Walking Field Trip and Field Day

Hello Fifth Grade Families,

Welcome to an exciting week, the last week of school!

Some things you need to know:
Tuesday:   Walking field trip with 4th grade to District Court.
We will do this to learn about branches of government, but also to learn some of the history of this court in our community.  Please have your student wear walking shoes and dress for the weather, even if it is rainy. We will be eating lunch earlier to accommodate the time for this field trip.

All week:  Auctions.  Please send in treats to auction off.  Ask your child for details.

Thursday:  Field Day.  More info in Oasis Emails.  School day from 8:00 - 2:00 at outdoor pool grounds for all grades.  Hot dog lunch is provided.  We will be swimming and bowling.  Kids need a swimsuit and towel and maybe flip flops.  With the exception of swimming time, they need closed-toe shoes. They will need to keep track of their things, so a bag will be helpful.  They are able to buy food at the snack bar in the bowling alley if they want; otherwise, no money is needed.  Dress for the weather outside, sunscreen or a hat may be needed.  If you want to spend the day rotating with our class, please email me to coordinate.  

All Week:  Many classrooms are moving, but our classroom is one of the lucky ones that is not, so we will have business as usual for much of the week.  We are still doing book clubs and other learning activities right up until the end.  Have a great week.

 

End of the Year and Auctions

The end of the year is almost here.  This is a happy and sad time for me.  I want you to know how much I have enjoyed this class.  I love this group of kids, I love how hard they have worked and how they have worked together throughout the year.  They all have strengths and weaknesses, and I enjoy the challenge of finding each student’s strengths and helping him or her learn and contribute to the classroom community.  I always feel a little sad to pass my students on, but I am confident that they will be successful as sixth graders and beyond.  Thank you parents for your support this year.  You are raising wonderful children!

On to some end of the year details.  We have auctions in the classroom in the last week of school.  Monday, May 19 will be a big auction day.  I encourage kids to spend their Bighorn Bucks, as the money does not have value in any other place but this classroom.  I have some non-food items to auction off, but I am requesting any fun treat items.  Candy bars, individual bags of chips, donuts, Gatorade, and homemade treats are all big sellers.  If you have leftover party favors or other small toys, you can send these in too.  This works best if you do not send in 20 items.  When we have a limited supply, the demand rises, which is one of the economic principles this activity teaches.  So please send in some auction items if you are able to before Monday.

Field Day is coming up.  Rock climbing is really fun, but it requires a permission slip.  It was emailed home and is due Monday, May 19.  If anyone wants to rotate with the class on field day, please email me to coordinate.  

Have a great week.

May 5

We are loving this week!  As of Monday, each book club finished their books and we took some time to come up with a clever way to share a literary element from the book.  This was a student choice in-class project, with a few guidelines. The students had to choose a project that reflects their strengths in learning styles.  We’ve had skits, a rap, an outdoor game, maps made from descriptions in the book, and a tool invented that would have helped the character.  Very exciting to see the students taking so much ownership in their learning and sharing their excitement about their book.  We are presenting in class this week and will take an assessment on our books also this week.  

In writing, we finished the state writing test.  It is a timed opinion prompt, with text to read and then write your opinion.  Everyone worked hard and I was glad to see each student taking the allowed time to do his or her best work. We are looking forward to having the students share more of their work from our Work on Writing time during our literacy blocks.

The big thing this week is painting the playground.  Thursday is our day and it looks like a good weather day.  We have parent volunteers and we have our plans ready.  We will start on Thursday after lunch and hopefully be done by 3:00.  Be sure to send your kids in their worst uniforms in case they get paint on them, or send them with a paint shirt to cover their clothes.  We also talked about shoes, maybe an old pair or they can change into flip flops for painting. Just in case there are any paint drips.

Have a great week.