December 1, 2015
Hi Families,
First of all- I can’t believe it’s December! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. December is a busy month! (Not that we ever have a mellow school monthJ.) I wanted to thank you for taking the time to come to your child’s conference. If you have any questions or concerns about their report card or progress, please let me know and I’d be happy to meet with you. I’m always available for homework help too if you have questions.
We will start doing our Scholastic News in class as part of our Social Studies/Science instead of part of our homework. That way we can have valuable conversations about the news topics. We just started informational reading and writing units, so this will fit right in. If you have any non-fiction books at home you’d like to loan or donate, please send them in. I would like to see Dreambox used more at home. If students do not have a device to do so, please let me know and they can come in before school to complete lessons. The program is designed for students to spend at least 60 minutes a week online. That way we can be sure it’s a true learning tool. https://play.dreambox.com/login/ymdg/soquelue
We are also starting a new math unit. I’ll send home paperwork letting you know what we are learning about. It will help you and your child with their homework. I believe in Common Core. We have to work together to make sure students don’t give up too easily because it looks different. Teachers were afraid of it too at first! But please keep an open mind set and encourage your child to do the same. The 5th grade team works together to ensure that we give our students extra support since they didn’t get Common Core instruction throughout their elementary years. Here is the publisher’s website: http://investigations.terc.edu
This week is the Book Fair in the MU. Please buy books for your home or our classroom library. There are some great deals. Thank you Catherine for organizing. On this Thursday, December 4th- we have Bed Time Story night from 6-7:30. We will also have a bake sale to help raise money for Science Camp. Please donate time and or baked goods if you can.
Please bring in all Science Camp money and forms as soon as possible. If we could get everything in before we go to Winter Break- that would be awesome. Thank you in advance for all of your help in fundraising also. I am so glad that every 5th grader gets this amazing experience! http://www.osp.santacruz.k12.ca.us
Next Friday- is Fancy Day. We also thought it might be fun to make Stone Soup with our little buddies. Last year was a beautiful disaster but we figured this time if we did it on a long day the soup might actual cook and not be so gross and crunchy. (Hey- we tried. J)
But-the kiddos all wanted to do it again- so Mrs. Weisel and I will send out more info soon.
Some classes have booked field trips to go to ATT&T Park. They offer an amazing educational field trip experience. Please look at the website. http://mlb.mlb.com/sf/ballpark/distance/index.jsp#educational_tours_distance I am in the process of booking a spot for us- but I will need your support as it costs $400. (That includes our 28 students plus 12 adults- so 10 extra chaperones after you include Francesca and me.) While I understand it’s a lot to ask because we are already fundraising for Science Camp- I just hate missing out on opportunities because of money. There’s got to be sponsors, or other ways we can put our heads together to make it happen, right? Let me know your thoughts. Karen is already brainstorming and I know our village can make it happen. Looks like it will happen in January if at all.
Think that’s it for now. Thanks again for all that you do for your child, our class, me, and our school. Let’s make their last year at Soquel El the best ever! I will try and keep my blog updated too!
Love, Mrs. Mc
PS- Encourage your child to go on google docs and work on their writing- they love it! Ok-I promise that’s it!
