Sneak Peak... Community Garden visit

I would like to post again when I have more energy to write about our experience at the LOCAL Community Garden; however, here's a teaser photo for you to enjoy in the meantime! In short: it was a fantastic field trip, and I wish we could go again and again!

We are halfway through Quarter 1!

Happy October!

I, for one, am pleased to finally have some cooler temperatures. I love the changing of the seasons, and the kids learned this morning that October is one of my favorite months. 

We've moved from Social Studies (Units: Geography, and American Indians) into Science (Units: Matter, and Engineering). Kids are very excited about opportunities for experiments. Ask your child about the hands-on activities we have done in the classroom!

In Reading, we recently finished No Talking. We have moved into a new book about social issues and school struggles called Fish in a Tree. FIAT is one of this year's Global Read Aloud books and has excellent reviews from teachers and students.

Most classrooms are wrapping up Unit 1 in Math and will move into Unit 2 next week.

Writing has been slow, but steady with personal narratives. This week's focus was on "how stories tend to go" and taking a look at Story Arcs (also known as Plot Mountain). We have had discussions about theme, and the importance of finding the bigger meaning of your story in order to make it stronger.

For social skills building, we've recently had conversations about gossiping and rumors. We've also talked about self control and strategies for calming down when feeling upset/frustrated/angry.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Dates to Remember:

Book Orders Due - October 8th

No School -  October 9th or 12th

Scarecrow Making (Custom House Lawn) - October 10th

LOCAL Community Garden Field Trip - October 14th

Halloween Dance (Fisher Mitchell Gym) - October 23rd

Book Orders

September Book Orders have been ordered!

I love doing Book Orders regularly because it is a great way for me to get new books into our classroom library. For each book ordered, a certain amount of points is added to my teacher account. With those points, I am able to purchase free books from Scholastic.

This month, I was able to select the following titles because of student orders:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School (Pre-Order)

Class Dismissed

Sunny Side Up (a Newbery Medal winner)

Baseball Superstars 2015

That's $25 worth of books! Win!

It typically takes a couple weeks for books to arrive, so thank you for your patience in waiting.

If you didn't get to order this time around, I'll try to get flyers out again in October.

Happy reading!

Announcements

Homework

You will begin to see regular homework coming home with students starting this week. There is typically one math worksheet a night, and the reading expectation is 25 minutes plus filling in the reading log. At times, there may be additional short written assignments to complete.

Book Orders

Book Order forms went home last Friday. These are due on Thursday, September 10th. You may order online or by check made out to Scholastic Reading Club. The online class code is MDWPH.

BEGINNER BAND!

Beginner Band information went home last Friday as well. There will be a band demonstration within the next week for 5th grade students. A parent night will be held on Thursday, September 17th at 7:00PM in the Fisher Mitchell gym. Please review the band form, and contact Andrew Chipman at achipman@rsu1.org or call him at BMS (443-8270) with any questions. 

Upcoming NWEA Schedule

At our school, we take the NWEA three times each school year to assess progress and growth in reading and math. My class’s testing will take place on the following days:

Monday, September 14th - Reading

9:45-11:10

Friday, September 18th - Math

9:45-11:10

Students who do not have the opportunity to finish in the allotted time, or who happen to be absent during the day of our scheduled test will be given a chance for a make up session. As always, please make sure your child arrives to school on time and has a good breakfast to eat, as well as a good night’s sleep.

Thank you.

Happy End of Week 1

We have had a great first week back!

Kids have begun their math instruction with their assigned math teacher, and students who are with me for reading instruction began a whole class novel today, called "No Talking" by Andrew Clements. We have done three on-demand writing pieces this week to check the student's beginning of year abilities in expository, opinion, and information writing.

Next week, I hope to introduce geography as well as our first writing unit: personal narratives!

Have a wonderful LONG weekend! Enjoy the beautiful weather, and perhaps the air show!

Welcome Students!

Summer vacation is coming to an end, and a new school year is about to begin. I am so excited to have the opportunity to teach a group of students I already know, and welcoming into the crew a few more amazing kiddos. We are going to have a fun year, and you should know that fifth grade is the best!!

Fifth grade was my favorite year in school as a kid, which is probably why I so strongly wanted to teach this grade level. There are so many interesting things to learn and do! Band starts, you'll be getting better at sports and hobbies, you'll have a little more independence, and the literature is awesome! My favorite subject was science and I have always enjoyed literacy (both reading and writing). I hope you enjoy your year in fifth grade as much as I enjoyed mine, and I can't wait to share this year with you!

Breakfast Opportunity - Summer Feeding Program

Regional School Unit 1 is participating in the Summer Feeding Program. Breakfast will be provided to all children ages 2-18, without charge. Breakfast will be provided at: Dike Newell School, 3 Wright Drive, Bath, Maine on Mondays thru Thursdays, July 6th thru July 30th 2015, from 8:00 am to 8:15 am.