We LOVE February!
Hi Everyone,
It is great to be back! I learned so much when I was gone and can't wait to share that with our community. While I was gone, students did a fantastic job with Ms. Rubin and Ms. Epstein as their guest teachers. Ms. Rubin has really gotten closer to the students and spent even more time honing her skills.
Winter Survival Field Trip - Monday, February 10
If your child is not planning on attending, please let me know ASAP. Thanks! Parent chaperones are not needed for this field trip.
Teachers and naturalists will be on-site helping out along with teachers. As the field trip approaches, please WATCH THE WEATHER (which changes daily) and check it the day before to ensure your child is prepared. Children must be appropriately dressed to attend the trip as we will be spending most of the day outside.
What to Wear?
Students will need the proper attire to attend the trip. Please let me know if you need assistance in providing winter clothing for your child. We recommend hats, WARM AND INSULATED gloves, insulated winter coat, snow pants, wool socks, and winter boots. Scarves are not required because they dangle and cause issues when kids are starting fires and cooking. Students need to dress in layers with thermal and/or fleece wear. Tennis shoes are not permitted because we will be in the woods and if it snows, it will be too cold for their feet.
What and How to Pack?
Students will be responsible for cooking and bringing items to cook with and eat for lunch. They will also need to carry all of their things to and from our site. I will go over everything in detail with students next week. Students will get to decide with their groups what they will want to cook and eat and what they will need to consider to bring. They will receive a planning sheet to create a menu with their group. PLEASE AVOID PACKAGING (things with plastic wrapping like hot dog packages) WHEN HELPING YOUR CHILD PACK FOOD. It is helpful to have things already prepackaged (not already cooked) in Tupperware to eliminate garbage. Everything we take into the site, we have to take out! Please be respectful of this and help us to keep our sites clean. We challenge students to make things that are a little more challenging than putting a hotdog on a stick and cooking it. I will share some fun recipes for kids to try!
More Details:
Mentioned earlier, students will be responsible for cooking and bringing items to cook and eat with such as pots, pans, plates, forks, etc. Everything needs to be tightly sealed including water bottles before the trip. Help your child to pack things carefully and thoughtfully. For example, if they are bringing eggs to cook, help them to pack them so they won't break. If your child has a leaky water bottle, don't send it! Do NOT send kids with paper bags and plastic bags for food to carry. Everything should fit into their backpacks if possible.
Click the link below for more information. A detailed packet is coming home next week explaining more specifics. Here is more info. on the district website.
https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/enved/5th-grade-winter-survival
Valentine's Day Party!
The classroom Valentine’s Day party will be on Friday, February 14, in the morning. We will have themed activities for the kids including decorating Valentine's Day bags to collect Valentines.
The kids will pass out Valentine's during our party. I am asking families that if your child chooses (optional) to hand out valentines, that they include all 25 classmates. We do have three adults if they are also inclined. If your child needs a list of the students, please let me know and I can print a list for them in case your child would like to personalize them. If you need assistance with getting Valentine's day cards, I am happy to help with that and we can have students work on them at school.
Wellness
We are experiencing a high level of sickness at BP. Please, please, please talk to your child about proper handwashing, eating healthy, and if for any reason your child is telling you they don't feel well, please consider that and assess if your child should rest and stay home to recuperate or come to school. Please remember that if your child has a fever, they really need to be fever-free for 24 hours before they return to school. Their health is my number one concern so use your best judgment. For more detailed information about flu activity, please click on the link below.
https://www.washtenaw.org/1885/Flu-Activity
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/consumer/prevention.htm
Reading
We are about to wrap up our historical fiction genre study next week. Students have been engaging in great discussions and diving deeper into text focusing on the theme and perspective.
After this unit of study, I will be assessing students in reading for the March report card. Please encourage your child to practice reading and comprehension by getting on to Reading A to Z through Clever, Lexia if they are working on that, and practicing oral reading at home. Students will also be studying Traditional Literature next with Ms. Rubin! We have some super fun things planned for them and will involve you!
Early Release Day
This is a friendly reminder that the next early release day is Tuesday, February25 for students. Students will be released at 1:29 p.m. Please make sure to talk with your child and let them know what the plan is for them and how they are getting home. If your child plans to ride a bus with another student, I need a note from both families so we can get it signed by the office and it can be shown to the bus driver.
It is great to be back! I learned so much when I was gone and can't wait to share that with our community. While I was gone, students did a fantastic job with Ms. Rubin and Ms. Epstein as their guest teachers. Ms. Rubin has really gotten closer to the students and spent even more time honing her skills.
Winter Survival Field Trip - Monday, February 10
If your child is not planning on attending, please let me know ASAP. Thanks! Parent chaperones are not needed for this field trip.
Teachers and naturalists will be on-site helping out along with teachers. As the field trip approaches, please WATCH THE WEATHER (which changes daily) and check it the day before to ensure your child is prepared. Children must be appropriately dressed to attend the trip as we will be spending most of the day outside.
Students will need the proper attire to attend the trip. Please let me know if you need assistance in providing winter clothing for your child. We recommend hats, WARM AND INSULATED gloves, insulated winter coat, snow pants, wool socks, and winter boots. Scarves are not required because they dangle and cause issues when kids are starting fires and cooking. Students need to dress in layers with thermal and/or fleece wear. Tennis shoes are not permitted because we will be in the woods and if it snows, it will be too cold for their feet.
What and How to Pack?
Students will be responsible for cooking and bringing items to cook with and eat for lunch. They will also need to carry all of their things to and from our site. I will go over everything in detail with students next week. Students will get to decide with their groups what they will want to cook and eat and what they will need to consider to bring. They will receive a planning sheet to create a menu with their group. PLEASE AVOID PACKAGING (things with plastic wrapping like hot dog packages) WHEN HELPING YOUR CHILD PACK FOOD. It is helpful to have things already prepackaged (not already cooked) in Tupperware to eliminate garbage. Everything we take into the site, we have to take out! Please be respectful of this and help us to keep our sites clean. We challenge students to make things that are a little more challenging than putting a hotdog on a stick and cooking it. I will share some fun recipes for kids to try!
Mentioned earlier, students will be responsible for cooking and bringing items to cook and eat with such as pots, pans, plates, forks, etc. Everything needs to be tightly sealed including water bottles before the trip. Help your child to pack things carefully and thoughtfully. For example, if they are bringing eggs to cook, help them to pack them so they won't break. If your child has a leaky water bottle, don't send it! Do NOT send kids with paper bags and plastic bags for food to carry. Everything should fit into their backpacks if possible.
Click the link below for more information. A detailed packet is coming home next week explaining more specifics. Here is more info. on the district website.
https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/enved/5th-grade-winter-survival
The classroom Valentine’s Day party will be on Friday, February 14, in the morning. We will have themed activities for the kids including decorating Valentine's Day bags to collect Valentines.
The kids will pass out Valentine's during our party. I am asking families that if your child chooses (optional) to hand out valentines, that they include all 25 classmates. We do have three adults if they are also inclined. If your child needs a list of the students, please let me know and I can print a list for them in case your child would like to personalize them. If you need assistance with getting Valentine's day cards, I am happy to help with that and we can have students work on them at school.
We are experiencing a high level of sickness at BP. Please, please, please talk to your child about proper handwashing, eating healthy, and if for any reason your child is telling you they don't feel well, please consider that and assess if your child should rest and stay home to recuperate or come to school. Please remember that if your child has a fever, they really need to be fever-free for 24 hours before they return to school. Their health is my number one concern so use your best judgment. For more detailed information about flu activity, please click on the link below.
https://www.washtenaw.org/1885/Flu-Activity
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/consumer/prevention.htm
Writing
We have started our Research Project and most students have chosen their research topics connected to school gardening. Ask your child what they are researching! They will begin the research project with lessons on how to write a research project and lots of modeling and guidance. They have received a writing timeline with due dates to guide them for when things are due. They are working for completion. The research project will be scored out of 100 points. We will have our author's celebration right before the Spring Break.
We are about to wrap up our historical fiction genre study next week. Students have been engaging in great discussions and diving deeper into text focusing on the theme and perspective.
After this unit of study, I will be assessing students in reading for the March report card. Please encourage your child to practice reading and comprehension by getting on to Reading A to Z through Clever, Lexia if they are working on that, and practicing oral reading at home. Students will also be studying Traditional Literature next with Ms. Rubin! We have some super fun things planned for them and will involve you!
Behavior and Transitions
Students are still working on transitioning from one subject to another by getting the materials they need from their cubbies and sitting down so they are ready for instruction right away. There have been increases in talking during these times with friends and it is taking a lot longer to get started with lessons. If you could help remind your child to get ready for learning and quickly quieting down for instruction I would deeply appreciate your support. Thank you!
Early Release Day
This is a friendly reminder that the next early release day is Tuesday, February25 for students. Students will be released at 1:29 p.m. Please make sure to talk with your child and let them know what the plan is for them and how they are getting home. If your child plans to ride a bus with another student, I need a note from both families so we can get it signed by the office and it can be shown to the bus driver.
The Agrarian Adventure - Harvest Brunch
AGRARIAN ADVENTURE'S 5th ANNUAL HARVEST BRUNCH on Feb. 9 from 10 AM to 1 PM at Great Oak Co-housing:
We invite you to attend this fundraiser in support of The Agrarian Adventure in partnering with K-12 schools to enrich students' connection between the foods they eat, their personal health, and the health of their communities and the environment through farm-to-school programming and seedling distribution to school gardens.
Back by popular demand is Chef Chris Chiapelli (Zingerman's Roadhouse, Ross School of Business Dining), who will be using donations from some of our favorite farmers, food artisans, and local businesses in the area, such as Tantre Farm, Fluffy Bottom Farms, Old Brick Farm, Granola Tree, RoosRoast, Cultivate Coffee, Whitney Farmstead, Zingerman's Bakehouse, The Brinery, the Gandy Dancer, and more to come!
Attendees are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance (which help us determine the number of people who will attend) by signing up here:
You may also do so by visiting www.agrarianadventure.org and finding out more about our organization. The suggested donation is a sliding scale of $15-$30/person ($5 for children 10 and under). Tickets will also be sold at the door via cash or PayPal.
Interested in volunteering - we are looking for students too (and getting a brunch in exchange)? Go to our form here to learn more, please!
Weather
Winter has been slow to start! We are seeing weird warmer weather due to climate change. If you could please send your child with proper attire for recess and dry shoes for inside the classroom and P.E. It has been muddy and sometimes rainy and wet. We will be spending our recesses outside unless it is raining or too cold so please make sure they are dressed warmly with all the necessities. Thanks!
Punxsutawney Phil and his rodential brethren will be making their Groundhog Day predictions about whether spring will come early in 2020. According to the popular lore, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow on Sunday, February 2 it means six more weeks of winter! Have a great weekend! Stay warm!!