These few weeks between our two major holiday breaks have always been, for me at least, a time to look back at just how fast the beginning of the school year goes! It really is interesting in the fact of just how much we all go through in just a few months. I also reflect on just how grateful I am for this community and everyone involved. In this season of thanks, I truly am appreciative of my colleagues and everyone else who puts forth so much effort every day to make this truly the great place it is. I hope for everyone they can find time to reflect on what a great start to the school year we have had and can also get excited for what is to come!
-Kevin
Upcoming Dates:
- December 10 – Cluster Lunch (pizza provided for lunch)
- December 12 – 5th + 6th off campus for PE (ice skating)
- December 19 – Holiday Extravaganza (½ Day)
- December 20 – January 5 – Winter Break
- January 5 – Teacher Work Day – No School
- January 9 – 7th + 8th off campus for PE (ice skating)
ELA: 5th grade selected and revised their most compelling personal stories this week. Many began final edits for the final publish and share next week – these writers have been studying common punctuation and formatting errors closely to edit more independently. In our new grammar unit, we studied different categories and iterations of nouns and pronouns.
Next week, writers will transition their stories to their final cursive copies and share! We will have our grammar test on 12/10 and their reading journals will be due 12/12.
Science: This week in science 5th graders learned about decomposers and how they recycle nutrients back into ecosystems. Students created habitats for red wriggler worms and will observe how they break down organic material over the next couple of weeks. Next week students will start exploring nutrient systems and how plants and animals obtain the nutrients they need. Students will start by exploring what conditions yeast needs to break its dormancy then move to experimenting with how plants use sunlight.
Social Studies: Fifth grade had a lot of fun with their European projects! They all did a fantastic job on their country and found some really interesting facts and information. I also want to thank everyone for helping their child with the food or drinks they brought in, it was a total success! Moving forward, we are going into how Europe has changed over time, with Empires and lands changing ownership. Taking a look at the Romans, Napoleon etc.
Math: This week in math, 5th graders wrapped up unit 4 with their end of unit assessment. The test assessed their mastery of multi-digit multiplication and division before we dive into decimal multiplication and division next week. We’ll use this unit to expand their knowledge and apply this mastery to more real life skills like money, percentages, and tax.
