I'm really looking forward to a fantastic school year! We have a lot to accomplish and the time is going to fly by! I will use this page to update parents on classroom happenings. Please comment so that I know that people are reading this! Keeping the lines of communication open between home and school is an important part of having a successful school year! Looking forward to meeting everyone soon!!!
Thank goodness spring is finally here! Now if the weather would just cooperate so it could feel like spring, I'd really appreciate it. I don't think we've had very many full weeks since Christmas. It's really hard to get into the swing of things with so many disruptions. We still have lots of work to do to get ready for middle school. Besides that, the kids are ready to enjoy some quality outdoor time, and so am I!
We are just beginning the third trimester. Report cards will be going home in the Thursday envelopes next Thursday, March 29th. You will also find updates results from I-Ready. I was told today by Mrs. Colby that our class made the most progress of any class at Smyth! I'm so proud of these students and all of their hard work. Speaking of hard work, I was just at the Science Fair. What a fantastic display! Congratulations to all participants. I was impressed by all of the projects. I wanted to especially congratulate Sean for winning first place. Hard work pays off! In math we are working on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers as well as line plots. We are learning about Government in Social Studies, and we will begin a unit on poetry in writing next week. Reading groups have just been readjusted so that all students are in groups working with other students with a similar reading ability. It always gets very busy toward the end of the year, so I will fill you in on what I know now. We will be having our Celebration of Learning April 16-20th. During this week we will be inviting parents into the classroom to help us celebrate some of the things we have learned this year! I will let you know as soon as I have more information about the exact date and time. May 10th (I think) we have a half day field trip to the Currier Museum of Art. May 31st, we have a full day field trip to Strawbery Banke. We do not need chaperones for the art museum but we will need some for Strawbery Banke. We will also be taking a walking trip to Hillside Middle School sometime in May to help ease the transition to middle school. This is all I know about end of the year events at this time. At this point we are still unsure of when the last day of school will be due to all the snow days. Let's keep our finger crossed that we are done with those!!!! Valentine's Day is on Wednesday! Students are welcome to bring in valentines for their classmates if they choose. The only rule is, if they bring them in, they must include everyone in the class. Class lists were sent home last week, but if you misplaced it, I will post it here as well.
Boys: Sean, Andrew, Yandel, Steven, Jaden, George, Joel, Lucas, Jake, Max, Cameron, Owen Girls: Kendra, Katarina, Anaiya, Simi, Ava, Callie Thank you to everyone who said they would contribute to the party. I will send home a confirmation note for everyone who is contributing so we don't end up with lots of one thing and not enough of another. Wednesday is also Jump Rope for Heart Day. All students must have a signed permission slip in order to participate. If you have not signed the permission and can't find it, just send in a note giving consent. Any donations will also be due that day. We had a fun assembly to celebrate to opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Each class was assigned a country and we have the Netherlands. We are currently in second place for the medal count behind Norway. I'm not exactly sure what this means for us as a class but I think there is going to be some sort of contest relating to this. Students are continuing to work on their non fiction reports about the Olympics as well. We are just about finished our unit on decimals and will move on to adding and subtracting fractions. It is very important that students know the multiplication facts in order to find a common denominator so please practice at home with your child. Even if they are a multiplication master, a little practice over the next few weeks would be a good idea. Hopefully students have picked a book for their book report and have begun reading! Reports are due March 9th. It seems like things are settling down. The last month has been really challenging with all of the days off for holidays and snow. Though we have used all of our allotted snow days (we will have to make them up from here on out) winter is not even half over! Hopefully Mother Nature will be kind to us for the rest of the winter so we won't be in school until July!
We have been working with decimals in math. This has been a nice break from fractions which are very challenging for many students. By the end of the unit, students should be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals. Most students are doing very well with these concepts. We have been using estimation to figure out where the decimal should be in our answers. Most students who are struggling are actually struggling with the basic operations which should have been mastered at this point. We will continue to review concepts, and please feel free to work with your children at home. I am also trying to be more consistent with math homework. It seems the more inconsistently students get homework, the fewer that actually do it. I hope this consistency helps at home as well. It also frees up some time for us to use I-Ready in class to practice math. Students are also working on non-fiction reports. Our theme is the Olympics. Each student has chosen a sport and is researching the history, rules, equipment, famous athletes, etc. about their sport. Most of the work is being done in class. Students will write a report and create a Google Presentation about their sport. I am hoping to wrap up this unit before February vacation. Second trimester book report assignments will go home in the next couple of weeks. Students will have about a month to read the book and complete the report. The genre for this report will be historical fiction if you want to start helping your child chose a book. Last week was quite a week! I almost still fell like we are on holiday break! I'm hoping we can get back on track this week. We will keep the same spelling words. Students should have done 3 times each and sentences last week, all they will need to do is paragraph and study for this week. I will collect notebooks on Thursday as usual, and the test will be on Friday.
We are down to two states for our postcard challenge. Do you know anyone who lives in Delaware or Alaska? Those are the only states we have left. Thank you to everyone who has brought in postcards! The kids have really enjoyed reading them. Our holiday party was so much fun! Thank you to all the parents who brought in food, drinks, and other supplies for our ornaments! We couldn't have done it without all your help! Thanks again to Mrs. Venator for organizing it all! I can't believe that 2017 is almost over! Time flies when you are having fun, and I am really enjoying this wonderful group of students this year!
We have a busy week ahead! Tuesday we will have a special volunteer come in to work with students on a holiday science investigation. Students will also spend some time with Ms. Briggs and Mrs. Otero for a little talent show Tuesday afternoon. On Thursday we have a holiday concert at 10 and our classroom party at 1:30. Friday, we have a Road Runner Rally at 9:30 and students will be dismissed at 11:15. We will have other special activities going on in the classroom as well, so we will not have any new spelling words for this week or a math quiz on Friday. Students participating in the concert should wear a white shirt and black pants or skirt. I was able to pick up a couple of white long sleeve shirts this weekend so please let me know if you need one. Speaking of clothing, Ms. Briggs is going to be making an announcement this week that students need to wear pants if they plan to go out to recess this winter. It is simply not safe for students to be outside for 30 minutes in shorts when it is only 20 degrees out. In other winter news, 5th graders are eligible for free ski passes through Ski NH. Please visit skinh.com for more information. Report cards will be going home on Wednesday. Please return the signed envelope on Thursday or Friday. Have a fantastic holiday! Looking forward to a wonderful 2018! I would like to thank Kristin Venator for volunteering to coordinate our holiday party. A note went home yesterday with her email address and the donations she is looking for. The party will be on Thursday, December 21st at 1:30. I really appreciate all the help with this party during this very, very busy time of year!
We are trying to stay on a normal schedule for as long as possible before the holiday madness starts! We will have spelling homework the week of December 11th, but we will not have any homework the week of the 18th. We got post cards this week from Georgia and Washington. Seven more states and we will have them all! I am looking for a volunteer to help organize our holiday party. This volunteer would be in charge of contacting classroom parents to gather treats as well as materials for a craft for the party which will be on Thursday, December 21st. (This is also the day of the Winter Concert.) It would also be helpful if this volunteer could attend the party. I will also need someone to do the same for Valentine's Day. Please email me if you can help! ([email protected])
Breakfast Club will be combined for November and December because we really didn't have much homework in November. It will likely be on Wednesday the 20th. The last day to pass in cards for the Million Word Challenge for this trimester is Tuesday, December 5th. Please check in with your child to make sure they are up-to-date! Report cards will go home on Wednesday, December 20th. Have a great week! |