Week of 01/28

Gonzales Weekly

01/28/13

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Please make sure that you are checking your child's planner and homework EVERY DAY.  This keeps them accountable.  There are students in my class who are already failing most of their subjects because of HOMEWORK.  It is essential that they get their homework done.

I will be handing out afterschool detentions for misbehavior more frequently.  My policy is still three laps equals detention, but I will be more strict on what merits a lap.  Your child will call you that day to let you know they have detention.

In math, we will work on measuring interior angles of triangles and quadrilaterals.  In reading, we will continue focusing on details and main idea.  In writing, we will begin and write a friendly letter.  In social studies, we will work on the three branches of government and the Constitution.

Spelling list for the week:

1)   dreadful

2)   watchful

3)   speechless

4)   breathless

5)   actively

6)   lately

7)   basement

8)   delightful

9)   settlement

10) closeness

11) suspenseful

12) suspiciously

13) defenseless

14) seriousness

15) contentment

16) quadruple

17) qualification

18) quash

19) quarrel

20) quarantine

Have a great week!

Ms. Gonzales

agonzales@lpatucson.org

andreagonzaleslpa.blogspot.com

520-721-4205

01/22/13

Gonzales Weekly

01/22/13

I hope everyone had a great three day weekend!  Mine was filled with races!

A few quick notes about dress code – we have not changed dress code, but rather focused on several key pieces of information.  If they are not in dress code during our dress code checks, they will not be allowed to do Friday dress.

Remember that if you want to see your child's grades, you can easily log into engrade.com and look at their scores for each subject.  I will no longer be emailing parents regarding missing assignments.  If your child failed to get you their login information, let me know and I will send them home with it.

In math, we will start our geometry unit, beginning with triangles.  In reading, we will continue our work in identifying important ideas from a reading passage.  In writing, students will edit and write out the final copies of their personal narratives.   In social studies, we will continue studying the fifty states – there will be a test on Friday, February 1^st on the location of all of the states!  Study, study, study!

A very useful website to study the fifty states is www.ilike2learn.com.  It is extremely helpful – and how I memorized European countries and capitals in high school!

Spelling words:

1.       covered

2.       rising

3.       ordered

4.       hitting

5.       planned

6.       amusing

7.       sheltered

8.       visiting

9.       deserved

10.   squeezing

11.   rehearsing

12.   shredded

13.   anticipated

14.   scalloped

15.   entertaining

16.   parliament

17.   pronounceable

18.   protein

19.   perceived

20.   premonition

Have a great week and feel free to email me if you have any questions!

Ms. Gonzales

agonzales@lpatucson.org

andreagonzaleslpa.blogspot.com

721-4205

Gonzales Weekly!

Gonzales Weekly

01/14/13

Hello and welcome to another week of fifth grade!  We have had some administrative changes at LPA Central – Mr. Rubasch has been promoted to the COO of the school district.  Mr. Ewald has taken his place as Principal, and Ms. Chartier (from LPA Lakeside) will be our Vice Principal.  Please take a moment to introduce yourself to Ms. Chartier whenever you can!  She comes from a classroom background, which is very exciting to see!

Please make sure that your child is working on their science fair project!  The due dates sneak up on everyone, and ALL of the project is done at home.  I do not give any class time for the work to be done.

A new change in my policy is happening.  Today, we took a 100 problem timed multiplication test.  If your child did not get above a 90%, they will be required to sit against the wall during recess and practice their times tables.  They will have an opportunity to get off from the wall on Friday afternoon by taking the same test right before recess.  Again, they need to score at least a 90% to play.  My reasoning for this is that 0-9 multiplication tables should have been memorized by the third grade.  It is nearly impossible to get through math in middle school if your child does not know how to do this.  I also feel as though recess is a privilege.  If they aren't meeting my classroom standards, they need to be practicing those skills instead of playing tag. 

If you have any questions or concerns about this new policy, feel free to email, call, or see me in person.  I would be happy to discuss this more with you.  This is a policy that I adopted from some of the fourth grade teaching staff, so if you have a returning student, you may be familiar with this.

If you are interested in checking your child's grades, they are available on engrade.com.  All you need is your child's username and password, which they received last week.  Thanks to the eight parents who logged in last week!

Please remember that there is no school on Monday, January 21^st for Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

This week in math, we will work on converting measurements of length, mass, and capacity in both US and Metric systems.  In reading, we will focus on main idea and supporting details.  In writing, students will complete the first draft of their personal narrative essay.  In Social Studies, students will continue studying the fifty states and geography.

Spelling words

1.        Montana

2.        Nebraska

3.        Nevada

4.        New Hampshire

5.        New Jersey

6.        New Mexico

7.        New York

8.        North Carolina

9.        North Dakota

10.      Ohio

11.      Oklahoma

12.      Oregon

13.      Pennsylvania

14.      Rhode Island

15.      South Carolina

16.      South Dakota

17.      Tennessee

18.      Texas

19.      Utah

20.      Vermont

21.      Virginia

22.      Washington

23.      West Virginia

24.      Wisconsin

25.      Wyoming

Have a great week!

Ms. Gonzales

agonzales@Lpatucson.org

andreagonzaleslpa.blogspot.com

721-4205

Gonzales Weekly 01/07/13

Gonzales Weekly

01/07/13

Welcome to 2013!

I hope you and your child had a wonderful holiday break and are ready to finish out the year strong!

Starting this quarter, you will be able to access your child's grades online through engrade.com.  Your child should have brought home a slip of paper with their username and temporary password.  Please note that this is a brand-new website to La Paloma Academy and I am learning how to use it along with all of you!  You will be able to keep track of how your child is doing on their homework, in-class assignments, and tests.   I hope to have this completely set up (and reliable) by the end of this month, so don't stress if something is missing or if grades don't match the progress reports.  Engrade DOES work on mobile phones, so if you have a browsing application, you can use that as well.

This week in math, we will do a unit on patterns of change.  In reading, we will begin our unit in poetry and also focus on identifying basic information out of a reading passage.  In writing, we will begin writing a personal narrative essay.  In social studies, we will begin learning the names and identifying the fifty states.  By the end of the month, they will be required to know how to correctly spell each state and its location on a map.

The next few weeks of spelling will be on the fifty states and capitals.

Spelling list:

1.       Alabama

2.       Alaska

3.       Arizona

4.       Arkansas

5.       California

6.       Colorado

7.       Connecticut

8.       Delaware

9.       Florida

10.   Georgia

11.   Hawaii

12.   Idaho

13.   Illinois

14.   Indiana

15.   Iowa

16.   Kansas

17.   Kentucky

18.   Louisiana

19.   Maine

20.   Maryland

21.   Massachusetts

22.   Michigan

23.   Minnesota

24.   Mississippi

25.   Missouri

If you have any questions, feel free to email, call, or see me in person.

Ms. Gonzales

agonzales@lpatucson.org           

andreagonzaleslpa.blogspot.com

(520)721-4205