Great Study Resources Online

To help your students study the states I have heard of some great resources you might want to check try with your student.

-PBS Kids-Some of the games are a little more basic, but still might be useful.

Purpose Games:  Great way to recognize shapes on a map and even time yourself.


Your Child Learns:  This site connects the capital city with the state.


I hope this helps make studying more fun.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Mrs. King
marianne.king[at]edisoncs[dot]org

Study Helps for Upcoming 50 States Tests

Dear Parents,
I was so excited to see so many posters Monday morning.  They looked amazing! Thank you for being so supportive in helping with this project.  As we near the end of the year, we are getting closer to the 50 states and capitals test.  With our weekly seatwork we started at the beginning of the year, we review 5 states, their capitals, and where they can be found on the map every day in class.  The classes are doing great and the students have achieved mastery on several states.  I wanted to let you know the 50 states test will be on May 24th.  This way you can ensure that your student is studying a little bit every day at home as well as at school.  They will need to know what every state's capital is and where it is on the map.  To prepare, we will have full review days the week of May 24th as well as having 3 quizzes leading up to that day of all the states.  To help you know how to best prepare your student, I wanted to inform you of the following quizzes

On May 4th we will have an Eastern state quiz including the following states:
Maine
Vermont
New Hampshire
Massachussetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
West Virginia
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida

On May 11th we will have a quiz on the middle states including:
North Dakota
South Dakota
Arkansas
Iowa
Wisconsin
Ohio
Nebraska
Missouri
Minnesota
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee
Mississippi
Alabama
Louisiana

On May 18th we will have our final quiz on the Western States including:
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas
New Mexico
Arizona
Colorado
Nevada
Utah
Wyoming
Montana
Idaho
Washington
Oregon
California
Alaska
Hawaii

I hope this helps you know how to best prepare your student for the end of the year.
Thanks again for your support,
Mrs. King
marianne.king@edisoncs.org

End of Year Tests

Dear Parents,
The fifth grade will be taking end of year tests starting April 24th and ending on May 11th.  Please have your student to school on time and try to have as few absences as possible so that your student can have the full time required to complete those end of year tests.
We thank you again for your support,
Mr. Hammonds
Mrs. Brown
Mrs. King

April 9 - 13 Spelling Words (List Challenge #2)

This is a list of Spelling Words ONLY for the week of April 9 - 13 (List #Challenge 2). Please click on the "Weekly Spelling Contract" tab to view your homework options for these words.

1. eccentric

2. provincial

3. futile

4. diverse

5. benevolent

6. pious

7. arid

8. resolute

9. servile

10. acute

11. voluntary

12. anarchy

13. profuse

14. diligent

15. exemplary

Science Fair Information

The Science Fair will take place April 21st; 1:45 p.m.-2:45p.m.

Information Packet

Parents and Students,

We are very excited about our upcoming Science Fair. Projects can be done by individual students, groups of students or an entire classroom.

Our hope is that everyone will become excited about science and have a great time.

If you have any questions, please contact Brenda Ellis at Brenda.ce{at}gmail{dot}com or 760-4397, and she will try to answer any questions you may have.

Rules and Information

The K-5 Science Fair will be held on Thursday, April 21st, 2011, from 1:45 p.m. until 2:45 p.m. Each student will be responsible for setting up and taking down their project. Tables will be set up in the gym for projects to be displayed.

Any students in grades Kindergarten through fifth are eligible to enter the Science Fair.

Individual, group, and classroom projects will be accepted. You may do a project with individuals not in your grade level.

Thomas Edison will provide electrical outlets for projects, but will not provide running water, drainage or facilities for gas or compressed air. Dangerous chemicals, open flames and explosives may not be exhibited. All projects must be durable and safe. Any project deemed to be unsafe or inhumane in any way will not be displayed at the Science Fair. Live animals cannot be exhibited, but photographs are acceptable.

The project must clearly be the student’s own effort. If adult support is given, it should be acknowledged on the display.

Projects should follow the scientific method. Journals are encouraged.

One Summary of Project form must be completed and returned to your teacher by Thursday, April 14.

The second Summary of Project form must be prominently displayed with their project. Printable forms can be sent via email.

Scientific Method

There is no one scientific method, but in general it is usually written as a number of steps:

Come up with a question about the world. All scientific work begins with having a question to ask. Sometimes just coming up with the right question is the hardest part for a scientist. The question should be answerable by means of an experiment.

Create a hypothesis — one possible answer to the question. A hypothesis is a word meaning "An educated statement about how something works", and it should be able to be proven right or wrong. For example, a statement like "Blue is a better color than green" is not a scientific hypothesis. It cannot be proven right or wrong. "More people like the color blue than green" could be a scientific hypothesis, though, because one could ask many people whether they like blue more than green and come up with an answer one way or the other.

Design an experiment. If the hypothesis Is truly scientific, it should not be hard to design an experiment to test it. An experiment should be able to tell the scientist if the hypothesis is wrong; it may not tell him or her if the hypothesis is right. In the example above, an experiment might involve asking many people what their favorite colors are. Making an experiment can be very difficult though. What if the key question to ask people is not what colors they like, but what colors they dislike? How many people need to be asked? Are there ways of asking the question that could change the result in ways that were not expected? These are all the types of questions that scientists have to ask, before they make an experiment and do it. Usually scientists want to test only one thing at a time. To do this, they try to make every part of an experiment the same for every-thing, except for the thing they want to test.

Experiment and collect the data. Here the scientist tries to run the experiment they have designed before. Sometimes the scientist gets new ideas as the experiment is going on. Sometimes it is difficult to know when an experiment is finally over. Sometimes experimenting will be very difficult. Some scientists spend most of their lives learning how to do good experiments. Draw conclusions from the experiment. Sometimes results are not easy to understand. Sometimes the experiments themselves open up new questions. Sometimes results from an experiment can mean many different things.

These steps are from: here

Rubric Helps for State Reports

Oral Report Rubric

Name __________________________

State Name ________________________

Student Score______/ 50 Student Grade ______

State Name (5)Yes/No State Capital(5)Yes/No On Time(5)Yes/No

Presentation-Speak loud and clear so the entire class can hear

Stand straight and tall without fidgeting, displaying your poster

Focus eyes on the audience while presenting _______

State Motto-Explain the state motto and its meaning _______

State Nickname-Present the state nickname and its meaning _______

3 Major Symbols-Tell the meaning behind each symbol _______

State Flag- Give details about the meaning behind the state flag _______

Timeline- Tell about 5 important events on your timeline _______

Summary- Give a short summary of your state report _______

5= exceptional 47-50 =A WOW! Excellent!

4=very good 43-46 =B Great

3= good 38-42 =C Good

2= fair 34-37 =D Satisfactory

1= poor Below 34 =Report must be redone

0= not completed

State Poster Rubric

Name __________________________

State Name ________________________

Student Score______/ 100 Student Grade ______

State Name (5)Yes/No State Capital(5)Yes/No On Time(5)Yes/No

State Motto (5) Yes/No State Nickname (5) Yes/No

Neatness-No stray glue marks _______

Pictures cut out smoothly _______

Pictures are colored neatly and accurately _______

Font is readable from a distance _______

Organization- Organized in a way that is easy to follow _______

Information is displayed in categories _______

Flag- Colored Correctly _______

Description of the meaning _______

3 major symbols-

Symbol 1: Colored Correctly/Description of the Meaning _______

Symbol 2: Colored Correctly/Description of the Meaning _______

Symbol 3: Colored Correctly/Description of the Meaning _______

Map- Colored neatly _______

Paragraph- Short summary of written report _______

Correct grammar and spelling _______

Timeline- List AT LEAST 5-10 important events

*including when it became a state _______

5= exceptional 94-100 =A WOW! Excellent!

4=very good 86-93 =B Great

3= good 77-85 =C Good

2= fair 69-76 =D Satisfactory

1= poor Below 69 =Poster must be redone

0= not completed

ATT Parents! Due Dates for State Reports

ATTENTION PARENTS

Your child has just been assigned their state

for his/her state report.

Research: We will be doing the research portion at school using encyclopedias, state books, and internet resources.

Your student is more than welcome to find and use other resources to add to their research at home.

Written Report: The written report will be written and edited at school during your student’s writing class.

Poster: The poster needs to be assembled at home and brought to school to present and display in the hall.

Oral Report: The oral report will need to be compiled and prepared at home for the presentation during your student’s history class.

Due Dates: Your student may turn in their assignment on or before the following dates

• April 23rd: Written Report
• April 30th: Poster
• May 7th: Oral Report