Headlines 2/29

Happy Leap Year Day.....I'm not sure that is a thing, but just in case, I hope you are enjoying your day!  We had a great day today, and everyone is very excited for the field trip tomorrow.  I will give more details below, so make sure you read to the bottom!

Math: We are in the midst of our unit over decimals and this week will be working on dividing and multiplying by two digit whole numbers as well as decimals.  The concept is one that students seem to be grasping, however many students are making small mistakes on their math facts.  This morning we discussed how practicing our math facts, especially focusing on the ones that we struggle with, will help us tremendously!  Because of our field trip, we will not have math groups this week.  

Writing/Grammar:  Students are well into their research paper.  An outline and rough draft of the body and introduction should be complete at this time.We will finish our rough drafts this week, work on peer editing, and will start typing on Friday.  Instructions for the presentation went home on Friday, and should have been returned today.  If you have not talked to your student about their presentation, please do so tonight!

Literature: This morning we had a lovely Socratic conversation about The Secret Garden.  We will do a few culminating activities this week, including using our character studies to nominate a "Dynamic Character Award."  We will take a test over the book on Friday, so students should be studying the vocabulary and plot summaries in their journals.

Science:  We completed our plant unit today with a writing assignment over some of the concepts we have studied.  Our next unit is Plant Cells which we will begin on Wednesday.

History:  Students should be studying for the test on Wednesday!  Study guides have been completed, discussed, and vocabulary went home as well.  Our next unit will cover Japan and Russia.

 Field Trip

We will leave school tomorrow morning at 8:30 and will return at 2:30.  Students are welcome to wear shorts and tennis shoes, however, they do need to wear their uniforms. They may also bring a hat and/or sunglasses.  

Each student should bring a backpack with their lunch and water bottle.  They may bring up to $10 for snacks and drinks, however we will not be spending our time shopping, as we want to use our time to explore the educational opportunities!  Also, please leave phones and cameras at home, unless prior arrangements have been made.

It will be a warm day, so dress accordingly, and wear sunscreen!

Important Dates

• Field Trip: Tuesday, March 1st
• History Test:  Wednesday, March 2nd 
• Secret Garden Test: Friday, March 4th
• Field Day:  Friday, March 11

Headlines 2/22

It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of February!  Even with a short week we were able to accomplish quite a bit last week.  We concluded on Friday by discussing how we can incorporate the virtue of friendship into our days by noticing the good in others.  Ask your child about the compliment game we are starting this week!

Math: This morning we took a short quiz over multiplying and dividing decimals and converting fractions to decimals.  I will try my best to send these home today so you can review them with your child tonight.  The rest of the week will be focused on multiplying and dividing decimals by powers of ten.

Writing/Grammar:  Last week we learned how to research and began online researching in class.  We will spend today and tomorrow researching and will begin an outline and rough draft at the end of the week.  I will be sending home instructions for the presentation portion of the project this week. If you have had a difficult time finding resources,please let me know!

Literature: We are on our last section of The Secret Garden this week!  There will be a test over the book next week, so students should review their chapter summaries and vocabulary this week.  Many students have asked about a literature celebration for this book.  We WILL be having one, however we are going to wait and celebrate before spring break.  More details will be coming soon!

Science:  This week in Science we are covering Photosynthesis and plant respiration.

History:  We are finishing our unit over explorers this week.  The study guide will be going home on Friday and the test will be next Wednesday , March 3rd.

 Announcements

• Please be sure you have signed up for the Renaissance Festival on Tuesday, March 1st. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to join us.  Each parent will need to bring $9 cash to pay for their tickets.  
• If your student buys lunch, they will need a sack lunch on this day.

 https://archwayareteclubs.wufoo.com/forms/renassiance-festival-5c-mrs-anderson/

Important Dates

• Tuesday, March 1 - Field Trip
• Saturday, March 27th -Arete Fun Run and Picnic
• History Test- Wednesday, March 1

Headlines 2/16

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and had plenty of time to rest and relax. I want to say a huge thank you to Andrea Davey and Shruti Rattan for all their help organizing our friendship day activities as well as all the parents volunteered their time and supplies.  The students had a wonderful time as we celebrated what it means to be a great -hearted student.

Math: We are continuing our unit on decimals this week and will practice multiplying and dividing with decimals.  There will be no math groups this week.

Writing/Grammar:  Today we will be introducing our research project over European Explorers.  This will be an in-class project, however students will be responsible for having books and supplies in class by next Monday.  A packet explaining the project will go home today.  Please read and discuss this with your child and return the signature page by tomorrow.  

Literature: This week we will continue our reading of The Secret Garden by doing several character studies and having a Socratic discussion over the book.

Science:  Our study of plants will continue this week as we discuss plant anatomy and photosynthesis.  It is a great idea for students to review their notes daily as to prepare for open note quizzes!

History:  Students are still working on their  Explorer Yearbooks and studying the passages that each of our explorers traveled.

 Announcements

• Please be sure you have signed up for the Renaissance Festival on Tuesday, March 1st. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to join us.  Each parent will need to bring $9 cash to pay for their tickets.  
• If your student buys lunch, they will need a sack lunch on this day.

 https://archwayareteclubs.wufoo.com/forms/renassiance-festival-5c-mrs-anderson/

Important Dates

• Tuesday, March 1 - Field Trip
• Saturday, March 27th -Arete Fun Run and Picnic

Wish List

We could use more disinfecting wipes!

A Few Updates

Happy Great Hearts Day!

We had a lovely assembly this morning, and the students performed a beautiful recitation of their poem.  I was very proud of all their hard work!

Congratulation go to Hanna Tollen for receiving the virtue award for Humility this month. We have spoken about the idea that humility means  "we have much to offer, and much to learn."  Hanna is a wonderful example of this in our classroom.

We were also very proud of Peter Green's poetry recitation of Psalm 100 for the Bard Competition.  It was clear that he put forth much effort and hard work.  Great job Peter!

Also, thank you for all your generous donations to A New Leaf.  The director of the organization came and spoke to the school this morning and she was overwhelmed by the generosity of our students, staff, and parents.  Fifth grade alone collected over 400 items!

I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know that yesterday, due to some issues that have come to light,  we had a discussion with the entire fifth grade class about what it means to show friendship and be inclusive of all students.  Last night I happened upon a post that Glennon Doyle Melton wrote on this topic.  I thought it was both timely and beautifully stated, I wanted to share it with you all:

Please talk to your children about relationships. About empathy. Please show them with your questions that you care about the way they are treating each other and being treated. That you care not only about their minds - but about their hearts. And not only about their hearts- but about the hearts of their classmates and acquaintances and those who have no one to sit with at lunch.

We are so concerned with achievement in this country and some ways- that’s okay. But I think people who are trying to be perfect all the time have no energy leftover to be good. This is true of adults and children. People who don’t feel forgiven for being human don’t forgive anybody else for being human, either.
Our kids need to know that we want them to do GOOD as much as we want them to do WELL.

Maybe- when they get home today in addition to asking:

How was your test?

We could ask: How are your friendships?

Is there anyone in your class you’re struggling with?

Who drives you crazy? Why do you think that is?

When did you feel left out today?

Anybody else feeling left out?

Anybody getting picked on at lunch, recess, or the bus?

How would you feel if that were you? What could we do about it, together?

Test scores and grades are important- I understand. Children learning how to care for and be cared for by other human beings is even more important. It’s a matter of life and death.

Getting along with others is the hardest thing in the world. We can't leave kids alone to figure it out. Kids need coaches. We all do.

We Belong To Each Other- And We Can Do Hard Things- like raise kids who are brave and kind.

I am so honored to be a part of the Great Heart's community and I thank you for entrusting your most precious assets to me every day!

Headlines 2/8

I apologize that I did not get the blog out yesterday. I was trying to catch up from my weekend, which consisted of a broken hand (luckily not mine!) and a broken car.  Thanks for your patience :)

Math: We began our new unit in Math on Friday over decimals.  This week we will focus on rounding, addition and subtraction of decimals.  There will be no math groups due to the shortened week and Great Hearts Day.  The math tests have been graded, and I was pleased with our class average.  Those students who earned a 69% or below will be making corrections to their tests and will have the opportunity to raise their grade to a 75%.

Writing/Grammar:  Our focus in Grammar this week will be reviewing the concepts we have learned this year.  We will be taking a test on Thursday, and a study guide will go home today outlining the material it will cover.  

Literature: We are continuing our reading of  The Secret Garden and will cover chapters 19-21.

Science:  The class did a wonderful job on their flower dissection last week and were able to label and diagram parts of a flower successfully.  This week we will be learning the difference between a monocot and a dicot.

History:  This week in History we are learning about the Explorers and we will be making an Explorer Yearbook!

 Announcements

• Great Hearts Day will be Thursday, February 11th.  This a wonderful day where we celebrate friendship. Please be sure to read the important information regarding our service project and the days events on last week's blog post.
• We are very excited to announce our field trip!  We will be attending the Renaissance Festival on Tuesday, March 1st. This day is set aside as a field trip day for elementary schools.  We will need six parent volunteers to join us.  If you are interested please send an email as soon as possible.  If I have more parents interested than we have room for, I will draw names.  Please fill out the important info on the link below and submit payment for your child. More information regarding the day will be forthcoming.

 https://archwayareteclubs.wufoo.com/forms/renassiance-festival-5c-mrs-anderson/

Important Dates

• Thursday, Feb. 11- Great Hearts Day
• Thursday, Feb. 11- Grammar Test
• Friday, Feb 12- No School
• Monday, Feb. 15- No School
• Tuesday, March 1 - Field Trip

Wish List

As of today, we are well-stocked!

Headlines 2/1

Today was a busy day in fifth grade.  We took the Galileo mid-year test in both Math and ELA, so our students had lots of thinking to do today!  Tomorrow we will back to our regular schedule and will be doing lots of learning this week.

Math: This week in math we will be reviewing finding the area of rectangles, triangles, parallelograms and finding the surface area of solids.  Our math groups will be on Wednesday from 8:15-9:15.  If you would like to volunteer please let me know.  The test will be on Friday; this would be a good week to have your child attend tutoring to get a little extra support!

Writing/Grammar:  This week we will be studying linking verbs and continuing studying how to diagram different types of sentences, including inverted order and interrogatives.  We will also be learning how to correctly use quotations in our writing. If your student is struggling with sentence diagramming or parts of speech be sure they stay for tutoring every Monday!

Literature: In The Secret Garden we will continue to read and discuss the chapters and will do a theme study this week.

Science:  We are learning about plant reproduction this week as we continue our study of plants.  We will also be dissecting a flower as we delve deeper into plant structure.

History:  Our new unit is covering the Age of Exploration.  We will be moving across several continents in this unit, beginning this week with the Spice Islands.

 Announcements

• Great Hearts Day will be Thursday, February 11th.  This a wonderful day where we celebrate friendship. Please be sure to read the important information regarding our service project and the days events on last week's blog post.

Important Dates

• Thursday, Feb. 11- Great Hearts Day
• Friday, Feb 12- No School
• Monday, Feb. 15- No School

Wish List

As of today, we are well-stocked!