April 27 - May 1, 2015

• Flex Days are on May 5th and 6th. Not all students are required to attend - testing is by invitation only. If your child needs to attend, you will receive an email with a link to a sign up genius. Testing will take approximately 1 hour - 15 minutes with me and 45 minutes independently.

• Notable person Biography: Student's final project will be our “wax museum” presentation and a written biography, Friday, May 15th at 8:50 -9:45 a.m. Students will come to school dressed as their notable person. School clothes need to be brought to school to be changed into for the remaining day.

• Assessment Day: May 5-6th. Students will attend school by invitation/appointment only. Students only with a testing time will be required to attend on the 28th. Testing takes about one hour. Notes regarding you son/daughters testing requirements already went home in last weeks Friday folder.

Dates to Remember:

• May 5-6th - Flex Days (invitation only)

---

Literacy - Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

Science - 

Trash to Treasure

 Fourth Grade Science Project

Students are asked to reuse and create something from trash! Our current science ecosystem discussions have keyed on creating less waste for our environment. Students are challenged to turn trash to treasure and design something different from trash. Look at the picture examples are given below for some inspiration. Each treasure should be no more then 8 x 8. These treasures will be displayed in the library once completed and turned in on Friday, May 8th.

April 13-17, 2014

• We are welcoming some new critters to our classroom - a couple hundred wiggly, little decomposers in fact! We will have earthworms in our class to investigate ecosystems and decomposers. We're also going to be composting and learning about the idea of "trash-to-treasure".

• Flex Days are on May 5th and 6th. Not all students are required to attend - testing is by invitation only. If your child needs to attend, you will receive an email with a link to a sign up genius. Testing will take approximately 1 hour - 15 minutes with me and 45 minutes independently.

• This Friday is our field trip to the Westminster Promenade to see Disney's Monkey Kingdom. If you ordered a snack, please bring $4.00 for it. Students also need to bring a sack lunch on Friday!

• CMAS Social Studies is this week on April 14, 15 and 16. These are state standardized tests, so make sure your child is getting a good breakfast and is well rested!

Dates to Remember:

• April 13-17th - 6th grade Rock Shop
• April 17th - Monkey Kingdom Movie Field Trip
• April 22nd - Early Release - 1:00 pm
• May 5-6th - Flex Days (invitation only)

---

Literacy - Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

Math - Please log into IXL.com with your username and password. Everyone has the same password: nisely04). Complete the Measurement problems for Measuring with an Inch Ruler, Conversion tables - customary units, and Conversion tables - metric units (Fifth Grade > Measurements > N.1, N.7 & N.13).

April 6-10, 2015

• Welcome back! I hope everyone had an exciting and restful spring break, and are ready to finish off the rest of the year with a bang!

• CMAS Social Studies is this month on April 14, 15 and 16. These are state standardized tests, so make sure your child is getting a good breakfast and is well rested!

Dates to Remember:

• April 13-17th - 6th grade Rock Shop
• April 22nd - Early Release - 1:00 pm

---

Science - After learning about the interactions between both living and non-living elements in ecosystems, read about some of the world's biomes at this website:

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769052.html

Choose one biome. Now choose one animal that lives in that biome. Write the animal you selected in the center of the paper. What elements (both living and non-living) are in this ecosystem? Draw these elements around the edge of your science sheet and connect them to your chosen animal with a line. Write the interactions on the lines going from your chosen animals to the other elements in this biome. 

Bonus: Include lines between the other elements and how they interact together!

Literacy - Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

March 23-27, 2015

• Students did a wonderful job on the PARCC tests last week! Thank you for all your hard work and support! CMAS Social Studies is next month on April 14, 15 and 16. These are state standardized tests, so make sure your child is getting a good breakfast and is well rested!

Dates to Remember:

• March 30 - Staff Development Day, No school
• March 31 - Students return

---

You have no homework other than your weekly reading log!

Have a wonderful spring break! 

March 16 - 20th, 2015

• Students did a wonderful job on the PARCC tests last week! Thank you for all your hard work and support! Next week, we will have math PARCC on March 17 and 18. CMAS Social Studies is next month on April 14, 15 and 16. These are state standardized tests, so make sure your child is getting a good breakfast and is well rested! For more information and practice PARCC tests, visit http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/.

Dates to Remember:

• March 17-18 - PARCC Testing
• March 23 - 27 - Spring Break
• Students return, Tuesday, March 31st, 2015.

1.  Students will be taking the PARCC math test Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. Students are encouraged to work through PARCC practice test.

2.   Create a flow map to represent the sequence of events that occur in the following activity. Oh, and have lots of fun doing it!! Your teachers sure did :)   Click on the following link:

http://www.drawastickman.com/?m=1

3.  Science - Please keep working on your Solar System project! The information about the project can be found on the previous blog (March 2-6) post: http://nisely.blogspot.com/2015/02/march-2-6-2015.html