Great Guest Speaker for Parents of GT Students

An Evening With Dr. Donna Ford

March 8, 2012

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Overland High School

12400 E. Jewell Avenue

Aurora, Co  80012

Dr. Ford will share her expertise on successful parenting practices for ALL parents with school-age children, with particular emphasis pertaining to ways to successfully parent children who are identified as gifted and advanced.

Breakout sessions after Dr. Ford’s keynote address will include topics such as:

·        Twice-Exceptional learners

·        Sharing the power of a great book read aloud

·        Using databases with your children

·        Differentiation at the elementary level

·        Cultural immersion classes

·        The arts as a universal language

·        21^st century skills

·        Perfectionism

·        Causes of underachievement

·        Playing chess with your child

·        Writing at home

·        Profiles of the gifted

·        And more!

This event is co-sponsored by:

The Offices of Gifted Education & Advanced Learning, and Excellence & Equity

No registration is required for this free event.

PTO Announcements

Can you believe it is almost March, what a whirlwind the past couple of weeks.  Remember that the kiddos will have a short week this week due to parent/teacher conferences......no school Thurs. and Friday. A BIG THANK YOU to all of the families that send in Valentines Day Goodies for the teachers, they were so happy and really wanted to thank the hospitality group and all of the families that contributed. LOST & FOUND Lost and Found is once again getting out of control.  Please check the piles during your conferences this week, the lost and found area is outside of the cafeteria. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Game Shack night/weekend last week.  We had a decent turn out for the last minute function and every little bit helps to support our school and our community businesses. Take Action Project Girl Scout troop 4558, third graders at Pine Ridge, voted on their Take Action project: to raise first aid supplies for Nurse Diane at Pine Ridge! The project will run from Monday, 2/27 thru Wednesday, March 7. The girls will place a collection box and posters in the lobby of the school Monday morning. Nurse Diane can use the following items: Band aids Chewable and liquid Tylenol and Ibuprofen Neosporin Benadryl ointment Kleenex Paper Cups With parent/teacher conferences coming up, this is the perfect time to drop a donation into the collection box. Monetary donations will be used to purchase an ear thermometer and tooth boxes. If you would like to contribute monetarily, please contact the Troop Leader, Nina Minnehan, at 720-982-6434, or ninaminnehan@msn.com. I think that is it for this week.  Have a great week and enjoy another long weekend!  Your PTO Team

Original Art Works Program

Pine Ridge Families: We are pleased to announce that Pine Ridge Elementary has selected Original Art Works to run a program through our school.  Through the Original Art Works program, you have the opportunity to purchase a variety of products featuring your own child's artwork. If you have not received the family letter and your child's art work yet, you will in the upcoming week.  It will be coming home in a green plastic baggy with a couple of things: 1.  A Dear Family Letter 2.  A brochure with examples of what you can order. 3.  An order form for you to fill out and return with your child's art work 4.  Return the order to your child's teacher no latern than March 16, 2012. Posters will be displayed at the school this week with all of the above information as well.  We will have some of the examples of the art work displayed in the lobby for you to view while at school during parent teacher conferences. If you have any questions pertaining to this program please feel free to contact myself or Kerri Bridges and we will be happy to assist you in any way that we can. Thank you all for your support to our school and hope that you all enjoy your child's art work in the many ways that it will be offered to you for years, and years of memories. Your PTO Fundraising Team Julie Millunzi - fmillunzi@netzero.com Kerri Bridges - queensburg1@hotmail.com

Science Post Test Next Wednesday 2/29

Mixtures and Solutions Post Test Review

·         When a solid disappears in a mixture and the mixture is clear, this is evidence that the solid and water have made a solution.

·         When two solutions are saturated they have the same concentration.

·         1 mL=1g so if a spoon of solid has a mass of 2 g and there are 3 spoonfuls of solid in the mixture and 100 mL of water, the total mass would be 3X2=6g + 100mL (100g)=106g

·         You can separate the dissolved solid from water through evaporation. The water evaporates into the air and the solid left in the dish will form crystals.

·         If three spoonfuls of solid do not saturate a liquid then 2 spoonfuls of solid would dissolve in the liquid as well. There would be nothing on the bottom of the cup.

·         Solubility cannot be changed by stirring more.

·         On a balance, the cup that has the most mass is the most concentrated. This is because when equal volumes of two solutions made with the same materials are compared, the one that is more concentrated will have the greater mass (weigh more).

·         When a new material forms after two or more materials are mixed, a chemical reaction has occurred.

·         Be able to design an experiment to find out if temperature affects the number of grams of salt it takes to saturate 50mL of water.

1. set up 3 cups of 50mL of water: 1 hot, 1 cold, 1 room temperature

2. add spoons of salt to each cup and stir until no more salt will dissolve

3. filter the undissolved salt from each of the solutions

4. weigh the cups against each other or find the mass of the 3 solutions in grams

·         Crystals of different materials have different shapes. The crystal shape can help you identify the solid material used to make the solutuion.

·         A chemical reaction is evidenced by a gas being produced and/or a precipitate forming.

·         Rust forming on a bike or a candle burning are 2 examples of chemical reactions.

·         A saturated solution will have particles undissolved on the bottom of the cup and evenly dispersed particles throughout the solution.

·         Be able to identify the most concentrated solution. Concentration is a comparison of the amount of solute to the amount of water (solvent). Think about how much solute is dissolved in each 50 mL of water and compare the ratios.

Vocabulary & Spelling Activities-due Tuesday 2/28

You will have  class time to work on these projects in your literacy notebook.

Vocabulary:
Write a "word splash" (1 paragraph only) with 7 of the 10 words. Do not use the 3 math words. Be createive! Underline the vocabulary words. Use context clues. Use writing tools.

Spelling:

1. Write abbreviations for the following categories: time units (min.), parts of speech (conj.), places (mt.), # amounts (lb.), people (Mr.)
2. Write the /or/ antonym for the following words: after, less, south, remember, against, tall, import, evening, unimportant, unusual, disorganized, backward

Weekly Homework for Feb. 22-29

Dear 5^th Graders and Families,

Are you ready for two short, but busy weeks? This week we have school W-F and next week we have school M-W.  Report cards will be sent home this Wednesday and parent/teacher conferences will be conducted this week and next. Students are required to attend the conference just like in the fall. We look forward to spending this time with you!

TCAP Testing will be held the week of March 12-16. It is extremely important for all students to be at school during this week. Testing sessions will be held in the morning and afternoon, so please take this into consideration when scheduling appointments for your child.

All homework is due NEXT WEDNESDAY so be sure to budget your time accordingly. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week! J

Vocabulary:  On the back of this page are words that come from the other subjects we are currently studying. You need to know the definition, the part of speech, and how to use it correctly in a sentence. You will have a vocabulary test on all 10 words next Wednesday. The format of the test will vary each week.

Word Work/Spelling: This week we will build vocabulary skills through antonyms, recognize plural noun patterns, and focus on spelling patterns for /er/ and /or/. We will also review strategies for making plural and possessive nouns in Unit 17. Please read the Family Letter and complete the Take-Home Task together to familiarize yourself with the concepts. Be sure to look for these words in your reading and writing this week. We will have a spelling test next Wednesday.

Family Letter is due Wednesday, February 22.

Spelling activities in the literacy notebook are due Tuesday, February 28.

Social Studies: Complete the weekly geography worksheet, questions 96-100. This will be due next Wednesday. Use the provided maps and other resources such as an atlas, globe, or internet websites. Be sure to answer ALL parts of each question!

In History Alive Unit 7, we will compare & contrast the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies.  We will work in small groups to create persuasive billboards to “sell” the colonies. Lessons will be very hands-on. It is important to be actively listening and participating in order to do well on the test. No study guides will be given for the test.

Science: We will conclude our Mixtures & Solutions unit with an I-check 4 test and a post unit test.  

Reading: Students have chosen new novels to read in partner groups. Books must be completely read by Friday, March 9. We will have a Daybook Unit 2 test this week, and then move on to the skill of “determining importance.” We will also focus on non-fiction leveled reader texts and skills. Thinking maps will also be incorporated into the curriculum.

Weekly Reader will be due next Wednesday.

Writing:  We will continue prewriting with our feature article and practice TCAP-like short constructed responses and extended responses.

Vocabulary Words for Feb. 22-29

1. luxurious (adj.)- expensive and comfortable
2. modest (adj.)-plain
3. debris (n.)-garbage
4. escorted (v.)-guided or brought
5. assailant (n.)-one who attacks
6. tyrant (n.)-cruel leader
7. federal (adj.) having to do with the U.S. government
8. ratio (n.)- a comparison by division of two quantities with the same units. Can be fractions, decimals, or percents. Examples: 3/5; 3:5; 60%; 0.6
9. area(n.)-the amount of surface inside a 2-dimensional
10. perimeter (n.)- the distance around the boundary of a 2-dimensional figure