Week of 11/24 Newsletter

Hello Families,
I hope you are all well! Please remember that there is no school Wednesday-Friday this week for Thanksgiving.

This week we are working on solving word problems (and they are CHALLENGING)! Please see below the steps that I'd like your child to follow when working on the problems.

Please mark your calendars for the following dates:

Homework Club: Thursday, December 4th & December 11 from 2:50-3:30PM
Holiday Night: Wednesday, December 10 at 6:00PM
Banana Slug String Quartet, December 16 at 11:15AM
Holiday Sing, December 18 at 11AM

Wishing you all a very happy holiday!

Warmly,
Mrs. Honig

Week of 11/17 Newsletter

Hello Families,

Wow! I am so proud of the fabulous work your children put in to create such amazing visual presentations for their Native American Tribe projects! Check out the photos below of the dioramas and drawings. For those who created Minecraft villages - what an awesome way to use technology to show what you've learned! Well done! I will be sending home your child's report later this week, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Conferences will continue this week so please remember that students will be dismissed at 12:35 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and 2:50 dismissal on Thursday and Friday. If you haven't signed up for a conference, please contact me IMMEDIATELY. I'm looking forward to meeting with you if we haven't already and thanks to those I've met with so far. It is such a wonderful time to share your child's strengths and academic progress.

What we're learning:
Math: Multi- Digit Multiplication and Long Division (I'll be sending home a copy of the notes for your reference)
ELA: Elements of an Informative Essay
Social Sciences: Early European Explorers and the Columbian Exchange
4th Grade Science: Food Webs and Food Chains in the Monterey Bay
5th Grade Science: Mixtures and Solutions

Please mark your calendars:
Thursday, November 20: Homework Club from 2:50-3:30 - all students are welcomed
Wednesday-Friday, November 26-28: No School for the Thanksgiving Holiday

Enjoy the photos below and thank you again for all of your support both at home and in class! If you have any questions or comments, please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Best,
Mrs. Honig

KWL Explorers

Click below to add to our KWL Board:

CLICK HERE

Directions for the Native American Report Visual Presentation

Here are the directions for the Visual Presentation for the Native American Report

Recreate a game and teach it to the class, or create a diorama 

(here's an example)

or make a poster 

showing at least 5 examples from your report (food, clothing, shelter, ceremonies, environment, etc.). 

You may create a Minecraft village accurately showing examples of the environment, methods of survival & shelter.

It is up to the student to decide what to do 

but it must be turned in on Wednesday, 11/13/14.

Here's an example of a Mission Project I saw that inspired me to allow Minecraft to be an option.

Week of 11/3 Newsletter

Dear 4th and 5th Grade Families,

Wow! What a week last week! The kids did AMAZING job on their play and thank you again to all of the parents who helped with the whole process. We could not have done it without you (and Micha!). And Halloween was so much fun! Thanks for the wonderful lunch, treats and crafts! We really enjoyed ourselves - in spite of the weather.

Now that we are back to our regular schedule, we will begin planning for fall conferences. Please visit this link to sign up for your 20-25 minute meeting. I would like the students to attend as well, so please choose a time that works for all of you. I will confirm your times by this Friday, so please take a look at your calendar as soon as possible and sign up for a time.

Social Sciences/Writing:
Students are just about finished with their Native American Tribe Reports and will be expected to create an additional visual item for their presentations (scheduled for next week). The instructions will go home with them on Monday, 11/3, so please take a look to plan ahead. The projects will be due on Wednesday, 11/12.

Math
4th Graders will be learning about the 4 operations of whole numbers, using numbers into the thousands to add and subtract and reviewing multiplication and division in preparation for using larger numbers.

5th Graders will apply what they learned about exponents and order of operations to solve complex expressions using parentheses.

Science
4th Graders will continue to learn about Food Webs and Food Chains and the various elements that make up an ecosystem.

5th Graders will also continue learning about mixtures and solutions.


We appreciate your support both in the classroom and at home! Please feel free to contact me via email at rhonig@mountainesd.org if you have any questions or concerns. Again, I look forward to meeting with you during the conference to discuss your child's academic progress!

Best,

Mrs. Honig

Week of 10/27 Newsletter

Dear Families,

I hope this letter finds you well! We are so grateful that the rain gave way for a beautiful Harvest Festival. Our play is this week so please read the list below to be sure your child is ready for the big performance. And, Halloween is Friday!

Play Checklist:

• Practice lines, cues, songs
• Bring pants to school for the performances
• Get lots of rest before Wednesday
• Plan for the school-wide performance at 11 AM Wednesday
• Arrive at 6:40 on Wednesday to prepare for the 7PM performance

Halloween:

• Halloween Parade is at 8:45AM. Please feel free to join us for the festivities in the morning.
• If your child chooses to come to school in a costume that may be uncomfortable or makes it difficult to sit at his/her desk, please be sure to send clothes to change into for participation in our regular class schedule for the remainder of the day.
• Please remind your child that violent or gory costumes are not permitted - nor are weapon accessories.
• Our Cast & Halloween Party will be after lunch on Friday. If you haven't already signed up for a snack please check in with Amanda Connors.

Thank you for all of your help and cooperation through this play process! It will be fun to celebrate your child's success on Friday.

If you haven't bookmarked our class calendar, please check it out here to find out about the upcoming restructured days, holidays and Homework Club schedule.

Best,

Mrs. Honig

Week of 10/20 Newsletter

Hello 4th & 5th Grade Families,

I hope this letter finds you well! We are in play-mode FULL SWING! So this week, homework will be math and reading so that your child can spend time practicing lines and singing the songs. Please work with your child to practice their cues and speaking their lines with volume and expression! We are gathering costumes this week as well as working on the set. Unless I contact you this week, your child has a costume already. We are looking forward to our performances, Wednesday, 10/29!

I hope you have all had a chance to check out your child's progress on Jupiter Grades. The purpose of giving you access is to allow you and your child to monitor assignments as they get turned in. If you have any questions about it, please email me.

Study Hall & Homework Club:
If your child earns less than 80% on any math test, he or she has the opportunity to improve upon their grade by coming to Study Hall (Thursday at lunch). I will also be available on most Thursdays after school for Homework Club when your child can stay after school until 3:30 to work on homework in preparation for Friday's quiz. Please check our classroom calendar to see when we will meet.

Thank you so much for all of your support at home and in class! We couldn't do it without you! If you have any questions or concerns, please email me and I will respond within 48 hours - unless it's on the weekends.

Best,

Mrs. Honig

Week of 10/13 Newsletter

Hello 4th and 5th Grade Families,

I hope this letter finds you all well! I want to thank you for your help with the play! We will continue with rehearsals this week. I have sent home a script and CD with your child to practice lines and songs. Please make a point to practice every night with your child. Our play is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29, 2014.

We have launched a few technological practices in our classroom that I'd like to introduce you to.

mountainesd.typingclub.com
A website to help your child learn to type accurately. Every child had an account where their progress is tracked. If you are interested in checking it out at home, please check it out at mountainesd.typingclub.com.

www.discoveryeducation.com
Another is Discovery Education "Techbooks". This is a great resource that students can use independently to learn about Social Studies and Science topics. I can assign chapters and videos for your child to read and watch and there is even a feature for the text to be read to the students. There are some interactive features to reinforce learning. Students can also create "Boards" to summarize the reading.
Your child will bring home his/her login information, for both sites, on Monday.

www.jupitergrades.com/login
I use an online grading system called Jupiter Grades. I keep record of assignments, grades and a running record of your child's progress on this site. It is secure, and I would like you to be able to view your child's account, so I have included directions for parent access in your Monday Folder. I strive to be up to date on grades each week, so don't panic if you don't see certain assignments, immediately.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org, I try to respond within 48 hours unless it's the weekend.

Best,
Mrs. Honig

Week of 10/6 Newsletter

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Families,

Well, it sounds like the kids had a BLAST on their trip to Coloma! Thanks to ALL of the families that helped by chaperoning, gathering supplies, and helping kids prepare. What a wonderful learning experience for the students! While there, the students created bandanas to remember their experience and we would love to display them before sending them home. If anyone is willing to iron them to set the ink for us, please let me know!

We are beginning our play this week! It is called "Great Americans of the 20th Century". Thanks to the Parents' Club, we will begin working with Micha as well! Enclosed in the Monday Folder, there is a Volunteer Sign-up Sheet for any parent or guardian who is able to help out with the rehearsals and set. Please fill it out and return it by this Thursday.

The Drive for Schools has begun! You will find all of the information needed in your child's Monday folder. For more details, please visit this website.


What We're Learning:

Math: Students will be expected to explain what a factor and multiple is, as well as the difference between Prime & Composite Numbers. 5th Graders will extend this concept with Prime Factorization. It is IMPERATIVE that your child practice multiplication facts on a daily basis to memorize the facts from zeros to twelves. This will help them immensely with fractions and more complicated computation with larger numbers.

Social Sciences & ELA: Students will continue their novel study on The Sign of the Beaver focusing on inference, a character study as well as looking for figurative language and complex sentences.

Science: 4th Graders will begin a unit on Ecosystems. 5th Graders will continue with Mixtures & Solutions.

Thank you so much for all of your support both in the classroom and at home. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via email: rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Week of 9/22 Newsletter

Hello 4th & 5th Grade Families,

I hope this note finds you well! We have a busy week coming up!

Jog-a-thon:
Tuesday, 9/23 at 9AM. Hopefully your child worked on getting pledges over the weekend!

Back-to-School Night:
Wednesday, 9/24 5:30PM. Please meet in our classroom for my presentation about the curriculum that will be covered this year! I'm excited to see you there!

Coloma October 1-3, 2014:
Chaperone Meeting: immediately following our Back-to-School Night meeting, at 6-7PM. If you have not already confirmed with me that you plan to chaperone, please do so immediately - there is a form on our class website under the Field Trips page.
Payment & Permission Slips: Payment and permission slips are due THIS WEDNESDAY so please be sure to send that in to the front office.
Comfort Clues & Behavior agreement: This was sent home with your packing list and information packet at the first meeting regarding Coloma. Please be sure to send it in by the end of the week.
We will be organizing groups and cabins this week, and finalizing the itinerary, which will all be available to you next week.

Matsiko Children's Choir: Friday, 9/24 10:30AM. We are so excited to have the choir back this year! The children will sing and dance and share about their program with our school. They are a choir of 18 orphaned and at risk children from Liberia and Peru touring the US for a year bringing awareness to the importance of education.

August & September Birthday Celebration
We will be celebrating ALL of the August and September birthdays after lunch with a little treat! If your child had a birthday in September or August, please contact me regarding bringing in a little snack.

What we're learning:
Math: Factors & Multiples - check out your child's notes about the concept. It heavily relies on know multiplication and division facts from 0-12 so please work with your child daily.
Social Sciences/Writing: Students are researching a Native American Tribe (with books and online) and writing a research report about it. We will be focusing on formulating informative paragraphs with sentence variety, as well as revising for better word choice. We're looking forward to sharing them with you when they're finished!
Science: 4th Graders are continuing to learn about environments and ecosystems. They've been growing several plants - ask your child about it!
5th Graders are continuing to learn about mixtures and solutions.

Thanks for your help both in class and at home! If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me via email: rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Warmly,
Mrs. Honig

Week of 9/15/2014

Hello 4th & 5th Grade families,

I hope this letter finds you well! We had a fabulous field trip on Friday to Golden State Bulb Growers and you'll see a few photos on Sunday's post. We all learned a lot about how they pollinate flowers without bees, hybridization of plants and how the flower industry works! Thanks to the Brown family for the awesome tour and beautiful bouquets of yellow calla lilies! 

Unfortunately, I have a surgery that was just scheduled for this Wednesday. That means I will have to reschedule my Back-to-School Night presentation for Wednesday, 9/24 at 5:30PM. At that time, I will be sharing with you information about our classroom, what we'll be learning about this year and how you can get involved! I'm looking forward to seeing you all there. If you cannot make it, I will have information packets available to pick up on 9/17 in the front office.

The Jog-a-thon is coming up, Tuesday, September 23, 2014! Envelopes went home last Monday. Mountain Elementary School Arts & Music program is very dependent on fundraisers like the Jog-a-thon, so please work with your child to gather his/her sponsors!

Our next field trip will be to Coloma on October 1-3, 2014. If you have not already received the parent information packet about the trip, you will find some information on our website under the Field Trips page.

Math:
This week we will be learning how to "Approximate & Estimate" and round large numbers. Your child will have "Friendly Notes" in his/her blue math binder that explains the process & purpose.

Science:
4th Grade: Students planted several different types of seeds and will be studying how they grow and determine the "optimal" environmental factors for each plant.
5th Grade: Students are learning about mixtures and solutions.

ELA & Social Sciences:
We will begin reading our first novel as a class, The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare. It ties in well with learning about Native Americans and the cultural regions of the US. Students will also begin to research about a selected Native American tribe for a report.

Thank you for your support at home with homework and in our classroom! If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Best,
Mrs. Honig

Field trip to Golden State Bulb Growers

Here are a few photos from our field trip. Thanks again to the Brown family for the tour! We learned so much from the experience!

Week of 9/8 Newsletter

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Families,

I hope this note finds you well! Thanks for sending in your contact information last week! We are continuing to work on organizational and study skills which includes nightly homework. I really appreciate your support with homework folders and homework assignments last week! This week the students will be bringing home Homework Planners, with their math binders and homework folders. I’d like you to sit down with your child on Monday night to make a note of any after school activities he/she will have this week. It will be a way that we can plan ahead for the week when I assign nightly assignments. There will be more information about homework procedures and organizational tools at Back-to-School Night next Wednesday.

What we’ll be learning this week:

Math: Place value with whole numbers to the millions (4th graders), billions (5th graders). You will see “Friendly Notes” in your child’s math binder that explains the concept and vocabulary terms.

Social Sciences: Early civilizations of North America in preparation for a research project about a Native American tribe. You can find the vocabulary terms online in the Homework Links page of our class website.

Language Arts: I will be introducing prepositions, and reviewing paragraph writing. We will also begin our first novel study of The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare.

Science: Environments (4th graders), Mixtures & Solutions (5th graders)

Important Dates:

• Wednesday, 9/10, 6-7PM - Coloma Information Meeting - for parents only, in Room 16 - Maria Fahrner and I will share information about our upcoming trip to Coloma (October 1-3).
• Friday, 9/12, 9:45AM-2PM - Field Trip to Golden State Bulb Growers - a green permission slip was sent home on Friday with your child. Please fill it out and send it back in ASAP. If you plan to drive, please be sure to submit the necessary paperwork to Sharon in the front office.
• Wednesday, 9/17, 7-8PM (6:30PM for New Mountain Families) - Back-to-School Night - I’ll be holding 2 presentations about my plan for the school year - 7PM & 7:30PM. Adults only please.

Thank you for your continued support at home and in the classroom! If you have questions or concerns, please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org.

Warmly,

Mrs. Honig

Week of 9/2 Newsletter

9/2/2014

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Families,

Wow! We had a fantastic first week of school! I’m looking so forward to the school year with your children. We have lots of new and exciting additions to the staff this year at Mountain School! Firstly, I am excited to tell you that we have the fabulous support of our classroom aide from 8:30-noon every day, Shauna Sutton! She & I will be working together to establish a learning environment that promotes creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. We’ll begin by focusing on procedures and developing organizational and study skills while introducing the theme for the year: US History. Secondly, Mrs. Fleming (see her introduction letter in the “Monday Folder”) visited our classroom on Friday and we are all very excited to start PE with her this coming Friday! Finally, the students will begin music with Ms. Conway next week when they will learn to play the ukulele! Below you will find some information about our classroom and upcoming dates to mark your calendar.

Student Supplies: If you have not already gotten binders for your child, please do so this week. We would like to be able to put them together and begin using them as soon as possible! If you need assistance getting any of the materials, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I will do my best to help in any way possible!

Nightly Homework: As you may have read last week, I will be sending home homework assignments each night that is expected to be returned the following morning, completed by the student, initialed by you. You will find a copy of the Homework Policies & Procedures on our class website: www.mountainschool4-5.blogspot.com.

Monday Folders: A clear folder will be sent home with your child on Mondays with correspondence from the office or from me. Please take a moment to look it over and return the empty folder by Thursday.

Upcoming Dates:

Coloma Parent Meeting: Wednesday, 9/10, 6-7PM - Please come to our classroom to find out about the upcoming field trip to Coloma (Oct. 1-3). At this meeting you will find out the details about the schedule, chaperones, etc.

Back-to-School Night: Wednesday, 9/17, 6:30-8PM - Adults only, please. We will have a brief introduction in the PAC room with Ms. M. and then I will hold 2 half-hour presentations about what I will be teaching this year, at 7 & 7:30.

Thanks for your time! I am most easily contacted via email at rhonig@mountainesd.org. Please see the attached page about contact information.

Best,

Mrs. Honig

Mrs. Honig’s Contact Information:

email: rhonig@mountainesd.org

phone: 475-6812 ext. 22

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me and I strive to respond within 48 hours.

Please complete the form below with your contact information. This form was also sent home in the Monday folder on 9/2.

Click here to complete the form online.

Fun Bookmarks

Here is the link to the directions for the bookmarks we made on Friday.

First week letter

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Class,

Hello! My name is Reina Honig and I am very excited to introduce myself to you as your teacher for this school year. I hope you had a nice and restful summer. I went mountain biking at Lake Tahoe and surfed in San Clemente & Cambria. I also visited Hearst Castle! I can’t wait to find out all about your summer!

I want to tell you a little about myself as we start this new school year together.  I am originally from Santa Barbara. I went to UCSB and majored in History, so you can expect some social studies lessons that I am really interested in, and I hope they’ll grab your attention too! In 2006, my husband and I went on a trip around the world and visited 10 countries. We brought our surfboards and snorkels and took hundreds of pictures. As always, I enjoyed watching the Giants games this summer and I even got to go to a game! My family is really quite large; I am the oldest of 5 kids! My sister is 34 and she has a daughter who is 7 and just started 2nd grade. My brother, who is 32, is married and they have a little girl who is quite the talker! She also has a little brother who is just learning to crawl. My younger brother works at the airport and plays the guitar and piano in a band and has a son whose birthday is the day after Christmas. My youngest brother is studying to be a police officer. He is adopted and was born in Romania. I am looking forward to finding out more about your families and interests as we work together this year!

Thanks for taking the time to read my letter. I know we are going to have a fantastic year together.

Yours truly,

Mrs. Honig

Welcome back to school!

Hello Mountain 4/5 Families,

I am so excited about the 2014-2015 school year! Below you will find a list of supplies that I'd like students to gather as we embark on the year. I will be going over all of these materials in the first week of school so they are by no means required for the first day. We have limited space in desks, so please stick to the list as closely as possible with regards to pencil boxes, drawing/writing materials, etc. I'm really looking forward to this school year and getting to know all of you!

Warmly,

Ms. Honig

4/5 Student Supplies List 

Supplies for each student

1 or 1 ½” binders: one of each color- blue, red, black 

1 spiral notebook

5 sharpened #2 pencils

2 erasers

Optional student Supplies

(please be sure each item is clearly 
labeled with your students name)

calculator

red pen/blue pen

sticky notes (one packet of 3"x3")

highlighters: green, yellow, pink, blue

pair of scissors

SMALL pencil bag or case

Optional items for the classroom

-lined binder paper

-grid/graph paper

-white board markers & cleaner

-large poster paper pads- approx. 24x36 

-sticky notes (3” x 3”)

-index cards (lined)

-colored markers (Crayola)

-colored pencils

-Dixon Ticonderoga Pencils

-Disinfecting wipes

End of the school year details

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Talent Show from 10:15-12:00PM.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Students will be bringing home their binders, etc., so please send a bag for them to carry home their belongings.

We will also be celebrating the Summer Birthdays at noon!

6th Grade Graduation begins at 5PM and the 5th/6th grade dance will follow immediately after, from 7PM-9PM.

We would like the students to enter the PAC when the doors open at 7PM. There will be snacks & beverages, music and dancing until 9PM. 

If you have not already signed up to bring a snack/beverage/dessert, please check out the sign-up sheet here.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Pancake Breakfast, 8:00-8:30AM

Kinder Commencement, 8:45 AM

School-Wide Assembly, 9:30

Softball Game 10:30-11:30

Dismissal, 12:35 - Students will be bringing home report cards.

Thanks for your support! We're looking forward to celebrating the commencement of our students!

Best,
Ms. Honig

Sample State Report

Dear students,

If you are interested in reading a sample state report. Please click on this Link.

This is just the text of a report, and there will be a completed report with all of the text features (map, flag, timeline, etc.) available in the classroom. As a class, we will put together out reports upon completion, and present them to each other before the end of the school year!

Warmly,
Ms. H

Week of June 2 Newsletter

Dear 4th & 5th Grade Families,

Wow! I cannot believe that this is our last FULL week of school! I am looking forward to keeping to our normal classroom schedule as much as possible, with the exception of science on Mondays. 

What we're learning about:
Writing:
Students will be finishing up their State Reports this week and we plan to begin presenting them on Friday afternoon! Students will also be completing a writing assessment demonstrating their ability to  write opinion essays, about a novel they've read.

ELA/Social Science:
We are finishing up reading Patty Reed's Doll. We will continue to learn about America's early history - the Civil War and into the early 1900s.

Math:
4th Graders will continue learning about Functions and Graphing on coordinate grids. There is a great video on Khan Academy - check it out if you have a chance!
5th Graders will be wrapping up a unit on geometry.

Upcoming Events:
Friday, June 6: Student Council Pizza Lunch at 12:05

Tuesday, June 10: Mountain School Talent Show begins at 10:15AM

Wednesday, June 11: Summer Birthday Celebration at 12PM and 6th Grade Graduation at 5PM; 5/6 Dance immediately following - all 5th & 6th graders are invited

Thursday, June 12: Pancake Breakfast, School Assembly 9:30AM, Softball Game & 12:35 Dismissal; LAST DAY of school!

Please let me know if you are able to help out on Wednesday, June 11 with the Summer Birthday Celebration. If you have any questions please email me at rhonig@mountainesd.org. Thank you for your support both in class and at home!

Best,
Ms. Honig