Our honor day was a lot of fun. The Chinese acrobats were amazing.

This week:

Monday is 1/2 day. School will dismiss at 12:00

We will start learning about magnets in science.

Book orders are due on Friday Nov. 11th. If you want to order on-line here is the information.

Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubsClass Activation Code: GYPGG

Happy Halloween!

This past week we learned different ways we can show division. The students did very well and are understanding division a lot better. These strategies will also help your child be able to divide with two digit divisors.

Next week:

Monday-Halloween There will be a school halloween parade at 8:15 a.m. After that we will be presenting our Halloween poems to the fifth grade. Your child may come in their costume in the morning, but we ask it it's a full Halloween costume- they change back into their clothes at noon.

Thursday-Science and Spelling tests

Friday-Honor Day We will be taking those students who have turned in all their assignments to see the Chinese acrobats at the Ellen Eccles Center.

THANKS FOR COMING TO CONFERENCES!!

Parents,
I enjoyed getting to know you at conferences. Your help and support is so important in your child's education. Here are some of the main goals that were set.

1. Organize binder and desk.
2. Read 30 minutes every night.
3. Fill out homework log every day and have a parent sign.
4. Improve comprehension strategies by using strategies on the back of homework log or other strategies we have learned in class.

Also, I told the students they will get a treat if they play some of the math games on the blog by Monday. There is the Ia.usu on the Math Tab and some to the right of this home page. (If they have ***** that means a student has recommended the game.) Which game is your favorite?Let me know on Monday.

P.S. I've been playing with the games on this page and have made a few comments by them. They are a lot of fun!! I had to download Timez Attack on my computer. WOW! It is amazing! I hope we can get it in the computer lab.

Thanks again,
Mrs. Farmer

OUR VOLCANO PICTURES

SEP CONFERENCES

This week we had our first honor day for those students who had zero missing assignments!! We had a kickball game and it was a lot of fun!

FYI:

Volcano (extra credit) is due on Monday.

Nova rockets are due on Tuesday.

Please continue to encourage your child to do his/her homework every night.

Reading pages for September are due!! (300 pages)

Please sign up for parent teacher conferences. Just go to the Bridger Blog (Tab Link on my blog) and find the On Line Conference Scheduler tab-right side.

Thanks,

Mrs. Farmer

It's been a GREAT start!!

I have enjoyed getting to know your child this year. Friday we buried the word can't and finished reading a book about bullying. This week we will talk about being positive and kind to others. We will read the book Have you Filled a Bucket Today?

Please continue to help your child be successful in 5th grade by:

-It is very important that your child reads 30 min. every night to improve comprehension and fluency.

-Check your child's assignments and review homework to see if it is correct.

-Sign homework logs every night.

-Help your child pass of math facts in 5 minutes. (add, subtract, mulyiply, divide)

-Look for progress report slips every Friday.

-Book orders are due on September 13th.

Thanks,

Mrs. Farmer

Supplies

I have had questions about what supplies to bring? The following items would be helpful but are certainly optional:


Three ring binder- (1 1/2 inch-2 inch size) I will supply pocket folders to help organize the different subjects.

1-2 boxes of tissues- Our class usually goes through a lot of tissues throughout the year.

*highlighter
*red pen
*Pencils
*markers
*crayons
*glue stick
* I will have all of these available to use. These are items that you could buy if your child wants his/her own to use.

Getting Ready for School!!

I'm so excited to get back to school. I have had a great summer in Idaho biking, hiking, reading, and relaxing; however, I am lost without my daily interaction with my students!! I hope you are all eager to learn and become great 5th graders!!

The class lists are on the front window of the school. The first day of school is August 24th and back to school night will be on the 23rd at 6:30.

I can't wait to meet or say hi to all of you at back to school night!!

Ramsey & Champ

Island Park, Idaho

I just spent a week at a Singapore Math Conference.

This past week I was in Las Vegas at a Singapore Math Conference. I learned and reviewed strategies to help students understand and use different ways to problem solve. There's a lot of ways to make numbers easier to work with.

What is Singapore Math? by Anni Stipek, Singapore Math trainer

You may be wondering what Singapore Math is all about, and with good reason.

What you may not know is that Singapore has led the world in math mastery for

over a decade; its students become competent and proficient mathematicians at very

early ages. Even better, they grow to be capable problem solvers who think mathematically with ease. Wouldn’t it be nice if your child could enjoy the same success with math?

First, you need to know that Singapore Math takes a slightly different mathematical

approach than what you may be used to. It revolves around several key number‐

sense strategies: (1) building number sense through part‐whole thinking, (2)

understanding place value, and (3) breaking numbers into decomposed parts or

friendlier numbers, ones that are easier to work with in the four operations

(addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).

Second, Singapore Math does something dramatically different when it comes to

word problems. It relies on model drawing, which uses units to visually represent a

word problem. Students learn to visualize what a word problem is saying so they

can understand the meaning and thus how to solve the problem.

Third, we have mental math, which teaches students to calculate in their heads

without using paper and pencil. Sure, your child will still need to commit facts

to memory, but mental math will teach him or her to do calculations using proven

strategies that don’t require pencil and paper.

Fourth, the strategies taught in Singapore are layered upon one another. One

strategy is the foundation for another one. For example, students need prior

knowledge of bonding in order to be successful at strategies they will learn later on

(like vertical addition).

Last, Singapore Math teaches students to understand math in stages,

beginning with concrete (using manipulatives such as counters, number disks, dice, and

so on), then moving to pictorial (solving problems where pictures are involved), and finally

working in the abstract (where numbers represent symbolic values). Through the

process, students learn numerous strategies to work with numbers and build

conceptual understanding.

Goodbye 5th Graders-Welcome New 5th Graders!!

I wish all my 5th grade students a great summer and a great year in 6th grade!! I will miss you!

New 5th Grade Students-I am excited to get to know you all! I'm not sure when the class lists will be out?

I will be taking classes and planning in the month of June. I will be

learning and planning for the New Common Core in Math and Language Arts.

Please remember to read this summer to avoid the Summer Slide.

What is the summer slide? Summer slide refers to the loss of reading skills that results when students slip out of the practice of reading over the summer (see "Three Ways to Prevent Summer Slide"). It is suggested that students who read at least six books will not regress over summer vacation. So, how do we prevent the summer slide? We engage them in summer reading programs.

If you need to e-mail me, please contact me at:

jan.farmer@loganschools.org OR....

jlovetoteach@gmail.com