March Forth

I would like to make some quick announcements of some upcoming events. I would like to first of all thank Skip for donating his time and knowledge to help build our play structure. We have the first stage of framing done. Yay! I would also like to thank all the parents who brought in building supplies. We still need a couple of 4x8ft 1/2in ply wood for the roof.
I am also excited to say that Justin and I went to training for Biz town. It is a program that allows children to learn real life job skills and act them out in a miniature town. I am really excited, we are going to learn how to balance check books, write resumes, and interview for jobs. The event will be held on April 22 off Mission Gorge Rd. We will need 26 parent volunteers. Parents need to attend an hour and a half training the day of the event. I will have a sign up sheet ready for this available at our Thursday mandatory parent meeting night. Also this upcoming Thursday night the fifth graders will be presenting their explorer projects. Be sure to attend that night so you can see all of the hard work our class has completed.
For language art we are continuing to read The Mixed-up Files. We are also starting an independent reading challenge. If a student can read 500 pages of grade appropriate text they will receive a free ticket to Six Flags Magic Mountain. The contest must be completed by the end of the month. Pages must be documented in a log that is to be signed by the parents. We are going to be also finishing up our first drafts of our mystery personal narratives.
In math we are continuing to work with fractions. We are changing mixed-numbers to improper numbers. This week we will begin multiplying fractions.

I hope that everyone had a restful 4 day weekend last week. Just a quick reminder that we are petitioning for prop 39 school sites. The school site that was given to us is in an undesirable location and is virtually unusable for our current needs. We are encouraging all staff, parents, and students to sign a form letter stating our wish to be offered a more suitable site. We are also going to encourage parents and students to be present at the official board meeting on Tuesday, March 23. It will be held sometime in the evening. I am not sure of the exact time as of yet.
I would like to congratulate all the hard work our class did on finishing up our "What's the Matter?" I would like to also thank all of you who came out on family night to see our presentations. I would like to see more participation on these nights. The students worked very hard getting things ready for the event and unfortunately, we had very little parent turnout. So be sure next time to support you child and his or her classmates.
For language arts we are continuing with our personal narratives and our weekly wordly wise. You can visit worldywise.com for more games and activities to support the weekly activities. We are also continuing to read the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil.
For math we are dividing and working with fractions with unlike denominators. We have even created a song about adding fractions. Ask you child to sing the song for you.
For our next project we are going to be looking at early explorers. The project will be called "Enterprizing Entrepenures."