Reminders & Classroom News

September 22: No School (Teacher Work Day)

September 29: Donuts with Dudes

Homework Reminder

Just want to reiterate homework expectations for the year:

Read 20 minutes every night, Monday-Thursday.
Math Homework Monday-Thursday night. This will typically be a Practice Buddy online that will practice the skills taught that day. The only exception to this is on review days (they will bring home paper homework to complete) and on testing days (no homwork).
Vocabulary homework.
Any unfinished classroom work.
Reflex (if they have not gotten their green light). They are required to get 3 green lights per week.

A new addition is each student is required to turn in a paper copy showing their work for their math each night. We have had some students breezing through this process and if we can't see their work, we have a hard time helping them make corrections. Thank you!

FUND RUN Donations

I am SO proud of our 5th graders! They did a super job at the Fund Run last Wednesday! Thank you to so many of you parents who came out to cheer them on!

We are still looking for donations towards our school Fund Run! So far, our team has raised $931! If our class gets to $1500 in donations, we get to have a T.P. party!! If you haven't had a chance to donate, the link is below. Thank you to those of you who have donated so far! You have until September 27th to get those donations in!

https://events.handbid.com/fundraisers/heritage-ninja-run-2023

WHat we are Learning

Well, Harry has finally entered into the wizarding world and Diagon Alley in our reading! We read about his first experience among his "own kind" and shopping for his school supplies for Hogwarts. He also got his first wand and found out how unique it was. The students were able to paint their own wands on Friday and write up a summary of the elements that make it up, as well as create a story of how each student got their wand. Check out the picture below for the finished products--they are beautiful!

We continue to work on our essays answering the prompt, "Why are cell phones important in our lives?" I have been very impressed with the students' ability to think deeply and really give great examples of each reason. Their essays are becoming clearer and they are able to stay on topic easier.

We continue to dive into Topic 3 with multiplying and dividing. We are focusing on really getting the standard algorithm down in order to help us solve harder, multi-digit multiplication problems. Continued review of math facts (either at home or on Reflex) will help your child out when it comes to solving these harder, more complex problems.

In our "Web of Life" unit, the students were introduce to a biosphere. We learned about how a model like it could help us sustain life on another planet. The students had to run their own 2 year long "mock" biospheres and were in charge of planning all the meals for everyone. This meant they had to think about what they could bring that would be sustainable into their biosphere. They had to think deeply about where our everyday food items come from, how it is processed and what ingredients make up what we eat on a daily basis.