Pleasant Hill Intermediate School

                                               1204 E. 163rd Street                  

                                            Pleasant Hill, MO  64080

                                                    816-540-3156                 

                                                     August 2013

Important Dates 8/20/13 - First Day of School! 8/26/13 - Fall Pictures 8/30/13-9/2/13 - Labor Day Weekend, No School 9/20/13 - 3 HR Early Dismissal - Professional Development 9/27/13 - 3 HR Early Dismissal - Homecoming

5B TEAM NEWSLETTER First Day of Morning Motivator @ PHIS

Communication Arts--Mrs. Murray, Ms. Love, Mrs. Dyer

Welcome back to school and welcome to the Intermediate School.  Our first couple of weeks we will be going over our Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop expectations.  We will also be discussing our goals for our reading logs, mini-lessons on how to pick a “Just Right Book”, how to Buzz about books, etc.  We will also dive right into our Treasures books.  This is our reading series that the students have had since Kindergarten.  We will be Gates testing on August 27 and 28.  The students will also have a baseline assessment on writing Friday, August 23.  Students will have a reader’s and writer’s notebook that will stay in the classroom.  This will have all of their resources for our class.  Our homework this year will be reading at least 20 minutes a night.  At 5th grade, most students can read 20 pages a night.  We will be setting individual page goals with your child.  Our first goal will be a 2 week goal to track what they are actually reading each night.  Their nightly reading will be placed in their planner.  Please sign that they have done this, as this shows we are working together as an accountable team.  I am so looking forward to challenging the students with their reading and writing this year. If you have any questions about the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop, please feel free to contact me.  rmurray@pleasanthillschools.com or 540-3156.  I look forward to talking to each of you throughout the year.  I would also love for volunteers to come in and help with small reading or individual reading. Thank you so much in advance!!

Math--Mrs. Lucht, Ms. Love, Mrs. Dyer  

Welcome to Math!  We look forward to getting to know all the students. Thank you for the privilege of teaching your child.

We will be on a Math Journey this year. First, we will have co-teachers, Mrs. Dyer and Mrs. Lucht in math classes.  
We have new curriculum in math called Go Math, which includes a parent letter  to let you know what we are studying and how we are doing  mathematical procedures. This is an exciting mathematics program which included hands-on-activities to do and real-world problems to solve. Your child will have a minimum amount of homework which they will be given time to do in class. The students will have an opportunity to have extra help during math club on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 7:25 a.m.-7:55 a.m.  We are here to help the students succeed and enjoy math so please feel free to call us at school.  We look forward to working with you this year.   

Science-Social Studies--Mr. Haight, Ms. Love, Ms. Dyer

Social Studies - We will start the year learning about Native American cultures.  In conjunction with this unit we will produce and present a powerpoint on a particular Native American tribe.

Science - We are starting the year with a unit on atoms, matter, and their  properties.  Early on we will be building a boat and see how many pennies it can hold before it sinks.  This will be on a lesson about buoyancy.