Week of May 21-24

Highlights of the Week: 

• Writing has focused on choosing a topic of interest and writing about it from a real world writing perspective.  Students will be wrapping up their final draft this week, as well as writing on a variety of individual and group writing prompts. 
• Students are working on reading an array of their own choice of books to reach the goal of 20 books since I issued the challenge at the beginning of the year.  Students are also reading and practicing plays around the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution which they will present this week. 
• Our economics unit has continued to be a great learning experience.  There have been many comments about real life experiences and problems that could happen.  I have loved hearing the discussions. This Thursday, Angela Guthrie, and other team members from Financial Horizons Credit Union will be presenting, "A Bite of Reality" to 5th graders. This simulation gives students a taste of real world financial realities.  We could use 1 more parent volunteer to help assist at the stations.  Please let me know if you can help. Thank you to Mrs. Arends for helping us out! 
• We will be presenting plays this week that I mentioned earlier.  This week we will be learning about the Preamble, Bill of Rights, Constitution, and 3 Branches of Government.  Students will be asked to memorize the Preamble and be ready to recite it on Monday, June 4th.  They will receive a copy on Tuesday. 

The trip to Carson River with the Carson River Wranglers and 9th grade science students was memorable.  Students did a great job walking over 2 miles to Venturacci Ranch where 9th graders took the role of teachers and oversaw 5 different stations the students rotated through.  They learned about non point pollution, beaver adaptation, watershed, the water cycle, and irrigation.  Following our return, students wrote thank you notes to both the Wranglers and the high school students. 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION Volunteers are needed for Thursday afternoon, May 31st, to assist with the Economics Stations.  You would need to arrive around 1:15 and go through a brief training.  Students will participate between 1:30-3:00.   This is a great opportunity if you are in need of volunteer hours.  Please e-mail me at your earliest convenience if you are available.  Thank you Please send a bag to school with your child by Thursday to bring home items from the school year. Please note the following special activities planned for our schedule as we wind down the year: Thursday, 5/31@ 12:00- lunch at Taco Bell to celebrate all students making at least 100 Class Dojo points.  Thursday, 5/31 @ 1:30 - Bite of Reality Simulation with Financial Horizons Credit Union in the Lunchroom Thursday, 5/31 @ 3:30 - Summer Birthday Celebration Monday 6/4 @ 9:15 - All School Awards Ceremony at Venturacci Gym Monday 6/4 @ 2:00 - Patriotic Presentation with Mr. Mike Terry, Retired Navy Tuesday 6/5 Puppet Morning (learning ventrioloquism, making puppets, creating skits) 1:15 - Reward trip to Mavericks (please send money for students to purchase snacks) Then - 5th Grade walking to Venturacci Park for Kickball and Games Wednesday 6/6 10:15 - Walk to Venturacci Gym for 8th Grade Graduation 1:15 - Read In/ Game Afternoon (Students may bring sleeping bags, favorite books, and board games) Thursday 6/7 Field Day All Day (Dismissal at 2:00 pm) Summer Reading will be a bit different this year.  Students will be able to choose the book they want to read and will write a summary of it.  Note that there is a Book Fair currently happening at school - great time for your child to pick out a book for summer reading!

Happenings during May 1-17th

The last few weeks have been busy with testing.  Last Wednesday was our last state test, we were able to celebrate with cinnamon rolls Thursday!  I was so proud of all the kids for being able to persevere through the tests.  All of them did either an outline or rough draft or both!  I was happy to see them working hard to show off their hard work. :)

Students finished their Revolutionary War Game Boards and presented on Thursday.  They did a great job on them.  Students will be able to play each others this week.  We have also started our economics unit in projects.  We were able to have my dad, Rick Archibald, a retired banker come and talk to the kids about savings, interest and the importance of setting goals.  They began playing a version of The Game of Life last week.  Each tribe pulled a career and chose their housing, car and set a budget.  Each day they pull a fate card, which can add of subtract from their income.  Some cards might say, ¨Your car needs new tires, subtract $800 from account¨" or ¨ Table #4 took you to dinner," or ¨You won $100 from a raffle." We will continue with this the next couple of weeks.

We also started a new writing piece where students brainstormed and will take a topic and use it to write in Real World Writing Purposes: express and reflect, inform and explain, evaluate and judge, inquire and explore, analyze and interpret, take a stand/propose a solution.  We will continue working on this the next couple of weeks, writing a few different pieces.

Students have finished their Revolutionary War books in reading.  Their last meetings were Thursday!  We will discuss connections between books to the Revolutionary War as well as how it deepened their knowledge for their Game boards.

For Your Information: 
The end of year is coming fast.  Students will need to read and work on their math facts this week.

• Permission Slip for Thursdays field trip to Venturacci Ranch are due Monday.  Please send them with your child in your child's Monday folder.  Complete all 3 forms.  Students should wear long pants and bug spray as there are a lot of overgrown weeds.  Additionally, I would appreciate having one parent who can walk with us, or bring their car and drive over there in case of an emergency.  Mrs. Duarte will be driving her car there, so we have one.  Please let me know if you are available. 
• Summer birthdays can be celebrated May 31.  Please let me know if your child has a summer birthday and you would like to send in a treat that day.  
• Plans are underway for some special events in the next few weeks.  Please watch your emails for details.  We are possibly going to be making sock puppets and would appreciate new or gently used socks.  Your help is always appreciated. Thank you! 

Week of April 23-26

Highlights of our Week: 

• Students did an awesome job during the Nevada CRT Science Assessment on Wednesday.  They were on task, quiet, attentive to directions, and above all, persevered through the test! Thank you to all the parents who helped to supply breakfast and snacks for that morning!  The kids did great and were ready when we needed to start testing, so I told them we can do breakfast except for when they go to Math.  I will add those days to the sign up.  Please everyone take one or two slots so everyone helps!
• This week students have the ACT ELA on Wednesday and ACT Math on Thursday.  Please make sure your child has a good nights rest and arrive on time in the morning! We could use a few extra snacks for Thursday since I did not do a sign up for that day, but we still need to supply snacks. Kids loved having juice or water to drink and they could use some protein if anyone is willing ;) Parents signed up to bring food/snacks for Wednesday are: 
• Amber Gusewelle- Pancakes
• Brittany Washburn- Fruit and yogurt
• Aubrey Giovanetti- popcorn
• Carissa Gardner- granola bars, goldfish, plates and napkins
• Thank you so much!!!
• Students are learning about advertising and persuasive writing while designing and writing an advertisement for their own roller coaster.  
• Science experiments and research about matter were presented on Thursday and Monday.  We had a celebratory conclusion of partaking of root beer floats which represented solid, liquid, an gas! The kids loved it! 

Upcoming Events: 

• Upcoming Test Days include:
• May 2 - ACT English Language Arts
• May 3 - ACT Math
• May 9 & 10 - SBAC Math
• May 15 & 16 - SBAC English Language Arts

• Oasis Academy Family Outdoor Movie Night on Friday, May 4th
• Location: Oasis Academy Playground
• Bring chairs, coats, jackets and blankets to keep your kiddos warm
• Admission: FREE
• Gates open at 6:00pm
• Carnival style Games for the kids 6:00-7:00 pm
• NOW SHOWING: “The Greatest Showman” rated PG at 7 :30 pm
• Snacks and drinks available for purchase (cash or checks) 6:00-8:45pm

Week of April 16-19th

Highlights of the week: 

Students have been working hard in all subjects! We had a great time on the field trip to the Planetarium.  Thank you so much to all those who were able to come and join us.  I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedules.  

• Students have been learning about Persuasive writing techniques and the different ways advertisements persuade consumers.  They will be designing their own roller coaster and writing a persuasive ad for their  roller coaster.  
• Students had their first Book Club Meeting this past week.  I loved hearing some of the deeper conversations in some groups and talking about the Revolutionary War.  Their books are giving them a little more insight. 
• In projects, we practiced the tools and read through the practice test for our Science Assessment which is this coming Wednesday.  We have been studying matter and kids are now deep into practicing their experiments.  They will have a couple more tries to run through them, get their information together and present next week. I am excited to see them in action! 

Upcoming Testing:

• Wednesday, April 25, 2018- Science
• Wednesday, May 2, 2018-    ACT ELA
• Thursday, May 3, 2018-       ACT Math/Science
• Wednesday, May 9, 2018-   SBAC Math Part 1
• Thursday, May 10, 2018-    SBAC Math Part 2
• Tuesday, May 15, 2018-      SBAC ELA Part 1
• Wednesday, May 16, 2018- SBAC ELA Part 2

Thank you so much to those of you that have already signed up to bring breakfast and/or snack foods.  The sign up did not include the testing days for Math.  We will just do snacks those days, (we have less time) so please if you would, bring some in.  The kids also love gum and mints!  The kids and I would greatly appreciate anything you will bring.  I will keep leftover snacks to use the following days.  This can be a stressful time for some students, but we try to help them relax before they start.  Please make sure your child gets a good nights sleep the night before.  Thanks!  

 Pictures from the field trip to the Fleishman Planetarium. We all enjoyed lunch out on the grass after the Planetarium.  It was a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors!

 Inside the Planetarium, students watch a video on Earth and the Universe.  They were then able to go and explore the museum exhibits with some hands-on activities.  There was a lot to see and do!

 Mrs. Feest's (our TTS aide that comes in everyday) birthday is this weekend, so we celebrated with some treats and played a energetic game of "Do You Love Your Neighbor?"  Everyone seemed to have a great time!

Science experiments are coming along! We have some real scientists in the class! They have been using their hypothesis they came up with to test different areas of matter. 

Week of April 9-12th

Coming back from spring break was a challenge to get back into the swing of things.  Kids were wanting to chat and discuss all their fun adventures even after we shared!  It was a busy week with finishing assignments, starting their new books for book club and getting ready for parent conferences. 

Highlights of our week: April 9-12

• Parent Conferences- Students did an amazing job sharing their learning and successes with parents!  A huge thank you to those who were able to come.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. 

In writing, students finished their wonderful Owner's Manuals that you were able to have your child read to you at parent conference.  Their sense of humor is truly a delight!  We had many chuckles in class over them and hope you were able to also! 

• This week we will begin writing a persuasive essay after learning about roller coasters and propaganda techniques.  

Students will continue their Book Club books,  practice and review some reading strategies and begin John's Reading Assessments. 

• We will begin spelling again... I took a little break, but feel it is important to take the time for this and I have an amazing parent who has volunteered to help!!  Thank you Mrs. Gusewelle. Words will come home on Monday in your child's Monday folders, please help them study each night and test will be on Thursday each week.  

We started our science project unit on "Matter" this week, guided by the driving question:  How can we use matter to show physical and chemical changes?  Students have chosen a specific lesson/experiment to do with a partner.  These will be conducted next week, following the scientific method steps.  Students will bring home a list Monday of supplies they will need for their specific experiment which they will need on Wednesday to begin experimenting. 

INFORMATION: 

• Our rescheduled Field Trip to Fleishmann Planetarium at UNR is this Friday, April 20th.  We will leave from the main school parking lot at 8:15 am and return by 1:30 that afternoon.  We will be going to the planetarium show, a visit to the exhibit hall and our bag lunch on the grounds.  We will utilize the previous permission slips.  Students will need to bring: 
• $5.00 for the entrance fee
• Bag lunch
• Please be aware of 5th grade testing dates and do your best to make sure your child is in attendance on these dates with a good nights sleep and healthy breakfast: (we will have healthy snacks each day)
• SBAC Science- April 25
• ACT English Language Arts- May 2
• ACT Math- May 3
• SBAC Math- May 9&10
• SBAC English Language Arts- May 15 & 16
• I would love a volunteer to set up a Sign-Up Genius for parents to sign up.  (Please email me separately) Please watch for correspondence in the next week. 

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Week of March 26-29th

Highlights of the week:

The Egg Drop Challenge was definitely a highlight last week as students worked in partners to design and create a device that would protect their egg from cracking or breaking when dropped from different heights.  Thursday was the final drop and many teams were successful!  Everyone exhibited great ingenuity and an attitude of perseverance.  We learned about engineering and gravity, as well as the importance of testing a product, redesigning and trying again!

 

In writing, students started writing/creating an Owners Manual of themselves.  The end product will be sure to make you laugh.  They will be shared with parents at Parent Conferences.  Students have loved being creative with this project!

Students were able to choose a book about the Revolutionary War that they will be starting when we come back after Spring Break.  Students were all anxious to get rolling on their new books!  

Important Information:

• Parent Conferences this Friday, April 13th.  If you have not signed up yet, please do so.  You are welcome to come at any time during the day on Friday from 9:00am-4:00pm, so if you need to just pop in with your child, Ill be there. Students are preparing to share lots of information with you about their year and report cards will be handed out at that time. 
• Planetarium Field Trip on Friday, April 20th 
• Meet at the school parking lot at 8:15 am, arriving back around 130 pm.
• Bring a sack lunch and $5 for entrance fee
• Please let me know the following information by Monday 4/16
• Will your child be attending?
• Will you be driving or will they need a ride? 
• IF you are driving, are you available to take additional students? How many? 
• Testing Dates for 5th Grade.  Please have children here, try not to schedule any trips or appointments on these days) 
• April 25- Science Assessment
• May 9&10- SBAC Math
• May 15 & 16- English Language Arts
• We will have breakfast food and snacks on testing days, if someone would like to coordinate, please let me know.  It would be extremely helpful!
• Carson River Work Day on May 24th
• 5th graders will join the high school biology class in a walking field trip to Venturacci Ranch to learn about the water cycle, our watershed, and irrigation with the Carson River Wranglers and Lahontan Conservation District.  It will be a fun day! 

Week of March 19-22nd

Highlights of the week:

• In writing we are wrapping up our persuasive opinion writing pieces on Monday.  We added in a counter argument and worked on transitions to help papers flow smoothly. We will share on Monday and hang them in the hall for Mrs. Mackedon and Ms. Tisdale to hear students ideas. 
• Students did an excellent job on their book culmination projects.  There was a variety of diaries and newspapers where students wrote stories and tried to consider what it would be like in the time of their book. I enjoyed their creativity. 
• Students have been preparing this week for their research presentations around various topics related to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.  On Thursday, we planted our terrariums as a model of these four spheres interacting with one another.  Presentations will be on Monday afternoon. 
• On Tuesday, we will begin an Egg Drop project.  We will be reading After The Fall, How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again and relate it having a growth mindset to work hard through challenges. The kids will engineer a device to keep "Humpty Dumpty" (an egg) safe when dropping from different heights.  If you have the following items laying around the house or have chickens and you would like to donate, the kids will be grateful because they will be able to "practice" their drops a few more times than 2.  We need: EGGS, toilet paper rolls (empty), pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks, Styrofoam cups, or cotton balls. Students will be given a said amount of supplies and be able to test on Tuesday and Wednesday with the final drop being Thursday afternoon. 

Important Information:

• Please try and establish a plan with your child to get their math homework signed off each night as well as bring their parent journal and weekly folder with signed reading log back to school on Monday.  Students are having to attend study hall which takes class time away and they are missing important information. They will now have to stay in at lunch and complete math facts on paper. This is their responsibility, but working with them to come up with a plan would be helpful. 
• Next week students will be working on preparing for our upcoming Parent Conferences on April 13th.  They will be leading the conference as they share their report card, a portfolio of work and some learning goals.  Sign-Up Genius notification will be sent out in the next few days. Please sign up for a time slot or contact me if needed. 
• Our Planetarium field trip to UNR will be on Friday, April 20th.  As was previously scheduled, we will meet at the school around 8:15 am and carpool for the 10 am showing, followed by a tour through the exhibition hall and a sack lunch on the grounds.  We plan to return around 1:30 pm.  Please let me know ASAP if your child still plans to attend (we will keep the same permission slips previously signed, but I need to know if there are any who plan to go this time who weren't able to before or vice versa). 
• We will need drivers for that day, so if you were planning on transporting students previously, please let me know if you are still able to do so.  
•   Only one week until Spring Break!  Spring is definitely in the air, please remind your kids to have their best behavior.  Thank you! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend.