Week of Nov. 28

Thanksgiving was wonderful at the Berner household and I hope you all had terrific break too. Time to get back to work and learn, learn, learn!
A great time was had by all at the Tea Party. What a fun event! Thanks again to all you fabulous parents who helped make it work! Check out the pictures I posted at the Tea Party link, more to come...
I sent home a EOG test prep book order form on Tuesday before the break. EOG prep books are $17.00 and are geared to the NC standards for 5th grade curriculum. I recommend all students purchase one, even if your child does fine on the EOG's. There are test taking tips and skills that will benefit your child for years to come. If you are able to contribute extra for other students who may not be able to afford a book, it would be greatly appreciated. I have to order them in sets of 5. I will use this book with students who tutor.
Progress reports go home on Dec. 7th. If your student is missing work or is earning a "D" or below, I will send that information home written in their agenda. Please look for it. Remember, the progress report is an indicator of their current grade in class, not their final. Grades can change for the better or the worse. If you or your student are not satisfied with their grade, please check with me about how to improve it. I am always interested in my students success.
All students should have their auto/biography chosen for the Jan. 2nd book report/project by now. Please make sure your student has a book.
Vocabulary returns to writing a sentence that indicates students understand meaning this week. One point for the word spelled correctly and one point for the word used correctly in context. We will continue to work on phonics in class, but I must return to vocabulary building. Words this week stem from the new book we will begin reading next week, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.
Vocabulary/Spelling
Week of Nov. 28
From “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse
5A
wager
ignite
riled
grime
distracted
knoll
drought
duster
maggoty
fester
hoard
spindly
gaunt
wince
mottled
chaos

Vocabulary/Spelling
Week of Nov. 28
From “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse
5C
excavating
ignite
riled
distracted
knoll
drought
maggoty
festered
hoarding
spindly
gaunt
wince
mash
mottled
sorghum
chaos

Vocabulary/Spelling
Week of Nov. 28
From “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse
5B
wagering
excavate
ignite
riled
grime
divining
distracted
drought
maggoty
fester
hoarding
spindly
gaunt
wince
mottled
chaos

Pictures; See more at link!!!!

Thanksgiving

Hope you all have a Happy and restful Thanksgiving! It's one of my favorite holidays. What could be better? Great food, family and giving thanks for all our blessings?

Tea Party on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30! Your child can't have lost more than 20 chips since report cards came out or have been suspended. I was going to try and make exceptions because this is also a culminating event(end of novel unit)but it just isn't fair to those who sat out last time. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding.

I am adding a very good link, Internet4classrooms, to help with EOG prep. Please have your student utilize it.

Thank you all and have a terrific and warm Thanksgiving.

Tea party

This will be sent home today!!!! Nov. 17, 2011
Hello Parents!
Next week we will throw the first of our two quarterly chip celebrations. If your child has maintained good behavior and/or has not been suspended the first part of the 2nd quarter they are welcome to join our celebration!
We will also use this as a culminating event to our novel studies for Secret Garden and Wee Free Men by having a tea party! Both novels take place in England. I encourage students to dress up like their favorite character in the book for the celebration that will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 1:30-dismissal. We will be making homemade butter in mini-butter churns, created by Mrs. Cole (awesome!), eating English cookies, listening to beautiful music with perhaps a waltz and drinking tea. There may be a little mischief too;-)
Supplies are needed! If you are able to help, please sign below with what you can bring:
I can help! I will donate:
Napkins ________________
Plastic silverware _______________
Soda _________________
Cups ___________________
Shortbread cookies __________________
Teacups ________________________
Other (please specify) __________________________________________
Something English or Scottish (please specify) ________________________________
This is a group effort, if you think of a way to help or have a brilliant (or even just good) idea, please share and let’s make it happen! Thanks for all your help!
Mrs. Dohner and Mrs. Berner

Week of Nov. 14.

Hope you all had an enjoyable Veteran's Day holiday. Thanks to vets for all they do and have done to help build and maintain our great country.

We finished our novel study with a big unit test on Friday. Some students in 5C were unable to finish the test in the allotted time. If your student needed more time, I will be available after school on Monday until 4:00 for them to complete the test. I will be grading them this week. Any makeup tests should be completed after school on Monday. If your student missed a spelling test, this will be the time to make it up.

Bookmobile comes on Tuesday!Remember, students must read an autobiography/biography this quarter and perform a 5 minute skit about their person in class on Jan. 2.

Poetry terms test on Monday!!!! Students should have a high-lighted list of the terms they are responsible for. Spelling won't count. I just want them to understand the meanings of the terms.

We will begin writing and reading poetry in class Monday. If you have a special poem you or your student would like to share, please send it in! We will begin with terms, Haiku and rhyming couplets. We will write mimic poems, concrete poems and a narrative poem, among others. Our next novel will be Out Of the Dust by Karen Hesse, if you would like for your child to have their own copy.

Last week for phonics! If your child still struggles with these concepts, please have them continue to work on the websites I have provided. We will continue word sorts and phonics games in class.

Spelling/Vocabulary Week of Nov. 14, 2011
Know meaning and spelling, be prepared to write a sentence for each word.
LN
-ough words
tough
cough
rough
enough
aught/ought words
taught
bought
ought
thought
tion/sion words
auction
decision
station
tension
caution
-wh words
whom
where
whose


Spelling/Vocabulary Week of Nov. 14, 2011
Know meaning and spelling, be prepared to write a sentence for each word.
WW
-ough words
enough
through
cough
tough
ought/aught words
thought
ought
brought
sought
tion/sion words
tension
vision
station
auction
caution
-wh words
whom
where
whose


Spelling/Vocabulary Week of Nov. 14, 2011
Know meaning and spelling, be prepared to write a sentence for each word.
SJ
ough words
through
enough
borough
trough
ought/aught words
fraught
sought
naughty
daughter
tion/sion words
collision
confusion
option
illusion
caution
conclusion
-wh words
whet
whine


Spelling/Vocabulary Week of Nov. 14, 2011
Know meaning and spelling, be prepared to write a sentence for each word.
DC
ough words
slough
trough
borough
ought/aught words
fraught
sought
distraught
wrought
haughty
tion/sion words
fusion
illusion
collision
option
confusion
caution
-wh words
whet
whine

Changes to schedule

I have had to alter plans. We will have novel unit tests on Thursday and the Poetry terms test on Monday.

Theme essay questions for Wee Free Men test are as follows:
1.” There is no such thing as bravery, without fear.” Discuss Tiffany’s courage throughout the story, be sure to cite examples.
2. “Home is where the heart is.” Discuss the importance of the land and family to this story, be sure to cite examples.
3. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” There are several instances where appearances are deceiving in this book, discuss, using examples from the reading.
4. Is Wee Free Men a fairytale or not? Using what you know about elements of a fairytale, argue one way or the other.
5. If you got a question approved before the test, write it here:
____________________________________________________________________________________
Students must write one well developed essay and cite the book, using at least 3 different quotations or places in the book to support their answers.

Week of Nov. 07

I would like to publicly thank my wonderful students for their excellent behavior this week while I was out sick. When I returned, I received nothing but rave reviews from the substitute teachers about how hard working and wonderful my students were. Well done Cougars, you are all champions!
Onward and upward! We will begin poetry this week. Instead of spelling words, I will be giving students copies of poetry terms and definitions that I will expect them to know the meanings of by Thursday. Each class will highlight the words they are responsible for this week (not the entire list!) and we will test on Thursday.I will probably give fewer than 12 words to each group, as it is a short week and we have another major assessment to complete too.
Bookmobile: Tuesday, Nov. 8. Remember, your child must read an autobiography /biography this term and complete a book review and write and act out a short skit about their person for the class on Jan. 2
Also this week, we finish up our novel study and have a unit test. Please be sure your child studies for this test. It will be on Wednesday, Nov. 9 for both Secret Garden and Wee Free Men. I will post Wee Free Men essay question choices on Tuesday.
No homework this week! Please read anyways!
I will be setting up conferences this week for parents who requested them. Due to the number of conferences I will have to limit them to 15-20 minutes each. If we need more time, we can e-mail. Thanks in advance for understanding.
I am going to begin tutoring students for EOG testing this week in homeroom, from 8:00 to 8:30. I will send a note with students who I would like to participate. If I contact you, please arrange to have your child at school by 8:00 on the days I request them. We have many students who will need additional help this year and I figured this as a great time to get in some additional practice.