Weekly Update 5/8/2017

Updates/Reminders - Mark Your Calendars!! 

• Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  SSA is an accelerative practice that allows students to show mastery of the content of a course without having taken the course.  If you want to learn more about SSA, there are a number of upcoming Parent Information Sessions that you can attend.  You can view the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2m0U7pC or by visiting the WCPSS Accelerative Practices website at http://wakeacceleration.weebly.com/.                                            *The Nomination Window for Track Four is May 5th to May 18th  (All forms MUST be received by the end of the school day on May 18th.  Late nomination forms will not be accepted.)
  *Morrisville's Anticipated Testing Dates: Wednesday, May 31st or Thursday, June 1st
• Mark your calendars for Morrisville's Got Talent!  Tracks 3 & 4 will perform on Friday, May 12th at 6:30PM.  Online registration will be open until April 28th.  Please check the MES website for more information. 
• Track Four Field Day is Friday, May 19th.  More information will follow closer to the date. 
• It is time to CELEBRATE!!!!   Morrisville Elementary School is celebrating it's 25th Year as well as our newest National Blue Ribbon Award distinction.  On Monday, May 22nd at 10 AM all students, staff, and parents are going to physically encircle the school building with a blue ribbon in honor of our continued success. BE SURE TO COME DRESSED in royal blue in honor of our award!  We would love to have as many parents as possible join us.  
• Reading EOGs are scheduled for Wednesday, June 21st and the Math EOGs are scheduled for Thursday, June 22nd.  If you know that your child will be absent for this assessment, please let me know as soon as possible, so a make-up day can be planned. 
• Meet the Teacher for the 2017-2018 school year will be on Tuesday, June 27th from 5:30-6:15PM.  

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

This week the students will continue to study the genre of informational texts.  The students will learn to apply the following strategies when reading informational texts:     

         •Readers identify the text structure to help them determine the main idea, or the “so what?”

         •Readers think about the author’s purpose or intent for writing the text.

•Readers pay close attention to the type of question it is and indentify the question type before answering: Main Idea, Inference, Right There, Vocabulary, or Author’s Purpose

         •Readers use the strategies “read around the word” and “fill in the blank” to gain information about the meaning of an unknown word.

Next Wednesday, the students will take a common assessment on the genre of informational texts.  The students will be expected to create a roadmap of their thinking and answer multiple choice style questions.  Students will also continue to have two reading passages to complete for homework each week that coincides with the genre we are currently focusing on.  Students are required to roadmap their thinking by showing their thought process as they are reading, as well as applying the strategies they have learned thus far.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What are the characteristics of the nonfiction genre?

*What reading strategies do good readers use when reading nonfiction texts?

*What should you do when you come across an unfamiliar word when reading?

*Show me how to “map out your thinking” when reading nonfiction texts. 

Writing: 

This week in writing, the students will continue to work on drafting their persuasive writing.  They will work on writing three strong body paragraphs, and a complete conclusion this week.  As they draft their writing, below are some important guidelines to remember:

•The body paragraphs should include three reasons, each supported by three facts and/or details.

•The ideas should be linked with several  transition words or phrases, and  use a variety of transition words and phrases.

•Their writing should be wrapped up with concluding sentences in each  paragraph , and a concluding paragraph which clearly  restates their opinion and the reasons their opinion.

Near the end of the week, many of them will work on revising and editing their own writing independently and with a peer.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Who is your intended audience?

*What ideas do you have that support your topic?

*What techniques did you use to conclude your persuasive writing? 

Math: 

In math this week, the students will be learning all about the metric system.  They will be investigating meters, liters, and grams.  They will learn about all of the metric system prefixes (kilo, hecto, deca, deci, centi, and mili), the value that they hold, and how to apply it to the different forms of metric measurement. The students will practice converting metric numbers (2,000 meters = 2 kilometers) and solving word problems involving metric measurements.  The students will take on assessment on these concepts next Tuesday.  Below are some helpful instructional videos that your child can watch at home:

•http://learnzillion.com/lessons/2631-compare-and-convert-metric-units-of-weight

•http://learnzillion.com/student/lessons/2571

•http://learnzillion.com/student/lessons/2498

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What types of things would you measure in meters? Grams? Liters?

*1,000mg = ____g?

*250m = _____km?

*12L = _____mL?

Social Studies: 

This week in social studies the students will be starting a research project where they will be working in small groups to investigate how a geographic area in North Carolina has changed over time and whether people have had had a positive and negative impact on it.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*How has people impacted NC’s natural resources?

*How have people adapted to the changes in NC’s environment?

Weekly Update 5/1/2017

Updates/Reminders - Mark Your Calendars!! 

• Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  SSA is an accelerative practice that allows students to show mastery of the content of a course without having taken the course.  If you want to learn more about SSA, there are a number of upcoming Parent Information Sessions that you can attend.  You can view the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2m0U7pC or by visiting the WCPSS Accelerative Practices website at http://wakeacceleration.weebly.com/.                                            *The Nomination Window for Track Four is May 5th to May 18th  (All forms MUST be received by the end of the school day on May 18th.  Late nomination forms will not be accepted.)
  *Morrisville's Anticipated Testing Dates:  Wednesday, May 31st or Thursday, June 1st
• Morrisville 5K Stampede will be on Sunday May 7th from 2:00-5:00PM at Morrisville Elementary.  To register, please visit this website: https://morrisvillepta.org/5k-stampede/.
• Mark your calendars for Morrisville's Got Talent!  Tracks 3 & 4 will perform on Friday, May 12th at 6:30PM.  Online registration will be open until April 28th.  Please check the MES website for more information. 
• Track Four Field Day is Friday, May 19th.  More information will follow closer to the date. 
• It is time to CELEBRATE!!!!   Morrisville Elementary School is celebrating it's 25th Year as well as our newest National Blue Ribbon Award distinction.  On Monday, May 22nd at 10 AM all students, staff, and parents are going to physically encircle the school building with a blue ribbon in honor of our continued success. BE SURE TO COME DRESSED in royal blue in honor of our award!  We would love to have as many parents as possible join us.  
• Reading EOGs are scheduled for Wednesday, June 21st and the Math EOGs are scheduled for Thursday, June 22nd.  If you know that your child will be absent for this assessment, please let me know as soon as possible, so a make-up day can be planned. 
• Meet the Teacher for the 2017-2018 school year will be on Tuesday, June 27th from 5:30-6:15PM.  

What We Are Learning This Week and NEXT:
Reading: 

This week the students will continue to work on finding textual evidence in a variety of different genres.  Today the students work tomorrow they will focus on finding textual evidence in fiction texts by seeking out specific support for character traits.  Then the students will move onto poetry where they will be finding textual evidence to support the inferences that they make while reading.  On Friday, the students will start their next reading unit that will carry them through the end of the quarter.  With this unit, the students will “journey” through all of the genres that we have read this year.  They will start this journey by focusing on nonfiction texts and strategies that good readers use to be successful.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Make sure and have your child point out to you specific evidence in the text to support their answer/thinking.

*Tell me more about what good readers do when reading nonfiction texts.  

Writing: 

This week in writing, the students will continue to work on their persuasive writing.  They will finish planning out their first piece of writing by organizing it onto a modified flow map.  Then they will work on drafting their introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusions this week.  As they draft their writing, below are some important guidelines to remember:

•The introduction should include:

*a hook

*introduce your three reasons

*end with your thesis statement

*persuasive vocabulary

•The body paragraphs should include three reasons, each supported by three facts and/or details.

•The ideas should be linked with several  transition words or phrases, and  use a variety of transition words and phrases.

•Their writing should be wrapped up with concluding sentences in each  paragraph , and a concluding paragraph which clearly  restates their opinion and the reasons their opinion.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Who is your intended audience?

*How did you hook your reader?

*What ideas do you have that support your topic?

*What techniques did you use to conclude your persuasive writing? 

Math: 

In math this week, the students will finish up the decimals unit.  They will work on the following concepts: 

•Writing decimals as fractions and words

        •Recognizing how a decimal number can change when a tenth or hundredth is either      added or subtracted

        •Comparing and ordering decimal numbers

        •Rounding decimal numbers to the nearest tenth and hundredth

       On Friday, the students will take their first math assessment of the quarter on these concepts. 

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Can you write the following decimal (0.34) as a fraction?  In words?

*How would the decimal  0.7 change if you added two tenths? What if you subtracted 3 hundredths?

*Order the following decimals from lease to greatest: 0.4, 1.2, 0.38, 0.04. What strategy did you use to help you?

* Can you round the following decimal (0.67) to the nearest tenth? To the nearest hundredth?

Social Studies: 

This week in social studies the students will learn more about the natural resources that are important to our everyday economy and where they can be found in our state. They will also investigate how the different forms of communication have changed and the benefits and challenges that they pose. Finally, the students will work on understanding the effect that North Carolina’s population has had on its environment.  

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*How has people impacted NC’s natural resources?

*How have people adapted to the changes in NC’s environment?

Weekly Update 4/19/2017

Updates/Reminders - Mark Your Calendars!! 

• The Beach Field Trip (Fort Fisher Aquarium & Masonboro Island) is next Thursday, April 27th.  All students must be at school no later than 6:45AM.  The charter bus will be departing at Morrisville at 7:00AM sharp!  Please check your email early next week for more detailed information, as well as reminders about what to pack, travel itinerary, etc.  
• Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  SSA is an accelerative practice that allows students to show mastery of the content of a course without having taken the course.  If you want to learn more about SSA, there are a number of upcoming Parent Information Sessions that you can attend.  You can view the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2m0U7pC or by visiting the WCPSS Accelerative Practices website at http://wakeacceleration.weebly.com/.                                            *The Nomination Window for Track Four is May 5th to May 18th  (All forms MUST be received by the end of the school day on May 18th.  Late nomination forms will not be accepted.)
  *Morrisville's Anticipated Testing Dates:  Wednesday, May 31st or Thursday, June 1st
• Spring Pictures will be on Monday, April 24th.  The photographer will take a class photo, which must be prepaid (cost is $10) and individual pictures, which are not prepaid and you will have a chance to review them first before deciding to buy.  Our picture time slot is from 11:50-12:05.  
• Morrisville 5K Stampede will be on Sunday May 7th from 2:00-5:00PM at Morrisville Elementary.  To register, please visit this website: https://morrisvillepta.org/5k-stampede/.
• Mark your calendars for Morrisville's Got Talent!  Tracks 3 & 4 will perform on Friday, May 12th at 6:30PM.  Online registration will be open until April 28th.  Please check the MES website for more information. 
• Track Four Field Day is Friday, May 19th.  More information will follow closer to the date. 
• Reading EOGs are scheduled for Wednesday, June 21st and the Math EOGs are scheduled for Thursday, June 22nd.  If you know that your child will be absent for this assessment, please let me know as soon as possible, so a make-up day can be planned. 
• Meet the Teacher for the 2017-2018 school year will be on Tuesday, June 27th from 5:30-6:15PM.  

What We Are Learning This Week and NEXT:
Reading: 

This week and next week in reading, the students will be working on finding the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction texts.  They will read different articles with a partner and work on organizing the main ideas and supporting details of the different sections onto tree maps.  They will find that paying close attention to the first and last sentence, repeated words, headings, and thinking about what the section is mostly is about are helpful in finding the main idea.  The students will also work on creating a complete summary of the text.  Later next week, the students will move on to finding textual evidence to support their thinking in all of the genres.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What strategies do you use to help you in finding the main idea?

*Tell me about the main ideas of the sections that you read in your partner activity.  

Writing: 

This week and next week in writing, the students will work on learning what persuasive writing is and how it is different from the opinion writing that they wrote last quarter.  The students will see good examples of persuasive writing through the mentor text, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School.  The students will then work on brainstorming things that they like and things that they want to change to then finally determine which argument is the strongest and the one that they will want to write about.  They will organize their information on a tree map and then start writing, once that graphic organizer is complete.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What is the difference between persuasive and opinion writing?

*What topics are you passionate or feel strongly about?

*What topics do you dislike and want to change?

*What topic did you have the strongest argument on?

Math: 

In math this week and next, the students will learn about decimals numbers, which will be a continuation from where we left off last quarter with fractions.  They will be focusing on the following objectives in particular:

       •Writing decimals as fractions and words

       •Recognizing how a decimal number can change when a tenth or hundredth is either added or subtracted

       •Comparing and ordering decimal numbers

       •Rounding decimal numbers to the nearest tenth and hundredth

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Can you write the following decimal (0.34) as a fraction?  In words?

*How would the decimal  0.7 change if you added two tenths? What if you subtracted 3 hundredths?

*Order the following decimals from lease to greatest: 0.4, 1.2, 0.38, 0.04. What strategy did you use to help you?

* Can you round the following decimal (0.67) to the nearest tenth? To the nearest hundredth?

Social Studies: 

This quarter in social studies the students will be learning about North Carolina’s geography, environment, and culture.  This week and next the students will spend time investigating the ways in which the population, transportation, landscape and communication has changed since statehood. They will be utilizing a lot of online resources, as well as become more familiar with reading different state maps. 

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What are some ways that North Carolina has changed since statehood?

Weekly Update 3/13/2017

Updates/Reminders: 

• Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  SSA is an accelerative practice that allows students to show mastery of the content of a course without having taken the course.  If you want to learn more about SSA, there are a number of upcoming Parent Information Sessions that you can attend.  You can view the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2m0U7pC or by visiting the WCPSS Accelerative Practices website at http://wakeacceleration.weebly.com/.   
• Our school is partnering with St. Baldrick's.  This is a wonderful organization that raises money to fight pediatric cancer.  One of our own, Matt Tussey, a 4th grade teacher has agreed to get his head shaved if we raise $2,000!  If you would like to donate please go to this website   https://www.stbaldricks.org and search for MES Mustangs.  You can also get more information on the head shaving event that will take place on March 18th at Glenwood South.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  
• The students will be taking the Quarter Three Benchmark Assessment on Wednesday, March 22nd (Math) and Thursday, March 23rd (Reading).  Please let me know if your child will miss either date, so I will be able to plan an alternate date for their assessment.  
• Friday, March 24th is our last early release day.  School will dismiss at 1:15 and a Google Form will be emailed out closer to the date to inform me of dismissal changes. 
• Track out day is Friday, March 24th.  Report cards will go home this day and we will be moving out of the trailer.  Students will need to bring in an additional bag on Thursday, March 23rd to take home their school supplies.  Please keep these supplies somewhere safe, as they will need to bring them all back when we track in for quarter 4. 

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

This week in reading, the students will continue their third reading unit that will focus on poetry.  This unit will force the students to look beyond the literal meaning of the words of the poems and instead read them with careful and creative eyes to uncover their true meanings.  They will focus on making inferences as they read this week.  The students will take their last reading common assessment, which will focus on poetry on Monday, March 20th.

The Students Will Be Working on the Following Concepts:

          •Good readers pair textual clues with what they already know to make inferences.

          •Good readers notice that poems use imagery to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s       

            mind.

          •Good readers notice that poets use figurative language (alliteration, similes, 

            metaphors,  personification, etc.) to add strong description.

          •Good readers can identify the speaker, theme (message), and mood of the poem.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me about the three ways you read a poem.

*What shape does your poem have? How many lines / stanzas?

*Does it rhyme?  If so, can you identify a rhyming pattern or point out the rhyming words?

*What is the mood of your poem?  What words help you think that?

*Can you identify the imagery the poet uses?

*What figurative language do you notice in this poem?

Writing: 

This week in writing, the students will continue to work their way through the writing process.  The students should finish another opinion piece this week.  They will then work on revising and editing their opinion writing asking themselves the following questions before publishing it.

Editing/Revising Checklist:

•Does my introduction hook my reader?

•Does it include my three main points and thesis/opinion statement?

•Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence and end with a concluding statement?

•Do I have at least three details to support each topic sentence?

•Did I use a variety of transition words in each paragraph?

•Does my conclusion leave my paper with a sense of completeness?

•Does my conclusion stress the importance of my opinion statement?

•Does my conclusion leave a final impression on the reader?

•Did I proofread my paper for spelling, punctuation, grammatical errors?

•Did I change any easy or overused words to more interesting ones?

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me more about where you are in the writing process.

*What changes have you made to your paper?

*What suggestions did your writing partner give you?

Math: 

This week in math, the students will be working on multiplying a whole number by a fraction.  They will be using number lines and fractions bars to visually represent how to multiply these numbers.  The students will focus on solving a variety of word problems, where they will practice this strategy.  They will especially focus on the real world problems of doubling, tripling, and quadrupling recipes.  They will take a multiplying fractions assessment on Friday, March 17th.  

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What are some ways that you can multiply a whole number by a fraction (ex. 3 x 1/4)?

*Can you create a real world problem involving the equation 5 x 2/3?

Science: 

This week, the students will take the science unit assessment on Rocks and Minerals. On Tuesday, they will take the multiple choice portion, and on Wednesday, they will take the open-ended portion. For the science test, students should focus on mineral and rock properties, the types of rocks, and what fossils reveal about life long ago.  The key information they need is in their science notebooks.  

Weekly Update 3/6/2017

Updates/Reminders: 

• Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  SSA is an accelerative practice that allows students to show mastery of the content of a course without having taken the course.  If you want to learn more about SSA, there are a number of upcoming Parent Information Sessions that you can attend.  You can view the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2m0U7pC or by visiting the WCPSS Accelerative Practices website at http://wakeacceleration.weebly.com/.   
• Our school is partnering with St. Baldrick's.  This is a wonderful organization that raises money to fight pediatric cancer.  One of our own, Matt Tussey, a 4th grade teacher has agreed to get his head shaved if we raise $2,000!  If you would like to donate please go to this website   https://www.stbaldricks.org and search for MES Mustangs.  You can also get more information on the head shaving event that will take place on March 18th at Glenwood South.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  
• Friday, March 24th is our last early release day.  School will dismiss at 1:15 and a Google Form will be emailed out closer to the date to inform me of dismissal changes. 
• Track out day is Friday, March 24th.  Report cards will go home this day and we will be moving out of the trailer.  Students will need to bring in an additional bag on Thursday, March 23rd to take home their school supplies.  Please keep these supplies somewhere safe, as they will need to bring them all back when we track in for quarter 4. 

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

Today, the students took their Social Issues reading assessment. The rest of the week, will be devoted to starting their third reading unit that will focus on poetry. This unit will force the students to look beyond the literal meaning of the words of the poems and instead read them with careful and creative eyes to uncover their true meanings.
The Students Will Be Working on the Following Concepts:
•Good readers read the poem three times to better understand and enjoy this type of text.
•Good readers notice that poems have a special shape, sound, lines, stanzas, rhythm, rhyme, and tone, or mood.
•Good readers notice that poems use imagery to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.
•Good readers notice that poets use figurative language (alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, etc.) to add strong description.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me about the three ways you read a poem.
*What shape does your poem have? How many lines / stanzas?
*Does it rhyme? If so, can you identify a rhyming pattern or point out the rhyming words?
*What is the mood of your poem? What words help you think that?
*Can you identify the imagery the poet uses?
*What figurative language do you notice in this poem?

Writing: 

This week in writing the students will be working on composing their three body paragraphs.  They will be focusing on using the "Fab 5" for each paragraph and working on elaborating their details to make them stronger and easy to read and understand.  They will also work on writing a clear conclusion at the end of the week. 

Fabulous Five Must Haves in Each Body Paragraph:

1.Clear Topic Sentence

2.3-5 Well Elaborated Details

3.At least 3 Transitional Words/Phrases 

4.Descriptive or Content Specific Vocabulary

5.Clear Concluding Statement

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me what you are writing about.  Why did you choose this topic? 

*How did you begin your introduction?  Does it catch your reader’s attention?

*Do you have topic and concluding sentences for each paragraph?

*Do you have at least three details to support each topic sentence?

Math: 

In math, the students will be working on adding and subtracting fractional numbers with common denominators. A large focus will be placed on adding and subtracting mixed numbers. The students will be relying on strategies such as using pictorial representations (fraction bars), number lines, converting the mixed numbers to improper fractions, or decomposing mixed numbers to make it easier to subtract. The students will also work on finding equivalents between tenths and hundredths and representing them on a tenths/hundredths board. Their next assessment is scheduled for this Thursday, March 9th.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Show me at least 2 different ways that you can decompose the fraction 5/6.
*What are some strategies that you use when adding and subtracting mixed numbers?
*Solve the following problems:
     *4  2/3 + 5  1/3 =
     *5  2/4 - 2  3/4 =
*How many hundredths are in 9/10?
*How could you add 3/10 + 50/100?

Science: 

This week in science we are learning about fossils and what they reveal about life on earth a long time ago.  Our science test for Rocks and Minerals will be on Tuesday, March 14th.  Students should study a little each school night to help them be prepared.  They should focus on mineral and rock properties, the types of rocks, and what fossils reveal about life long ago.