Ms. Zerbinopoulos

It was a wonderful day yesterday on our first day of the new school year! I'm already seeing new friendships form among the students! Please "unsubscribe" if you are a parent of one of last year's 5th graders, otherwise you will continue to get news and reminders from this blog in your e-mail. We hope all is well at MSK for you folks.

Open House for parents is Monday, Sept. 15th at 7:30. See you then! 

Great Start!

We are up and running and settling into our regular routine. Our first class novel, Night of the Twisters has begun. Students are busy developing vocabulary strategies for many new words, working on increasing depth of comprehension, especially understanding cause and effect. Writing techniques, such as foreshadowing to create suspense, using similes and metaphors to develop a story, and character development are also being analyzed and discussed in class. In addition, students are completing self-selected biographies and have begun word study lessons based on the six syllable types.

In Writers' Workshop, we have been focusing on elements of the Step-Up to writing program, including development of a power plan and adding WOW words and strong phrases to expand basic sentences.

In science, our class continues to learn about types of energy and how energy is transferred to create power. In Social Studies, we are studying explorers and pirates of the 1450-1600 time period. We will be making treasure maps in class this week to practice our geography and map skills. In October, we will move in to an in-depth look at the Native Americans in American History, culminating with a Pow-Wow and sharing of projects on Nov. 7. Mark your calendars to drop in to SRS on that day! More about that next month...

Our librarian is always looking for volunteers, if you would like to get involved with our school community more deeply. Call Terri Bauld at 985-1105 to let her know you are interested.

Hello folks - I have visited a great spot that you and your family would enjoy - the New England Pirate Museum in Salem MA. It is open from 10:00 -5:00 and admission is 5.00 for children and 7.00 for adults - it closes in November.  Salem is about 1 hour south of here, near Danvers MA. Address is 274 Derby Street and telephone is 978-741-2800. Avoid during the end of October as Salem draws large crowds to the Witch Museum at that time. This used to be a school field trip and was always a student favorite - just beware of the pirate near the end of the journey! Warn little ones! Hope you get to take this excursion! Your family will have a blast and it connects to our Social Studies unit perfectly. - Sandy Z.