Thank you so much to everyone who helped make our 5th Annual 5th Grade Blood Drive possible!

Our students learned so much about the value of community and selflessness. I appreciate everyone who helped make this year's Blood Drive service project possible - I certainly could not have done it all by myself!

Of our 67 appointment times, we were able to fill 62. We had 50 donors come in to donate during our blood drive, and we were able to collect 42 units of lifesaving blood.

The blood our school helped collect for patients is a priceless gift. Science cannot duplicate it and people cannot live without it. What a wonderful way to show our students that they can make a difference and help save lives!

Can you believe we only have a few more weeks of school before summer break?

This year has gone by so quickly, and we have learned so much, but we still have a bit more to cover before the end of the year.

Here is what we will be up to in these last weeks of 5th grade:

ENGLISH:

This unit - Sentences - has been mostly review as we start putting together all of the knowledge we have learned this year about the individual parts of speech. I am planning a test over this unit to be sometime during the week of May 15th - 18th. More info (and a study guide) to come on that in May.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

One of my favorite units to teach is the Revolutionary War unit. The class has really gotten excited about the beginnings of our country. We have used the book, videos, paintings, and quite a bit of story telling to cover all of this information. The end of April and first weeks of May will wind this unit down. There will be a test over this unit, but a study guide will come home at least one week in advance. There will NOT BE a test over all the information learned this year.

READING:

Our last unit of the year is reading the novel "Cheaper By the Dozen." This book is written at a higher level than many of the other novels we read in 5th grade so the majority of this book will be read in class together. This book emphasizes family values, strengthens vocabulary, introduces historical aspects, and shows the importance of approaching life with a sense of humor. Don't forget that 8 Quarter 4 AR points will be due by May 18th.

WRITING:

We will wrap up the poetry unit the first week of May. After that our focus will be on the components of a 5 paragraph essay. There will be one more paper due before the end of the year.

“Raising Pure Families"
Magdalen Catholic Church Presents International Catholic Speaker Jason Evert.  Join national speaker Jason Evert as he speaks from the heart, giving witness to why our present relationships shape our future life. The parent talk will be at Kapaun Mt. Carmel in the auditorium on Sunday, February 10, at 7:00pm. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity for parents of children of all ages.

Grade with the highest percentage of parents in attendance will enjoy:

1^st – Jean Day & Sundae Treat

2^nd – Jean Day

Childcare provided by reservation only. Space is limited. Contact KMC at 634-0315

Happy New Year everyone!

We have already had a great 2 day return to 5th grade! Here is a quick idea of what we will be doing this month:

ENGLISH:

We began our unit on Verbs before the break, and we will continue this unit for the next couple of weeks. As always, there will be a study guide that ahs similar examples and sentences to those that are found on the test. Please watch the agenda for updates on when this test will be taken.

READING:

As we prepare for State Reading Assessments (in February), we will be using the text book stories for much of 3rd quarter. There will also be a weekly review of example State Assessment questions to help the students feel comfortable and prepared for the exam.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

We have begun learning about the 13 Original Colonies. For this unit, we will be using the text book. There will be weekly map quizzes over the colonies - the students were given a copy of the map to study from on January 4th.

WRITING:

Our focus continues to be on Narrative Writing as we prepare for the State Writing Assessment. Please make sure you are taking the time to go over the assigned writing projects with your student.

ENGLISH:

We will be starting our unit on Verbs. Expect Homework Monday - Thursday.

READING:

We will again be using the text book this month as we begin prepping for state assessments. There will be several assignments, a short quiz, and a story test weekly. As always, watch the agenda for more detailed information.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

We will be finishing the unit on Early English Settlements before Christmas Break. The notes that we go over in class have been given to the class in their entirety. The study guide for the test will come home the first week of December and the test will be Friday December 14th.

WRITING:

The Newspaper project directly ties to what we are studying in Social Studies. The rubric gives the dates for the rough drafts of the articles along with the rest of the information the students will need to successfully complete the project. The project is due Monday December 17th, but can be turned in Friday December 14th (or sooner) for 5 extra credit points.

Hello everyone!

I can hardly believe it is November already! The time is passing quickly, and we are busy learning about lots of things.

Don't forget the book order is due by Friday November 16th - if you order online you earn a free book for yourself and for our classroom! You can find the information on the previous entry on this page.

Thank you to all of you who came to conferences - it is always nice to have the time to focus on the individual gifts of your children. Miss Halstead and I are very grateful for your time and we very much enjoyed meeting with everyone during conferences.

Below is a brief overview of what to expect this month; as always please watch the agenda for more details.

Thanks!

Mrs. Holding

ENGLISH:

We are continuing to study Adjectives. The test will be the week after Thanksgiving break, most likely on Thursday or Friday November 29th or 30th. There will be a study guide that we will go over in class in the days leading up to the test.

READING:

Currently 5A is reading 'Loser' by Jerry Spinelli. We will finish this book Friday November 16th. The test will be another book review essay (similar to the Shiloh Test). I encourage the students to take the AR test for this book as it will count towards their goal of 8 points for 2nd Quarter. 2nd Quarter AR points will be due no later than December 20th.

Following Thanksgiving break, we will return to the Reading text book as we begin preparing for State Assessments in the Spring.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

We are quickly finishing our unit on the Explorers. There will be a test Friday November 16th. Similar to the last test, the study guide will be completed in class on Monday and the students will have the whole week to review. The information on the test comes straight from the study guide, which come straight from the notes. It is very important for your child to be caught up on their notes - if any days have been missed, please see me or another student to get your notes completed.

WRITING

We have been focusing on Narrative writing in preparation for the Kansas State Writing Assessment, which will be sometime early next year (2013) - more information will come as the testing window is defined. I have been asking the students to write rough drafts using prompts that are very similar to the ones they will be given on the State Writing Assessment. Beginning the second week of November, the students will use their edited rough drafts to type their papers in the same program they will use on the State Writing Assessment. Thank you to all of you who have sat down with your children to go over their papers with them! This has been invaluable to their writing!

Please place all book orders by Friday November 16th.

scholastic.com/bookclubs

online order code: GTBTH

Parents,

We have been blessed to have the upcoming company of Mr. Jim Williams famed author of “Parenting On Point” here at Magdalen!

Jim, national speaker and motivator, will be speaking with our 3-8th grade students in October, as well as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends of faith and really anyone who will no question benefit from Jim’s talk entitled “Nurturing Children Through Adolescence and Beyond” on Wednesday evening, October 24 at 6:30 PM in our Parish Hall.

For more about Jim, please visit http://www.callmejim.org.

We really want to fill the parish hall for this presentation.

The top two grades with the highest percentage of parents attending will  receive the following:

1^st place: Jeans day with college shirt, MCS sprit shirt, or uniform shirt

2^nd place: Jeans day with MCS spirit shirt or uniform shirt

Welcome to October!

I can't believe 1st Quarter is almost over - the weeks have flown by and I am so excited about all the things we are going to be doing this month!

ENGLISH:

We started our Pronouns Unit last week and we will continue with this unit for the next couple of weeks. Just like with the Nouns test last week, there will be a study guide that we will complete in class together several days before the test. Please watch the agenda for any additional information.

READING:

All 8 of the Quarter 1 AR points are due next week - Thursday October 11th. I wrote in the students' agendas a couple of weeks ago how many points they needed to reach the goal of 8. Remember you can check your child's AR points online now.

For the next two weeks, we will continue using the textbook and weekly story tests. Beginning Monday October 15th, we will start the first of two novels that the class will be reading during 2nd Quarter. The majority of the reading will be done in class, with occasional homework. Both books have AR tests, which the students can take and these points WILL count towards their 8 point Quarter 2 AR goal.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

5th grade social studies class is quickly becoming a favorite with everyone - teacher included! We are learning lots of fun things about the early history of North America. Our Maya-Inca-Aztec unit concludes with a test on Wednesday October 10th. The students already have their study guide, which we are completing together in class, bit by bit, each week. I HIGHLY recommend that they start studying what we have completed NOW. We will complete the study guide the first week of October, and the test will be the following week. There will NOT be a project with this Unit.

Our next Unit will be about the Explorers! Lots of fun information and stories to share with this new unit - it will really benefit the students to be in class during Social Studies, since the majority of these classes will incorporate discussions, videos, and multimedia - while they can still get the notes if they are absent, it is most beneficial to their learning to be present in class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (from 1:20 - 2:00).

FIELD TRIP!

Don't forget - our Fun Filled Fifth grade Firefighting Festivities (YAHTZEE!) at the Sedgwick County Zoo on Tuesday October 9th. Thank you to all of you who have volunteered to drive. This isn't just a day at the zoo - the Wichita Fire Department has organized a great day with lots of exhibits and presentations for the 5th graders of Wichita about fire safety!

We have had a wonderful start to our school year! Here is a look at what is coming up in the month of September:

Reading:

We will continue using the book during Reading class. Expect story tests to continue to be on Thursday - these will need to be signed and returned the next day for 5 points.

English:

Our Nouns unit continues. While the information has been new, the students have risen to the challenge wonderfully! I appreciate their hard work and dedication. A study guide will come home about a week prior to the Nouns test. The study guide will be very similar to the test, so if you do not understand anything on the study guide, please see me with your questions.

Social Studies:

For the next month or so, we will be using lots of other information to learn about the Maya, Inca, and Aztec people of Central and South America. It is very important that students are in class to learn this information, so if you know your student is going to be absent please have them get with me or another student to get caught up on what was covered.