I hope you are having a great Advent so far! We have just one week of school left before Christmas break, but we still have lots to do. Before we get into that, here are some important things to remember:
December 20th – 2pm dismissal and NO aftercare!
January 8th – school resumes
English Language Arts: We have been doing so well with our spelling and vocabulary words. We have incorporated our learnings from our phonics lessons and applying them. Our skills are definitely increasing. 5th grade will have one more group of spelling words to work on before the break, but they will be fun 😉
Science: Unit 2: Matter has officially wrapped! We are now on to my favorite subject matter, PLANTS! We are going to play around with growing plants in different lighting conditions. Test corrections for the Unit 2 test are due on Monday and no late corrections will be accepted.
Social Studies: We have started learning about the first settlers in our country and what life in the colonies was like. Next week, we will learn more about the Middle Colonies and how they differed from the New England Colonies. After the break, we will have a project where we apply our knowledge of the colonies and create a fictional colony on Mars!
Reading: The final independent book report of the year is due on Monday the 16th. We will have presentations throughout the week with the same rubric. Be sure to practice your public speaking skills, making sure your voice is loud and clear, and you maintain eye contact. In the new year, we will begin our group reading books. Kids will be assigned to different groups and have books catered to their reading level. This will require a lot of time management, but I will help guide them.
Religion: We just took our test on Confirmation. I know it was a harder subject matter, but that is okay. I encourage the students to bring their books home to study and review before tests! Our next subject of study will be the Sacrament of Eucharist.
i-Ready: Math packets were given to the students earlier this week and they are due on the 19th. We will have our Winter Diagnostic soon after our return from break. An email will be sent to remind you to send your child to school well-rested and fed!
Last Friday, the 5th graders were extremely helpful with their buddies in DLI. We split the class in half: one half helped put their buddies car costumes on, and the other half helped set up the gym for the parents. EVERYONE earned a ticket, I was so proud of them!
Some other wonderful news: we won the latest PBIS banner!!! This class hadn’t won since 3rd grade, so I am very happy proud of their accomplishments!
Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year 🙂