March 17

Mackenzie, Abby, Olivia and Mareya cooking marshmallows over their own fire during our winter unit.  

Student led conferences

Thank-you to all who were able to make it to student-led conferences this past Wednesday and Thursday.  If you were unable to attend, please remember that your student can lead a conference with you at home using their plp online.  If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at anytime during the trimester.  The best way of contacting us is through email.

Ferry Beach / Ecology Week

Ferry Beach / Ecology Week is soon approaching.  Students will begin this week on April 12th.  Students traveling to Ferry Beach will leave at 6:00 the morning of the 12th, and will return to school Friday evening, April 15.   Students who are attending the ecology week here at CBMS will come to school at the regular time.  We are looking forward to this week!

Teachers will be asking students for input about who to share a room with later in March.  We will announce the groups the Friday before we leave for Ferry Beach.

Pink medical sheets went home with your student with the report card.  These forms are due Friday, March 25th.



Chromebooks for fifth and sixth grade

Within the next three weeks, fifth and sixth graders will be receiving Chromebooks for school use.  Students will transport them back and forth to classes in a cloth case, and will charge them at school at the end of the day.  They will not be coming home.  Students will be responsible for using them appropriately, and taking care of them.  We will help them to learn how to do this.  It is a very exciting time for us, as students will have reliable technology to assist their learning.

Website for parents :  1:1 Technology  This can be found on the CBMS webpage under the parent tab.  It is a link titled 1:1 Technology.  There is a good Frequently Asked Questions tab there (FAQ).  Please click on this and scroll down to answer some of the questions.

The first day we will roll out expectations, and paperwork.  This will be on Thursday, March 24th.  Students will receive papers to sign and will receive paperwork for you to sign as well.  Please be sure to return this as quickly as possible.  If students have their paperwork in, they will receive their Chromebooks on March 31st.  Students will learn to sign in to Chrome, will learn the different apps on the Chromebook, and will personalize their settings.


Integrated Studies
Students have been working on an integrated unit.  This unit encompasses science, math, reading, and social studies through the eyes of the Ancient Greeks.  It is point based, and the assignments can be found in Schoology.  Each day students choose which assignment they will work on, knowing that all assignments must be completed before Ferry Beach.  While much of the content is focused around Ancient Greece, students are exploring how to be self-directed learners.  As students complete assignments, they earn points for their polis (group).  The unit will conclude with an Olympic competition.


Language Arts
For Language Arts, we are reading Greek myths.  Students are learning to find the reason why these myths were written (theme of the myth) and are working on ABC paragraphs in response to questions about the myths they read.  An ABC paragraph is a paragraph where students Answer the question (in a complete sentence) Back it up with details from the story and then write a Concluding sentence.  Students will use this approach for answering questions in their POWs as well.  The POW for next week is to read the myth of King Midas and to write an ABC paragraph about the theme of the piece.

     Spelling and Vocabulary
Students will be working in small groups for spelling and vocabulary practice during this last trimester.  Each day students either work with me or on their own studying spelling words, studying word roots, editing photocopied paragraphs, and editing their own work.  They will have a spelling test or a vocabulary test each week.  Spelling words and vocabulary words can be found in Schoology.  Spelling words are assigned individually, vocabulary words will be assigned for the whole class.  Spelling words are assigned based on a pretest and on spelling patterns.  Please set aside time to study these words at home.

Math
Students have been exploring 2-D Geometry by looking at the characteristics of triangles and quadrilaterals.  This week we will revisit multiplication and division with a focus on becoming more efficient as well as flexible.  There will also be time this week for students to work towards individual goals set at the end of last trimester.  Students will be writing to their MathPals this week about whether or not 5th graders should be allowed to use calculators in Math class.