Weekly Emails

This will include each weekly email I submit to parents each week. I will be posting them weekly, but there will be no archive. Once the week is over, the email will be cleared to make space for the new weekly email to parents.

Wednesday, February 13

Hello Parents:

I hope you are all having a good week and are managing to stay warm in the cold, snowy weather Wisconsin has been giving us these past few days. I was happy the students made it outside today, but brr! It was cold out there!

This Week

In Reading, the students started their final book in their dystopia unit as well as finished up their project from their first book. If your child read 21 Balloons or Among the Hidden, the students did their project last week. The remaining students are working on their project with me this week. The must do tasks for this week was a root word worksheet and a figurative language activity. Both are due Friday, however, many have already turned in one must do task already. Some students are coming home with the their journals and books. This is for a variety of reasons but can include band or orchestra lessons during reading time, they met in small group that day and didn't have time to finish, or they were absent. The books the students are reading are getting longer and more challenging, so the book choice itself also might be the reason your child comes home with a little more reading homework than in previous units.

In Math, the students are working on finishing up Unit 7. This week, they are working on expressions and equations, both writing them and solving them. They also are working on solving order of operation problems with and without parentheses. Order of operations is very challenging and the students have been working hard on this. I have slated the test for Friday. Tomorrow will be a review day to help them further grasp both exponent notation and order of operations.

Math Homework

SL: 7.5

Ws: Writing Expressions (there are two similar ones of these. They received on on Tuesday and one today)

Study for test

In writing, the students are working on their biography graphic organizer. I am sure you have seen your child working on this at home as well. The students are learning how to research information, write it down in their own words on a graphic organizer, and site where they got their information from. As informational writing can led to plagiarism, the students and I have talked about taking something and putting it into our own words as well as using 5th grade vocabulary. The students received their biography project today. This ties in with the research they did. They will only be using their graphic organizer to complete this project. The graphic organizer has an extended due day of tomorrow morning. Students will start working on projects tomorrow, and the biography projects are due February 28.

In Social Studies, the students are learning about the things that led up to the Revolutionary War. That includes the tea act, the stamp act, the intolerable act, taxation without representation and the Townshend Act. They learned this through the use of books, discussion and filling out an interactive notebook page.

Our science kits for quarter 3 should be arriving by Friday. In the meantime, the students continued Quarter 2 science activities by using the computer apps and their packets. This will be a nice added work time for students to receive a 4 on this standard.

Classroom Information

In your child's Wednesday folder is this month's payment for camp. It is $20.00. I have given updated forms for payments in your child's folder. If you do not have a payment sheet in your child's folder, you are paid up until February or later. Please remember all payments are due by April 18. I will be sending the camp information packets and forms to fill out home in March for all paid students.

If you have not turned in your child's conference forms, please do so as soon as possible. I do have available times left on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning if you need to change. Conferences are on February 27, 28 and March 1 this year. Please return your child's manila report card folder as well if you have not done so already.

There are forms in your child's folder that have information on PTO events coming up. Thank you to all who have given to our raffle baskets. As of now, 5th grade will have at least two baskets if not three donated to the school. Two are gift card baskets for family fun nights and one is a relaxation basket with a very generous donation from Caden George's family. Thank you to the Georges and everyone else who contributed to our baskets. They are going to look great! If anyone is willing to go pick up gift cards or supplies, please let me know.

Our Valentine's Day party is tomorrow. If your child would like to participate, please have them bring 24 valentines and a large container to put their valentines in. If they would like to bring in a treat, please make sure it is wrapped and store bought. Remember, this is an optional activity.

Have a good rest of your day and nice weekend.

Mrs. Komistra