"ONCE YOU LEARN TO READ, YOU WILL BE FOREVER FREE." - Frederick Douglass
We have arrived at the last week of a long, joyful journey. This week's schedule is as follows... Monday - Regular Class Schedule Tuesday - Grammar & Science Final (Full Day with regular afternoon classes) Wednesday - Math & History Final (Noon Release), - Promotion Practice at Prep, 12:45-2:00pm - 5th Grade Commencement Ceremony, 6pm Thursday - 5th Grade Breakfast 8:00-9:00am - Assembly 9:00-10:00am - Locker & Room Clean On Monday, time will be spent reviewing for final exams. Send healthy snacks for your child to enjoy in between final exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please ensure that scholars bring backpacks all week, since they will have books and belongings to take home each day. I am so proud for the tenacity of our 5th grade scholars as they have developed an appetite for great books. Thank you for sharing your children with us this year! I look forward to seeing you at the Promotion Ceremony. For more specific details about promotion, you may cut and paste the following link to your browser. http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1121867127686&ca=55f3d183-1543-4e39-9c3c-48cd9823d7e7 Have a great week! Warm regards, Mrs. Baird
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"True worth is in being, not seeming, in doing each day that goes by, some little good - not in dreaming of great things to do by and by." - Alice Cary, Nobility
This week we will be reviewing concepts covered throughout this year to prepare for the final exam. Scholars received a study guide on Monday with which they should identify areas where further study is needed. Homework will serve as extra practice for these reviews. On Friday, students will recite Nobility, by Alice Cary, our final recitation of the year. Please note the finals schedule for next week: Monday - Full Day of Regular Classes Tuesday - Grammar & Science (Full Day) Wednesday - Math & History (Half Day) - Graduation Rehearsal & Ceremony Thursday - Awards Breakfast (Half Day) Also, I want to express our gratitude for the sweet gifts, flowers and food that you have all sent in this week. As a working mom I know all that goes into these acts of kindness, and for that I am thankful. Warm regards, Mrs. Baird Hello, This week will be busy with extracurricular activities for ACTE. The 5th grade concert will be held on Thursday evening, and students should arrive at 5:15 at the King of Kings Church facility for a 6PM performance time. Students are required to wear concert attire as listed in the Family Handbook, which is black pants or skirts, dress shoes and white tops. There will be no homework on the night of the concert. For A Wrinkle in Time, students will have the following reading assignments... Monday - Chapter 8 Tuesday - Chapter 9, pages 159-169 Wednesday - Chapter 9, pages 170-179 Thursday - No Homework Friday - Chapter 10 In regards to Writing and Grammar, we will be reviewing diagramming skills and adding to previously learned knowledge by joining dependent clauses to the diagram structure. We will also be having discussion on the plot, theme, setting and characters of a short story in order to familiarize students with these literary terms. Some homework may involve practice diagramming and labeling of sentence types. One final poem will be assigned for memorization, to be recited on Friday, May 19th. The poem is "Nobility", by Alice Cary. Warm regards, Mrs. Baird Thursday, 5/11 - 4th & 5th Grade Concert Friday, 5/12 - Arts Walk Dear Parents, Please note the following dates in your calendars regarding 5th Grade Promotion events. Both the rehearsal and ceremony will take place on Wednesday, May 24th. Rehearsal - 12:45 pm - 2:00 pm at Trivium Prep 5th grade students will meet in the Trivium Prep gym from 12:45-2:00pm to rehearse for 5th grade promotion. Parents may drop students off / pick them up from the gym entrance at Trivium Prep, 2001 N. Bullard Ave, Goodyear, AZ 85395. Ceremony - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm 5th grade students and families from Archway Trivium East and Archway Trivium West will join together to celebrate their promotion to 6th grade. Students should dress according to the semi-formal dress code listed in the Family handbook. This will be an evening event at the Trivium Prep campus, 2001 N. Bullard Ave, Goodyear, Arizona, 85395. More information coming soon. Semi-Formal Dress Code for Promotion Ceremony The semi‐formal dress code for young men is: dress slacks (no jeans or patched pocket pants), a collared dress shirt, dark socks, dress shoes (no sneakers or sandals). No dyed hair or hats. Hair should be trimmed appropriately. The semi‐formal dress code for young women is: modest‐length skirts or dresses (no shorter than the uniform skirt), or appropriately fitting dress slacks. Bare midriffs and cutouts are not acceptable. Modestly‐cut sleeveless tops and dresses are allowed. Girls may not wear strapless, spaghetti‐strap, or tank tops. Girls should wear dress shoes. No flip‐flops. No dyed hair. We are all looking forward to this time of celebration together! Warm regards, Lisa Baird "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." - Cicero
Hello, I want to express a heartfelt thank you for the kindness of the birthday greetings, cards and gifts. My heart was warmed by it all! Thank you, again, for making it a special day. We will start the week off "giving to Caesar what is Caesar's" as we complete two standardized tests in both Reading and Math. Scholars will have a 30 minute break between tests to enjoy a healthy snack brought from home and exercise outside in the courtyard. The afternoon will include regular instruction. Students will have 10 Spalding words this week, and review sentence diagramming and parts of speech in Grammar. Each student will be loaned a classroom copy of A Wrinkle in Time, which will be our final selection for reading in Literature. If you prefer to purchase the text for your child, please purchase ISBN# 9780312367541 so that he/she is able to easily reference page numbers and homework assignments. This week students will be assigned Chapters 1 & 2, with Chapter 3 for weekend reading. Although the chapters span more page numbers, the print is larger so I expect the reading to be about 20-30 minutes per night depending on the child. We will incorporate some writing assignments into this unit, as students learn to write about the literature they read. Warm regards, Mrs. Baird Dates to note: Monday, 4/24 - AZ Merit, Math 1 & Reading 1 Tuesday, 4/25 - AZ Merit, Math 2 & Reading 2 Friday, 5/5 - Half Day, Noon Release (Teacher In-Service) Thursday, 5/11 - 4th & 5th Grade Concert Friday, 5/12 - Arts Walk "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
- Abraham Lincoln Monday morning will start with the AZ Merit Writing assessment. Students have grown in their confidence as writers this quarter and should be excited to show off their new skills during this testing time. Please ensure that students eat breakfast and are well rested for test days. Snacks should be reasonable and healthy to suit the individual needs of your child. We will wrap up our unit on Across Five Aprils with a seminar discussion on Tuesday and a end of book assessment on Thursday. After AZ Merit testing is over next week, we will begin reading A Wrinkle in Time, which students will receive a classroom copy of to read. Focus will be placed on reading comprehension through asking questions out loud, and review of literary elements and devices used in literature and poetry. Scholars will receive a copy of The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln's famous speech, for memorization and recitation. Have a great week! Mrs. Baird Dates to note: Monday, 4/24 - AZ Merit, Math 1 & Reading 1 Tuesday, 4/25 - AZ Merit, Math 2 & Reading 2 "But on the last Sunday of that April, a Sunday of sunlight and bright sky, Jethro lay in the grass on Walnut Hill, and rage mingled with the grief in his heart." - Across Five Aprils, pg. 184
Hello, Throughout the reading of Across Five Aprils, in conjunction with the History unit on the Civil War, scholars have posed interesting questions regarding events of that time. What happened to deserters who had already been jailed for deserting their post when Lincoln offered mercy to those who would return? What happened to those who refused to return? The historical accuracy with which Irene Hunt wrote the novel has increased a sense of wonder and inquiry inside of students, and continues to motivate them to higher levels of learning. Although we will finish the novel this week, I hope that students will continue to pursue great books that answer some questions and provoke new ones. The reading assignments for this week: Monday - pages 174-181, which is half of Chp. 12 Tuesday - pages 182-190 (end of novel) and comprehension questions Wednesday - discussion and book review Thurdsay - no homework In order to prepare for AzMerit testing next week, time will be spent in class review a practice prompt, developing an outline, and writing paragraphs to be typed into computers. On Thursday, we will travel to the Valley Youth Theater to watch a musical production of The Secret Garden. Buses will depart at 8:30 and return to campus around 1:30. Students should bring a sack lunch and water bottle, as we will enjoy a picnic lunch at Indian Steele Park after the performance. Students should arrive at the usual school hour and can be picked up at regular pick up time. Please be mindful that AzMerit testing begins for 5th grade students next week, and send us well fed and well rested scholars each day. Also, please avoid dental and doctor appointments during school hours during test days. Warm regards, Mrs. Baird 04/13 - Field Trip to Valley Youth Theater 04/14 - Day of Leisure! No School 04/18-04/27 - AZ Merit Testing (do not schedule dental or doctor appointments these days) "April hath put a spirit of youth in everything." - William Shakespeare
Hello, This week our main focus will be on writing and comprehension. Students will be completing rough drafts of paragraphs and adding a conclusion and an introduction for practice of a 5 paragraph essay. I have been impressed with how students' writing has improved in terms of sentence complexity as they use the stylistic techniques suggested in class, which include who-which clauses, -ly adverbs, quality adjectives, strong verbs, clausal openers, and topic-clincher rule. These techniques are presented thoroughly in the Fix-it! Grammar books used in class, and students should be able to continue this practice throughout the summer months. In Literature, comprehension practice should include occasional questions for students to answer to prove understanding of reading. If you notice that your child is scoring poorly on these assignments, a good practice is to have them look up missed answers and include the page number where the correct answer is found. Across Five Aprils reading assignments for this week are as follows...
On Friday, we will join the Archway Trivium West students for Field Day. As stated in previous communication, please plan on dropping your child at the Prep Campus by 8:00 a.m. that morning. We will be enjoying a social stroll back to campus after activities conclude, and will return to the East campus around noon. Students can be picked up at the usual release time. We will communicate shirt colors for students as soon as we receive that information. Have a great week! Warmly, Mrs. Baird 04/07 - Field Day at Prep campus (details communicated via email from ACTE) 04/13 - Field Trip to Valley Youth Theater 04/14 - Day of Leisure! No School 04/18-04/27 - AZ Merit Testing (do not schedule dental or doctor appointments these days) "Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing." - Thomas Edison Hello, This week we will continue to read and discuss Across Five Aprils, pacing about 10 pages of reading each night. The reading schedule will be as follows... Monday - Half of Chapter 5; pages 65-77 (stopping after "close upon Wortman's heels") Tuesday - Finish Chapter 5; pages 77-89 Wednesday - Half of Chapter 6; pages 90-99 (stopping after "satisfaction of his new learning.") Thursday - Finish Chapter 6; pages 99-107 Friday/ Weekend Reading - Chapter 7 We will continue to work on solid paragraph formation and sentence structure through note-taking with keyword outlines and summary practice. Scholars will be then be using these paragraphs to create an essay with an introduction and conclusion. In order to prepare students to take the AZ Merit tests, April 18-27, we will be spending time orienting scholars to the computers and navigating through a practice test. Also, students will be typing up summaries written in class for typing practice. "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" recitations will take place on Friday or earlier for students who are prepared. Please note that Field Day will be held on Friday, April 7th, at the Trivium Prep campus, which means that scholars will need to be dropped off at the Bullard & McDowell campus on that day. More details will follow via email in the days to come. Our second 5th grade field trip will take place on Thursday, April 13th, when we will venture to the Valley Youth Theater to watch a musical presentation of The Secret Garden. I already have listed some chaperones from the overflow of volunteers from the previous field trip, but if you did not have an opportunity to chaperone last time and would like to be considered for a chaperone on this trip, please notify me via email. All chaperones must have current fingerprint clearance on file in the front office. More details about this field trip will be sent via email later this week. Thanks for sharing your children with us each day! Warmly, Mrs. Baird Important Dates: 03/31 - Half Day, Noon Release (no lunch served, bring snack) 04/07 - Field Day at Prep campus (more details coming) 04/13 - Field Trip to Valley Youth Theater (more details coming) 04/14 - Day of Leisure! No School 04/18-04/27 - AZ Merit Testing (do not schedule dental or doctor appointments these days) “It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want—oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
- Mark Twain Welcome back! This week we will begin reading Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. Most students confirmed that this book is already in their locker, but please ensure that your child brings the book if it is stored at home. The ISBN# for the book is 9780425102411. Reading from the same edition of the book is important as we reference page numbers when discussing and for daily reading assignments. Nightly reading assignments will be about 10 pages, so longer chapters will be divided up. This novel fits nicely during our History unit about the events of the Civil War. Students are also memorizing a poem that alludes to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, "O, Captain! My Captain!" Scholars should have the first stanza memorized, and should be working on the second stanza this week. We will continue syllabicating 20 Spalding words each week this quarter. If you notice that your student has not mastered the Spalding phonograms, which would be evident on weekly assessments sent home, please incorporate 10 minutes of phonogram review as part of nightly homework. This will support your child in both spelling and reading fluency. In Writing and Grammar, we will continue to work through the Nose Tree fable in Fix-it! Grammar as a daily review of parts of speech. We will also continue to practice developing outlines from science and history articles that will be used to draft well-planned paragraphs, while implementing stylistic techniques learned in class. Warm regards, Mrs. Baird |
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Mrs. Baird Archives
February 2017
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