons in our legend booklets for inspiration

Week 11 (11/27/23 - 12/1/23)


Next Week


Reminder to return TAG Plans

These were shared at conferences. If you haven't signed and returned them already, please do.

By request: Book recommendations and more reading opportunities in French!

If you're looking for a holiday gift this season, I've created an easy way to find a French text for your student. 

Many thanks to Marine, our French intern, for her help with this project!

To increase exposure to texts in French and get students reading more, I've added a school library visit every Tuesday afternoon to our class routine. Thanks to the dedication of many parent volunteers and instructional coach Erika Wolf, French books are now clearly organized and labeled, making them so much more accessible to students. Erika worked on adding a bunch of 5th grade level texts that were just waiting to be added the school catalog for circulation, which means a lot of new and exciting books on the shelves for your kids to access. 

Finally, to increase access to at-home, high interest reading materials, I've found a serious stash of Geo-Ado and Wapati magazines from 2016 on a variety of topics that fit nicely in home folders. These will be clearly marked as school property, but are not a part of the school library, so they can be exchanged more often and more easily by students from the classroom.

Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n°15, à rendre (due): vendredi 1 le décembre

Devoir n°16, à rendre (due): mardi le 5 décembre

Spelling homework, for those who needed practice after Tuesday's pretest

In science, we explored the following guiding questions:

We've been exploring the differences between weather and climate, climate and seasons in different hemispheres, ways that weather patterns move in Earth's atmosphere, and how air density / temperature / pressure impacts the movement of weather patterns. We also discussed why it is important to predict the weather using science. Building on our learning from last week, we started to discuss the ways that gases found in our atmosphere help trap the Sun's rays to maintain a temperature that can sustain life. We have also started to identify which are gaz à effet de serre (greenhouse gases) and how our actions are contributing to the production of more greenhouse gases than ever before in Earth's history. Students watched a short video about the carbon cycle, and students were assigned a text called Ce qui menace notre atmosphère with many helpful graphics to visualize what's happening at a molecular level.

Many thanks to Sudha and Jake for your support getting our new class weather station up and running! It was no small feat. Now that Scott, our technology support specialist is back, we are able to get some support connecting the new weather station to the school wifi. It should be fully functional by next week for students to access. Hooray!

In art, each student chose a different constellation in the night sky. We used glow in the dark paint to mark each star, and we hung them on the ceiling to create a mini planetarium in our classroom that glows with the lights off.

Math

We have working to finalize the learning of Unit 2, fractions as quotients and intro to fraction multiplication. The end of unit assessment is upcoming in the new week. While we leave this unit, it is important to note that the unit goal is to ensure students understand that a fraction reads as division and how a division problem can be put into a fraction simply and why. They also have built a foundation in which we can move into fraction multiplication more effectively in Unit 3. 

ELA

Students have pressed further into the content of Thunder Rolling in the Mountains. We are using this book all unit to apply reading comprehensions skills. Those we practiced this week are writing about the content to deepen understanding, reading with prosody, and explaining the elements of this historical fiction text that is based on true events. In reading buddies, blue class helped their second grade buddies read, write and draw about 2 aspects of some Native American tribes: the dream catcher and the totem pole. 

Working on decoding a number puzzler to practice multi-digit numbers in French

Looking at the National Weather Service to record today's local weather 

ateliers, independent activities, to help us engage the week's content

To practice our listening comprehension, we took notes from a video of other 5th grade students around the world, describing their school day.

Meet our local meteorologists!

Reviewing weather vocabulary with loto

Selecting a student from another country in the text    to research

Presenting the weather report to the class...

Watch this video with a visit to a weather station and an interview with a meteorologist!

Week 10 (11/13/23 - 11/17/23)


Next Week


Fall conferences next week

Please double check your scheduled time! If you need to make a change to your conference, please select a different time slot. If you haven't specifically requested a Zoom conference, we will assume that you will be meeting us in our classrooms, Rooms 17 and 18. Please plan on arriving at the school 5-10 minutes in advance to make sure you have enough time to find the classroom. If you have requested a Zoom conference, you can expect a link emailed to you the morning of your conference. 

Quoi de neuf en français?

Week 10 - 11 Study Guide

Devoir n° 13, à rendre (due): vendredi 17 le novembre

Devoir n° 14, à rendre (due): mardi le 28 novembre

Spelling homework, for those who needed practice after Tuesday's pretest

In science, we explored the following guiding questions:


We watched a video which explains the 5 layers of our atmosphere and what happens at each "couche" (layer). We discussed gases that compose our atmosphere, where satellites are located, where weather patterns happen, how the ozone protects us from harmful UV rays, and a short introduction to green house gases and how they are trapping the sun's rays in our atmosphere, increasing the Earth's temperature.  We also reviewed weather vocabulary, and organized types of weather by season in our science notebooks.


We continue to practice irregular verbs in the present tense (être, avoir, mettre, venir, aller, faire, pouvoir, vouloir) with fun sorting conjugation games. We also played verb definition "loto" (bingo) as a fun way to review for the quiz on Friday. We are doing daily review activities on numbers from 1 - 100. 


Students were given a quiz on Friday over possessive adjectives, verb definitions 1-25 and irregular verb conjugations in the present tense.


We discussed the contributions of Stephen Hawking (known for his research of black holes and work as a math professor at Cambridge University), Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin (the first Americans to walk on the moon), Nikola Tesla (Austrian physicist known for pioneering the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current electricity), and Sally Ride (the first American woman, and youngest American, in space at age 32). 

Math

Students moved into solving problems of area when one side length is a unit fraction, then onto a regular fraction, and finally a mixed number. We do this allowing students to use the distributive property and improper fractions. They must realize that finding area when both are mixed numbers does not work as effectively or efficiently when both sides are whole numbers. Uh oh! Roadblocks we must adjust for in our process. 

ELA

All week has been spent on the writing process. We are really pushing the students to fix up or extend their writing from the last written piece to this piece. Each time, we should be enhancing out writing in some way. The students should have their final draft turned in this week. If you see it come home, it is because they were unable to get it done in this weeks' ELA class periods. 

Conjugation sort

Verb definition bingo

Quel temps fait-il?

The video we watched about the different layers of the atmosphere!

Stephen Hawking

Nikola Tesla

Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin 

Sally Ride

Week 9 (11/6/23 - 11/8/23)


Next Week

Conferences coming soon!

Thanks to those of you have already signed up. We were able to collaborate for hours on Thursday, and we're looking forward to share lots of observations and student work with you in a few weeks. 

If you would like to conference with our music teacher, Eric Bloch Miller, or our physical education teacher, ErinMarie Langsdorf, during PTC, please reach out to them via email to set up an appointment. M. Eric's email is blochmiller_e@4j.lane.edu and Mme. ErinMarie's email is langsdorf_e@4j.lane.edu. They would be happy to coordinate a time to meet with you! 

Charlemagne's Rainbow Alliance

Beginning soon! This group provides a weekly opportunity for FOURTH and FIFTH-GRADE students to make friends, read books, play games, have conversations, and hang out. The group will be led by myself each week. We will be using some activities from WelcomingSchools and others which will be age-appropriate material. Some topics we will be addressing are:  Understanding Pronouns, Creating Community, Understanding Gender Identity, and more. The goal of the group is to create a safe and inclusive space for all students. Please reach out if there are any questions or concerns. Students will need a signed permission slip to participate in Rainbow Alliance. The group will meet during recess time with Mme Rachel.


Winter Weather: Be In the Know

The weather is mild right now, but winter is coming. There are several ways to find out when hazardous weather conditions close or delay schools or alter bus routes.

 

How to find out if there is a change:

No News = No Change. School closures and other changes are decided early in the morning and announced by all of these methods before 6:30 a.m. If schools and buses are on their regular schedules, there will NOT be an announcement.


Quoi de neuf en français?

Devoir n° 12, à rendre (due): mardi le 14 novembre

In conjugation, we played a game in small groups to review 3rd group verbs, ending in -re, in the present tense.

In grammar, we took notes in our French notebooks to review which adjectives come before or after the noun in a sentence. We also practiced transforming adjectives from singular to plural, and from the feminine to the masculine form. 

In small groups, Marine continued to read a wordless book to increase student oral observations and conversations. Mme McLaren helped students select new science books at their reading levels to develop reading comprehension.

We took a spelling pretest on Tuesday over words 1-11, and students that needed practice were assigned homework. Those same students were given a post-test on Friday to track progress.

In science, we explored the following essential questions:

Students had a LOT of fun experimenting with tubes, clamps and serinques to observe the qualities of air. We learned that air is made of matter, can be compressed to change its volume, and under pressure, air reaches a limit of compression... creating a force. We also learned that air has a mass, which we can measure in grams. Air is all around us, but there is very little air in space. We can feel air, even though we can't see it. Air movement is part of a changing weather pattern.


Math

Students continued to explore how to use division to multiply fractions. They are multiplying unit fractions by whole numbers to determine why multiplying by a fraction results in a smaller number. Uh oh. Multiplying has always made a bigger product! Retraining the brain takes time. 

ELA

The class is on to their next writing task to compare and contrast the significance of the Nez Perce land to the Nez Perce tribe and to the US Government and settlers. They have used an evidence and elaboration organizer to record their findings on a paragraph map. Next steps is to add transitions before rough drafting. Writing takes a good week to accomplish if we do it right. 

Watch this helpful video we watched in class this week!

Week 8 (10/30/23 - 11/3/23)


Next Week

OBOB Practice EVERY Wednesday

If your child signed up for OBOB and eats school lunches, they will be given a sack lunch we call a "field trip" lunch to take with them into the practice. We cannot have an open hot lunch traveling through the rooms. It is truly best to bring a home lunch that day. 

Conferences are coming!

Please check your email for a sign up link for parent teacher conferences. Conferences are with the homeroom teacher, 15 minutes in length, and take place in the homeroom teacher's classroom on Monday and Tuesday, November 20-21.

Quoi de neuf en français? 

Week 8-9 study guide

A copy of this was sent home with your student on Tuesday.

Devoir n° 10 - Les adjectifs possessifs, à rendre (due): vendredi le 3 novembre

Devoir n° 11 - Les adjectifs, à rendre (due): mardi le 7 novembre

On Wednesday, we took a summative assessment over conjugation of all 3 verb groups, question words, negative phrases, science content, and a comprehension quiz over the text we read in small groups. 

In science, we explored the following essential question:

We researched questions about how many stars are in our galaxy, where the north star is located, how to use it to orient our perspective when looking at constellations in the night sky, and what happens to a star when it dies. We built on our understanding of gravity and mass. We even talked about black holes!

In small reading groups, students started to choose a new science-themed text to read and discuss.

We took a spelling pretest over 11 commonly used expressions in French. If your student needed practice spelling these, it was sent home on Thursday. We will complete a follow-up quiz on Wednesday next week to track progress. They should know which ones to practice at home. Click here for a link to the practice worksheet.

To help us practice our oral expression, we've started watching a series of claymation shorts titled "contes célestes" (celestial tales). This was a hit!

In social studies, we read a short biography about Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist. Students learned that he discovered his passion for astrophysics at the age of 9 during a trip to the Hayden Planetarium, and later got a job there, where his career took off. 

Math

Students moved from the basic idea of fractions being division to using multiplication to aid in division and division to aid in multiplication of unit fractions (1/x) and whole number situations.

ELA

The class began Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O'Dell and Elizabeth Hall. This is a historical fiction novel about the Nez Perce removal story. We use this book to explore how cultural values guide people since there are two sides to every story. We met the main character and narator, Sound of Running Feet which is not the true name of the person, Noise of Running Feet. I will share with the students where the author took liberties in this book and what is verified as truth. 

Click to watch the wordless clay animation video that we watched as a class this week to practice using science vocabulary through observations!

Click to watch a 20 min episode of C'est pas sorcier all about stars.

Obélix et Asterix!

Week 7 (10/23/23 - 10/27/23)


Next Week

Science Center Permission Slips 

Permissions slips were sent home a week ago yesterday. Please read through the material. Keep the top copy at home fro your reference. Complete the form front and back and choose a lunch option. If your child will bring a home lunch, no need to return the lunch order form. We prefer to get the permission slips back within a week for help in organizing the trip. 

OBOB Begins Nov. 1: Here's what to know.

If your child signed up for OBOB, this announcement is for you! We have a large population of students excited to participate and teams have been set. Your child will start OBOB practices during their lunch/recess time on Wednesdays only starting November 1st. To save time, it's best to have a home lunch that day. However, we honor the school lunch choice and will make that available. A big thank you goes out to Nick Caum for taking the lead and all the other volunteers who have chosen to support this worthwhile opportunity. Let the reading fun begin!

Halloween Parade

Please refer to Poppy's news for parade details. 

What to host an intern? 


Bonjour Charlemagne families,

 

Our Amity interns are a huge part of our school. Thanks to them, teachers in grades 2-5 can differentiate their instruction and students can experience more French speaking. We could not do this program without host families who agree to host them for about 3 months. There is always a need for more families.

 

The requirements are:

-     Transporting the intern to and from school,

-       Offering her own room,

-       Offering 3 meals a day

 

The host families don’t have to be part of our Charlemagne community. So tell friends, neighbors, family members.

If you have an interest in hosting, please reach out to our host family coordinator, Rachel Buciarski (Charlemagne parent) at rachel@buciarski.com.

Math

The students spent all week working on determining why fractions are division and which way the division happens. Dividend/divisor = quotient or a divided by b = a/b. Students have a hard time telling which number goes first so we focus them on "what" is being divided into how many "groups". Giving your child opportunities to think through that at home in scenarios that arise in daily life would be very beneficial. 

ELA

The students listened to two oral stories: "Coyote and Monster" and "How Beaver Stole Fire from the Pines." These stories are part of the oral stories passed on through generations in the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) community. The students discussed these stories to determine their value and how the stories would support he children in learning and growing as a member of the tribe. Of particular highlight, students participated in two Socratic Seminars which empower students to voice their opinions based on facts in a risk free environment. it went very well. 

Quoi de neuf en français? 

Devoir n° 8 - Phrases négatives, à rendre (due): vendredi le 27 octobre

Devoir n° 9 - Qu'est-ce qui se passe?! à rendre (due): mardi le 31 octobre

In conjugation, we focused on conjugation of 2nd group verbs (ending in -ir) in the present tense, as well as irregular verbs mettre and devoir. 

To support our practice of question words, we watched a short video about Malala Yousafzai and practiced asking questions. 

In small groups, we nearly finished our technology themed books together. We played "Qui suis-je?" (Guess Who?) with Mme McLaren, asking questions and answering using negative phrases. With our intern Marine, students had fun acting out roles in silly photos in a game called "Qu'est-ce qui se passe?!" (What's happening?!).

In science, students explored the following guiding questions:

We also read a text about gravity, the difference between mass and weight and the solar system. 

In science groups, we sorted and organized celestial bodies by composition, type, size, and distance from the sun. We continued to track the phases of the moon using a lunar calendar. This has helped us notice patterns and make predictions like scientists!

In French, we read a beautiful book called Je n'ai rien dit (I didn't say anything) in honor of Bullying Awareness Month. Students discussed many ways to interrupt unwanted behaviors, the importance of saying something to a trusted adult, and the impact of your silence, even if you are an innocent bystander. Marine read another short text called Non à la maltraitance which presents different situations where it might be difficult to say no, both to a peer and to an adult. We focused on the importance of telling an adult that you trust if you are being mistreated or see someone being mistreated. 

Week 6 (10/16/23 - 10/20/23)


Next Week

Science Center Permission Slips 

Permissions slips were sent home on Thursday. Please read through the material. Keep the top copy at home fro your reference. Complete the form front and back and choose a lunch option. If your child will bring a home lunch, no need to return the lunch order form. We prefer to get the permission slips back within a week for help in organizing the trip. 

OBOB Begins Nov. 1: Here's what to know.

If your child signed up for OBOB, this announcement is for you! We have a large population of students excited to participate and teams have been set. Your child will start OBOB practices during their lunch/recess time on Wednesdays only starting November 1st. To save time, it's best to have a home lunch that day. However, we honor the school lunch choice and will make that available. A big thank you goes out to Nick Caum for taking the lead and all the other volunteers who have chosen to support this worthwhile opportunity. Let the reading fun begin!

EWEB Poster Contest Winner 

In English, your child had the opportunity to create a "Brought to you by Electricity" poster to be entered in a competition for Public Works Week. We have several outstanding artists submit their work. EWEB received over 250 entries from the Eugene area. We had a student win 3rd place. Congratulations to Charlie. Here is the LINK to view the top 20. Charlie's is listed at number 6. 

Kid Governor Nomination for Charlemagne 

In English class, students are participating in the Oregon Kid Governor program. Not only are we voting for the next Kid Governor, but we are sending a candidate to run for the office. We had three candidates, three speeches with amazing platforms, and held voting "at the polls." Congratulations to Maitri who is our school's nominee winning the votes from her peers. Visit the Kid Governor website to learn more about this rare opportunity.

Quoi de neuf en français? 

Devoir n°6 - Chercher les différences, à rendre (due): vendredi le 20 octobre

Devoir n°7 - Lecture indépendante, à rendre (due): mardi le 24 octobre

Math

The students finished off their volume unit with a fun review Jeopardy game. They also spent time in stations practicing skills that help them with volume and/or working on focused Khan Academy learning and practice. They took their unit test on Thursday and dove into Unit 2 on Friday as they explore why fractions are nothing more than division. 

ELA

The class drafted, revised, edited and typed their paragraph response to "How did the Nez Perce homeland sustain their lifestyle and culture?"  We used Google Classroom to obtain the assignment, typed in Google Docs and submitted the assignment in Google Classroom for review. You will receive this work during Parent Teacher Conferences. 

Using this model, how many diameters of the moon equals the diameter of the Earth? 

What's the circumference of the Earth, according to this model?

How many phases of the moon are there? And what do they look like? Using our moon observations from last month, we can start to notice some patterns...

Conjugating technology verbs in the present tense in our French notebooks

Working on negative phrases with technology vocabulary cards from the word wall

Some of the trickier verbs require repetition and practice!

Subjets in blue, verbs in red

Sorting pronouns and verbs to build conjugation skills, our concept of singular and plural subjects, and to help us notice patterns in conjugation by verb group

Week 5 (10/9/23 - 10/12/23)


Next Week

Quoi de neuf en français? 

Study guide, Weeks 5-6 

Devoir n°5 - Un monde sans COVID-19, à rendre (due): mardi le 17 octobre

In vocabulary, we completed our technology vocabulary set (43 words) and added to our list of scientific vocabulary.

In science, we reviewed planet names and their order by distance from the sun. We built on our understanding of concepts learned in Investigation 1 and added to our scientific vocabulary. We used models to learn that the Earth turns around an invisible axis in the counterclockwise direction, and that one complete rotation of the Earth is a day, or 24 hours. We discussed how, from our perspective, the sun seems to move in the sky but it is actually the Earth turning on its axis. 

In conjugation, we continued to practice irregular verbs faire, vouloir, venir, aller and pouvoir in the present tense. This week, we added mettre and devoir.


In technology, we had fun playing Interland (a game produced by Google designers, available in French!) to teach kids about digital citizenship during independent work time. Next week, I will show students how to begin creating their own animations on Scratch (a coding program, also available in French!) accompanied by short tutorial videos.

In small groups, Marine (our French intern) met with every student for 20 minutes to play 21 questions and practice asking questions. Mme McLaren met with every student for 20 minutes in a small reading group to select a text to read together and discuss how we will develop our language proficiency through reading and having discussions about the text.

What’s the deal with homework in 5th grade?

Q: How do I know if my student is turning in their homework?

If you see a stamp in their planner on the assignment, that means your child has submitted this work. If not, they were either absent the day it was due or did not turn it in. During Parent Teacher Conferences in November, we will update you on your child’s progress with homework submission. French homework is sent home every Tuesday (due that Friday) and Friday (due the following Tuesday).


Q: Where can I find my child’s homework in their backpack?

Your child should have a plastic folder in their backpack that comes home everyday. All French homework is printed on green paper, and numbered as “Devoir n°__” which corresponds with the assignment written in your child’s planner. One side should be for homework assignments in English, and the other in French. This should come to school everyday and go home everyday with your child. If you aren’t sure what your child’s homework is, this is written in the weekly newsletter and also should be written in your child’s planner on the right side of every week under “Devoirs”.


Q: What do I do with old homework assignments that have already been submitted?

If you see a stamp on a homework assignment, it can be taken out of the homework folder. It means it has been received. If you see feedback on a homework assignment, it means that it needs to be reworked and resubmitted. Please keep completed homework assignments at home and feel free to review them for upcoming assessments. Please support your student in staying organized by going through this folder every week at home.



English Update is larger and was shared for the upcoming PTO meeting 

In ELA, we are studying the westward expansion impact on indigenous tribes specific to the Nez Perce removal story. Students spend several weeks building background knowledge of the complex cultures that already existed in America prior to the European's arrival/invasion. While the focus is on indigenous tribes, we also have multiple nods the to Mexico/New Spain(1822) territory and the treaties that expanding the United States land holdings. In the 5th grade, we are using "Reading to Learn" strategies versus previous grade levels' "Learning to Read" strategies. This focuses students on reading comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary expansion. I have noted that there is a much wider gap in the switch from "Learning to Write" to "Write to Learn." This requires extended time building confidence in background knowledge and a vast difference in scaffolds than the curriculum provides as some students are working on completing effective sentences while some are working on multi-page written pieces. If you are a vetted parent volunteer that could be "on call" for small group writing support for random days in both AM and PM classes on any given day, please reach out to me. There are no specific days we write or need support because of the way the curriculum is built and due to the schedule created to support Learning Center students' schedules. 


In math,  we are wapping up Unit 1, Volume of Right Rectangular Prisms. Students started with concrete building blocks to determine cube units, moved into representations with cubes present and then presentations without cubes present. In this stage students conceptually built knowledge of the formulas V= l x w x h and V = base x h (or one layer x the number of layers) and why those formulas work. Finally, we moved into composite right rectangular prisms and then composite prisms with missing side lengths. This unit builds a foundation for further use in volume and is NOT meant to accomplish full mastery because later, students have to be able to master volume at the fractional level. This unit allows students to access multiplication and division of fractions in later units as it pertains to application of concepts to problems of daily life situations, area situations and volume situations. For math, we have weekly math stations in which we utilize the talents of a parent volunteer (Mme Rachel), the 5th grade French Intern (Mme Marine), and our student-teacher (Mme Ky). I do not have need for any more math volunteers at this time, but if you are a parent who has a STEM heavy job and would like to share how math makes a difference in your world, I would love to hear from you. I envision having short presentations (whether in person and recorded) of the importance of math knowledge and how it is a hidden gem everywhere we cannot function without. I work tirelessly to get all students to believe that inside each and everyone is a "math person." 

Working together to practice conjugating verbs!

Students played 21 questions to practice vocabulary with our French intern, Marine

Week 4 (10/2/23 - 10/6/23)


Next Week


Kid Governor Permission Slip 

Last Monday, I sent home a Kid Governor Permission slip for all students to sign. We are registered as a Kid Governor class and need all students to provide the permission to partake in the democratic process. We have 36 permission slips back and waiting on 18 more. If you have not seen this from your child, please ask for it. It was due today. 

Quoi de neuf en français? 

Study guide, Weeks 3-4 

Devoir n°3 - Entretien sur la technologie, à rendre (due): vendredi le 6 octobre

Devoir n°4 - La conjugaison, à rendre (due): mardi le 10 octobre

In vocabulary, I pre-taught many technology vocabulary words that will be helpful for a text that we will read next week, as well as for the technology homework. Students will learn digital citizenship next week, as well as have the opportunity to create some animations in Scratch through coding in French, all of which require understanding of some very key tech vocab words!


In art, students sketched spheres using their understanding of shadows after Wednesday's science investigation to create a 3-dimensional illustrations. We simulated different effects in our drawings, moving around the light source. Wow, is this a class of artists!


In science, we used models to answer the question, “Qu’est-ce qui cause le jour et la nuit?” (What causes day and night?) using globes and flashlights to create models. We learned that at any given time, 50% of the Earth is illuminated by the sun. During the daytime, we are on the ½ of the Earth facing the sun. The sun rises in the east, and sets in the west. 

Math

What a week, Mme Ky and Mme Elisha did a great job support your child's growth this week while I was in AVID and TAG training. Students went from learning how to find volume of a single rectangular prism last week to finding volume of composite rectangular prisms, and did so very well. The only sticking point is that students continue to forget to label their answers as cubed units. We will keep working on that! Next week, Mme Ky will take over all math lessons until winter break. I will be working with students 1-1 and in small groups during math lessons. 

ELA

Students were introduced to the focus tribe for Unit 1, the Nez Perce tribe. We read through many aspects of the tribe to explain how their homeland sustained their lifestyle and culture. Students became experts on a certain aspect of the cutlure and then taught the class about that aspect through visual and oral retell. Their peers also got to put them on the spot and ask questions. It was truly amazing to get to know the students in this new light. 

The Ghanaian dance performance was a HIT!

Performers spun bowls on sticks while balancing them from every limb...

...and even rode a unicycle while jumping rope!

 Week 3 (9/25/23 - 9/29/23)


Next Week


See our Week 1 newsletter below for more dates to add to your calendar.


Ring of Fire Eclipse - October 14th, 2023

Eugene will have a front row seat to the “ring of fire” eclipse. For maximum viewing pleasure, use appropriate eclipse glasses from 9:16 AM to 9:21 AM. 


Teachers in Training - October 4th and5th 

For your awareness, both Mme McLaren and Mme Ginger will be out for training on Wednesday and Thursday. Please let us know, in advance, if there is something you would like us share with our guest teachers regarding your child (e.g., different pick up directions for the day, appointments, planned absences). It also may take longer to get an email response from us. 

Request for "prizes" from Mme McLaren

I love to recognize student engagement during games with fun, academic and silly prizes. However, I don't want to spend any money or purchase trinkets that aren't gently used. I usually hunt over the summer for garage sales or ask for donations. I often use BINGO variations as a way to review conjugation or grammar concepts in French, and it has historically been a big motivator for students that otherwise may not be as excited to participate.

Examples of gently used prizes that I'd like to collect:

You're welcome to send them in a sealed plastic bag with "prize box" written on the side. If you're not sure if it would be a fit, just send them anyway! I will prescreen prizes to make sure they are appropriate. Prizes will be put in student back packs and asked to go home with them at the end of the day. 

Quoi de neuf en français? (What’s new in French?)

In conjugation, we reviewed how to conjugate être, aller and avoir in the present tense with a fun conjugation game, three commonly used irregular verbs. We practiced sorting verbs into groups, noticing patterns in verb endings and how that might help us correctly conjugate them in a sentence.

In grammar, we reviewed how to identify the subject (noun), verb, adjective and various prepositions / conjunctions in a sentence, using a color coding system to help us. 

In writing, we studied the following commonly confused homophones in written expression: et / est, son / sont, à / a, and on / ont. 

In science, we made sundials (les cadrans solaires) with the help of a compass (une boussole) in small groups. We tracked shadows during different times of the day, made observations about the ways in which shadows changed over the course of the day. We also used protractors to measure the angles made by the shadows on our sundials. Students came to discover that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Shadows are longer early in the morning and late at night. In the morning, shadows point to the west as the sun is in the east, and vice versa. From our perspective, we have the impression that the sun moves in the sky. Shadows change position as the Earth moves and the sun shines on a different part of the Earth. The length of a shadow changes as the angle of the sun in the sky changes.


In social studies, we talked about empathy. We set empathy goals, discussed self esteem, ways that we can have empathy for ourselves, gave ourselves compliments, and gave compliments to others with compliment cards. We watched a video of a 4th grade class in Belgium during an empathy lesson, listened to another class share their needs and feelings, and play a game with “need” cards and “emotion” cards. We reflected on ways that we were engaging in learning this week, which behaviors were helping our learning and which behaviors were holding us back, and we set some personal goals for next week in our reflection journals.

Math

Thus week, we found volume using representations full of cubes and then moved away to only have a layer of cubes times the number of layers. We are working towards understanding that area of one layer times the third dimension gives us V= l x w x h in any order. In this unit the students have to have a firm foundation of the commutative property of multiplication in order to really build that true number sense with volume. 

ELA

This week, we looked at two articles from the 1800's regarding the Native American Nations. One focued in on their culture and the other focused in on the impact of westward expansion on their way of life. With the content, we focused in on building our vocabulary, overarching main ideas and details that support the main idea. This requires reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities while working whole group and collaboratively with peers. 


 Week 2 (9/18/23 - 9/22/23)


Next Week


See our Week 1 newsletter below for more dates to add to your calendar.

Curriculum Night

Wow, great to see so many of you on Wednesday! For those of you unable to attend, here's a LINK to the slideshow we presented. It has helpful information about classroom procedures, our approach to behavior management, the scope and sequence of our curriculum, and ways to support us in the classroom. We sent home this document on Friday, as well, with your student.

Friendly reminder: 5th grade Family Questionnaire

Thanks to the 19 families who have already responded! Your responses have been a very helpful reference tool for us in the past. All responses will remain confidential. Please submit by next Friday, September 29. Thank you in advance for your time! Here's the LINK.


Ring of Fire Eclipse - October 14th, 2023

Eugene will have a front row seat to the “ring of fire” eclipse. For maximum viewing pleasure, use appropriate eclipse glasses from 9:16 AM to 9:21 AM. 


Q&A from Curriculum Night

Q: Is there a specific cursive style that is expected in the 5th grade? 

A: No. We are looking for legibility and accuracy of letters in any font. 


Q: Is Outdoor School overnight? In French? Need parent volunteers? 

A: Yes. It is 3 days and 2 nights. Currently not in French, but we have a plan to try to incorporate high school Frenchies as camp counselors and to translate materials. Camp Tamarack is really interested in aiding us in this process. No parent volunteers are needed for the trip. Camp Tamarack employs trained camp counselors to accommodate all students. Please visit the Camp Tamarack Website to learn more about our new outdoor school program. 


A message from Mme ErinMarie, our PE teacher

Next week, September 28th (Thursday) and 29th (Friday) 2nd-5th grade students will be learning Pedestrian safety during Physical Education class. Students are welcome to bring their own labeled helmet and labeled, in good working order, scooter to P.E. on those days only. Blue class has P.E. on Thursday and red class is on Friday, please only have your child bring their scooter for their P.E. day. They will need to pick it up after school from the gym the same day. They can drop it off in the gym on their way into school in the morning. Only your child will ride their scooter. I have many scooters and helmets to loan if your child does not own a scooter or would prefer to borrow. If any parents are interested in volunteering to help during your child's P.E. time please email Mme. ErinMarie langsdorf_e@4j.lane.edu for more details. This is in preparation for our Walk and Roll to school even on Wednesday, October 4th. Please see Mme. Poppy's weekly email for more information.

Quoi de neuf en français? (What’s new in French?)

Devoir n°1 - Les phases lunaires, draw / write your observations of the moon! 

Devoir n°2 - Catégories, à rendre (due): mardi le 26 septembre

In vocabulary, we developed our science vocabulary for this unit in French. We also practiced our emotion adjectives. We played verb charades to help us remember the meaning of many commonly used French verbs.


In science, we tracked shadows during different times of the day, made observations about the ways in which shadows changed over the course of the day. 


In conjugation, we took notes on how to conjugate regular verbs in the 1er (-er), 2e (-ir), and 3e (-er) groups. We practiced with a fun conjugation game as a class. 


In reading, we read a text on the theme of respect called “Denis et les clous.” In the story, a boy named Denis has trouble controlling his temper and, to teach him a lesson, his father asks him to hammer a nail into an old fence each time he loses his temper. Denis discovers it is a great strategy to blow off steam. Then, his father tells him that every time he is able to control his anger to pull a nail out of the fence. After some time, Denis proudly reports his progress and shares with his dad that there are no nails left in the fence as he has pulled them all out. His father asks him to look at the fence and notice all the holes left behind. We discussed the way this story was a metaphor for how words can be hurtful. The nails represent words, the holes in the fence represent the damage that is left behind even after taking the nails out (or apologizing). We reflected on the ways that words can hurt, and how both our actions can leave marks that others won’t soon forget.

In writing, students took notes and answered questions about the text.

In conversation, we shared how we are feeling and discussed our science observations / understandings both in small groups and as a whole class. 

Math

We have begun our volume unit. Students identified volume of simple 3-D representations by noticing how many cubes were present. They learned how to report 1D, 2D and 3D measures using units, units squared, and units cubed with superscript as required. 

ELA

Module One has begun. This unit focuses in on writing to inform based on content learned from non-fiction Native American studies. We use the Nimiipu removal story and culture to explore the question, "How do people's values and beliefs guide their actions?" 

Week 1 (9/11/23 - 9/15/23)


Next Week


Save the Date: 

5th grade Family Questionnaire

Instead of attempting to compile of the helpful information that you have been sharing via email, we kindly ask that you complete our family questionnaire. The information gathered allows us to support your child much more efficiently. It includes questions about what languages are spoken at home, what your student's after school schedule looks like, if there has been a recent major event in your life that we should know about, and what motivates your child. This has been a very helpful reference tool for us in the past. Your responses will remain confidential. Please submit by next Friday, September 22. Thank you in advance for your time!

Parent Volunteers

Thanks so much to those of you that have already expressed interest in supporting us in the classroom! There are still a few recurring volunteer positions available, so please reach out if you are interested. If you aren't sure if you are cleared to volunteer, please check in with Eliza at the front office. 


5th grade French intern

We are also pleased to welcome our new French intern, Marine, who will soon be joining our classroom community. In the next few weeks, she will do a small presentation to the class just in time to review question words so students can ask her lots of questions!


Student Leadership Club 

All 5th grade students were invited to participate in an information meeting about student leadership this year. If your child attended Wednesday's meeting during lunch recess, they were sent home with three forms: 1) an application, due Tuesday 9/19, 2) a preference form for which "crew" they are interested in joining, and 3) this yellow information packet with information to share with you. If your student really wants to participate this year but is unable to make it to the Monday meetings after school (see dates above), just have them reach out. 


Bikes at school

Students will be able to use the 5th grade bike rack at 8 am and 8:20 am by meeting Mme Ginger at the gate outside her door. Students should prearrange this with Mme Ginger and ONLY students with a bike or skateboard will pass through the gate. Siblings and/or friends will still enter through the main doors. All students freely have access to the bike racks by the flagpole and at the back of the school. Please use locks. 


Kid Governor (Click the link for more information)

Each Oregon school that chooses to participate will nominate one 5th grade student. Oregon's Kid Governors are elected by fellow 5th graders from across the state. During the week of November 6th through the 14th all participating 5th graders will view the finalists' campaign videos and will vote for their favorite nominee. The winner will be announced on or before December 1st.


EWEB Poster Contest (Click the link for more information)

Your child has the opportunity to create a poster for EWEB. This opportunity is only for 5th graders and the winner will have their poster published.


Picture Day Info

You should have received LifeTouch emails with instructions for how to log in. If you aren’t receiving these emails and you would like to receive school photos of your child, email Eliza Drummond at drummond_e@4j.lane.edu.

Quoi de neuf en français? (What’s new in French?)

This week, students reviewed many of the high frequency words used in the French classroom. We reviewed words for all of our supplies, routines, subjects and schedules by adding words to our word wall. It was a great review to help students feel successful and independently following directions. 


✎ Un cahier, un crayon, un bâton de colle, une gomme, une pochette…


In French conversation, we practiced expressing our emotions and where we are on the “mood meter”, a tool that we use to help us identify and communicate our feelings with others. We gave compliments to others and ourselves. We wrote in our reflection journals. 


👄 Je me sens… Je suis dans la zone… Comment te sens-tu? 


In grammar, we spent a lot of time learning feeling words and matching them to images of faces in our French journals. We focused on identifying and pronouncing the masculine and feminine endings of adjectives while adding words to our word wall. 


✎ Il est heureux. Elle est heureuse. Il est fâché. Elle est fâchée.


In reading, we read the book Où est donc, Ornicar? which tells the story of a young platypus on his first day of school with all the other animals. He didn’t quite fit in with the mammals, even though he drinks milk and has fur. He didn’t quite fit in with the reptiles, even though he was born in an egg. He didn’t quite fit in with the birds, even though he has a beak. The story is a lovely allegory for what it feels like to be a new student or different, and sparked some great conversation on how we can be mindful of making assumptions and  unnecessarily categorizing ourselves and each other. 


In conjugation, students 1) played charades to brainstorm as many verbs as they could think of, 2) wrote these verbs on a poster, 3) brainstormed ways they could be categorized, 4) organized them into groups. We reviewed the three major groups of regularly conjugated verbs – 1st group (ending in -er), 2nd group (ending in -ir), and 3rd group (ending in -re). We created a 4th group of verbs – those that didn’t fit into either of the three major groups – that don’t quite follow the rules. We decided to call these verbs the “ornithorynques” (platypuses), since they don’t fall neatly into any one category. ☺


In art, students illustrated different feeling words to decorate our classroom.


On Friday, students submitted an initial writing sample in French.


English

We have been testing for Math, Reading, Vocabular and Reading Fluency. We also began our first of 4 required IRC's (Independent Reading Contract).  These are done mostly at school, but some students may need to take the book home for additional reading time.