OUtdoor Discovery Center

Monday, October 10

Book Orders were sent home last Friday. They are due on Wed., October 12. Please make sure any orders are paid for with a check made payable to Scholastic.

The MEAP tests start tomorrow. We will be taking the reading portions on Tuesday and Wed. mornings of this week. Next week Tuesday we will be taking the math section and then finishing up with science. Please make sure your child is well rested and ready to perform to the best of his/her ability.

Our field trip to the Outdoor Discovery Center is this Thursday, October 13. All students will need a sack lunch. Please help your child prepare for the day as we will be outside for most of it.....rain or shine!

Thanks for returning the conference slips. Please know that conferences will be student led so your child is expected to be here with you at your scheduled time.

Wednesday, September 28

A few important things to share......

Reading - This week we will begin our first novel study. The title of the book we will be reading is "Guests." It is an historical fiction novel based on the American Indians who were living in North America before Christopher Columbus made his discovery in 1492.

Math - Students did very well on the test covering the first chapter. I will be hanging on to these tests until conference time. If you would like to see how your child performed, you can check on power school.

Spelling - This week we are on lesson three. Many students are using the Spelling City web site to review their words for the week. There are a number of really good spellers in this class!!

Social Studies - We have begun our studies of American Indians. This will continue for a few weeks. A note will be sent home tomorrow regarding our field trip to the Outdoor Discovery Center.

That's it for now. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions or concerns.

September 12, 2011

We are off to a great start here at Hamilton Elementary! The kids are working on getting to know one another, learning new routines and they are busy learning new things every day.

Spelling lists are all available on a web site called "Spelling City." There is a link to it on this blog and your child should know how to use it. This week we are working with list #1. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions regarding spelling city or any thing else!!

On Friday, September 16, we will celebrate the birthday of the United States Constitution. Students are asked to wear red, white and blue again!! All fifth graders will be reciting the preamble to the constitution for the rest of the student body at lunch time.

The preamble goes like this........

We the People of the United States
In order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice,
ensure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity
do ordain and establish this constitution
for the United States of America!

Supply List 2011-2012

The following is a list of recommended items you may wish to purchase prior to the beginning of school:

• A pencil bag or box – (not too large)
• A backpack to transport items to and from school daily (No wheels)
• 1 or 2 Post-it pads
• Colored pencils (We use these most often!)
• Highlighter
• 2 dry erase markers
• Sharpie markers - whatever you want - wide, fine point
* Water Bottle
• Hand held pencil sharpener
• Hand Sanitizer


Please do NOT bring the following:
*Trapper keeper
*Toys of any Kind!!
*Mechanical pencils

I will provide folders, notebooks, planners, scissors, pens, etc. If you want to bring your own pens, that would be fine. If you would like to make a donation to our classroom supplies, please consider the following suggestions:

* A box of tissues
* Paper plates
* Napkins
* Plastic Cups
* Plastic Silverware
* Baggies

Now for the fun part. I would like you to think about a kind of candy that represents YOU and have you bring it to school for a snack on the first day. An example might be a RECESS peanut butter cup because recess is your favorite part of school. Or you might bring a LAFFY TAFFY because you are always laughing. How about a MARS bar because some people think you came from outer space! Be creative, grab some candy that represents you and be prepared to share with the class why you chose what you did. (Hint: If you get to the Peanut Store in downtown Holland, you have a lot more to choose from than the grocery stores offer.)

Happy Shopping!
Mrs. Maxson

Play

Parents are invited to see our play "Historical Hysteria" tomorrow at 1:45. Mrs. Chateu's class will also be joining us. Park in the south parking lot and stay for our Fifth grade celebration at 2:30!!

The end is in sight!

The end of the school year is in sight! In addition to the special activities that you already know about, I would like to add a few more things. The following is a list of things for you to be aware of.

Wednesday, June 1: Glorified sit and sip. We will have a longer time to read than usual. Also, kids may bring a snack to go with their drink. NO RED DRINKS ARE ALLOWED. Ms. Taylor informed me of this after we had a spill last week.

Friday, June 3: Dunes field trip! A reminder sheet is being sent home today.

Monday, June 6: Career Day. After exploring career opportunities, students should come to school dressed for the career they think might be in their future.

Tuesday, June 7: What's in Your Box? 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Please park in the south parking lot. Students may go home with their parents at the end of the day without signing out in the office.

Wednesday, June 8: Choose your own seat day!

Thursday, June 9: Break the rules day - you may chew gum and wear a hat. Wear your track and field day shirt, last blast and the tunnel!!!!

Pink Day Photos

Auction Items

Would you be willing to donate an item or two for our class auction? A silent auction will be held the last day of school. The auction is for our class only and students will use their hard earned money to make their purchases. I will be purchasing some items for this event, but we would welcome your donations as well. Things that have worked well in the past include candy bars, pop, sports equipment, cds/dvds, seasonal items, etc. We simply ask for new (not used) items. If you could have them to school no later than Tuesday, June 7, that would be fantastic!!

5th Grade Celebration

On Tuesday, June 7 from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m., we will be holding a special 5th grade celebration in the gym. Parents and Grandparents are invited to join us for this special event. We hope you can make it!

Dunes

Thank you to all of the MANY parents who volunteered to join us on our trip to the dunes on June 3. Next week Tuesday a packet of information will be sent home with your child if you are planning on spending this fun day with us. Please look for this information on Tuesday, May 26.

May

Fifth grade teachers are planning some special days for the month of May. Please put these on your calendar!

May 12: Pink Day in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Everybody please wear pink. Yes, even the boys!!

May 17: Laffy Taffy Tuesday: Everyone needs to have a short, clean joke to share with the class.

May 19: Kylie's last day with us. We will be celebrating with Mrs. Ferrell's class. Both classes are taking donations to purchase a gift for her. If it works in your budget, please send $2.00 to put toward a class gift.

May 27: Wear your Red, White, and Blue!!

Poetry Brunch

We are getting very excited to share our poems with you. You are invited to join us for our presentation and brunch on Wednesday, April 27 at 9:00 a.m. Please plan to park in the south parking lot and we will have the doors open for you.

Students should plan on wearing their Hawkeye shirt for the presentation.

Yellow Day

Charlton Park

SAVE THE DATE!!

Please save Friday, June 3 for our field trip to Saugatuck for a dune ride, hike to Lake Michigan, lunch and a time of celebration!!
(Monday, June 6 is the rain date) Any parents who wish to join us are welcome, however, you MUST be registered with the WISH volunteer program. If you have not yet signed up with WISH for the current school year, you must do so prior to MAY 3. Forms can be found in the front entrance of our school. More information will be sent home after Spring Break.

Social Studies Test

Students will be taking a Social Studies test next week Monday. A review sheet was sent home today.

Field Trip Money and Reminder

If you have not already done so, please send in $5.00 to cover the cost of the field trip next week. Also, please be reminded that students need to be dressed up for our visit to Charlton Park.

Spelling Test

We will continue with lesson 22 next week. The test will be given on Wed., March 30. I also need to update Spelling City and will do that at my earliest convenience.

Boston Tea Party

Coin Collection for a Cure

You have read about this collection in the Hamilton Highlights. This morning we set a class goal of raising $100.00!! Send in your loose change!

Play

We have been practicing our play and we will be ready to perform it tomorrow! The kids have been talking about costumes and would like the opportunity to wear clothes that will fit their part. That is certainly encouraged! If they would like, they may bring the costume to school and change before we perform.

Biography Puppets

The biography puppets are great! Thank you for your help with this project. Some kids still need a water bottle to set theirs on. If you could send one to school by tomorrow, that would be great!

We're Making a Play for YOU!!

We are getting ready to perform a play about the Boston Tea Party. We will be performing it on Tuesday, March 22 at 10:00 and again on Wednesday, March 23 at 12:00. We hope you can come to one of our performances!!

Charlton Park

Please look for information regarding our field trip to Charlton Park being sent home on Friday, March 18.

Track and Field Day

I have been collecting money for track and field day shirts and crossing off names as payment came in. The money and list was sent to the office for safe keeping during reading night. Mr. Hoekstra assumed I had collected from all students and tossed the sheet I was keeping track on. I know not everyone paid, but I don't really know who did and who didn't. If you know you have NOT yet paid, could you please send $7.00 in an envelope to cover the cost ASAP?

Puppets

We have been working on biographies in class and the kids have been making a puppet in art. The reading assignment has been completed by all students, but many of them are still working on their puppets. They will have one more day in art - Friday, March 18, and then puppets will be due on Monday. This project may require some help from parents! Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

NCAA Tournament

We will be filling out our brackets at school tomorrow!

Spelling Test

We will continue our spelling lessons this week. You can be practicing at home by using spelling city, lesson 21.

Book Character Day!

Tomorrow, March 16, is book character day at Hamilton Elementary. I am going to be Mr. Falker, who are you going to be?

Reading Night

AWIM

Reading Night!!

Next week Thursday, March 10 is the school wide reading night. I hope to see many of you there!!

Field Trip

We will be taking a field trip to Charlton Park on Thursday, March 31. Students will be expected to dress up like the olden days. We will talk about this in class, but please be prepared for this as well. More information will be sent home next week.

Book Character Day

March 16 is dress like a book character day. We brainstormed some ideas today. Please discuss this activity with your child so you can start planning what you are going to wear on the 16th!!

Social Studies Quiz

On Thursday, March 3, students will be given a vocabulary quiz on Revolutionary War vocab. Please study the vocabulary wheel tonight!!

Spelling Test

Due to the snow day and a field trip, we will not do a spelling lesson this week.

Field Trip Reminders

Our field trip to the symphony and Van Andel Museum is tomorrow. Students should:

Dress nicely
Wear a coat and a hat
Bring a disposable sack lunch
Take something to do on the bus

Students may also want to leave a snack in their locker for when we return. We will eat lunch significantly earlier than normal, so they may be hungry when we return. We plan on being back in time to have them ready for release time at 2:30.

President's Day Activities rescheduled

We will have to celebrate President's Day tomorrow, Feb. 22. Wear your red, white, and blue and spend your snow day reciting the presidents!!

President's Day

Monday, Feb. 21 is President's Day. We would like all fifth graders to wear red, white, and blue on this day. We will be engaged in various activities throughout the day including Presidential Trivia, reciting the Presidents in the lunch room, and celebrating with a birthday cake!!

President Report

Students should come to school next week Tuesday with a completed rough draft of their President report.

Spelling Test

I plan on giving the spelling test covering lesson 17 on Thursday, Feb. 10. It would be a good idea to practice the words on Spelling City at home.

Lit Kits

The following students signed up to present their lit kit on Wednesday, Feb. 9

Eric
Leanne
Pauline
Kaitlyn
Joey
Brayden
John
Brad
Rachel Boerman


Thursday, Feb. 10
Landen
Rachel Baker
Phebe
Jake
Sam
Garret
Landon
Ryan
Makayala
Riley

Snow Day?

It seems as though all of West Michigan is thinking tomorrow may be a snow day. I have sent some work home with students today....just in case. The following list is a a things I sent home and labeled "Wednesday Work." If we do not have school tomorrow, please complete these work sheets at home. If we do have school tomorrow, please send it back unfinished so we can continue these lessons here at school.

Adverb Packet
Spelling Take Home Task
Fractions worksheet
Read Lit Kit book for 20 - 30 minutes

Homework that was assigned today and is due the next time we have school include math page 401 #8 - 21 and 2 adverb papers.

Lit Kits

Lit Kit assignments were given today. Each student has a packet of information that will hopefully explain to you what a lit kit is. Feel free to contact me if you have questions. Here is some additional information.

* The container for the kit should be something that reflects the novel
* The items in the kit should help retell the beginning, middle, and end of the story
* No more than 6 items per kit
* Due date is Feb. 9 Some students will present their kit on the 9th, and some on the 10th.
* A written summary is also expected at the time of the presentation. You can find an example in the packet I sent home today.

Geometry

The geometry math test will be given Thursday, January 27. The study guide will come home today!

Math Vocab Quiz

Another math vocabulary quiz will be given next week Tuesday. Here is a list of words that will be on the quiz.

triangle
octagon
right triangle
parallelogram
square
isosceles triangle
quadrilateral
rhombus
scalene
pentagon
acute
triangle
trapezoid
polygon
obtuse triangle
hexagon
regular polygon
equilateral triangle

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to our spelling bee winner, Garret Heyerman!

Decorating the Halls

Fifth graders have been busy painting the windows in the entryways of the building.

HISTORY ALIVE!

Spelling Test

The test over lesson 14 will be given on Thursday, January 20. Please use spelling city to practice those words!

Math Quiz

Students will be given a math vocabulary quiz tomorrow over the following words.

acute angle
plane
ray
parallel lines
point
degrees
diameter
vertex
protractor
radius
intersecting lines
perpendicular lines
exterior point
central angle
right angle
angle
segment
chord
straight angle
interior point

Students have been encouraged to study from both their geometry booklets and their hard covered math book (chapter 6 or the glossary)

Spelling Bee

In the afternoon of January 18, we will have our school spelling bee. Students are asked to wear BLACK AND YELLOW on this day. If you are a spelling bee participant, please consider dressing nicely for this event. Statistics show that the better you look, the more confident you will be! Perhaps that means the participants won't be able to wear black and yellow, but that is o.k. Parents of the participants are welcome to come.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Monday, January 17, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I have asked all student to WEAR BLACK AND WHITE on this day!

Conference Questions

Dear Parents,

I look forward to meeting with you at your scheduled conference time. As you are aware, scheduling a conference was optional. Not everyone has chosen to conference, therefore, the conferences will not be student led. If your child would like to attend the conference with you, that would be fine. Please consider the following questions to discuss during our time together.

1. What are your academic goals for your child this year?






2. What specific concerns do you have about your child’s academic progress this year?





3. What general questions do you have about classroom curriculum?




4. What questions or concerns does your child have about school?



5. Is your child dealing with any personal or family issues that might affect his or her behavior or academic progress?



6. Do you feel your child is going to be prepared for middle school next year?

January 4, 2011

This note was sent home with your child today.

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! I hope you have all had a relaxing vacation. It was great to see all of the kids yesterday. We spent some time together discussing goals and the kids are in the process of writing some personal goals that we will be working on this year.

Technology is being upgraded around our building. New installations have gone into our classroom including a new projector, screen, and also a voice enhancement system.


This is my favorite time of the year to teach. I like it because the kids know the routines and what to expect. I also really enjoy the curriculum at this point in the year. Occasionally, a learning opportunity presents itself in the form of a movie. The students enjoy watching movies together and great learning discussions can be held both before and after a movie is shown. Some of the movies that I like to use, however, are rated PG. In order for me to use these in the classroom, I simply need your permission for you child to view them. Some of the titles include “Akeelah and the Bee,” “Night at the Museum,” and “National Treasure.” Please sign and return the slip below no later than Friday, January 7, 2011, or contact me if you have questions or concerns.

Thank you!



I give my child, __________________________________, to view PG rated movies with Mrs. Maxson.



___________________________________________

(Parent Signature)