News from Mrs. Denny’s Class
March 5, 2010
denny@lpatucson.org

Academics:

Reading/Writing: We are still reading and writing poetry. This week students finished their poems using similies and metaphors. They are now working on Cinquains. We definitely have some budding poets in our class!

Students are also being tested in reading and writing this week. Their writing assessment this week was to write a persuasive letter to the principal in favor of or against wearing uniforms.

In grammar, students are learning about paragraph structure, complex sentences, prepositions and prepositional phrases, conjunctions, and good word choice.

Spelling: This week’s words focused on the prefixes im-, in-, un-, and pre-. Many students are having good luck practicing their words are spellingcity.com.

Vocabulary: New words this week are paradox, preposition and disperse. Our test next week will include our new words and last week’s words: stanza, rhyme, rhythm, similie, metaphor and compassion.

Math:
Saxon Math concepts this week: Adding, subtracting, multiplying and comparing decimals.
We continue to review order of operations, prime numbers, graphing, fractions and percents. We are still reviewing math concepts in preparation for the AIMS test in April.

Counseling: Mrs. Russell continues to work with the students on making good choices.

Notes to Parents:

Reminder: Grade books closed on Friday in order to prepare grades for the 3rd quarter report cards. If your child has late work, those assignments must still be completed, and the missing assignment will be reflected in the 3rd quarter grades.

Spelling Bee: Our school-wide spelling bee was held on Tuesday. Jorge, Grayson and Faith did an amazing job and represented our classroom very well! Congratulations!

Poetry Books: All 5th grade students are working on books to be published by Student Treasures Publishing Co. in May. Students will receive a free copy of their book over the summer.
Order forms went home Thursday for you to order any additional books for $14.95 + shipping. This would make a wonderful gift for any family member!
All forms must be returned, even if you mark “No.” Please return the forms and/or money by next Thursday (3/11) in the envelope provided.

Science Fair: The rubric used to judge the science fair projects did not reflect how our 5th grade completed the science fair projects here at Central Campus, so I did not use the judges scores as a grade.
I gave the students 3 different grades for this long term project:
-They received points for meeting their deadlines along the way.
-They also received points for a completed notebook or folder with all of their science experiment notes.
-They also received a grade for having all parts of the scientific method portrayed on their display board.

Congratulations to Joel Gonzalez, Faith Cosby, Reanna Ruiz and Joseph Destito. Their science boards are heading to Sarsef!

Bookman’s Reading Challenge:
Students should be turning in their validated reading slips when they finish a book. We are trying to help LPA earn great things for our school by participating in this 3 month reading challenge. Read, Read, Read. 

Can you help? We are still in desperate need of Kleenex, hand sanitizer, markers and colored pencils.

Important Dates:

March:
5- Pancake Breakfast with
principal, Character Lunch, Movie Night

5-End of 3rd Quarter. All work must be in.

9- Spring pictures. These will only be taken for those who want to order pictures.

10-Art Show 6-7:30p.m. in the cafeteria

11- Report Card Day. ½ day with No lunch or After school

12 & 15 Spring Break

16- Skate Night

17- St. Patrick’s Day: wear green or white

20- Golf Tournament