Back to Work

It was nice having an unexpected day off, but it does put us a bit behind. I know several of you have not been able to get information for your paper on the inventor you chose. Please know that the library is a wonderful place to look, plus they have Internet access. I have pushed the due date for the papers to next Tuesday. Keep in mind however that your rough draft is due this Friday. We will spend two days editing and conferencing on Friday and Monday. Tuesday you will be given the opportunity to share what your inventor created. I hope you all put your best work into this paper, grades were a bit down from the MLKJ papers. For next Wednesday and Thursday we will be getting back to the basics of English.

We are going to go ahead with the Spelling/vocabulary test for this Friday. We will also have our Reading test as usual this Friday.

I want to let you know that if you make a model of your invention and bring it in anytime next week you will gain 30 bonus points for Science.

Next Friday, the 7th, is our field trip to the Herald Dispatch. Please don't forget to get your permission slip filled out. I know I will tell you a 100 times to make good choices on the way, while we are there, and on the way back, but I thought I would also remind you on here. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to see how a real paper is developed and published before making our own paper. It is also a great opportunity to show your maturity, and self control.

Next week is also the school spelling bee. We will still review, and practice the vocabulary from our Reading book, but we will not have a Spelling test next week.

We will not have a Reading test on the 7th either.

We will however have Math test next week on Wednesday. It will be on lessons 51-55.

In Science next week we are studying geology. It relates to your story in Reading.

In Social Studies we are going to understand the who, what, when, where, how, and why of WWII. We will be using our lab time on Monday for an interesting look at the world and connect it to World War II. We will also take a virtual field trip to Pearl Harbor.

Our new class motto, and mascot.

Fully Rely On God

Conferences, and houses, and report cards, oh my

For the parents reading this site, I have sent home the times for the conferences. All the information you need to schedule a time is on the sheet I sent home. I also wanted to let you know that if you see a drop, or rise in Reading it is due to the Literature groups. Some students have a harder time working in a group mindset, however most students thrive in that setting. You may also see a drop or rise in Science, this is due to the fact that we had more graded assignments in Science. Other rises and falls in grades may be due to homework that was not turned in, or unfinished.

On to a happier note, I received the best reports from the substitute teachers. As a reward we will be having a break for good behavior this Friday. Also there will be no homework over the weekend, unless you are trying to catch up.

We are still having a spelling quiz, but it is only 6 words including vocabulary. I hope you all were sure when you voted to have the Reading test Thursday. We will also have a Science quiz delayed from Tuesday on Thursday.

Next week we are only here Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday. We will learn about the history of Thanksgiving, as well as similar traditions around the world. Next week will not be too difficult I promise. I also promise not to give too much homework over the break, just kidding. I do have one thing I wish for you to do, but I'll let you know next week.

Finally I want to remind you that we are competing with Mrs. Bias' class for which class can gather the most canned foods, and dry foods. We are going to have to do some major catching up! Sincerely, I want all of you to remember why it is important to take care of others, and give all that you can. I know you want to win, but please remember the true cause.

Last, but certainly not least I want to thank all of parents for sending in items, or volunteering their time to make our Halloween party an event they will carry throughout high school. I also want to thank Mrs. Reger, Mrs. Jeffery, and Mrs. Armstead for their generous donation of books to our class.

Gould League - Food Webs - build your own

Gould League - Food Webs - build your own

As you make the web by choosing where the item belongs, please make notes in your journal. I want you to write your own definition of a producer, consumer, decomposer, and scavenger. I want you to print out your web when you finish.
Thank you,
Mrs. Casto