Hello 5-2 Parents ~
It was so nice to have a chance to speak with so many of you at parent-teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday! I appreciated having the opportunity to meet earlier this year to share what I know about your child, and our plan as we move through the remainder of the trimester. As I said to many of you, when the progress reports come home in November, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Did you see that snow yesterday?? It was actually referred to as graupel on the forecast, so my family learned a new word. Who knew there was a specific word for that snow-like hail that so angrily came down yesterday?! At any rate, with the snow comes the colder temperatures. Please be sure your child is dressed appropriately to be outside for at least 30 minutes at a time as we do go out for recess every day, and please be sure all outwear is labeled with their name. It's amazing how many things end up unclaimed in our lost and found. (See my note in science for this week!) 5th graders can push the line with independence in what they wear, so they do need the reminder they must be dressed appropriately for the temperatures outside. If the temperatures are below 60 degrees, we expect the children to wear a jacket or coat.
Important Dates
Team Building with the Principals ~ Monday, 10/22 from 2:15-3:15pm ~ Dr. FitzPatrick and Ms. Davis will be taking the 5th graders for an hour on Monday afternoon for a team building activity. This has become a treasured activity for both our principals and the 5th graders as they always have such a great time getting to know each other a little better, while building community.
Family Reading Night ~ Tuesday, 10/23 from 6:30-8:00 ~ Families are invited to attend the Olive-Mary Stitt Family Reading Night! Many families have already registered to attend the evening. They will be provided with individual family schedules. Please try to arrive 10 minutes early so that you have time to pick up your schedule for the night. If your family missed the deadline to sign up, you may still attend two events that evening. All families will be able to view the opening presentation from The Grove (a Glenview Park District nature center) at 6:30pm. In addition everyone is invited to visit the OMS Library Media Center to work on activities related to our One Book One School event and to decide if they'd like to sponsor a book for our collection.
Read Aloud with the Principal ~ Friday, 10/26 from 9:10-10:10 ~ Dr. FitzPatrick will be back with your kiddos on Friday with a read aloud on Friday! Focusing on the Owls for Others theme, she will be reading Do Unto Otters, then following it up with an activity.
Family Reading Night ~ Tuesday, 10/23 from 6:30-8:00 ~ Families are invited to attend the Olive-Mary Stitt Family Reading Night! Many families have already registered to attend the evening. They will be provided with individual family schedules. Please try to arrive 10 minutes early so that you have time to pick up your schedule for the night. If your family missed the deadline to sign up, you may still attend two events that evening. All families will be able to view the opening presentation from The Grove (a Glenview Park District nature center) at 6:30pm. In addition everyone is invited to visit the OMS Library Media Center to work on activities related to our One Book One School event and to decide if they'd like to sponsor a book for our collection.
Read Aloud with the Principal ~ Friday, 10/26 from 9:10-10:10 ~ Dr. FitzPatrick will be back with your kiddos on Friday with a read aloud on Friday! Focusing on the Owls for Others theme, she will be reading Do Unto Otters, then following it up with an activity.
Math
Most of you saw your child's performance on the chapter 2 assessment at conferences. It was a challenging test, but I was pleased with their overall performance. They really worked hard to master skills in this unit! Give them a pat on the back for a job well done :) If your child received 'developing' in either the Basic or Application category, I will continue to work with them during Target Time to help them meet the standard.
With the end of chapter 2, we are moving on to adding and subtracting fractions in chapter 3, which means we will finally be working on a different standard! We will actually be covering two standards in chapter 3 - adding and subtracting fractions, and performing operations on decimals as we will convert fractions to decimals. This unit isn't quite as long as the previous unit, but we will work in it for the next 2-3 weeks. as we get closer to the end of the unit, I will post our assessment date. As in previous units, I will post assignments on Freckle and Khan to help your children gain extra practice on the skills.
With the end of chapter 2, we are moving on to adding and subtracting fractions in chapter 3, which means we will finally be working on a different standard! We will actually be covering two standards in chapter 3 - adding and subtracting fractions, and performing operations on decimals as we will convert fractions to decimals. This unit isn't quite as long as the previous unit, but we will work in it for the next 2-3 weeks. as we get closer to the end of the unit, I will post our assessment date. As in previous units, I will post assignments on Freckle and Khan to help your children gain extra practice on the skills.
Science
We will continue to make observations about the earth's rotation this week, so we will be outside on Monday and Tuesday multiple times throughout the day if it remains sunny as predicted (no more graupel, thank goodness ;). If it's not, we will be out on Thursday and Friday.
We will collect date about the movement of the sun and shadows, then we will analyze that data to make assumptions and ultimately build models that accurately represent earth's rotation. The only assessment in science this week is scheduled for Friday morning. If we stay on schedule this week, they will take that quiz, and you will receive an Owl Scorecard early next week.
We will collect date about the movement of the sun and shadows, then we will analyze that data to make assumptions and ultimately build models that accurately represent earth's rotation. The only assessment in science this week is scheduled for Friday morning. If we stay on schedule this week, they will take that quiz, and you will receive an Owl Scorecard early next week.
Reading
This week, we will be diving deeper into comprehension by focusing on story elements common to all fictional text - characters, setting, plot, conflict, resolution, and theme. Writers of fictional text use these elements to build meaning in stories, so good readers know how to break down these elements and uncover deeper meaning. We will spend time identifying the story elements in several stories this week, but there won't be any assessments in reading until next week.
This week, we will be diving deeper into comprehension by focusing on story elements common to all fictional text - characters, setting, plot, conflict, resolution, and theme. Writers of fictional text use these elements to build meaning in stories, so good readers know how to break down these elements and uncover deeper meaning. We will spend time identifying the story elements in several stories this week, but there won't be any assessments in reading until next week.
Writing
We will continue to sharpen our ability to show details in our writing this week by choosing strong verbs, especially in dialogue. Toward the end of the week, we will focus on strengthening the organization in our writing with lessons on sequencing. Next week, we will begin to pull together our final personal narratives - these will be scored as a summative assessment for our writing unit.
Students have also been working on research in their weekly LMC lessons to prepare for a debate. They will engage in a debate about one of the following two topics:
Should we spend money on space exploration?
Would it be safe to live somewhere other than earth?
Ask your child which debate they are focused on, and which side they are on. They will be working to gather research to support their debate over the next couple of weeks. The debate will be on Wednesday, 11/7 during their LMC time. Students will be assessed on their ability to gather information from multiple sources for research (writing standard), as well as their ability to support their claims with evidence (science standard) with this research.
Students have also been working on research in their weekly LMC lessons to prepare for a debate. They will engage in a debate about one of the following two topics:
Should we spend money on space exploration?
Would it be safe to live somewhere other than earth?
Ask your child which debate they are focused on, and which side they are on. They will be working to gather research to support their debate over the next couple of weeks. The debate will be on Wednesday, 11/7 during their LMC time. Students will be assessed on their ability to gather information from multiple sources for research (writing standard), as well as their ability to support their claims with evidence (science standard) with this research.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
You can teach a student a lesson for a day;
but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity,
he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
~ Clay P. Bedford
but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity,
he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
~ Clay P. Bedford
Cheers ~
Theresa Fowler
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