Enemy Pie

Dear Parents of Room 10,

            Transitioning during instruction and specials has been challenging for the children this week.  Moving from one subject to another without talking hasn’t been easy for them.  However, we will continue to practice and I will continue to have high expectations for behavior.  Please take the opportunity to chat with your child about appropriate classroom behavior.

            In writing our focus has moved to “Specials!”  The children have drafted their first essay based on a special person in their lives.  They will also be writing about a special place and special object.  These exercises are a good way to start as they give the children an opportunity to write about people, places and things they know a lot about.

            This week I began to determine the children’s reading levels using Fountas & Pinnell, the district-approved reading assessment.  As I have mentioned previously, each assessment takes between 20-30 minutes.  I have to say that, while I was working one-on-one with some students, the remainder of the class did a beautiful job working independently.

            In the crayfish unit this week, the children will be conducting experiments related to stimuli.  Some of the kids have enjoyed taking them out of their aquarium to play with them.  Others still haven’t quite warmed up to them.  Either way, the experiments continue.  This past week we played our first crayfish vocabulary game.  It’s a cross between Jeopardy and Family Feud.  They did well.  You should encourage the children to study their crayfish vocabulary throughout the week.  A quiz will be coming in a week or so.

            We met with our “Fluency Friends” on Thursday to work on reading fluency.  This is our focus for the school year.  The children have enjoyed working on reading fluency in our classroom with Readers’ Theatre and in Mrs. Bacher’s room with her 2^nd graders.

            I am including a few pictures of the children as they listened to Mrs. Bonacquist read the story, Enemy Pie.  It’s always nice having Mrs. Bonacquist stop-by and read to the kids.  They are very attentive and engaged.

             This coming week in celebration of Farm to You Fest, the children will be enjoying a vegetable taste testing, compliments of Zoe’s mom.  Be sure to ask them what they enjoyed the most!

                                                                            Kind Regards, Lester B. and Class

It's all about CRAYFISH...

Greetings from Room 10!
     I am attaching some photographs of the children with their crayfish.  Today our focus was inherited and acquired traits of crayfish.  We also chatted about our inherited and acquired traits, as well.  We rolled tongues, bent fingers, looked at dimples and checked out our ear lobes.  Afterwards, the kids used Shelley's nail polish to color-code their crayfish.  We are in the process of naming them as well.  Lots of learning and lots of fun!

     As I have already shared with the kids, I am going to be attending a writing workshop tomorrow with my 3rd,4th and 5th grade colleagues.  Therefore, there will be a substitute teacher in for me (as well as the other 5th grade teachers).  Spelling homework Wednesday night is spelling sentences.  In addition to writing 5th grade level sentences, they must also underline or highlight each word.  I have also asked them to skip lines between sentences and write their name ON the top line.
     This afternoon, we had our first Betor's Bulls-Eye project presentation.  It was an amazing web page.  October 31st is our target date for everyone's first Betor's Bulls-Eye project.  The children may choose any book they have read to base their project on, and may choose form any project category. 
     Have a great rest-of-the-week!
                                                                                        Lester B. and Class
    

An Amazing Second Week of School

Dear Parents of Room 10,

Our year together is off to a great start.  I have been really impressed by how well your children have settled into our routine.  Overall, it has been a very smooth transition into fifth grade; probably one of the best I have experienced since beginning my teaching career.  In many ways, it’s like we have been together for a long time.  Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with me.

It was a pleasure having the opportunity to meet those of you who were able to come to Open House last night.  I love talking about my educational philosophy, and I am always anxious to share information about our program.  Fifth grade is an awesome grade to teach from both a curricular and developmental standpoint.  I am honored to have the chance to work with your children this year.

On Friday the children had their first opportunity to hold the crayfish.  Not everyone was interested in picking them up, but others couldn’t get enough of them.  We had one pinching, but no tears.  We have completed the first few lessons of our crayfish unit, and the children seem to be very engaged and interested.  We have learned about treating them humanely as well as how their new home in our classroom will be quite different from their home in a pond or stream.

Also on Friday morning, Mrs. Bonacquist had a great conversation with the children.  They seemed to enjoy chatting with their Principal about the responsibilities of being a 5^th grader.  They were very intuitive and impressed both of us with their thoughts.  Mrs. Bonacquist also read a book to our class called Enemy Pie.  Be sure to ask your child about the meaning of the title.  She also took the opportunity to chat with the children about the Lip Sync.  Be sure to ask your child about this interesting conversation.

Wednesday was our first day of DARE with Detective Whiteley.  It’s a terrific program and the kids were really into it!  Detective Whiteley will be with us for nine more weeks, and the lessons will culminate with our DARE Graduation.  The children will also write a DARE essay which you will have the opportunity to hear.  I will invite all of you in for lunch to hear the essays.  Details about the luncheon and the Graduation will be coming within the next month or so.

We are still running through the preliminary reading lessons that will set the stage for our year in reading workshop.  I hope to begin testing each student to determine his or her reading level early this week.  It will take several weeks to complete, as each test generally takes between 20-30 minutes.           Lester Betor and class

Our First Week of School is Over!

Dear Parents of Room 10,

Our first week of school has come to a close, and we have had an amazing start to the 2013-2014 school year. The class is coming together as a learning community, and it is really nice to see them work together cooperatively.  It was a busy and fun-filled week as we prepare for Open House.

Our Open House is next Thursday, September 19^th at 7:30pm in Room 10.  My presentation will last approximately 45 minutes.  At 8:15pm, you will move to your child’s math teacher for a 15-minute presentation on their math program.  And the evening will culminate with a presentation in the cafeteria on this year’s Nature’s Classroom trip.  We expect this presentation to last about 30 minutes.  I look forward to the opportunity to meet you Thursday evening.  During the Open House you will have the opportunity to sign up for your Fall conference and for sending in treats for one of our four parties.

Our first read-aloud for the school year, Along Came Spider by local author James Preller has been the catalyst for our discussions about bullying.  The main characters are 5^th graders, so the children can really relate to their experiences.  I encourage you to ask your child about the book.  The reason I selected this book is that it’s important for the children to know that it is okay to be different!

Next week we will begin to discuss and chart the guidelines for reading workshop.  We will also begin to practice literacy stations in preparation for guided reading.  The variety of stations I have prepared offer practice in various language arts skills.  I also include other curricular areas in stations such as non-fiction reading about crayfish.

Each week the children will bring home a “Weekly Reflection” in which they will reflect on their week. Generally, I will include a brief statement about how your child’s week went. I will ask that you read through and sign their weekly reflection.  Also, feel free to write a note on the bottom.  Having the Weekly Reflection signed is your child’s weekend homework, so please remind him/her to return the reflection to the red binder as soon as you have read, discussed and signed it.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for BC@Home.  The only way to view your child’s report card is through this webpage.  Also, it is important for you to include an email address as that is my way to communicate with you electronically.  

        See you Thursday night! 
        Lester Betor & class