Weekly Update April 11-18

Greetings from Fifth Grade-- April 11, 2016

I hope your Spring Break was wonderful.  We had a welcome back time yesterday morning when everyone shared what they did on their break and it was a wonderful mixture of calm and craziness.  I was glad to see those faces again this morning!  It’s getting to be that time of the year where I really dread seeing them off to 6th grade-- they are lovely people and it’s wonderful to see God’s work in them.  They aren’t perfect, but boy, they are great kids.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Conferences are next week.  You should have gotten a sheet yesterday informing you of the time scheduled for your child’s conference.  Please arrange for a different time if you are not able to come then, let me know what times will work better and I will find a better time.   We will discuss improvement this year and strategy to keep skills sharp for middle school.

Monday is a full day with a special field trip, but the remainder of the week (Tuesday-Friday) are half-days with dismissal at noon.  Please send a hearty snack and plan to pick up your student or arrange for their pickup at noon.

OJP is one week from yesterday.  It’s a fun physical science show and I am looking forward to seeing many of the things we’re studying in detail in the next couple of years highlighted in this fast paced science demonstration show.   We will leave school at 12:00. We still need an usher. Ushers must be there from 11:30-2:15 and help us find our seats and in case of emergency.  Please send $4 for the cost of attendance by this Friday.

If you still need to get in your volunteer hours, I could use some help preparing for science fair and state fair. I also need a few volunteers the evening of the science fair to take down tables and return them to their classrooms.  This event is really wonderful; although fifth graders generally don’t participate due to the nearness of the state fair tasks on family time, it is always incredibly rewarding to see what students can do.  The event occurs on April 26.

BIBLE:
Philippians 4:13-- We will be working through the doctrine of sin this week as part of our basics of Christian faith.  Pray for your kids that they would understand how sin affects us all and what God was willing to do out of love for us in spite of that sin. I am praying for clarity  and thankfulness at Christ’s sacrifice rather than burden without hope.

READING:

We’re nearing the end of Mrs. Frankweiler’s Mixed Up Files!  We call this book so many things due to its long title.  I can’t wait to show you their files from reading class. A bit more vocab, some map skills, and a few literary elements to go before our test on Friday.

SPELLING:

Lesson 28, test and lesson due Friday.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

We have spent quite a long time on sentences and verbs. Our next concentration area of study is making certain that we hit the same standards as our peers in other schools according to Washington State standards.  Today we worked on compound sentences and constructing elaborate sentences along with prepositions and their objects.  Tomorrow we’ll do some punctuation review.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

The Constitution and early America--week 17

Please study states and capitals #40-45 on list.

SCIENCE:  We will learn about some of the concepts we’ll see next week.  Most of our science has been very hands on with learning about electricity; we will have new units and shift focus to more science after state fair.

Somewhere in the normal busy schedule, we will do a few practice sets for ITBS testing to make sure no one has questions about how to take the test.

Blessings to you and yours-- and thank you for letting me partner with you as we walk towards young adulthood with your student!