5th Grade Ski Trip Monday.

Monday's the day, ya'll! We're headed up to Snowbowl. Here's the text of a little reminder we sent home again today. Thanks to the coordinating efforts of Ms. Peggy Murray and Ms. Burgoon, we were able to borrow goggles, helmets, and ski pants from Ski Haus and First Chair. The ten dollars paid by you will rent skis and ski boots up at Snowbowl. You will need to bring the rest of the gear on the list. If you are borrowing snow pants, come to school wearing sweatpants or leggings, so you can throw the ski pants on over top.

We'll see you in the gym Monday morning!

Ms. Baker

Snowbowl Fieldtrip Rescheduled

Monday, February 27^th, 2017

We’ve secured a new date and bus for our 5^th grade ski trip to Snowbowl. All the details remain, but here’s a refresher!

When We’re Leaving: 8:40 am (Don’t be late!)

What to Bring:

·     Thick socks (wool if possible)

·     Waterproof pants/jacket

·     Other layers to keep warm or shed if necessary

·     Hat

·     Sunglasses

·     Sunscreen

·     Water bottle

·     Sack lunch (from home or school)

·     We will have few resources to lend out, so see what you can borrow from friends and neighbors, and let us know what you still may need after you’ve asked!

When We’re Coming Back: We’ll leave Snowbowl at 1:15 and return to Marshall around 2:00.

Week in Review 2/13/17-2/17/17

It's been a whale of a week over here at Marshall. Science fair, kindness week, and Valentine's Day! A three day weekend certainly is in order. Here's what else went on in rooms 28 and 30:


This Week in Academics:

• We learned about weathering, erosion, and deposition through expert's readings.
• We continued practicing some fraction basics
• We decomposed fractions with addition sentences, multiplication sentence, number bonds, and tape diagrams.
• We used manipulatives and multiplication by a version of one to create equivalent fractions.
• We continued reading Sophia's War...only three reading sessions left!
• We learned about prepositions from our favorite French cow, Moo-Moo.
• We practiced writing narratives including various types of conflict.

Looking Ahead:

• No School Monday! (Presidents' Day)
• We'll have expert's homework on Wednesday and Thursday night next week. (None Tuesday)
• The fifth grade ski trip is a week from Monday, on February 27th.
• Be sure to continue asking around about gear to borrow!

Week in Review 2/6/17-2/10/17

Well, we did it. The work of Marshall's 30th annual Science Fair is behind us. Now all that's left is to step back and admire the work we've done with a critical eye for future projects. That's exactly what we did yesterday at school. Fourth graders and fifth graders summarized their experiments and their peers gave them specific compliments and critiques, encouraging each other to be more detailed, have more controls, and much more.

Thank you for supporting the scientific inquiry process at home! We truly believe that learning is at its most valuable when kids discover answers to questions they have about the world around them. This learning would not have been possible without your at home support! :)

This Week in Academics:

• We have arrived at the climax of Sophia's War. (Will Sophia be able to stop General Arnold from selling West Point to the British!?)
• We estimated the quotients of division problems.
• We divided by two digit divisors.
• We practiced distinguishing between commonly misspelled homophones.
• We practiced typing commas in a series and in compound sentences.
• We introduced a fractions unit.

Looking Ahead:

• Expert's homework starts back up again this next week.

• Wednesday, February 15th is Marshall's Science Fair Family Night at 5:00

• This next week is kindness week at Marshall. PTO will be hosting activities all week that promote kindness at our school. There will also be spirit days to accompany. Just be sure to wear school appropriate clothing/shoes that allow you to play at recess, P.E., and Fit Kids.
• Monday: Pajama Day (no slippers)
• Tuesday: Disney Day
• Wednesday: Sports Day
• Thursday: Superhero Day
• Friday: Marshall Pride

• We'll be celebrating kindness on Valentine's Day Tuesday. Much like birthday Friday, you may bring a treat to share. Just make sure there's enough for 52 kiddos! Also, if you choose to bring valentines, we highly recommend leaving names OFF. (It takes forever to pass them out!)

• There will be no school Monday, February 20th for Presidents' Day. 

• The fifth grade ski trip has been rescheduled for Monday, February 27th.

Students of the Week 2/3/17

This week's students of the week are... Katie, Adriano, and Michael B.

Katie was nominated for helping out a classmate when they were hurt. She has also been doing a great job participating in class.

 Adriano has been an all-star partner this week. explaining tough concepts to classmates.

Michael B. volunteered some of his lunches this week to assist a classmate with their science fair project. What a selfless act!

Way to go, kiddos! We're glad we have kids like you to keep kindness alive at Marshall!

Week in Review 1/30-2/3

Happy Friday, Fisher Baker Families!

Here's what we've been up to this week.

This Week in Academics:

• We reviewed division concepts
• We took a division unit test.
• We reviewed aspects of the scientific method.
• We took a science concept quiz.
• We continued reading Sophia's War...the plot is thickening!
• Our student teacher, Ms. Crowley, taught a lesson on fragments and run-ons.

Looking Ahead:

• Science fair projects are due this Monday, February 2/6 for our class.
• The 5th Grade Ski Trip has officially been rescheduled for Monday, 2/27 (two weeks from Monday) YAY!
• Our class will be celebrating kindness and friendship on Tuesday, February 14th. Bring Valentines or goodies if you'd like, just be sure there's enough for 52 kids. 
• The 30th Annual Marshall Science Fair Family Night is on Wednesday, 2/15 at 5pm.

Happy science fair board making this weekend!

Ms. Baker

Science Fair Check In

Hey there, Fisher Baker fams!

Just checking in about Marshall Science Fair progress as we are officially one week away from the due date. 

Due to our "snow week" we ended up sending home all of our science fair support materials on Friday, a bit behind schedule. Because life's just like that sometimes, we've urged our students to push the pace and get on it!

We want this to be a challenging, but also enjoyable project (read: low stress for parents), here's how we've been supporting your kiddos at school:

• Science fair lessons
• the difference between a demonstration and an experiment
• independent variable, dependent variable, controlled variables
• differentiating between earth science, life science, and physical science

• We conducted a class experiment with magnets and pipe cleaners
• We filled out a class experiment packet to show our process
• We created mini science fair boards from the class experiment

• No homework this week or last week to make space in your at home schedule to experiment.

• We provided an outlined scientific method packet including blank data tables and graphs

• We have a posted pacing guide in our classroom to help kids manage their time wisely. We've recommended:
• By January 31st: Plan, gather materials for, and conduct experiment
• By February 3rd: Analyze results and draw conclusions
• By February 6th: Put together science fair boards, check for spelling and grammar mistakes.

• Marshall has science fair boards available for $5

If you haven't started this process yet, please don't wait until the last minute. Get on it, kiddos!

Happy experimenting, Fisher Baker families!

Ms. Baker & Mr. Kasch

(ebaker@fusd1.org)

Week in Review: Snow Day Edition 1/17/17-1/19/17

Happy snow day, Marshies!

I'm typing this week's updates from my cozy couch and hoping you are all safe and snuggly today as well. This week in rooms 28/30 we've been discussing ownership and responsibility in our class. While it seems our refreshment from winter break is wearing off, we've been encouraging our kiddos to show up ready to take on the day with a good attitude, focus, determination, and readiness to "embrace the struggle." We hope you'll discuss the importance of these attitudes with your kids at home too!

This Week in Academics: 

• After building up a visual understanding of division with the T-Chart method and area model, we learned long division.
• We continued reading Sophia's War
• We completed a class experiment that asked the question: How do obstructive objects affect magnetism?
• We brainstormed topics, questions, and planned our research for the individual experiments our students will be doing for the 30th annual Marshall Science Fair.
• Not bad for a 3 day week!

Non-Academics from the Week:

• 5th graders were fitted for their ski boots
• 5th graders were visited by MEMS and Sinagua Middle School Counselors to register for 6th grade specials classes.

Looking Ahead: 

• 5th Graders go skiing this Thursday, January 26.
• There will be no homework next week due to students starting at home science experiments.
• Middle School academy (Alpine, Pre-AP, Puente De Hozho, Mit-E) applications are due on Febrary 6th.
• Turn in teacher recommendation forms before this date, so I can send this form to the middle schools before this date.
• Science Fair Projects due: Monday, February 6th.