* Bring Recorders on Mondays
* Gym uniforms on Thursdays
* Band Students - Bring instrument on Thurs/Fri
* 12/6 St. Nicholas Day
* 12/9 Secret Santa Shop
* 12/10 Free DDD - End of Trimester 1 Celebration
* 12/13 Wear Christmas attire for recording of Christmas Program
* 12/22 11:45 Early Dismissal
* 12/23-1/2 Christmas Break

Goals for this year include:

• Each student must have a book handy for silent reading throughout the school day. Students are of course also encouraged to read outside of school.
• Each student is responsible for recording the number of minutes they read on their reading log. The last day of the month, students will hand in both of these pages. The total number of minutes I would like the students to read is 750.  This breaks down to ~25 minutes a day.  It may seem challenging, but with in-class free reading and perhaps a chapter or two before bed, I believe this is a challenging, yet, attainable goal.
• Each student is also responsible for completing one book report for month October through March. (Reports will be counted as a Reading grade.)

Class Monthly Goal: 12,750

Class Minute Totals:
October - 13,559
November - 15,039
December - Mid-Month Check-Up: 12/15
January - Mid-Month Check-Up: 1/14
February - Mid-Month Check-Up: 2/15
March - Mid-Month Check-Up: 3/15

Class Goal Total by 3/31: 81,000
Current TOTAL: 28,598

Hi Parents! 

And just like that, it was December! Can you believe it?

Big thanks to the "Shhhh!" volunteers. We are fully stocked for St. Nicholas Day on Monday. We also made stockings for our lockers, decorated the classroom, and added our first "light" to our Advent wreaths.

A few weeks ago, I told the class about the chance to be a more active participant with the Student Council. I asked interested applicants to submit a short letter explaining their qualifications and why they were interested. While I was only looking for 2 students per remaining trimester, 5 students submitted letters. It was decided the applicants could all be accepted. Our 5th Grade Representatives for Trimester 2 are: Ava, Lia, and Caralyn. For Trimester 3, our 5th Grade Representatives will be Alexa and Sophia. Congratulations! 

Next Week: 
Wednesday - SS CE Due
                      Math 2-digit divisor division Test 
Thursday - Eng Adjectives Test 
                  Religion Ch 7 Test
Friday - Spelling Lesson 10 

* Thursday 12/9 is 5th grade's day to go to the Secret Santa Shop. 
* Friday 12/10 is a free dress down day. It will be the "End of Trimester 1 Celebration/Shambuck Party." It will be in our classroom. 

Have a great weekend! God Bless You! 

Hi Parents! 

This week, we learned about the importance of Veteran's Day. We learned of it's history, made cards for veterans in our own families and extra cards for parishioner veterans, and explained The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Students have a journal entry on this very special day as well. If you are a veteran or have one in your family, please know your/their service is MUCH appreciated. We pray for you daily at school. God Bless You! 

The class helped me get together words of advice on hot pink index cards for Mrs. Noel and her sweet new baby girl Bailey. We had a lot of fun with this! Mr. & Mrs. Noel now have lots of ideas to help teach Bailey how to sleep through the night. 

We've also been practicing hieroglyphs in SS, the cause/effect skill in Reading, and adjectives in English. Today, we also were invited to listen to campaign speeches from 8th grade students and cast votes for the student council! We learned some Greek from our Seminarian, Mr. Charles and worked on a project for our next sacrament: The Holy Eucharist. Busy, busy, busy! 

Next week: 
Monday - Book It Check-Up (Bring in updated Nov. Cal.)
Tuesday - Eng 3.1-3.5 Quiz (This was pushed from 11/12)
Wednesday - SS CE Due  
Thursday - Math Ch 3 Division Test
Friday - Spelling Lesson 9
             Rdg - WLT Test

A few students have a Religion project to finish for HW. We started in class yesterday and had class time to work on it again today, but some chattiness delayed productivity. This should be completed and returned on Monday.

*****Thursday is the last day of Trimester 1!!!*****

Have a great weekend! God Bless You!

​Hi Parents! 

In planning for next week, we'll have a "Halloween celebration" next Friday. If you would like to send in treats, please remember they should be prepackaged and individually wrapped. We have 18 students. Next Friday is also a free orange and black dress down day. 

This week, we completed our "Safe Environment" program during Religion class. Information about the program can be found here: https://www.youthprotectionhbg.com/protect-children/#1522019325396-3a26bedf-8659 The lesson plan can be found here: https://www.youthprotectionhbg.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Lesson-Plan-on-Safe-Environment-Grade-5.pdf If you are interested in seeing what your child completed for classwork, this is located inside their 5th grade journal. That copybook usually just stays at school, but they are able to go home for a day and then return back to the classroom.

Math books are here! Yay! No more packets and folders!

I have yet to receive our box from the scholastic book orders. Ugh. I'll soon be forwarding you the newest message I received in regard to the order.

No test packet today. However, yesterday, 2 graded assignments came home: math factor trees and the SS study guide. These do not need to be signed and returned. 

Please ask your child about our adventures with Double Dutch! Some students braved the ropes to work on the skill inspired by our story this week from Reading class. I took a few photos and even a video! These persistent kids have come a long way in just a week's time!

Next week for Spelling, we'll have a fall/Halloween word list. The class will glue the list into their assignment books. 

Next Friday is an orange/black free dress down day. 

Below I've attached 2 photos of the class working on some mummies as we prepare to study the ancient Egyptian civilization in SS. 

Next week: 
Tuesday - 
Wednesday - Eng Pronouns Test
Thursday - 
Friday - Spelling Halloween List
               Book It Book Report Due
​11/1 - Book It Reading Log Due

If anyone has empty TP tubes at home or empty/clean small, plastic fruit cups, I could use some in the classroom. (The more the merrier!) Also, I'm in need of a bottle of iodine. If someone has this on hand and would like to donate it, I need it for science next week and don't think I'll be able to get to the store this weekend. The bottle I have is a 2oz bottle "decolorized iodine", but won't be enough for what we need for our experiment next week. Please "reply all" if you have this on hand or could donate it. Two 2oz bottles (or one larger size) would be great! Thanks so much! 

Have a great weekend! God Bless You! 

Hi Parents! 

Just a quick one today: 

Wednesday - SS CE Due
Thursday - Math X Test
                  SS Ch 3 Test (& packet due)
Friday - Spelling Test 6
             Rdg - WLT #4

*October Bk Rep Due 10/29
*October Rdg Log Due 11/1

Have a great weekend! God Bless You! 

Hi Parents! 

Another busy week checked off in 5th grade! Here are a few highlights:
 
* We've finished up a few projects for Science and Math. Models of particles within a solid, liquid, and gas are on display in the hall. And Snoopy is living in a forest of factor trees from math in the back of our classroom. 

* Our Baptism wall is well decorated and now labeled with the sacramentals and vocab words we've located in your photos! (See below!)

* We "field tripped" down to the church to get an up-close peek at the baptismal font, blessed oils, and other various items. 

* Our Current Events are THRIVING this week! Man, we really focused on Science with our news: volcanos, bears, Mars exploration, giant penguins, dinosaurs, monarchs, ETC! 

* In Science class, students decided on tests to perform on sealed boxes with mystery items inside to attempt to discover the item's properties. We then made predictions based on our findings. I've left the class in suspense: we'll get to open the boxes next week!

* Book It is off to a great start! Students should be doing their best to track minutes read and mark these on the orange October calendars. By the end of next week, I'll have the Book Report assignment ready for them. 

* Finally, today, we discussed Fire Safety/Prevention Week. Since we can't have the firefighters in for an assembly yet, I brought the topic into the classroom today. We created a journal entry about it and completed a few activities. This weekend's "HW" is all about smoke detectors, planning a meeting place, and doing a fire drill at home. 

I'm looking forward to meeting with many of you tomorrow. I'll have the most recent test packet to review as well as their journal so you can peruse some of your child's thoughts. If you have time to complete your "Parent HW", please bring that along as well. Feel free to sneak a peek in their locker and desk, I told the class to make them beautiful to show off to you. 

Have a great long weekend! God Bless You! 

Hi Parents! 

Today is the first day of the Book It Program. If your child has not already shared it with you, ask them for the purple parent letter I gave out yesterday. It outlines the plan for the 6 month program as well as our goals. I did not create a packet as referenced in the letter for several reasons. (Apologies, I didn't get to revise the text of my letter in time.) The reading calendar and reading log are orange for October and should be kept by the student for documentation of minutes and books read. The book report assignments will vary from month to month, but come mid-October, I will pass out this month's project. I've found that handing it out early leads to rushed, subpar work. Also, waiting until mid-month gives adequate time to get into their book choice and have ample time to read most of it. If you aren't sure if your child's book choice is appropriate for their ability, the best thing to do is send it to school and have him/her show it to me. Finally, in years past, I've had students that were unaware that they had to read the entire book to complete the book report fully. I've mentioned this in class, but reinforcement at home, especially if the month is soon ending, and the due date is near. October's due date for the reading calendar, log, and report is 10/29.

Next week: 
Tuesday - Bible "Scavenger Hunt" Quiz
Wednesday - Rdg: WLT #3
                      SS CE Due
Thursday - Spelling Lesson 5 Test
                  Eng 2.1-2.5 Quiz
Friday - NO SCHOOL :  P/T Conferences

Have a wonderful weekend! God Bless You! 

Hi Parents! 

You are all very efficient! It seems our P/T Conference Day is all scheduled and ready to go. Remember, the elementary students are otherwise off school that day. The Middle School students are in session. Please remember to be mindful of the 15 minute meetings. This will keep me on schedule and perhaps you too if you have other teachers to visit. 

I have several grades for each academic area so I have input the first chunk of grades for the year. Please check the portal for an update on your child's averages. Test packets will be coming home every Friday and I tell students the expectation is that they are signed and returned to school within 2 school days. Most weeks, this means Tuesday. However, if we are off school on a Monday, the due date is then Wednesday.

Next week: 
Tuesday: Religion Baptism photo due
                Religion  Morning Offering Prayer Test
               Science 100 things - The directions were explained in class today.
Wednesday - NO SCHOOL
(No Spelling this week!)

Have a great weekend! God Bless You!