February Items

Warm Clothes and Pick Up/Drop Off:
Students need to be sure they are dressed warm during these unpredictable weather patterns.  Sever students have been coming to school in just a lightweight jacket rather than a heavy winter coat, gloves, hat, and boots. 




Also, when picking up or dropping off your child, please be sure to have students enter and exit your car at the curb in the parking lot.  Do not make them come to you unless you are parked in a parking spot.  We have had children darting out into the parking lot with out crossing in the cross walk.  Thank you.






Curriculum Items:
Today was the due date for the PACE final copies with Bibliography page attached.  Most have been printed and turned in, however the following students didn't have them printed and/or on their desk at the end of the day today:  7, 9, 11, 14, 18, 29.   Please ask your child what their number is....and encourage them to get the items turned in first thing in the morning.    Power Points are due on Friday and we will be practicing all next week.    We will be presenting on Wednesday, Feb. 19.






This weekend, Wordly Wise books will be sent home.  Please look over each lesson up through Lesson 10 and encourage your child to redo anything item that is marked incorrect. I have been noticing more and more students rushing through their work, not caring enough to make sure their answers are reasonable.  If your child is missing more than one or two per activity, he/she will need your support nightly to increase their word study knowledge.  Thank you.






We will be having a Social Studies test on Wednesday, Feb. 12.   I have posted a study guide in the Curriculum Items tab, but you can also click here for the study guide.  This will be an essay test, so students need to be practicing writing the information in paragraph format. 






We have been practicing division of fractions/whole numbers this past week and will continue learning strategies for division.  That study guide can also be found in the Curriculum Items tab as well as here.  A test will be given each Friday for the next three weeks to assess mastery.






We have just begun our Cells unit in science.  As soon as I can get the digital evidence uploaded, you will get to see how popular our cell lab was today.





Valentine Party:
Friday, February 14, 2:45-3:45 is our Valentine's party.  Here is the student list: 2014 Student Valentine List. 






Calendar Items:
Feb. 7, Friday:  Popcorn Day
Feb. 10-14:  White Ribbon Week
Feb. 12, Wednesday:  Constitution Test
Feb.  12, Wednesday:  Chipotle Night (Fundraiser for Discovery at Chipotle)
Feb. 14, Friday:  Valentine's Party
Feb. 17, Monday:  No School
Feb. 19, Wednesday:  PACE Presentations (no parents please)
Feb. 19, Wednesday:  Parent Tech Awareness Night
Feb. 21, Friday:  Cells Test (study guide not available yet)
Feb. 21, Friday:  Licorice/Spirit Day
Feb. 25, Tuesday:  5th grade Growth and Development Video Parent Preview Night (Girls video: 4-4:30; Boys video: 4:40-5pm)
Feb. 28, Friday:  No School - End of Trimester 2;  Teacher Inservice

Upcoming events

Map Testing
Math MAP test ~  Tuesday, January 28 in the morning
Language MAP test ~ Tuesday, February 4 in the morning



Ski Night
Tuesday, January 28  3pm-9ish. 
Students who signed up and paid to go on the 5th Grade Ski Trip to Bogus will be leaving school around 3pm on Tuesday.  We will be back to Discovery around 9pm, so please be sure to be in the parking lot to get your child off of the bus.    Students not going on the ski trip will be dismissed at the end of the regular school day. 



Valentine's Party
Friday, February, 14
We will be having a Valentine's Day party on Friday, February 14 the last hour of class.  Student's will be doing a valentine swap.  It is not required that your child bring valentines, but if he/she does choose to bring them, he/she must bring a valentine for every student. 

Students will need to bring a decorated shoe box or a decorated bag to use to collect their valentines, as we won't have time to decorate them in class.  

The first 20 minutes of our party will be devoted to passing out and reading the valentines.  I am requesting a parent volunteer to organize this party.  This will include organizing a treat and a 30 minute activity.  Please contact me as soon as possible if you can be the organizer of this party.


Curriculum Items
Reading & Language Arts:  PACE reports (Rought Drafts have been started, editing has begun, and second drafts are currently being written.  Typed final drafts due Feb. 5)
Wordly Wise Lesson 10-11
Root Words:  Graph/Scrib/Script (Test Jan. 29)
Math:  Division models and variables (Multiplication test over modeling fractions, decimals, whole numbers, and the standard algorithm will be on Jan. 31)
Science:  Discovering plant and animal cells and the process of photosynthesis (Test Feb. 14)
Social Studies:  Identifying the Bill of Rights, the three branches of our government, and the concept of Federalism (Test Feb. 12)

Happy New Year!

We are off and running!


Our PACE research projects have begun:  students have organized their PACE folders and research is underway.   We will be working of PACE each day for 1 hour per day (during our Language Arts block).    Click here to view PACE documents.

In Math, we are learning different ways to model multiplication of fractions and whole numbers, with students mastering the standard algorithm of multi-digit factors.  We will then be moving on to divisibility rules and models for dividing fractions and whole numbers.  Students will be given a multitude of contextual (story problems) questions.   

Students will be learning about the Articles of Confederation, the U.S. Constitution; its founding fathers, set up of our National Government, and our basic civil rights. 

Biology is our next Science unit and we will be kicking it off by creating a Biology Lap Book containing information about plant and animal cells particularly their functioning organelles and how the cells are similar and different.

Root words and spelling words will continue as before.  Please be sure your child is practicing his/her spelling words nightly and root words practiced weekly.


MAP Testing:
Students will be taking the Reading, Language Arts, and Math MAP tests this month and next.  These tests won't be reported to the state, but will be used to see if your child is "on target" for reaching his/her growth goals.   I will be conferencing with each student to discuss their targets prior to testing, so students have a goal to reach.  Please encourage your child to do his/her best on the tests.  I will be posting the testing dates once they are finalized.


5th Grade Ski Night:
We have a record turn out for students going up to Bogus Basin for ski night.   As of right now, some students are driving up with their parents and we have one bus full of students.  We are over capacity on the bus by 5 students.  If you are able to drive your student up to the mountain and back home, then we would really appreciate you letting myself or Mrs. Jensen know by written statement.  We cannot get a second bus, so we need parents to volunteer to drive their own child if possible.   Thank you!!


Marble Jar Party:
I'm sure you've heard....we've earned a Marble Jar Party which will be on Friday, January 24, the last hour of class.  Students have voted to have a Pizza Party. 


Cold Weather Clothing:
Please be sure your child brings a coat, hat, gloves, and boots (if possible).  With cold temps and wet conditions, it is important your child stays warm and as dry as possible.  Thank you.