January 26-30, 2015

General Announcements:
·      Tomorrow- Tuesday, January 27th and Thursday, January 29th, students will take their mid-year Global Scholar assessment. This assessment will measure growth of the students since the beginning of the year.  We are looking at growth specifically in the areas of Math and Reading.  These assessments will be taken in the morning. 
 Students need to have CHARGED CHROMEBOOKS and EARBUDS/Headphones for these assessments.  Thank you so much!
 ·            Brock’s Gap Parent Academy/PTO is tomorrow night, ( January 27th).  PTO will begin at 6:00 with Parent Academy Sessions from 6:30-7:30 P.M. Childcare will be provided in the cafeteria.  Parent Academy Sessions will include leadership opportunities for students, technology in the school and at home, and math in today’s schools. We hope to see you!

• The Voyagers are looking forward to going on our field trip to the American Village next Wednesday, February 4th!  The cost for students is $13.00. This fee can still be paid online at www.myschoolfees.com.  Any chaperone that wishes to attend is welcome to join us.  You will need to meet us there or follow the buses. The cost for chaperones is $9.00. This fee also can be paid on www.myschoolfees.com. The payment for this trip was due today, however it is not too late to still pay tonight or to send payment tomorrow! 

·        Heart Grams will be sold by the Student Council beginning Feb. 6 and ending Feb. 12.  They will sell them in the lobby of Brock’s Gap beginning at 7:30 each morning.  These heart grams can be given by students to other students at our school.  This is a fundraiser for our student council.  The cost will be $1.00 for each heart gram, and they are asking for dollars rather than coins. 
·        Our ACT Aspire testing dates have been announced.  The dates are April 7th through April 10th.  Please mark these on your calendar and avoid scheduling appointments, if at all possible. 
·        Please see the following link to see the Brock’s Gap eNews: Brock's Gap eNews
Important BGIS Dates for this Week
Monday, 1/26 American Village Field trip money due!
Tuesday, 1/27:  GLOBAL SCHOLAR READING TEST
 Tuesday, 1/27:  Parent Academy/PTO (6:00- PTO; 6:30 - Parent Academy)
 Wednesday, 1/28:  First Priority at 7:30 a.m. 
Wednesday, 1/28:  Lego-Robotics (check your child’s schedule for his or her day)
Thursday, 1/29: GLOBAL SCHOLAR MATH TEST 
Important Academic Dates:
·        Wednesday, January 28th:  Social Studies American Revolution Test 
·        Thursday, January 29th: Spelling  List 7 Activities due
·        Friday, January 30th: Reading Log and IXL Grammar due; Spelling Test
·       Friday, January 30th:  Math Computation Quiz (including Comparing Ordering Fractions) 
·        Monday, February 2nd:  Math IXL Due 
Tuesday, February 3rd, Science Test- Earth Science 
Wednesday, February 4th: American Village Field Trip 
Curriculum News: Math: Topics of Study –  We began addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators today.   We will have Math computation as well as IXL this week.There will be a math computation quiz on Friday. This will also include some questions on equivalent fractions as well as comparing and ordering fractions. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Ponder with any questions at sponder@hoover.k12.al.us.
Science: Topics of Study – This week we are continuing to learn more about Technology used in Space (past, present, and future). Students were assigned a Space Technology Menu of activities.  Students are using their Chromebooks to research and learn about the different types of technology used to investigate space. Students have a list of activities which they may choose to complete. The activities they select should equal 60 points. I have not given a due date yet. We are doing most of this work in class. If students are not done by this Friday, I will evaluated how much more time may be needed. We are also discussing the effects of gravitational force on Earth, the Moon, and within space. It is my plan to have a Science test next week.  
Language Arts: Topics of Study–This is a Writing/Spelling week. We will continue our Informative Writing unit from last week and begin writing our drafts. Spelling words for the week are from the root word PORT. Spelling words are:   deport, export,import, portable, portage, porter, portfolio, report, support, transport. 
Spelling test on Friday, Jan., 30th. 
Social Studies: Topics of Study–   We will complete our study of the 
American Revolution with a test on Wednesday.  We will then begin our study of the Constitution.  We will begin our study with the Articles of Confederation.

We hope everyone has a great week!

January 19th-23rd

• We are excited that the Voyagers will be going to American Village!  You should have received a letter in your child’s take home folder last week about this trip.  We will be going on Wednesday, February 4th.  The cost for students is $13.00. This fee can be paid on www.myschoolfees.com.  Any chaperone that wishes to attend is welcome to join us.  We will have you meet us there so that we have ample space for our students on the bus.  The cost for chaperones is $9.00.  This fee also can be paid on www.myschoolfees.com.  The payment for this trip is due by Monday, January 26th.  If you are interested in chaperoning this trip, please contact your homeroom teacher.  This will be a wonderful day!
• Valentine Grams will be sold by the Student Council beginning Feb. 2 and ending Feb. 9.  They will sell them in the lobby of Brock’s Gap beginning at 7:30 each morning.  The grams can be given by students to other students at our school.  This is a fundraiser for our student council.  The cost will be $1.00 for each heart gram, and they are asking for dollars rather than coins.
•  On Tuesday, January 27th and Thursday, January 29th, students will take their mid-year Global Scholar assessment. This assessment will measure growth of the students since the beginning of the year.  We are looking at growth specifically in the areas of Math and Reading.  These assessments will be taken in the morning.  Please, if at all possible, be sure to have your child here on time on these mornings as well as making sure that they have eaten a good breakfast on these mornings.  Thank you so much!
• Our ACT Aspire test dates have been announced for 5th grade.  We will be taking these state assessments beginning the Tuesday after Spring Break.  They will continue throughout this week.  The dates are April 7th-April 10th.  Please mark these on your calendar and avoid appointments on these dates. Thank you!
• Please see the following link to see the Brock’s Gap eNews: Brock's Gap eNews

 Important BGIS Dates for This Week

• Wednesday, 1/21:  First Priority at 7:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, 1/21:  Lego-Robotics (check your child’s schedule for his or her day)

 Important Academic Dates for This Week

• Friday, January 22nd:  Math Comparing and Ordering Fractions Menu due 

• Friday, January 23rd-Reading Log and IXL Grammar due; IXL Math due

 Upcoming Important Dates

• Monday, January 26th:  American Village Field Trip Money Due
• Tuesday, January 27th:  Global Scholar Testing (Reading)
• Wednesday, January 28th:  Social Studies Test on Revolutionary War
• Thursday, January 29th:  Global Scholar Testing (Math)
• Wednesday, February 4th:  American Village Field Trip
• Tuesday, April 7-Friday, April 10:  ACT Aspire Testing (more info to come)

 Curriculum News:

Math: Topics of Study –  We are deep into our study of fractions!  We are working on comparing and ordering fractions, finding equivalent fractions, and recognizing unit fractions in relation to their placement on the number line.  All of this is building to our study of addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators.  We will not have a computation test this week because students will be completing various activities related to fractions in class.  These will be the components of our weekly grades.  We will begin addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators next week.  

Science: Topics of Study –  We are continuing our study of Space this week.  We will focus on the relative size and distances of the planets and technology used to explore space.  NASA has a very cool free program you can download called Eyes on NASA.  It is fun way to learn about our solar system, planet Earth, & planets orbiting other stars.  Here is a link: http://eyes.nasa.gov/

Language Arts: Topics of Study – This is a Writing/Spelling week, however, we will not have Spelling this week due to a shortened week. We will add Spelling words next week. We will begin our Unit on Informational Writing and we will be working on Informational Writing over the next couple of weeks. No tests for this week.

 Social Studies: Topics of Study –   We will be focusing on the people that impacted the Revolutionary War.  A study guide came home today on Causes of the Revolution, Battles of the Revolution and Important People of the Revolution. Our test on this unit will be January 28th.

                   We hope everyone has a great week!

January 12th-16th, 2015

General Announcements:

• We have recently welcomed two new students to Brock's Gap. Yuvi came to BGIS in December from Wisconsin, and Madelyn moved from Enterprise, AL and started BGIS last week. They are both in Mrs. Watson's homeroom. We are so happy to have them as part of our community at Brock's Gap! We also want to welcome "back" Argelia! We are so glad she was able to rejoin our team; She is in Mrs. Ponder's homeroom.
• Please make sure to pay the American Village field trip fee by January 26th at https://secure2.myschoolfees.com.  The cost is $13.oo for students and $9.00 for chaperones.
• To commemorate the "Snowmageddon" 2014 we are offering a special T-shirt. Orders for the "Snowmageddon" t-shirts are due this Friday.
• We are in desperate need of pencils. Please replenish your child's pencils, eraser caps, and glue sticks. Mrs. Ponder is down to her last box of pencils this week! THANK YOU!!!  

Important BGIS Dates:

• 1-13: SCA meeting in health room (7:30)
• 1-13 and 1-15: After school tutoring
• 1-14: First Priority meeting in choir room (7:30)
• 1-14: Lego Robotics Group B (3:00-4:30)
• 1-19: No School (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday)- schools & offices closed
• February 4th, 2015- American Village Field Trip

Upcoming Important Dates:

Curriculum News:

Math: Topics of Study –  We are currently involved in our Fraction Unit of Study. We are learning how to find equivalent fractions and ordering/comparing fractions. This Unit will eventually involve adding/subtracting fractions and multiplying/dividing fractions.  

A new IXL Math Contract came home today and is due no later than next Tuesday, January 20th. A new Math Computation Homework came home today. Math Boxes from the Math Computation are due daily this week.  

Our rescheduled Math Computation TEST is tomorrow!

Science: Topics of Study – We finished up our Human Body Unit last Friday. Today we began our Earth/Space Science Unit. We will be investigating the many different types of technology used to study planets including telescopes, space probes, piloted and unmanned space vehicles (spacecraft), space probes, etc. This is always a very fascinating unit for 5th graders! There won't be any tests or quizzes this week. Grades will be taken on activities done in class.

Language Arts: Topics of Study -This is a Reading week, however, we will be focusing on the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more text using chronology, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, and description.

The test this week will be on text structure of text rather than a story. It is also Word Wizard Week, but students will not have a vocabulary test and we will just review past vocabulary words.

Social Studies: Topics of Study – We will be studying battles of the American Revolution this week, including the location of the battle, generals on both sides of the battle, and outcomes of the battles. A study guide will come home later this week so the students can study for the American Revolution test. This test will include: Causes of the Revolution, Battles of the Revolution and Important People during the Revolution.   

                                  

We hope everyone has a great week!
Sheryl Ponder and Stephanie Watson