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Reminders

  • Please remember to have your child bring a sack lunch tomorrow, Friday Jan. 11th for our field trip.
  • Have students wear their 5th grade celebration shirts on the field trip.
  • Make sure students are studying for the digestive system quiz which will be given on Monday.
Thank you! 🙂

Auction Is Coming

 
 
 
 
We are going to have our first class auction the Friday before break.  To have a successful auction I need your support.
 
Please take the time this week and have your kids clean out those closets. Any past treasure they would like to part with to donate to our class auction will be greatly appreciated. REMEMBER, one persons trash is another personsTREASURE!! Send in their donation/s anytime this week or the beginning of next week so the kids can see what their hard in $ can purchase.

Field Trip

 

There are several parents who have expressed an interest in joining us for our planetarium/museum field trip on January 11th. We would love to be able to include all who are interested, however there is a space issue at the planetarium. Therefore, each teacher will only be able to have four chaperones who will be riding the bus with the kids, viewing the planetarium, and overseeing a group of students throughout the day.Your teacher will be letting you know if you are one of these four chaperones.

Other parents are welcome to drive to the museum and join us at 11:00 for lunch and exploration of the museum, but there is not enough room for the extra parents during the planetarium show. If you are not one of the four chaperones, but would like to join us it will be $7.00 and you may pay at the museum that day. Please let us know if you will be joining us down there!

Feel free to contact your teacher if you have any questions.

Week of December 10

Miscellaneous:

The parents who have planned our Holiday Party are asking each child to bring a Christmas tree ornament to give to a classmate. The ornament should be wrapped when they bring it to school and cost less than $5.00. This will be something the kids can put on their tree each year and remind them of 5th grade memories. 🙂

The 5th graders will begin the annual 5th grade Candy Cane sale. Staff, students, and parents can purchase a candy cane for $1.00. This sale helps fund 5th grade camp and the 5th grade celebration. We hope it will be another successful sale!

The holiday shopping at Georgetown will be this coming week.  Mrs. Walenta’s class will be shopping on Tuesday Dec. 11th! Send money with your child on Tuesday if you wish them to shop.

The date, Jan. 11th  has been set for our classes to take the field trip to the planetarium. The information about this trip was sent home and the students need to bring $3.00 by Monday Dec. 10th. We thank the PTC for paying the remainder of the cost for this class trip! 🙂

The gym teachers have asked that the students make sure they have any extra pair of tennis shoes at school for PE. The gym floor can become very slippery and dangerous if students are wearing dirty shoes into the gym. Thanks.

My Fabulous 5th Graders!

 

Hooray for my fabulous 5th graders! Mrs. Walenta’s class won the PE Cares food drive. Our class donated over 179 food items for a local pantry!  When it was announced today that we won, the students were very excited and proud. The PE teachers will be planning a bowling trip for our class and each student will receive a t-shirt. Way to go!

I also told the kids today that there will not be a reading log or word study homework this week. Enjoy the week off!

Holiday Program: November 27 at FairHaven

Where is the church?
Address: 2900 Baldwin Street  Hudsonville, MI 49426;  Fair Haven Ministries is located down the road from Georgetown Elementary at the corner of Baldwin Street and 28th Ave.  This program is led by Georgetown’s two music teachers: Mrs. VanRiijs Gr K and Mrs. Bretz Gr 1-5What time do students need to be at the church? 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE PROGRAM
  • K, Gr. 1, Gr 2:  6:15 pm
  • Grades 3,4 and 5:  7:30 pm
Where does my child need to go when they get to the church?
There will be signs at the church directing you to your child’s classroom assignment and also this information will be sent home prior to the program.  Below are the room assignments by grade.  To view a map of the room locations, click here:  fairhavenmap
  • PK/K – Family Life Center
  • 1st – 100 Wing
  • 2nd – 400 Middle
  • 3rd – 100 Wing
  • 4th – 400 Middle
  • 5th – Family Life Center
How long will the program be? Each group will perform for about 30 minutes.What order are the grades singing?
K, followed by 1st/2nd grades; Grade 3 followed by 4th/5th Grades.Can we save seats prior to the program?
No. The only reserved seats will be for the directors, videographer, and teachers.
  • Doors will open at 6:30 and seating is first come first served.
  • Please be respectful and courteous to other families.
  • WCET TV will be taping and televising the program so that families who are unable to attend can still see it.  If you do not want your child to be shown on WCET TV, do not attend the program.   Notify your child’s teacher and Mrs. Bretz/Mrs. VanRiijs that your child will be staying home rather than participating.
Is food or drink allowed in the church?  No food or drink is allowed in the church. Do the students need to wear anything special?No. Most students love to dress up and will wear special Christmas dresses or “church clothes”, but there is no requirement. Exception:  Children who have a part and require special costumes.  Mrs. Bretz would have sent a note home to you if this were the case–so you will be aware in advance.
Special Props Needed:
How do students get special parts?
  • Auditions during or after class time.
  • History of prior solo or part performance in past years.
  • There are 600+ students and we do our best to make this process fair and equitable over time.
Additional Information:
  • MAP of the CHURCH will arrive home on Tuesday. It is also available here: fairhavenmap
  • DVD order form will be attached to this information.  You can also download the order form here.  Holiday dvd
  • NOTE:  Georgetown does NOT set the price for the DVD.  This is done by WCET.  The cost of the DVD goes toward programming fees, staff compensation, materials, etc.

Reminders

  • Don’t forget to pick up your fundraiser items tomorrow from 3:15-5:15.
  • Mrs. Walenta’s math class had a homework sheet tonight which is due tomorrow.
  • Please send in money for our solar light. Our goal is for everyone to bring in $2.00 so we can earn a light to give to our global neighbors.
  • I shared a cool solar system website for the students to visit. http://www.kidsastronomy.com
  • We will have a science quiz next Monday on the Unit 1 vocabulary.

Say CHEESE!

The message below is from our wonderful music teacher!
 
Fourth and fifth graders are being asked to bring in one favorite picture of themselves that shows them doing a favorite December or holiday activity.  Since everyone celebrates this season differently, this could be a picture of them decorating a Christmas tree, opening presents, sitting on Santa, participating in a church program, lighting a candle for Hanukkah, or simply playing in the snow, eating a family dinner, or doing something special for someone.  Anything that represents this Christmas season.

We will be using some of these pictures in a slideshow for one of our program songs!  (Due to the length of the song, I won’t be able to use everyone’s pictures.  It will be a surprise for the students to see who’s pictures made it into the slideshow!)

Please either send me a digital version of the picture to:  abretz@hpseagles.net

OR

Have your child bring in a printed picture and I will scan it and return it to them.

THANK YOU!!!

The MEAP Is Coming!

As we move into the month of October, all elementary students in grades 3-5 will be participating in the annual MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program). MEAP is Michigan’s general assessment for students in grades 3 through 9. It is based on Michigan’s grade level content expectations in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. Students are assessed in the fall of each year on the prior year’s expectations.

Test dates and times are predetermined by the Michigan Department of Education. Assessments are administered in sections over a course of several days. Administration times vary from 20 – 80 minutes per section. 2012 test dates are as follows:

  • Oct. 9 & 10: Reading(grades 3 – 5)
  • Oct. 11: Writing Day 1 (grades 4)
  • Oct. 16: Mathematics (grades 3 – 5)
  • Oct. 17: Writing Day 2 (grades 4), Science (grades 5)

The MEAP results are used for many purposes, including informing instructional practice and tracking student performance. MEAP is also used for a number of high-stakes accountability measures, such as determining a building’s and district’s Adequate Yearly Progress, school rankings and designations (Reward, Focus or Priority), and educator evaluations.

As the uses of the test results expand, the importance of ensuring high-quality, fair, and
standardized test administration increases. Schools must administer tests within state and
federal guidelines. These guidelines sometime appear restrictive; however, these guidelines ensure equitability between all schools and all students.

For example, resources, such as writing posters, maps, multiplication tables, and other content information on the wall, that might provide students with clues to answers of test questions must be removed from classrooms. If students can view these resources during testing, they will have an advantage over students who cannot use these resources.

In addition, we have found that students do their best when additional distractions are removed from the testing environment such as snacks, books, and art supplies. Students who finish early are encouraged to go back and recheck their answers and then wait quietly while their classmates complete the assessment.

We are asking that you partner with us to ensure that your child be prepared for the MEAP test in these ways:

  • Attend school on all testing dates,
  • Before each test, get a good night’s sleep
  • On test days AND ALL DAYS eat a healthy breakfast
  • Understand  the importance of doing his/her personal best!

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