Ms. Bellmar

Week of  »April 8, 2024

• Social Studies - There is a lot going on this week!  Students will be working on their Colonial Sales projects.  They will need to "sell" one of the 13 colonies to potential colonists by creating a commercial.  Commercials will be performed or shown (if they are a video) next Wednesday, 4/17.  

• Social Studies - map on 13 colonies is due Tuesday; test on the 13 colonies map will be Friday.  Need more practice? go to IXL Social Studies lessons  F 10, F 11, and F 12.

• Affixes coloring page - due Wednesday.

• Vocabulary - we are starting Unit 12.  The test will be next Thursday, 4/18.

• Religion - On a piece of looseleaf paper, write a definition of "peace."  Ask three people in your life how they define "peace" and write their definitions on your paper as well.

iReady - 2 lessons must be passed by the end of the week. 

Week of March 18, 2024

• Finding Langston - test on the novel on Wednesday. 

• Writing - We are working on Opinion writing.  Final draft is due typed on Friday.  This should be a five paragraph essay in MLA format.

• iReady - students should pass two lessons in Reading and two lessons in Math each week.  Lessons are due by Sunday.

Vocabulary - Finding Langston Vocabulary practice is due next Tuesday.

Week of March 11, 2024

• Finding Langston - packet on chapters 11-15 is due on Friday. 

• Writing - We are working on Opinion writing.  Students are working on supporting their claim.  They will finish their graphic organizer and write their rough draft this week.  Final drafts will be typed and turned in next week.

• iReady - students should pass two lessons in Reading and two lessons in Math each week.  Lessons are due by Sunday.

• Vocabulary - Test on Unit 10 will be this Tuesday, March 12.  Then, we will begin a Vocabulary Unit based on new words from our novel Finding Langston.  Vocabulary practice is due next Tuesday.

Religion - Items for Easter Sunday shoe boxes are due Friday.

Week of March 4, 2024

• Finding Langston - packet on chapters 5-10 is due on Wednesday.

• Writing - We are beginning to work on Opinion writing.  Students are working on supporting their claim.

• iReady - students should pass two lessons in Reading and two lessons in Math each week.  Lessons are due by Sunday.

• Vocabulary - Test on Unit 10 will be next Tuesday.

Religion - Cinquain is due Friday.  Items for Easter Sunday shoe boxes are due next Friday.

Week of February 25, 2024

• Social Studies:  Black History Month Game project is due at the start of class on Thursday, February 29.  All directions and rubric are in the google classroom.  On Thursday, students should have:

  • their board game (made by them) and all pieces to play the game.

  • at least 20 questions on Black History topic they researched to use during game play.

  • directions to play game.

• Finding Langston - packet on chapters 1-4 is due on Tuesday.

• Writing - We are beginning to work on Opinion writing.  Worksheet on "Persuasion is Everywhere" is due Wednesday.

• ELA - students should complete at least TWO sections of part Z on IXL.  Lessons completed with a smart score of 90 earn 5/5.  A smart score of 100 earns 6/5.

iReady - students should pass two lessons in Reading and two lessons in Math each week.  Lessons are due by Sunday.

Week of February 20, 2024

• Independent Reading assessment (Amazon book review) is due February 23. 

• Vocabulary -  test on Unit 9  on Thursday, February 22.

• Social Studies:  Students have started on the Black History Month Game project.  You should have signed the packet with directions.  Students will work on this during class, but will need additional support.  This week we will research.  This week we will write directions and questions.  Games will be played in class on February 29.

• ELA extra practice in IXL!   A smart score of 90 on each lesson will earn a 5/5.  A smart score of 100 will earn a 6/5.  

  • • OO 3 - Irregular past test

    • OO 5 - Inappropriate shifts in tense

    • OO 8 - Past and Past participle

    • OO 9 - Perfect Tense Verbs

Other lessons in the OO section will help with review.

Week of February 12, 2024

• Students should read for at least 20 minutes each night.  Reading assessment is due February 23.  This should be done on the book they have been reading throughout January.

• Grammar -  test on Verbs on Thursday, February 15.

• Social Studies:  Students have started on the Black History Month Game project.  You should have signed the packet with directions.  Students will work on this during class, but will need additional support.  This week we will research.  Next week we will write directions and questions.  Games will be played in class on February 29.

• ELA extra practice in IXL!   A smart score of 90 on each lesson will earn a 5/5.  A smart score of 100 will earn a 6/5.   All practice will help with Thursday's test

  • • OO 3 - Irregular past test

    • OO 5 - Inappropriate shifts in tense

    • OO 8 - Past and Past participle

    • OO 9 - Perfect Tense Verbs

Other lessons in the OO section will help with review.

Week of January 29, 2024

• Students should read for at least 20 minutes each night.  Reading assessment will be introduced this week.  Probably on Wednesday.

• Grammar -  we are continuing to work on verbs.  We should be ready for a test next Tuesday, February 13.

• Test on Figurative Language will be next Tuesday, February 6.

• Religion - Open book and open note assessment will also be on Tuesday.

• Social Studies:  Test on Chapter 4 will be on Thursday.

• Reading and ELA extra credit and extra practice in IXL!   A smart score of 90 on each lesson will earn a 5/5.  A smart score of 100 will earn a 6/5.  Students will not be penalized for a score under 90.  All practice will help!

  • • OO 9 - Perfect Tense Verbs

    • F 1, 2, and 3 - Similes and Metaphors

FF 1, 2, 3, and 4 - Idioms and Adages 

Week January 29, 2024

• Students should read for at least 20 minutes each night.

• Grammar -  we are continuing to work on verbs.

• Vocabulary - We are working on Unit 8.  The test will be Thursday, February 1.

• Test on Figurative Language will be next Tuesday, February 6.

• Social Studies:  Finish vocabulary for Chapter 4 section 3 and section 4 if you did not finish it in class.

• We will also have a Social Studies Test on Chapter 4 next week.  It will probably we on Thursday, February 8.  

• Reading and ELA extra credit and extra practice in IXL!   A smart score of 90 on each lesson will earn a 5/5.  A smart score of 100 will earn a 6/5.  Students will not be penalized for a score under 90.  All practice will help!

  • • OO 9 - Perfect Tense Verbs

    • F 1, 2, and 3 - Similes and Metaphors

FF 1, 2, 3, and 4 - Idioms and Adages 

Week of January 22, 2024

• Students should read for at least 20 minutes each night.

• Grammar - do pages 96-97 for Wednesday.  Do IXL Section OO 6 for Friday.  Students will earn 5/5 for a score of 90 and 6/5 for a score of 100.

• Vocabulary - We are working on Unit 8.  The test will be next Thursday, February 1.

Students have been working on their Figurative Language packet on Alliteration, Personification, and Onomatopoeia.  The due date for this packet is Friday.  Students should not work ahead of what we have taken notes on in class. 

Week of  January 14, 2024

• iReady - Students will take the iReady Reading diagnostic on Tuesday and Wednesday and the Math diagnostic on Thursday and Friday.

• Students should read for at least 20 minutes each night.

• Religion - Students will continue to work on their personal coat of arms and write a short essay explaining their choice.  

• Students have been working on their "Letter to themselves."  I had told them it was due last Friday, and we would finish it in class, but that obviously is no longer the case.  The new goal will be to finish by this Friday.

Students have been working on their packet on Metaphors and Similes.  The due date for this has been extended until Thursday.  They will have time in class to work on this. 

Week of January 8, 2024

• Students should read for at least 20 minutes each night.

• Religion - beginning Tuesday, students will make their personal coat of arms and write a short essay explaining their choice.  We will work on this on Thursday as well.

• If students did not finish classwork, they will need to finish it for homework:

  • Monday - Social Studies - define terms on p. 146.

  • Throughout week - work on Similes and Metaphors packet.  On Monday, we learned about Similes.  On Tuesday, we will learn about Metaphors.  Packet is due complete on Friday.

  • Writing - Letter to self (final draft) is due Friday.

Students should pass two lessons and spend 30 - 40 minutes working on iReady this week.  Next week is iReady mid-year diagnostic.  

Week of December 18, 2023

• Christmas Pageant is Tuesday at 6:00.  Please have students in the pews with me by 5:45.  

• Reading Log due Thursday.

• Test on Unit 6 Vocabulary will be Thursday.

• This week is all about projects!  They should have plenty of time to work on this in class.  They will do a quilt square project in Reading and an explorer trading card project in Social Studies.

Students should pass two lessons and spend 30 - 40 minutes working on iReady this week.

Week of December 11, 2023

• It is the second week of Advent.  Ask your child what they promised to try to do to prepare for  Jesus's birth. Try to support them in this.

• New Reading log due next THURSDAY, December 21.  

• Social Studies test this Thursday.  This unit is not in the text book.  Students should have readings (one in google classroom) and notes.  I will pass out the study guide tomorrow.

• "You are a Gift" essay is due Friday.  Students are working on this in class, but may need adult support on Wednesday and Thursday if they are not done typing.

• Vocabulary - Unit 7 test next Thursday.

• We are done with Bridge to Terabithia!  Students  will do a project on the novel starting this week.  We will watch the movie next week.  (Dates TBD.)

Students met their class iReady reading goal!  We will watch a short video this week!

Week of December 4, 2023

• Vocabulary - Unit 6 test will be on Thursday.

• Reading Log - due Friday.

Personal Essay - students are continuing to work on this in class.

November 27, 2023

• Test on Bridge to Terabithia Chapters 1 through 9 on Friday.  If your child is behind on the reading, or needs to reread parts of the book, they can do this for their reading log.  Links to a read aloud of the novel are on the Resource page.

• Reading log - check out the new writing prompts!  Reading log is due next Friday,  December 8.

• Vocabulary - We are starting Unit 6.  The test will be next Thursday, December 7.

Writing - We are starting our writing unit on personal essays.  We will work through this in steps in class.

Week of November 13, 2023

• Band registration is still open!  If your student is interested in learning an instrument, sign them up!  Playing an instrument teaches kids so many skills - both in music and in life.

• Religion test on Chapter 11 tomorrow, Tuesday.

• Test Wednesday on Grammar Unit 2: Nouns.  Students can do starred lessons on IXL, section KK (nouns).

• Bridge to Terabithia - we are reading the novel together in class.  Students have a question packet to work on.  Your student may benefit from rereading the book.  Links to read alouds are on the Resource page.  Students should finish through chapter 7 this week.  

• iReady - students need to complete and pass two lessons and work for 30 minutes.

• Any missing work or redoes need to be turned in by Thursday!

Also this Week: Field Trip AND Science Test on Thursday!

Week of November 6, 2023

• Band registration is still open!  If your student is interested in learning an instrument, sign them up!  Playing an instrument teaches kids so many skills - both in music and in life.

• This Reading Log is for six days of 20 minutes of reading and writing 5 sentences.  It is due this Thursday, November 9.  Students should not need to read on Halloween.

• Vocabulary test on Unit 5 will be next Thursday, November 9.

• Test next week on Grammar Unit 2: Nouns.

• Bridge to Terabithia - we are reading the novel together in class.  Students have a question packet to work on.  Your student may benefit from rereading the book.  Links to read alouds are on the Resource page.

• iReady - students need to complete and pass two lessons and work for 30 minutes.

• Students should continue to work on the Social Studies Native American Artifact Project.  Handout is attached below and includes links, timeline, and rubric.  Most of the work for this project will be done in class.  Students will need to work on making their artifact at home.  Project is due next week.

Next Week: Project due Monday, Religion Test (Chapter 11) on Tuesday, Grammar Test on Wednesday, Field Trip AND Science Test on Thursday!

Week of October 30, 2023

• Band registration is still open!  If your student is interested in learning an instrument, sign them up!  Playing an instrument teaches kids so many skills - both in music and in life.

• All Saints' Day - Fifth grade is planning mass on November 1 at 8:30.  Every student has a part in the mass. Please come to mass on this holy day of obligation and support your student.  Students should wear their regular school uniform.  Due to the schedule, we will not have gym that day.

• This Reading Log is for six days of 20 minutes of reading and writing 5 sentences.  It is due this Thursday, November 9.  Students should not need to read on Halloween.

• We have begun Vocabulary Unit 5.  Test will be next Thursday, November 9.

• Bridge to Terabithia - we are reading the novel together in class.  Students have a question packet to work on.  Your student may benefit from rereading the book.  Links to read alouds are on the Resource page.

• iReady - students need to complete and pass two lessons and work for 30 minutes.

• Social Studies Native American Artifact Project will be introduced Thursday.  Handout is attached below and includes links, timeline, and rubric.  Most of the work for this project will be done in class.  Students will need to work on making their artifact at home.

October 23, 2023

• Band registration is still open!  If your student is interested in learning an instrument, sign them up!  Playing an instrument teaches kids so many skills - both in music and in life.

• This Reading Log is for five days of 20 minutes of reading and writing 5 sentences.  It is due this Friday, October 27.  Students should not need to read on Monday or Tuesday night, and should use that time to study.

• Students have been writing  and illustrating their own PourQuoi tales.  They have done all the work on this in class.  The final draft is due  this week, ideally on Tuesday.  If they are not done, they should let me know, and I will allow them more time.

• Vocabulary Unit 4 Test is TUESDAY!  

• Social Studies Test is Wednesday.  A study guide will go home on Monday.  It is on Chapter 2, section 1 and material covered in class.

• Religion test on the Bible is Thursday.  This is based on pages 18-20 in the textbook and notes.  If you do not have notes or if your notes are incomplete, ask me for photocopies as soon as possible.

• iReady - students need to complete and pass two lessons and work for 30 minutes.

• Reading - this week we will begin our first novel of the year, Bridge to Terabithia.  Students must have turned in a signed book borrowing contract to receive a copy of the novel.  Contracts were due last week.

Social Studies Native American Artifact Project will be introduced Thursday.  Handout is attached below and includes links, timeline, and rubric.  Most of the work for this project will be done in class.

Week of October 16, 2023

• Band registration is still open!  If your student is interested in learning an instrument, sign them up!  Playing an instrument teaches kids so many skills - both in music and in life.

• Due to the short schedule on Thursday, the Vocabulary Unit 4 test will be pushed back until next Tuesday, October 24.  Tictactoe is still due this week.

• A book borrowing contract went home with students on Monday.  We discussed appropriate use and handling of books in preparation for starting our first novel, Bridge to Terabithia, next week.  The contract should be signed by a parent and returned by Wednesday.

• The next Reading log will be due Friday, 10/27 and covers FIVE nights of reading and writing.  Two nights are blocked out for studying.

• Fifth graders will have a Social Studies test next Wednesday, October 25.  It will be on Chapter 2, section one of the textbook, with some additional skills we learned in class.

• I am looking forward to meeting you on Thursday and Friday for parent-teacher conferences.

Week of October 10, 2023

• Picture day is this Tuesday.

• Grammar test on Unit 1 will be on Wednesday.  Students have planned three things they will do to study and scheduled time to do this over the weekend.

• Vocabulary:  Unit 4 Tic Tac Toe will go home on Tuesday.  It will be due next Tuesday.

• Writing:  Fifth Graders will be writing a Pourquoi Tale.  The project will be introduced on Tuesday.  They should do most of the work in class.  This week they will be brainstorming and working on a first, rough draft.

• Reading:  This current reading log is due Friday, October 13.

• Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming!  Look for a link to register this week.  Conferences will be next week.  In person conferences will be on Thursday, 10/19, and Zoom conferences will be on Friday, 10/20.

• iReady scores went home last week.  Please spend some time to talk to your student about them.  If you did not get them, please let me know immediately.

Week of October 2, 2023

• Vocabulary - TicTacToe is due Tuesday.  Test on Unit 3 will be Thursday.

• iReady - each week students are required to complete and pass 2 lessons and be on iReady for 30-40 minutes.  This is worth 4 points.  We have 40 minutes of scheduled iReady time on Mondays.  The 2 lessons are due by the end of the week.

• Reading - a new reading log went home this Monday.  Please make sure your child is reading and writing every day.  The Reading log needs a parent signature.  The reading log is due next Friday, October 13.

• Grammar -  We are finally finished Unit 1!  The Unit test is planned for Friday.  (Now pushed back until next Wednesday. There are review activities online in IXL (assigned sections of JJ, RR, and TT,) and on the Sadlier Website linked on the Resources page.

Week of September 25, 2023

• Our students have already met three of our class Lions Leap goals!  Tuesday will be crazy sock day AND hat day!  

• We are starting Unit 3 of Vocabulary.  The test will be next Thursday, October 5, 2023.

• Reading Log is due this Friday, September 29.  Students should have read and written for at least seven nights.

Lions Leap is this Friday!  

Week of September 18, 2023

• Test on Genre will be on Tuesday.  Students should have notes in their notebooks.  If not, click here for notes. 

• Test on Vocabulary Unit 2 will be on Thursday.  They have already done a part of speech sort and should have made flash cards.  They should use them to practice for the test.

• Reading log - This week's reading log will be due next Friday, September 29, 2023.  Please support your student in reading for 20 minutes and write five sentences each evening.

• Reading Olympics - starts this week!  Our first meeting will be this Wednesday during recess.  Students will pick teams and get to sign out books.

Religion - Today we learned about Blessed Miguel Pro, a Mexican priest who was martyred in 1927.  Here is a link to his favorite treat, cocol.

Week of September 11, 2023

• iReady first diagnostic will be this week.  Please make sure your child sleeps well and has a good breakfast.  The diagnostic is their chance to show what they already know.  Then, during iReady time they will be assigned lessons based on what they already know.

• In Reading today we learned about the September 11th attacks.  Next week we will have a test on Genre.

• This week we will not have a reading log, so students can sleep and do their best on the iReady first diagnostic.  Please encourage them to read for 20 minutes each night!  

• In Language Arts, we are beginning Unit 2 of Vocabulary on Tuesday.  They should create flashcards for 6 words from the list to help them study.  The test will be next Thursday, September 21.

• In Social Studies, students are working on the "Marvelous Maps" project.  They will create their own imaginary country and create several different types of maps for it.  This is due on Friday, and we will be spending most of class time this week on it.

Week of September 5, 2023

• Test this Thursday, September 7, on Unit 1 Vocabulary.  Students should take some time every day this week to review the words.  They will need to know the definition, part of speech, synonym and antonyms.  They will also need to be able to use the words in a sentence.

• Because of Thursday's test, this week's reading log will be due on Monday of the following week.  

Next week will be the iReady first diagnostic assessment.  Students will have less homework, so they should be able to rest and focus on the assessment.

Week of August 28, 2023

• Reading Log due Friday.  This will be introduced in class on Monday.  Students should read for 20 minutes each day, Monday through Thursday, and then write five sentences in response to one of the prompt.  Parents will need to sign this.

This week we will start our first Vocabulary Unit.  The test will be next Thursday, September 7.

Week of August 22, 2023

• Welcome to a new year of school!

• Assessment on Summer Reading will be on Thursday.

• Room 109 Class Expectations - due signed by parent on Friday.

• Technology policy due signed by parent and child on Friday.

• Technology - homework due next Tuesday.