Tuesday, March 23, 2010

March 22, 2010

Thank you to all those who helped out at Family Fun Night and all those who attended. It was a very successful evening!


Big reminder, conferences are coming up on April 1st. Check your child's Thursday folder for times.


Social: We are finishing up our Enlightenment Unit on March 29th. Students will have learned a little about John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes. All questions need to be turned in by Thursday. Our next unit will cover the French Revolution.


Science: To complete this unit we watched a movie about volcanoes and reflected on how it affects our life and the Earth. On Thursday students will review for their test and turn in their science packet. ALL packets must be turned in on Thursday. The test will be on Monday, March 29th. The 3D Earth project is also due on test day.


Language Arts: There is no spelling this week because we again our working on MCA preparations. Your child should be bringing home vocabulary homework to help him or her to continue to work towards their goal. In Julius Caesar we are on Act II. Students are answering comprehension questions and journaling through pictures.


Math:

Ms. Wallwork's week started with an assessment and will continue with simplifying complex fractions, translating percents of a number into equations, and read and interpret graphs. Our next test is March 31st.



Mrs. Swanson's math is starting the week with another assessment and an investigation on experimental probability. Then students will complete three lessons on geometric formulas, expanded notation with exponents, order of operations with exponents, powers of fractions, and classifying triangles.


Reading: Ms. Wallwork's group is nearing the end of Travels with Charlie, he is currently traveling through California. At one point while traveling he passes through St. Cloud. Next we will be covering some technical reading through the use of magazines and newspapers, such as Time, National Geographic, and the Wall Street Journal.



Specialists: Mr. Heerts fifth and sixth grade students will continue working with and learning notes of the Treble Clef and Bass Clef in music class this week. They will have a test over all notes of the bass and treble clef.

In Mr. Lutterman's gym class the students will be finishing a unit on Friends and Relationships.





Updates and Reminders:

School pictures were sent home. As a parent you must decide to either keep the pictures and pay for them or send them back to STRIDE. A notice was sent home with your child on Tuesday.



MCA testing dates are April 22nd and 23rd for Reading and April 27th and 28th for Math. Mark your calendars now. It is important your child attends school on these days.



The end of the quarter is March 31st. Conferences are on April 1st. Reminders were sent home about your conferences time. If you do not have a time or do not know your time please contact your child's homeroom teacher.



There will be a short break from April 1st to April 5th. Class will resume April 6th.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

March 15, 2010

FAMILY FUN NIGHT MARCH 19TH FROM 5-8 PM

Don't forget to attend a fun filled evening this Friday at STRIDE. There will be concessions available and many fun games or activities to choose from. Some of them include: cake walk, bingo, crazy hair, fishing booth, duck pond, sucker pull, golf, karate, and many more. If you haven't signed up to help work and would like to please contact either Mrs. Swanson or Ms. Wallwork.

Welcome back from a nice break, it appears the nice weather may be here to stay. Over break the new middle school buildling is finally started!!! YEAH! If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Swanson, Mr. Ulbrich, or Mr. Beutel.

Social: Students will begin presenting their power points on Wednesday and finish up next week. Each group is responsible for one chapter and a hand out for each student. Students will be graded on their power points and handouts/assessments. We will then begin our unit on Industrialism, Capitalism, and Socialism.

Science: This week students are studying how plate movement creates different underwater features such as trenches and ridges. Students are also being the teacher by presenting information on volcanoes features. Our next science test will be Monday, March 29th. The science project on the Earth is also due on test day.

Language Arts: No spelling this week, we are devoting some extra time to the MCA's that are coming up in April. We will continue on with Julius Caesar by finishing up critical thinking questions and starting in on Act II.

Math:

Ms. Wallwork's class is working on fractional parts and we began this week with Lesson 71. We will also be finding the area of complex figures and solving ratio problems.

Mrs. Swanson's class is working on area of a circle, solving for an unknown number, using proportions to solve ratio word problems, estimating square roots, and measuring turns.

Reading: Ms. Wallwork's class is a little over half way through Travels with Charlie. We continue to work on vocabulary for the MCA's and the NWEA's. Be sure to study the RIT words that were sent home before break.

Updates and Reminders:

School pictures were sent home this week. As a parent you must decide to either keep the pictures and pay for them or send them back to STRIDE.

MCA testing dates are April 22nd and 23rd for Reading and April 27th and 28th for Math. Mark your calendars now. It is important your child attends school on these days.

The end of the quarter is March 31st. Conferences are on April 1st. Reminders will be sent home of the time you signed up for conferences last fall. If this time works then do not return the slip, if it does not work please inform us of another time.

There will be a short break from April 1st to April 5th. Class will resume April 6th.