April 24-29, 2016

General Announcements:	The deadline for ordering a BGIS yearbook has been extended until April 29th. You can pay the $35 at myschoolfees.com A note from BGIS MUSIC TEACHER, Mrs. Vines:   Parents,  There is a band concert on Tuesday May 10th at 7:00.  Every year I have some fifth graders perform a few pieces we've learned in music class on that concert.  I am in need of at least 15 more students to join us for that concert.  I know this is a busy time of year but I'd appreciate any encouragement you can give your children to join us. You can email me if your child is interested and I can give you all of the details. Thank you for encouraging your child in the arts,  Lisa Vines, Music Teacher, lvines@hoover.k12.al.us Next Monday, May 2nd will be Elementary and Intermediate Transition Night.  Students will go to their Elementary schools from 5:30-6:30.  The Intermediate Transition will be from 6:30-7:30.  Students will be able to visit their new elementary or intermediate school to see the facilities, meet teachers, and learn more about the programs within the schools. Hoover City Schools Middle School transition night (The rezoning is pending court approval) will be May 9th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Bumpus, Simmons, and Berry. Students and parents can visit their new middle school and get an overview of classes and activities available to students.We will not be visiting Bumpus at a separate time this school year. For more information click on the following: Hoover Middle Our front office has created a document that will help as you navigate our recent zoning changes.  Please see this link for information on what students will attend Brock’s Gap:  Brock's Gap Rezoning Information Please send in pencils for your child. They have emptied their supply of pencils for the year and need to restock for the last month of school!
Language Arts:	The students need to read "Beverly Cleary turns 100"  on Tween Tribune this week. There will be a spotlight reader on Friday, April 29nd! Please make sure your child has a chapter book to be reading at home.  We are finishing up reading "The Coming of the Surfman" in class this week. We have been comparing and contrasting characters and discuss plot maps. The kids will have a Vocabulary and comprehension quiz TOMORROW, Tuesday, April 26th.   We have a Grammar IXL contract this week that covers skills NN.1, NN.2, OO.1, and OO.2 (Level G). It is due Friday, April 29nd.
Social Studies:	We are beginning our unit on the Civil War. This week we will talk about the differences between the north and the south during this time, look at them on a map, and discuss the events leading to the Civil War. This is always a favorite topic and we look forward to lots of fun activities and projects!
Math:	We are still working on our multiplication and dividing decimals unit.   Cumulative Review #23 was assigned today and is due WEDNESDAY. Here is the Link for Cumulative Review #23.  I postponed last week's quiz to this week. We will have a Cumulative Review quiz THIS THURSDAY that covers Cumulative Review #22 and #23. IXL was due today and no new activities have been assigned yet this week.
Science:	Today we finished our last few articles in the latest edition of Science World and enjoyed a Trivia game (Boys vs. Girls).  We will also be starting a new unit called Earth's Place in the Universe. We will be learning how one factor (relative distance from Earth) determines the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars.  We will learn to analyze data and represent with graphs to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky (shadows and the position and motion of Earth with respect to the sun, visibility of select stars only in particular months). Grades will be taken on activities done in class.

April 18th-22nd

General Announcements No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.”	TOMORROW night-Tuesday, April 19th is BGIS Fine Arts Night/PTO from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Permission forms are due TOMORROW  for your child  to watch the maturation video and participate in a follow-up discussion with local pediatricians.  These activities will take place Thursday, April 21nd.  Thank you so much for sending in snacks and drinks for the students to enjoy after the ACT ASPIRE testing last week! It was a great reward for their hard work!!  Your child should have brought home their 6th Grade course selection sheet today. Please complete it and send back to school by this FRIDAY. For more information about this process, you can watch the following videos:   Berry 6th grade Berry Middle school video link Bumpus 6th grade http://bit.ly/6thCR Bumpus Simmons 6th grade http://bit.ly/1YvUrWt The deadline for ordering a BGIS yearbook has been extended until April 29th. You can pay the $35 at myschoolfees.com  Let your child's teacher know if you need a yearbook order form.  Hoover City Schools Middle School transition night will be May 9th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Bumpus, Simmons, and Berry. Students and parents can visit their new middle school and get an overview of classes and activities available to students.We will not be visiting Bumpus at a separate time this school year (The rezoning is pending court approval). For more information click on the following: HOOVER MIDDLE SCHOOL TRANSITION NIGHT FLYER
Language Arts:	The students need to read "Researchers gathering more data on orcas"  on Tween Tribune this week. There will be a spotlight reader on Friday, April 22nd! Please make sure your child has a chapter book to be reading at home.  We are reading "The Coming of the Surfman" in class this week. We will be comparing and contrasting characters and discuss plot maps. The kids will have a vocabulary and comprehension quiz next Tuesday, April 26th.   We will not have a Grammar IXL contract this week. We will be completing the test review contract I assigned before testing. It is due Friday, April 22nd. Several of the kids completed it and turned it in already, so they will be able to focus on the math IXL contract.
Social Studies:	We are our unit on slavery and the Civil War.  We will have a quiz on April 19th over slavery and reform. I have created a quizizz to review for the quiz (code is 605600).   After our unit on slavery, we will talk about the Civil War. This week we will talk about the causes and the differences between the north and the south during this time. This is always a favorite topic and we look forward to lots of fun activities and projects!
Math:	Today we started our Multiplying and Dividing Decimals Unit. New IXL activities were assigned today and are due next Monday. Students have homeroom time to get started on these activities every morning. Here is the link for IXL for April 18th-22nd  Cumulative review #22 was assigned today and is due Thursday. We will have a short quiz on Friday
Science:	We are enjoying our latest issue of Science World, We are reading and discussing the many different interesting articles. Today we discussed "Save the Bees." Ask your child if they remember how many important crops are pollinated by bees. Grades will be taken on activities done in class.

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April 11th-15th

General Announcements:	Spring Picture orders DUE TOMORROW. Only 2 days of ACT ASPIRE testing  to go!  Wednesday, April 13th- ACT ASPIRE ENGLISH Thursday, April 14th- ACT ASPIRE SCIENCE  Thank you so much for sending in snacks and drinks for the students to enjoy! It has been a great reward for their hard work!!  For the remainder of this week students will need to leave their Chromebook and charger at school. Chromebooks will come home again after testing is completed. Please remember that Maturation permission slips are due April 19th. Video preview for parents is this Thursday, April 14th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the BGIS lunchroom. Hoover City Schools Middle School transition night will be May 9th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Bumpus, Simmons, and Berry. Students and parents can visit their new middle school and get an overview of classes and activities available to students.We will not be visiting Bumpus at a separate time this school year (The rezoning is pending court approval). For more information click on the following: HOOVER MIDDLE SCHOOL TRANSITION NIGHT FLYER Mark your calendars for next Tuesday, April 19th: BGIS Fine Arts Night/PTO from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Language Arts	No homework this week :-) due to ACT ASPIRE
Social Studies:	No homework this week :-) due to ACT ASPIRE
Math:	No homework this week :-) due to ACT ASPIRE
Science:	No homework this week :-) due to ACT ASPIRE

April 4th-8th

“No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.”

General Announcements:

• We hope you all had a wonderful week of rest and fun! 
• Starting this Wednesday, students will need to leave their Chromebook and charger at school. This will be in preparation for testing next week. Chromebooks will begin going home again after testing week.
• ACT ASPIRE Testing is next week!
  5^th Grade Testing April 11-14

  Grade	Date	Test	Amount of Time
  5	Monday, April 11	Reading	65 minutes
  5	Tuesday, April 12	Math	65 minutes
  5	Wednesday, April 13	English and Writing	40 minutes and 30 minutes
  5	Thursday, April 14	Science	60 minutes

  *This testing will be administered between 8:00-11:00 A.M. 
• Please make sure your child gets a good night's sleep, eats a nutritious breakfast, and is  at school on time. 
• Looking ahead: Hoover City Schools Middle School transition night is May 9th, 6:00-8:00 P.M. (Bumpus, Simmons, and Berry will all host transition nights at this time.) 
• Mr. Josh Lynch, Brock's Gap/Bumpus Middle School band director, recently spoke to our students during their Music class. He sent an information letter home about band.  Let us know if this information didn't make it home and we can make sure you get another copy.  

Language Arts:

• There will be no Tween Tribune this week. There will be a spotlight reader on Friday, April 8th! Please make sure your child has a chapter book to be reading at home. 

• We are finishing up interpreting poetry today. The rest of the week will be spent on test preparation activities. We will be practicing using the ACT Aspire app and tools, constructed response questions, and test vocabulary words. 

• We will have Grammar IXL contract this week. We will do it completely in class, as the kids cannot take their chromebooks home. The contract will be due Friday, April 8th. It consists of some review skills and test preparation. 

Social Studies:

• We are beginning a new unit on slavery and the Civil War. We will begin by talking about the reforms and movements taking place in the United States at the time. We will then transition into discussing important people that spoke out against slavery. After our unit on slavery, we will talk about the Civil War. This is always a favorite topic and we look forward to lots of fun activities and projects!
• On April 19th, we will have a quiz over the slavery portion of our unit.  

Math:

• This week, we will be studying customary and metric measurement conversions, exploring multiplication of decimals, and learning how to identify and classify two-dimensional figures. A new IXL contract was assigned this week. Due to the fact that students will be leaving Chromebooks at school starting Wednesday, I am going to givesome class time daily to complete IXL activities this week (and next week, if needed).  Here is Link to April 4th- 8th IXL activities.
• Cumulative review #21 was assigned today and is due Thursday.  We will have a short quiz on Friday

Science:

• We are still in the midst of our "A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes" Unit. This unit introduces the field of aerospace engineering by guiding students to explore how aerospace engineers design and test technologies to be used in extra-terrestrial (non-Earth) environments. This unit involves hands-on activities, discussions, and readings to introduce the Engineering Design Process, the work of aerospace engineers, and other engineering and technology concepts.  
• This week we plan to design and then test our parachutes. We are pretty excited about this activity!  Today we discussed the differences in size, temperature, location in the Solar System, Surface, Quick facts, and atmospheres of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Earth's Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. 
• Grades will be taken on class work, reading passages, and a Brain Pop quiz on gravity.