10/16/15
Dear Parents,
What a fun week of learning! Revolutionary War Day was an incredible success! Thank you SO much to
all parents who volunteered to make this a memorable day for all our students. Fifth graders learned SO
much about the Revolutionary War time period by listening to experts in the field. They took notes as
they listened and then created a RWD Me Book page as a reflection activity. Be sure to ask your child
his/her favorite part of the day!
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR THE WEEK:
1. Grade Reports: Many students chose to stay in at recess to get extra help and find missing/redo
work for their grade reports. All grade reports should have come back signed with all
missing/redo work attached. Also, there’s a “Grade Report Acknowledgement” sheet that also
needs your signature. Please be sure to use the grade reports for thoughtful, reflective
discussion with your student. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
**Emails were sent to parents in which I did not receive a grade report.**
2. Feed the Dragon: All Box Tops will be collected this month next Friday, October 23. Be sure to
send yours in with your child.
3. Start collecting & sending in your gently-used sweaters! As you begin hitting up all those fall
clothing sales, thinking about getting rid of last year’s styles, or going through your child’s
sweaters to discard items they’ve grown out- PLEASE consider sending them into school! We
will be upcycling sweaters into mittens to give to those in need in December. We will have a
collection bin in our room, so please feel free to begin sending in anything you’d like to
donate. We will send out more information about this wonderful project as we get closer to
December.
4. Parent Conferences: Please note that you can sign up for Parent-Teacher conferences on Signup Genius. An email was sent with the links and is also available on my website.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Thursday, October 22
Friday, October 23
Week on 10/26-10/30
Friday, October 30
Friday, November 6
Wednesday, November 11
Thursday, November 19
Monday, November 23
November 25-27
Early Release
Taft-y Apple pick-up
Red Ribbon Week
Halloween Poetry Presentation & Halloween Parties!
Institute Day – NO student attendance
Veteran’s Day – NO school
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Early Release; Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thanksgiving Break
READ ON TO SEE WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED THIS PAST
WEEK:
Math- WOWIE! Students have been demonstrating incredible background knowledge about decimals as
we have begun the second half of Module 2! After we took time to discuss the place value of decimals,
both numerically and pictorially, students took flight! Next week we’ll finish up 2.11 and 2.12, review
and assess next Friday (tentative date, based on student-need).
Literacy
· Reading- We’ve continued to learn more about poetry and its figurative language – alliteration,
consonance and assonance. Students added definitions and examples in their reading notebook
through interactive notebook activities. Students also found all the literary elements we’ve
discussed so far within their personal Halloween poem. This week they presented their
memorized poem for the class and did an incredible job! Students and I complimented the
presenter and then I gave the person one thing to work on for the next time they present.
Halloween Poetry Presentation will be held in the morning on Friday, October 30th. More
information about the times for the presentations will come soon!
o Friday mornings, students come in, take out their reading logs and reflect on their
reading for the week. Be sure to take a look at your child’s reflections and have a
conversation about what he/she is doing well and what he/she needs to continue to
work on.
· Spelling- Due to the short week, no WTW this week.
· Writing- Students have been continuing to work on narrative writing, describing a time that was
challenging for them. I’ve been working to provide students feedback via the comment function
in Google Docs. Once each student has had an opportunity to share their writing, revise, share
with another student, and revise a last time, then they will be able to print and turn it in.
Social Studies- We graded the chapter 9 study guide on Tuesday and students completed the
assessment Thursday. Next week we’ll be continuing to work on interactive notebooks including more
in-depth information about the Revolutionary War.
Science- We will be starting Chapter 1 Earth Science October 26!
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or compliments.
Have a great weekend!
Suzanne Lyons
5th Grade Teacher
Seth Paine Elementary
847-540-4782
http://www.lz95.org/classes/mrslyonssfifthgradewebsite_slyons/