December 7th - 11th

 Upcoming Events

Monday, December 14th ~ Middle School Shadowing Letters due*

Tuesday, December 15th-Thursday, December 17th ~ 5th Grade Secret Santa Exchange**

Tuesday, December 15th ~ Math Club, Fifth Grade Field Trip to see A Christmas Carol at KC Rep 

Friday, December 18th ~ Eucharist Chapel, 3rd-5th Ice Skating Field Trip, Class Parties at 2:30 

Thursday, December 17th ~ Presidents' Unit Kick-Off

Monday, December 21st - Monday, January 4th ~ No School, Christmas Vacation.  Classes for students resumes on Tuesday, January 5th

Tuesday, January 5th ~ "Harry S. Truman" visits 5th Grade at 2:30

Tuesday, January 12th ~ First-Fifth Grade Cultural Arts Event from 10:00-11:00

*On Thursday, we sent home a note from Mr. Van Thullenar about an opportunity for fifth graders to shadow in middle school. During the month of January, each student will have a chance to spend the morning going to classes with a sixth grader so they can get a better idea of what to expect in middle school. If students would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please send the shadowing letter back to school with them by Monday, December 14th. 

**The fifth grade students will be having a Secret Santa exchange. The week of December 14^th they will bring three small gifts.  Students are asked to spend no more than $5 total on all three gifts.  We also discussed the possibility of using talents to make a gift. The students should bring their first gift on Tuesday, December 15^th.  They will bring their second gift on Wednesday, December 16^th and their third and final gift on Thursday, December 17^th.  If they would like to bring in all gifts at the beginning of the week, their homeroom teacher will store the gifts for them and distribute them each day. On Thursday their Secret Santa will be revealed.  Please email us if you have any questions or concerns.

Academics

In language arts this week, we put our writing skills to good use as we developed business letters. Students selected a business to which they would like to write. This week, we completed the pre-write and rough draft, and then students spent time revising and editing their letters individually and with partners. We will finalize these letters on Monday, December 14th and mail them next week. We also completed Wordly Wise #9 and took the test. Students should be starting Wordly Wise #10, which is due Thursday, December 17th. 

In reading,  Miss O'Connor's class continued with mini-lessons and practice on our reading strategies.  This week we focused picking out what's important, synthesizing, and organizing.   Mrs. Nash's class finished The Watson's Go To Birmingham.  We will enjoy a movie version of the book next week and compare and contrast the book and movie. Both classes also finished their book reports. Students will finish presenting projects in class next week. 

In social studies, students finished their advertisements the prepared for the Colonial Trade Fair, which we held on Friday. Students viewed each group's project to determine which colonial region in which they would like to settle. There were many creative projects and students worked very well together for this project. Next, we will begin a unit on the American Revolution.

In science this week, students analyzed an investigation to discover the importance of chlorophyll, as well as learned the specific jobs of the roots, stems, and leaves in a plant.  Next week, we will review on Monday and conclude the mini-unit with a Plant Quiz on Wednesday.