Mrs. King's 5th Grade

Learning Page

Welcome Message

Welcome, Fifth Graders! 🌟

This is our learning page and I’m so happy you're here. We are going to have a great school year together.

Fifth grade is going to be a year filled with learning, exploring, creating, and growing. I can't wait to see all the awesome things we will accomplish together!

Remember:

Mistakes help us learn
Questions make us smarter
Kindness makes our school a better place

Always do your best, be curious, and believe in yourself. Let’s make this a fantastic year! 🎉📚

Friday, September 4, 2026

Dear Fifth Grade Families,

Welcome to September! Class rotations are in full swing and students are getting more organized with their materials each day. We are enjoying getting to know all fifth graders and working together to help them develop the skills they will need to be successful in middle school next year. If you have specific questions about these subjects, please contact us at:

Mike Foster- Math: mfoster@psdschools.org

Leila King- Reading: lking@psdschools.org

Kenzie Qualley- Writing: kqualley@psdschools.org

Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Content Areas

Math: We launched with the new math curriculum this week. It feels like we work at a UPS facility because we are calculating the volume inside boxes!
- The concept started with how measuring space inside of containers can be done with small units like ML for water bottles or large units like Gallons for bottles, buckets, etc.
- We moved on to generic “cubic units” for boxes and how these are 3-D measures rather than flat 2-D units for area or 1-D units like lines.
- This unit will be our focus for the next several weeks as we move from counting layers towards the short cut of multiplying the three side-lengths (formula: volume = length X width X height for boxes).
- As we develop more “formal” plans (formulas) for solving these problems, the slide shows will be posted on the math learning page so that you can see what we are working on.
Reading: We have started Module 1: Stories of Human Rights and have begun reading the related novel, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan.
- If you want to learn more, please check out Mrs. King’s learning page-Subjects-Reading
- Audio links are included and will be released as we read. This is a great option for readers who need extra support as well as those who need extra time at home to stay on track with our reading assignments.
Writing: We got into the swing of things this week. We reviewed the different parts of a paragraph before writing our own!
- We wrote a narrative paragraph about what we would wish for if a genie granted us one wish.
- In grammar, we reviewed parts of speech and worked on revising and editing both sentences and paragraphs for grammatical mistakes.
Science: We have begun our ecology unit in Mystery Science to help prepare students for our Eco trip. Our focus has been ecosystems and food webs. We explored where leaves go after they fall off of trees through a hands-on exploration. Be sure to ask your child where all the leaves disappear to.

Eco Experience

Packets with forms are due by Tuesday, September 8th!
- This includes all medication and health forms to ensure our health office has time to organize and share this information with the nurse at the CSU Mountain Campus.
Payments can be made at the School Pay website
The Ropes Course Waiver is an ONLINE FORM (see QR below)
- Students must have a signed waiver in order to participate. It is best to sign it so kids have the option to use the ropes course if they choose.
We will share more information with students regarding room assignments later next week.
We will send a final trip update home later in the week as well.

Upcoming Dates

Monday, September 7: No School Labor Day
Tuesday, September 8: Eco Experience Forms due
- (NOTE: A doctor’s signature is required on all med forms)
Monday, September 14- Wednesday September 16:

Eco Experience Overnight Field Trip

Sunday, September 20: Shepardson Family 4K Fun Run- 10am
Monday, September 28: No School
Monday, October 12- Wednesday, October 14: Fall Conferences- 4-7pm
Thursday, October 15: Friday, October 16: Fall Break!

Finally, thank you for attending our presentation at Back to School Night, we sure appreciate your partnership!

Have a wonderful long weekend,

Fifth Grade Team

WAIVER FOR ROPES COURSE: see Eco Page at the top

Friday, August 21st

Hello and Happy Friday!

We had a great first week here in Fifth Grade! We wanted to share a few important updates and reminders with you.

1. Parent Survey & Class t-shirts

Please complete the Parent Survey by Friday, August 28.
The survey includes a question about your child’s Eco Week shirt size. We need to place the shirt order next week, so please complete the survey at your earliest convenience.
- Please keep in mind when choosing a size that they will need to wear this shirt throughout the whole year (please account for growth spurts).

2. Friday Folders

Most Fridays, your child will bring home a yellow Friday Folder. Please look through all of the documents in the folder and return any forms or papers that need to be signed.
The Friday Folder will be our main way of sending important documents and information home throughout the school year, so please be sure to check it each week.

3. Medical Forms for Eco Week- DUE to HEALTH OFFICE: Tuesday, September 8th

If your child needs to take medication while we are at Eco Week, you will find the necessary medical forms in their yellow Friday Folder and attached to this message.
Please note that for all over-the-counter and prescription meds, these forms must be completed and signed by a doctor. Since Eco Week is quickly approaching, please return the completed forms as soon as possible so that we can make sure everything is in place before we leave.

4. Stop and Thinks

This week, we practiced a Stop and Think form as a class. The form coming home in your child’s Friday Folder is simply part of that practice and does not indicate that your child received a Stop and Think.
A Stop and Think is a reflection form that students may complete if they are not demonstrating our expected behaviors. Our process is to give students a first ask, followed by a second ask. If the behavior continues, the student will then be given a Stop and Think.
If your child receives a Stop and Think for a behavior concern, you will be notified by the teacher or staff member who gave it to your child. Additional information about the Stop and Think process can be found on the form coming home in the folder today.

Thank you for your continued support! We are looking forward to a wonderful year together and are so excited for all that is ahead in Fifth Grade!

We hope you have a great weekend,

Fifth Grade Team

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday, September 1: Back-to-School Parent Information Night- 5:30-7:30pm
Monday, September 7: No School (Labor Day)
Tuesday, September 8: Eco Experience Med Forms due to Shep Nurse’s Office (NOTE: doctor’s signature is required)