Please pre-read the stories in your Houghton Mifflin (Theme Two) and Open Court (Archeoastronomy) books as they are assigned. Also, remember to work on your 500 pages of out-of-class reading for the first trimester. Due dates for out-of-class reading and book reports will be announced.

During fifth grade you will be writing your autobiography! Begin thinking about chapters you might want to include.

Spelling Tests are on Fridays of each week unless it is a short week. Then the test is on Thursday. Students should study Monday through Thursday. Pre-tests may be given on Mondays, and if the student earns an "A" or an "A-" on the pre-test, he or she will be excused from the test for that particular week as well as from the assignment.

Be sure to study at least 10-15 minutes each night Monday through Thursday!

The first spelling tests will evaluate spelling levels and also check the 107 most used words..

Journal assignments are completed at school, but any entries students haven't completed should be finished at home. Most other English assignments are done in class. However, you may wish to talk to parents and relatives about "chapters" in your life, so you will be able to work on your autobiography. which is one of your year-long projects.

Your journal will be checked at the end of each trimester.

Homework is usually given on Monday through Thursday evenings. It is not common for homework to be given on Fridays, but students should make up late work and study their times tables on weekends if needed.

Homework: Review of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

Most health assignments are done in class, but if a student has not completed the Practice Master for each lesson, he/she might have to work at home. Be sure to continue working on your goals for the three areas of health.

Don't forget to work on your personal goals in your Progress Portfolios!

Begin thinking aboutyour year-long projects, which is your "State Power Point" presentation. Slides in your project will have information such as the state flag, bird, and flower along with interesting geography and points of interest. Be sure to include information that is of particular interest to you that will make your Power Point unique. Remember to give credit for any information sources on the "Works Cited" slide. Also study the names of all the states in the United States and their locations on the map. Especially study the states in the East as they seem to be the most difficult for many students. We will study maps and globes, the continents, and more specifically, United States maps (both political and physical). In history we will begin with the Age of Exploration as it relates to North America and the establishment of the early colonies along with the Revolutionary War.

All students will "pass off" on the "states" test! Keep studying the states as a "Surprise Quiz" can be given any time throughout the year! At the year-end History Fair, students will present their Power Point projects.

Homework: Study for the "states" test. Learning the state capitals is extra credit.

Try to observe everything around you with a scientific "eye." Ask questions and be curious--then you are learning to be a scientist. Keep scientific method and process that we study during the first trimester in mind always. In addition to proecess skills, we will study Earth Science, Magnetism and Electricity, Matter, and finally, Heredity. You will receive information about Science Fair during the first week in March.

Extra Credit: Remember that you can do experiments for additional points.