Miscellaneous

• Early Release: Friday, October 23rd
• No school on Monday, October 26th

Fall Parties:

• Thank you to those of you who signed up to donate items to our Fall Party. Please send in those items by Wednesday October 28th.  🙂
• Party Day Reminders:
  • This year for our Fall Party we are looking forward to having parties in our classrooms, however; this year will be different than in the past.
    • Parents and volunteers will not be able to attend.  (We will miss you!)
    •  Snacks will need to be store-bought and individually packaged and respectful of allergies (no peanuts please).

    Like previous years, we will be welcoming your children to wear costumes, if they wish.  One change this year is that children will be able to wear their costumes to school and wear them the whole day.  The intent behind this is to limit children gathering in the restrooms to change, and limit the number of children needing assistance from teachers and staff to get into their costumes.  We invite you to send your children in a costume that includes no weapons or gore, and easily allows your child to participate in regular school routines and procedures.  There will not be any masks other than COVID-19-related face masks allowed. There will not be time given to dress or apply makeup as in years past.

    Please consider the questions below when deciding on a costume:

    • Can they take it off themselves to use the bathroom?
    • Can they fit in their seat at their desk?
    • Can they go down the slide or sit in the swings?

    We ask that you save bulky, inflatable, or extravagant costumes for home use, and dress in a fun and simple costume for the school day.  Fall or pumpkin t-shirts are a great alternative as well.

    We are thrilled at the opportunity to celebrate with your children and look forward to creating another fun and memorable school event for them.

Math

• We are continuing our work on Unit 2: Adding & Subtracting whole numbers & decimals.  
• We will continue to focus on mastering our multiplication and division math facts. Please practice these at home and utilize your child’s online access to Moby Max Fact Fluency homework.

ELA

• We are beginning our writing unit to create a narrative craft.  This entails creating personal narratives and or memoirs).
• At home reading logs are due every Monday morning.

Social Studies

• We are continuing our unit called Three Worlds Meet which examines the interaction between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans in North America.

Miscellaneous:

• Fall Party:
  • We’re using SignUp.com (the leading online SignUp and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming Fall PartyHere’s how it works in 3 easy steps:

    1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: https://signup.com/go/PAkoXJF
    2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
    3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.

  • Party Day Reminders:
    • This year for our Fall Party we are looking forward to having parties in our classrooms, however; this year will be different than in the past.
      • Parents and volunteers will not be able to attend.  (We will miss you!)
      •  Snacks will need to be store-bought and individually packaged and respectful of allergies (no peanuts please).

      Like previous years, we will be welcoming your children to wear costumes, if they wish.  One change this year is that children will be able to wear their costumes to school and wear them the whole day.  The intent behind this is to limit children gathering in the restrooms to change, and limit the number of children needing assistance from teachers and staff to get into their costumes.  We invite you to send your children in a costume that includes no weapons or gore, and easily allows your child to participate in regular school routines and procedures.  There will not be any masks other than COVID-19-related face masks allowed. There will not be time given to dress or apply makeup as in years past.

      Please consider the questions below when deciding on a costume:

      • Can they take it off themselves to use the bathroom?
      • Can they fit in their seat at their desk?
      • Can they go down the slide or sit in the swings?

      We ask that you save bulky, inflatable, or extravagant costumes for home use, and dress in a fun and simple costume for the school day.  Fall or pumpkin t-shirts are a great alternative as well.

      We are thrilled at the opportunity to celebrate with your children and look forward to creating another fun and memorable school event for them.

We are starting to build many classroom routines! What a respectful group of 5th graders in room 305! 🙂 They have been very supportive and respectful of each other in spite of the unique start to our school year!

Math

• We are working on our first math unit, Addition & Subtraction with Fractions. 
• As this unit unfolds, our focus will be to master our multiplication and division math facts. Please practice these at home. They can use the Moby Max Math site to practice their fact fluency at home.

• ELA
  • We’re working on establishing strong independent reading.

Miscellaneous

• Safety program will be starting on September 14. Mr. Cooley met with safeties on Friday to go over the schedule and expectations. 
• Early release on Friday, September 18
• Look for information being sent home  about this year’s  Walk-a-thon! 🙂

A Note From the STEAM Studio-

Please note that the STEAM teachers have always used Google Classroom as a learning tool in the STEAM studio.  All assignments that are posted while we are doing face to face learning will always be completed in class and should not be worked on at home.  I tend to post assignments ahead of time to work out any issues and students can ignore the email that a new assignment has been posted.  We use Google Classroom differently than the classroom teachers and it was causing a bit of confusion.  Please reach out to Mrs. Totten (atotten@hpseagles.net) if you have any questions!

Miscellaneous

Parent-Teacher Conferences (Monday, March 9 & Wednesday, March 11)

• Please see the email that was sent with the Spring parent-teacher conference schedule

Scholastic Book Fair March 9-13

• Our class’s preview day is Monday and our shopping day is Wednesday.
• Show off your 5th grade spirit! Join us in wearing our 5th grade shirts every Friday

March 3 – Symphony Trip (No chaperones needed)

March 6 – Early release

March 9 – Baldwin Street Middle School Visit 10:30-2:10 (Mrs. Walenta’s class only)

March 10 – Baldwin Street Middle School Visit 10:30-2:10 (Mrs. Wysocki’s class only)

March 11 – Baldwin Street Middle School Visit 10:30-2:10 (Mrs. Ball and Mr. Cooley’s classes only)

**March 17 – 7:00 PM Middle school music information night for parents at Riley Street Middle School

**March 18 – 7:00 PM Middle school music information night for parents at Baldwin Street Middle School 

**These meetings will include the same information regardless of location; you may attend the one that best fits your schedule.

Miscellaneous

Camp Chaperones – A letter came home outlining chaperone opportunities. Please return the form if you are interested in being a chaperone by Tuesday, Feb 18th. Parents will be notified by March 2nd.

Parent-Teacher Conferences (Monday, March 9 & Wednesday, March 11)

A reminder note came home today. An email will also be sent with this information.

February 21 – Early Release

March 3 – Symphony Trip (No chaperones needed)

March 6 – Early release

March 9 – Baldwin Street Middle School Visit 10:30-2:00  (Mrs. Walenta’s class only)

March 10 – Baldwin Street Middle School Visit 10:30-2:00 ( Mrs. Wysocki’s class only)

March 11 – Baldwin Street Middle School Visit 10:30-2:00 (Mr. Cooley’s and Mrs. Ball’s classes only)

Miscellaneous

• Camp Chaperones – A letter came home outlining chaperone opportunities. Please return this with your level of interest by Tuesday, Feb 18th. Parents will be notified by March 2nd.

• Valentine’s Day

• • • In fifth grade, we do not have individual parties for Valentine’s Day.
    • We will have an optional Valentine exchange. If your child chooses to participate, please have him or her bring a Valentine for each student in the class . 
    • We will decorate bags to use to gather our Valentines, so there is no need to create a box or container to send in.

• Parent-Teacher Conferences (Monday, March 9 & Wednesday, March 11)

• • Times will be the same as they were in the Fall. A conference time reminder will be sent home next week.

Math:

• We are beginning unit 5, Division of Whole Numbers & Decimals.
• Students should be completing Moby Max Fact Fluency practice at home for five minutes per day unless they have mastered all math facts.

ELA:

• We’re continuing our reading unit which is investigating non-fiction texts and tackling text complexity.
• Students should be reading for 20 minutes each night and filling out the reading log.

Science: 

• We’re launching our unit: Go With the Flow which investigates invasive species and their impact on our waterways.

Social Studies:

• We are continuing our fourth unit, Life in the Colonies, which examines the development and impact of growing colonial regions.

Miscellaneous

• • Early Release – Friday, Jan. 31
  • Midwinter Break – Monday, February, 3rd and Tuesday, February 4th
  • Remaining balances of the fifth grade activity fee are due by February 1. Reminders with updated balances were sent home last week.

• Camp Chaperones – Be on the lookout next week for a letter outlining chaperone opportunities. 

• Valentine’s Day

• • In fifth grade, we do not have individual parties for Valentine’s Day.
  • We will have an optional Valentine exchange. If your child chooses to participate, please have him or her bring a Valentine for each student in the class . 
  • We will decorate bags to use to gather our Valentines, so there is no need to create a box or container to send in.

Miscellaneous

• P.E. apparel sale orders due by Wednesday, Jan. 29.
  • For more information and to order, visit the Georgetown Physical Education blog.
• Early Release – Friday, Jan. 31
• Midwinter Break (No School Monday, February, 3rd and Tuesday, February 4th)
• Remaining balances of the fifth grade activity fee are due by February 1.
  • Reminders with updated balances will be sent home on Tuesday, January 21st.

Community Education Opportunity: Film Screening and Panel Discussion of Screenagers: The Next Chapter  – Tuesday, Jan. 21

As a 5th grade team, we feel this would be a great opportunity for parents to check this out as it is in line with a lot of things we’ve been noticing and observing in students as technology continues to play an important role in students’ lives. Check out the trailer for the film, Screenagers: The Next Chapter,  or the original film, Screenagers, to help inform you and your family as you navigate the increasing social demands and pressures of today’s students with technology. 

• Hudsonville Community Education Screenagers Event Site

• Screenagers Official Website