Groundhog Day 2020: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts An Early Spring!
Hi Everyone,
Students are starting to feel better it appears and most of our class is back. We had a bit of a rough stretch but things are looking better! We hope everyone will be healthy and ready to "survive" on Monday for Winter Survival.
Ms. Rubin has been co-teaching with me and assuming more responsibilities in the class. She is building rapport with students and helping with one on one and small group support. Ms. Rubin is getting ready to lead teach in March and is very excited about it! More details to come on her unit of study for reading.
Writing
Students are starting to feel better it appears and most of our class is back. We had a bit of a rough stretch but things are looking better! We hope everyone will be healthy and ready to "survive" on Monday for Winter Survival.
Ms. Rubin has been co-teaching with me and assuming more responsibilities in the class. She is building rapport with students and helping with one on one and small group support. Ms. Rubin is getting ready to lead teach in March and is very excited about it! More details to come on her unit of study for reading.
Students were taught this week how to write a thesis statement and write burning questions to research. They can review a video example for how to write a thesis statement on the Curriculum & Student Resources page. Students will work on answering their burning questions for their topics for the next couple of weeks. I am checking out lots of books from the district library to help children with their research. You can help too by helping them to find credible websites with evidence-based research to use when answering their burning questions. Sites like Wikipedia are not places for children to gather information. Here is an approved list (also on the Curriculum & Student Resources Page).
Topics of Interest Include:
- Seasonal Plants (Michigan)
- Edible Plants
- Three Sisters Gardening
- Plant Defenses
- Food Forests
- Victory Gardens
- Plant Diseases
- Decomposers
- Environmental Impacts of Industrial Corn
- Biodiversity
- Aquaponics
- Beneficial and Non-Beneficial Insects and Animals
- Farmer's Markets
- Companion Planting
- Different Growing Mediums
Math
Students will be taking the Unit 5 Math Assessment next week. Please refer to the blog calendar for when homework and assessments are expected. Students will receive a review packet to practice Unit 5 skills. All homework from the unit will be passed back to review and a self-assessment of the unit will be used for students to gauge what they know.
If your child does not have their multiplication math facts down, please encourage them to practice daily. We are getting into math that requires multiplication and division facts. Please encourage your child to practice every day using Xtramath. It is a free web-based program for students, parents, and teachers. IF you want to use it as an app, there is a $5 fee to download it to an iPad or Tablet. Otherwise, it is free on Clever.
All students have an account and I have set the program to meet the needs of each individual student. Their login info. is located in their homework folder so they can do this at home. This program allows me to track progress and see how students are doing and what they are struggling with.
Extra daily practice will benefit them tremendously because they are more likely to complete math problems more quickly, without frustration, and they will have more opportunities to respond because it takes less mental effort to complete the math tasks. Thank you for your support!
Early Release
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.
Reminder! Be My Valentine?
The classroom Valentine’s Day party will be on Friday, February 14, in the morning. Parents, please feel free to come to celebrate love with us. We will be starting at 9:30 a.m. and enjoying our party until 11:30 a.m. 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.
REMINDER - 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
Have a marvelous weekend!
Students will be taking the Unit 5 Math Assessment next week. Please refer to the blog calendar for when homework and assessments are expected. Students will receive a review packet to practice Unit 5 skills. All homework from the unit will be passed back to review and a self-assessment of the unit will be used for students to gauge what they know.
If your child does not have their multiplication math facts down, please encourage them to practice daily. We are getting into math that requires multiplication and division facts. Please encourage your child to practice every day using Xtramath. It is a free web-based program for students, parents, and teachers. IF you want to use it as an app, there is a $5 fee to download it to an iPad or Tablet. Otherwise, it is free on Clever.
All students have an account and I have set the program to meet the needs of each individual student. Their login info. is located in their homework folder so they can do this at home. This program allows me to track progress and see how students are doing and what they are struggling with.
Extra daily practice will benefit them tremendously because they are more likely to complete math problems more quickly, without frustration, and they will have more opportunities to respond because it takes less mental effort to complete the math tasks. Thank you for your support!
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.
Reminder! Be My Valentine?
The classroom Valentine’s Day party will be on Friday, February 14, in the morning. Parents, please feel free to come to celebrate love with us. We will be starting at 9:30 a.m. and enjoying our party until 11:30 a.m. 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.
REMINDER - 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.
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
Have a marvelous weekend!