We are almost at the end!  It is hard to believe that another school year will come to a close in 3 weeks.  We still have work to do but we also have some fun planned.  The students have their final SOL on Monday.  They will be taking math first thing Monday morning.  Please remember that they need a good breakfast and a good night's sleep on Sunday.

We also have our field trip and our picnic next week.  If you would like to volunteer for the picnic, please email me at gieslekm@pwcs.edu.  Our class is in charge of bringing desserts and we need coolers and ice for drinks.  Also, feel free to join in the fun for the games as well as lunch.  We need help with both.

We have begun reading our research projects in class.  The students are very eager to share them as well as hear them.  The grades for the projects are posted in Edulink.  Each student received 4 grades for this project (content, style, structure and presentation).  The final projects are FANTASTIC!  I am "blown away" with the papers.  I knew they had it in them and they have shown me they can shine.

We are wrapping up in Social Studies.  The students will take a final end-of-year test on Wednesday, June 9th.  I am giving the students a list of what areas to focus on for the test.  We will also be doing some review in class.

We hope to see you at the picnic next week,

Mrs. Giesler

Our first SOL is scheduled for Friday, May 21st.  The students will be taking the Reading SOL in the morning.  I expect that all our students will do well.  We have been working on some specific areas such as making inferences about our reading.  Have your child explain the difference between a fact and an inference.

Coincidentally the research paper is also due on Friday, May 21st.  After reading everyone's rough draft, I am very excited.  I told the students that I was very impressed with their work.  The time and effort put into the research paper has paid off. 

I have not put many restrictions on the final paper, however there are a few:

1.  No colored typing - the front cover may be in color and there may be photos.  There should not be photos anywhere else in the paper and the typing should be black.
2.  I have not specified a font or font size.  The students and I have talked about what is too big and what is too small. 
3.  It must include a cover page and the bibliography must be typed as well and serve as the last page.

I am sending a grading rubric home by Friday.  The paper counts as four grades.  They will be as follows: (detail are on the rubric being sent home).

1.  Content (focused on topic, intro and conclusion, uses all 3 sources)
2.  Style - written expression (good vocabulary, variety of sentence structure)
3.  Presentation (typed, neat, bibliography is the correct format)
4.  Structure (grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Giesler

Parents and students,

Our next step in the research project is due Monday, May 3rd.  The students have been informed that they should finish up collecting information and have their notes in class on the 3rd.  We will work on organizing our notes and thoughts in order to begin writing the rough draft.  We are focusing this week on summarizing our reading in order to help them rewrite from their notes for this next step.

I will be grading this step of the process.  In their notes I am looking for the notes, the sources and if they answered the 3 questions they started out with.  In other words, are the notes focused on the questions.  I am looking for effort and participation. 

The final project is due Friday, May 21st, which gives us one week for the rough draft, one week for revisions and edits and one week to type the final copy and bibliography.  I am going to ask to see a rough draft of the bibliography prior to them typing it up.  We have talked about this step in class and have posters of the MLA format for a bibliography.

I hope we can maintain excitment about this project throughout the next couple of weeks!

We have our SOL schedule for the 5th grade.  Please remember that students have all day to complete an SOL if necessary.  Therefore, we request that you do not make any doctor, dental, orthodontist, etc. appointments for the SOL days.

Friday, May 21st - Giesler and Dyas take the Reading SOL
Tuesday, May 25th - Giesler and Dyas take the Science SOL
Monday, June 7th - Giesler and Dyas take the Math SOL

The students have begun to prepare for these tests by completing the SOL homework each night.  It is important that each child spend 30 minutes on the indicated subject each night.  If they complete the assigned work in less than 30 minutes, they should study the subject for the remainder of the time.

Mrs. Giesler

Good afternoon students and parents,

We begin our final quarter on Tuesday, April 20th.  (Remember - there is no school for students on Monday).  It is important that the children stay focused and continue to work hard throughout the final quarter.  We will begin our preparations for SOLs next week.  The students have been asked to bring an extra binder to school on Tuesday (they can reuse the binder from science fair).  We will use this binder for our SOL nightly homework.  We will rotate math, science and reading but we will expect the students to work for 30 minutes each night.

We worked on our research projects this week.  The students have learned what a bibliography is and what it should look like.  They have also learned about plagiarism.  We talked about what it is, how it can happen by accident and how to avoid plagarizing in their own work.  We also spent time in the computer lab today learning how to design a search string and started looking for information on our topics.  At this stage, the students should be gathering information.  They need to collect facts/information from their three different resources.  They are not limited to three resources, but rather that is the minimum.  The research project due date will be May 21st.  As we approach that deadline, I will send home information about what the final product will look like and the grading rubrics.

In social studies, we will wrap up our West unit by the end of next week or early the following week.  We are then off to Canada.  We are finishing what will probably be our last big social studies project.  They will still have some independent work in social studies but we will begin to focus more on reading comprehension and reading skills in preparation for our reading SOL in May.

Enjoy a great weekend and I will see everyone on Tuesday!

Mrs. Giesler

Good afternoon students and parents,

We began our research projects today!  We used our new notebooks and began a small chart on what we know about our topic and what we want to know.  Over the weekend, your child must come up with 3-5 questions that they want answered through his/her research.  These questions will drive the entire project.  I have told the students the questions need to be yellow or red questions.  No green questions!  As your child what this means.  If they forget, I will have a copy of the terms in the Class Files section, Language Arts.  (No later than Saturday AM).  They seem excited now that we have started.  Next week, everyone will need to have the book that goes with the research in class.  We are going to talk about bibliographies and plagiarism and I want each student to use his/her own materials for the exercises.  In addition to the book, each student needs at least one specific website that he/she thinks will contain information on the chosen topic.  Again, we will work more with that in class.  I have asked the students not to do a lot of Internet research over the weekend.  I have set aside time next week to spend in the computer lab.  We will learn how to create a good search string and spend time Internet searching.

In Social Studies, we continue to work on the West region.  The students are working on their Passports for this region and some of the work may be done at home.  They need to do the readings and assessment quizzes in class, but the mini-project can be done at home.  The entire project is due 4/23/10.

Although, the weather is nice and many spring sports have begun, it is important that your child reads everyday!  We are working in class to prepare for the Reading SOL but it is imperative that every students reads, reads, and then reads some more.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Giesler

Hello everyone!

I hope you are ready for spring break.  I know I am!  Have safe trips and enjoy the time off.  I just want to remind everyone of a couple of things.

1.  READ over break.  Students are responsible for 2 reading logs upon return to school. 
2.  Think about your research project.  If you cannot find the letter that I sent home on Friday, please look under Language Arts in Class Files.  I will post a copy.
3.  Have fun!

Mrs. Giesler

Good afternoon all,

Has spring come upon us?  Recess today was perfect and the students worked hard for it.  We worked on another writing prompt today.  The students wrote the entire time they were in my room and will finish up tomorrow.  We will work very hard this week to prepare for next week's writing SOL. 

For the SOL next week, the students need several regular #2 pencils (no mechanical pencils allowed) for both the multiple choice part being given on Monday and the writing prompt on Wednesday.  Also, they are allowed to use a dictionary for the writing prompt on Wednesday.  I do not have enough dictionaries in class for each student so it is important that if they have a pocket dictionary at home, the students bring them to school for next Wednesday.  As always, they need a good breakfast on Monday and Wednesday of next week.  On Wednesday, they will not be allowed to eat a snack during the test.  Students should also have a book so that if they finish before other students, they can read. 

We are working on a reader's theater in social studies.  Ask your child about Jim Thorpe.  He was from the southwest part of the United States as well as an Olympic athlete.  The student's are enjoying reading in front of the class.  We will wrap up our southwest unit by March 19th and head off to the Pacific Coast with our last United States region.

Have a great week and enjoy the great weather,

Mrs. Giesler

Is spring on the way?  No more snow days?  Let us hope...

Hello students and parents,

Originally, our writing SOL was to be given on March 2 and March 3.  Since we had so many days off school, the SOLs have been pushed back.  The multiple choice part of the SOL will be administered on Monday, March 15th.  The writing prompt will be given on Wednesday, March 17th.  It is imperative that your child attend school on these days.  Please try not to schedule any doctor/dentist appointments for this week.  In class I will continue to have them write and correct their writing.  I have conferenced with each child about their writing and will continue to work with them individually as needed.  All the students are working very hard, incorporating my suggestions into their writing, and working on needed skills.

Our new social studies unit, the Southwest, has been going well.  The students continue to work hard on their projects and I look forward to an exciting unit.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Giesler

 Hello students and parents,

I see that Mrs. Dyas has added some assignments for math and science.  In light of that, I will only ask that you finish the writing prompt that I posted earlier in the week.  The prompt was to tell me about how you have spent all these snow days.  I would like the finished paper on Tuesday when we return.  Remember, you had a prompt due last Friday (2/5) on an object you would bury to be seen 100 years from now.  Therefore, on Tuesday, you should hand me 2 complete writings.  

If you have a copy of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, feel free to keep reading.  If you do, complete the study questions for each chapter that you have read.  We will catch up on the other packet upon our return.

In social studies, we will begin the Southwest after the unit test on the Midwest..  If you can, look up the Southwest and familarize yourself with the 4 states (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma).  Find the capitals and think about how this region is similar or different to the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest.  You can write down the similarities and/or differences (2 for each region) and transfer the information to your new packet next week.

Have fun and stay warm.

Mrs. Giesler
gieslekm@pwcs.edu

 Dear students and parents,

I hope that you are all enjoying some extra days off school!  As much fun as they are, we have work that needs to be done and the writing SOL is fast approaching.  We do not have an exact date but the SOL will be the first week in March! Since we do not know when we will be retuning, I would like to ask the students to work on a few items.

1.  If you have a copy of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, please read chapter 4 and complete the study questions for chapter 4.  IT IS A MUST THAT YOU BRING THE BOOK TO SCHOOL ON THE DAY WE RETURN!  Other students will need to finish reading chapters 1-3.

2.  If you do NOT have a copy of the book, please do not worry.  Upon our return, you will be given the book for a couple of days to complete the original assignment (chapters 1-3).  

3.  The social studies unit test on the Midwest will be given on the 2nd day of our return.  We will go over the study guide our first day back and have the test the following day.  Please study on your days off.  Wouldn't it be great if we had all students earn an A?

4.  Since the writing SOL is approaching, I want you to keep writing.  Please tell me about what you did over the snow days.  Did you play outside?  Did you get out skiing?  How was the sledding?  Was the hot chocolate the kind with marshmallows?  

5.  Have fun!

Mrs. Giesler