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Welcome to the longest month of the school year!

October is typically when the newness of school begins to wear off, academic work really begins to ramp up, and students begin to test boundaries.

We are beginning to have some growing pains around friendships in many social groups. I have already had at least a couple of students express frustration or sadness at feeling left out. It's hard when interests shift and friendships follow suit. While no one should feel forced to "be friends" with someone, being "friendly" is rarely too much to ask. I'm encouraging kindness and empathy and asking students to include one another wherever possible. Students who are feeling left out can also stretch themselves to participate in new interests with old friends.

If navigating friend dynamics becomes too difficult, Ms. Wisot is an excellent resource and we are lucky to have a school counselor again.

Ms. Shalom!

Ms. Shalom has started joining us in the morning! She will be with us from 8-10:30 Monday - Friday to do administrative tasks and help keep students focused. They can expect her to circulate the classroom and remind them to be respectful during discussions or stay on task during independent work. She will also be working with individual students on different skills.

Volunteering

I'm looking for some at-home volunteers to help put together watercolor kits, label library books, and type some quizzes. It would also be great to get someone comfortable on a ladder to staple our book tree leaves every couple of weeks or so! Finally, I'd love to have a volunteer take on Scholastic book orders. This would require separating out the catalogs, attaching a family letter (I have a template) with dates and order information, and then sorting the books by order when they arrive.

Scarecrow

I could also use a really crafty human to design and supervise the building of a scarecrow for Our Table Farm. They have donated $50 per class to build scarecrows to decorate the farm (where we go for field trips each year). I am happy to organize and guide the students, but I'm sure there are Fox Families who have more creativity than I do! Let me know if you have ideas and want to help!

Computer Use Survey

Fifth graders use computers quite a bit. Writing in Google docs encourages risk-taking in composition because editing and revising doesn't require rewriting an entire piece. Risk-taking leads to faster, greater growth in skill. Students will occasionally be asked to continue their writing work at home. Please take a moment to fill out the Computer Form so that I know how much access your child has to technology after school.

Field Trip

Our first field trip is to Our Table on October 17! A permission slip will be coming home this week and needs to be returned by October 10.

Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair is this week! Fifth grade will be visiting the fair on Wednesday and Thursday, and it is open after school for you to shop with your child as well. Fifth graders are responsible for their own money. Please speak with your child about your expectations regarding what may or may not be purchased or how much can be purchased.

I also do not police students buying gifts for one another. If your child feels they are being taken advantage of by classmates, please encourage them to stand up for themselves or ask me for help.

While nobody is required to purchase anything at Book Fair, I also do not want it to be a place where children feel left out because of resources. Please feel free to reach out to me or PSO if purchasing a book will be a hardship.

Google Classroom

Using Google Classroom will be a key part of students beginning to take responsibility for managing their workload. Tasks will be posted on Classroom, and students will be responsible for managing their own to-do lists. Please strongly consider checking in with your child 2-3 times a week to have them show you what work has been completed. As they demonstrate responsibility, you can taper off until they are fully in charge.