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January 25, 2010
Parents and grandparents are cordially invited to attend our Fifth
Grade Marketplace days on February 4th and February 18th from 12:50
- 2:10 in the gym. You are welcome to attend one or both
Marketplaces, and younger, non-school age children are also
invited. You will receive spending money at the door, so it's
a tremendous bargain for you! We hope you can join us on one
or both of these days.
Is your child working on their marketplace store at home? He
or she should be producing a product to sell, making a store sign,
making price signs, and any decorations wanted or needed to make
their table more attractive. Some type of box to keep cash in
is also a good idea.
Science Fair packets went home today. All experiments should
be completed by February 12th in order to give time to write
up the conclusion and create the display board. Every
Wednesday there is Science Fair Help in the library from 12:00 -
1:00. Just send a permission slip to stay after school and
your child can get excellent help on their project!
I realize this is a
lot to keep track of, with both Marketplace and Science Fair
happening, so in order to keep your child
from procrastinating, I have set due dates to make sure
they are keeping on track and not trying to do everything in a
couple of days. Students should have these sections of
the experiments written in the science journal and be ready to turn
them into me on the following
dates.
Feb. 5 - Materials and Procedure
Feb. 12 - Experiment completed, Results & Data due (consider
making a chart or graph to show your data
Feb. 19 - Conclusion
Feb. 25 - Everything due, including display board &
journal. Oral presentations will be given
on Feb. 25th, 26th, and March 1st.
Mar. 2 - Science Fair judging
Mar. 3 - Science Fair Family Night 6 - 8 pm
If you are unable to purchase a display board please email me at
school or send in a note and I will try to get a board for
your child.
We're also working hard on other things at school! We have
been learning to add and subtract fractions with unlike
denominators and will soon begin to add and subtract mixed
numerals with like and unlike denominators. Examples:
4/8 - 1/4 =____; 1 2/3 + 6 4/12=
These are very difficult concepts which require many steps.
Students must also be able to simplify the fraction.
We continue to learn about explorers in Social Studies and last
week we read a book entitled Mississippi Bridge, which is
part of our Reach curriculum. We discussed civil rights as a
topic of this book, along with civil rights leaders in America.
This week we're writing a summary of the book along with our
reflections regarding historical events and the civil rights
movement.
I hope to see you at Marketplace! Come support our young
entrepreneurs.
Jan. 4,
2010
Happy New Year!
We have several huge home projects during the months of January and
February. The first is our Social Studies Economics unit,
which culminates in a Marketplace event. Each child will need
to establish a business with a product or service to sell during
Marketplace. More information will be coming home about
Marketplace next Monday.
The second project is a Science Fair entry, which is required
for fifth graders. We take the state science test in
the spring, and doing an experiment for the science fair is
excellent preparation for the exam. Today the students have
some information about the science fair in their Weekly Work Review
envelope, along with some suggestions of topic questions.
Each student needs to make a topic choice and turn that in by
Friday, January 8th. You can also find ideas for science
experiments by searching for science fair projects for fifth
graders online.
I am requesting some parent volunteers on Tuesday, January 12th
from 1:15 - 2:30 to help with science experiments. I'd like
to set up 3 science centers and have at least 1 parent at each
center. Let me know if you would be willing to assist.
Dec. 4, 2009
Homework is a little different this week, as the children are
working on 2 projects. One is a science experiment
investigating whether taking baths or showers uses less
water. I hope you or other brothers and sisters will be
willing to participate as science assistants! Your child has
a worksheet with the directions and a place to record his/her
data. This experiment is due next Friday, Dec. 11th, so the
children have one week to accomplish the experiment.
(Students are required to participate in the Science Fair in fifth
grade, so this experiment is wonderful practice using the
scientific method.)
The other project is to talk with parents or grandparents about
your family cultural heritage. We have been reading stories
about different cultures in our reading book and also studying
about America's heritage, and now we are embarking upon learning
about our personal heritage. Each student has a worksheet
with some "guiding questions". Please ask your child to see
the worksheet and take some time to talk about your family history
and discuss the questions on the back which apply to your
family. We will be designing family crests at the end
of the week, and it will be difficult for your child to do without
some help from you. Thanks! This assignment is due on
Thursday, Dec. 10th.
We're busy learning about fractions in math. This week we
concentrated on making equivalent fractions and next week we will
be reducing fractions to lowest terms (or simplest form). We
have been doing science experiments with lenses and learning about
the properties of a magnifier.
Our school is collecting new toys and non-perishable food until
Dec. 17th, so I appreciate your help with any donations you are
able to make.
I hope you enjoy th Holiday Season!
Nov. 23, 2009
Thank you to Mrs. Pasquier for planning our Harvest Celebration and
also to all the parents who sent in supplies and came to
help. The students had a fabulous time and you can see
pictures on our website of all the great activities.
I am not sending home Weekly Work Review envelopes this Monday,
Nov. 23rd or next Monday, Nov. 30th because of it being a short
week this week. If you have questions, feel free to contact me
at school.
We have just about finished publishing our Heritage Reports on a
historical site in the United States. Beginning next week the
students will be giving an oral presentation to the class.
Please ask your child what day his/her speech is (we signed
up today) and listen to your child practice his/her speech
this week and next. Our areas of focus are: speaking
loudly and clearly, maintaining eye contact with your audience (not
reading the speech!), standing with poise, having adequate content
about your subject. Feel free to give your child suggestions
for improvement and help build his/her confidence. Children
are welcome to have any visual aids, such as a poster, diagram,
costume, powerpoint (saved to a travel drive), etc. We're
looking forward to hearing the presentations.
Report cards come home on Tuesday, Dec. 1st. Please keep the
report card, but sign the envelope and return the empty envelope to
school.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov. 16, 2009
We will be having a test over our Ecosystems unit scheduled for
this Thursday if all goes according to schedule. Homework for
your child on Tuesday and Wednesday is to look over their science
journal and review for the test. You can review vocabulary
words with your child and ask questions about concepts in the
journal.
The ecosystems will be going home this week, so please discuss with
your child whether or not you want any part of the column to come
home.
Spirit day is Wednesday, Nov. 25th and the theme is Crazy Hat and
Hair Day.
The students chose to have a Harvest Celebration on Friday,
November 20th . Mrs. Pasquier is organizing, so if you would
like to help you can contact her.
We're hard at work researching and writing reports about historical
sites in the United States. The children will also be giving
an oral presentation about their topic, and I'm tentatively
planning to start those speeches the week of Nov. 30th. The
students are welcome to include any kind of visual along with the
speech: posters, dioramas, dress in costume, create a
powerpoint (and save on a travel drive), etc. A visual is not
required, however.
Check out the new math link for basic math games for speed and
accuracy on the Links
page.
Nov. 5, 2009
Dear
Parents,
In order for our school to be prepared in the
event of a large-scale emergency, we will be conducting an all
school emergency evacuation drill on the afternoon of Monday,
November 9th. Prepare your child for this drill by making sure
they are dressed warmly and talk about the importance of
practicing safety. The drill includes an all-school evacuation,
safety members congregating in teams and emergency procedures
followed. Students will remain in line, on the playground, while
team members complete their assigned roles. Thank you for your
support of this important emergency drill. Wildwood staff is
prepared to keep your children safe in the event of an
emergency!
We have begun an exciting simulation Social Studies unit in which
the children are having a road race from San Diego,
California to Bangor, Maine. Along the way the students
are studying important historical landmarks, national parks, and
monuments. Each child is researching one place, writing a
paper, and then giving a speech to the class about their
site. A letter was sent home with the students last Monday,
so I hope you had a chance to read it and discuss the project with
your child. We will do all the writing at school, but
preparation for the speech will be a homework project towards the
end of November. I'll keep you posted as we progress through
the unit.
Thanks to all the parents who helped with building our ecosystems,
assisting with the distribution of fish, snails, crickets, and
isopods! We're wrapping up the unit and hopefully sending the
ecosystems home within the next 2 weeks. Talk with your child
about whether you will allow either the terrarium or the aquarium,
or perhaps both, to come home!
If you are interested in attending a parent brunch on Nov. 17th
from 9:30 - 11, please let me know. The district is hosting
this event to inform parents about district activities and goals,
student achievement, and the upcoming levy election. The
program will feature remarks by our Superintendent and have time
for discussion with Mr. Malone.
Winter Outreach forms went home with the Wildwood newsletter
recently. I'll also attach one to the Documents page so you
can print one yourself and then just send it back to school.
Please fill the form out if you need some support this holiday
season during these difficult economic times.
Picture retakes are Friday, Nov. 13th.
Congratulations to Zachary Grenon and Jared Jones for receiving the
October PAWS (Positive Attitude for Wildwood Students) Award for
Responsibility.
September 11, 2009
We've been hard at work learning the routines, procedures and
expectations for fifth grade the past two weeks. In addition
we have completed our first writing project and an artistic
rendition of ourselves to adorn our hallway for the Art Show/Ice
Cream Social on Tuesday, Sept. 15th. It's my 30th
Anniversary, but I'll be at the Art Show, so I hope you can come,
too!
We have been learning about the continents and oceans in Social
Studies and reviewing basic math computation and number
sense. We are ready to begin a unit on Cooperation and
Competition in our reading book, which was kicked off on Friday by
having teams compete to build the tallest free standing structure
(you can see photos on the website). This was an activity
reinforcing cooperative teamwork. The first story in the unit
is about electing a class president, so along with that we
will be electing our student council representatives next
week. Students may campaign by putting up posters and giving
speeches. They must have a signed parent permission slip
to be on the ballot.
We're off to a terrific start! Just for parent information,
the kites are due on Tuesday and remember that your child should be
reading at least 30 minutes 5 times a week and earning 4
Accelerated Reader points each month. Ask your child how he
or she is doing on both of those!
Ice Cream Social and Hallway Art Show
Tuesday, Sept. 15
6:00 - 7:30
Our class will be open for parents to visit and see some of the
work your child has produced in the first 2 weeks of school.
I hope to see you then!
August 2009
Welcome to room 17, Mrs. Wolcott's
fifth grade class!
You are cordially invited to attend Wildwood's Open House on Sept.
1st from 4:00 - 6:00. I am looking forward to meeting
you. You may bring your supplies to Open House and put them
in your desk that day or bring supplies the first day of
school.
Please save!
We need to collect clear 2 liter soda bottles
for our first science unit. Please just rinse the bottles out
with water, but don't use any soap. These bottles will be
used to build our aquarium/terrarium systems, and any soap residue
will kill the fish.
Also collecting . . .
If you have any left-over yarn, I'd be glad to take it off your
hands for art projects.
Meet
Mrs. Wolcott
I've been teaching at Wildwood for fifteen years and prior to that
I taught in Jakarta, Indonesia and Bethel School District. My
husband is a PE teacher in Tacoma and I have two grown children and
3 cats. My hobbies include reading (and being in a book
club), exercising, singing in a choir, and traveling.
October 19, 2009
I could use a parent or two on Thursday morning to help students
set up aquariums and also Thursday afternoon when we add animals to
the aquariums. The morning time will be from 10:25 to about
11:15 and the afternoon from 1:15 to approximately 2:15. Send
me an email or put a note on the Weekly Review Envelope if you'd
like to help. Thanks!
Conferences begin this week and I am looking forward to speaking
with all of you regarding your child's progress. Students are
highly encouraged to attend the conference. Conferences are
scheduled every 20 minutes, so please be on time (or even early) so
we have the full 20 minutes for your child. I'll have your
child's work portfolio in the hall for you to look over before the
conference begins if you arrive early.
We planted seeds in our terrariums last week and this week we will
build our aquariums and add fish and snails. We'll be talking
about seed germination, too, so feel free to send any seeds to
school that we can observe.
If you have not yet written a biography for your child to be our
Very Important Person, I encourage you to do that.
Information about the biography was sent home in the parent letter
at the beginning of the year and is also posted on the Document
page of the website under Very Important Person.
P.T.A. is sponsoring the Book Fair this week.
October 12, 2009
I am not sending home Weekly Work Report Envelopes this
week because last week was such a short week.
Conference invitations will be sent home on Monday, though, so
please ask your child for the paper and return it to school as soon
as possible. Our first conference day is Wednesday, October
21st.
We have finished our geography maps of the United States and they
will be coming home Monday or Tuesday. The students will be
having a test over the landforms at the end of the week, so you can
help quiz him/her over where the mountain ranges, lakes,
basins, plains, and oceans are located. It would be best to
study from the textbook in case there are any inaccuracies on the
map your child created.
Tuesday we will be planting our terrariums for our ecosystems
science unit, which is an exciting unit for the students.
We'll be studying seed germination (you may send any seeds to
school), how seeds spread, learning about ecosystems, habitats,
essential components of a habitat, and how humans and nature impact
ecosystems.
October 5, 2009
Conference Preference forms are coming home Monday, October 5th in
the Weekly Review Envelopes and need to be returned by Wednesday if
you have a preference. Conference invitations will come home
the following Monday, October 12th. I'm looking forward to
meeting with you to discuss your child's progress.
In order to conserve paper, I am planning to use my SWIFT site as
my primary method of communication. After this week, I will
only be sending letters home to parents who do not have internet
access. I will send you an email when I update my SWIFT
site, and hopefully you will be kept well informed
by the SWIFT site and the Weekly Review Envelopes.
We're working hard on double digit multiplication and number
sense and will begin our division unit this week.
Enclosed in the work envelope Monday is your child's Title I test
result for number sense. We've also been creating our relief
maps of the United States and next week will plant our
terrariums as part of our Ecosystem science kit. Thanks to
all the parents who are helping with both these projects.
TEACHER BUS PARADE is
Wednesday, October 7th. Teachers and staff will be coming to
a bus stop near you, handing out information, and also giving away
items for students. I hope to see you then!
I am sending home another popcorn prepay form. This year I
would like students to prepay if they want to purchase
popcorn. We have instrumental music on Fridays, and with 14
students coming in late, it is just too time consuming and
disruptive to collect the popcorn money at school this year.
Please take advantage of the form and prepay in order for us to
make the best use of our educational time.
International Walk to School Day is Tuesday, October 6th.
Meet at the baseball fields at 8:00 to walk to
school.
Reminder: No school for students on Thursday or Friday, Oct.
8 & 9.
Specialist Schedule for Room 17
Mon. - Library & Music
Tues. - PE
Thurs. - Music
Fri. - PE
Lunch 10:50 Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri.
Lunch 11:15 Wed.
Recess 11:45 - 12:15
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