Welcome
December 2018
It has been a pleasure getting to see so many of you at parent teacher conferences. Thank you for taking the time to see me and discuss your student's progress and plans for the remainder of the year.
We have some important dates coming up:
December 21-January 7 is Winter Break.
The day we return- Tuesday, January 8- is a field trip to the Delta Voyage. Students will leave campus after lunch and DO NOT RETURN UNTIL 5:30 PM. Please make arrangements for pick up in the evening. Students should dress in many layers and with sturdy tennis shoes. In the chance of rain, send your student with a rain jacket. It is best to wear old clothes that can get muddy and wet, hats that won't blow off, and sunscreen and gloves. NO UMBRELLAS.
We are also looking for donations of string cheese, snack bars, fruit leathers, etc. to serve as snacks while on the boat.
This field trip should be a blast and I know the class is looking forward to it!! If you have not gotten your permission slip in, please do so before Friday, December 21.
This month we continued working on multiplying multi-digit numbers and finishing up our study of poetry. There are some great websites (education.com, mathplayground.com) that are fun places to practice our math skills. Continue encouraging your student to read informational texts at home as we will be focusing on those throughout the year. We will pick up our Mystery Science unit after the break and finish our investigation of the Dust Bowl.
I hope you have a wonderful break and holiday! See you in 2019!
November 2018
I've decided to go live with our class website! It's taken me some time to plan how to arrange our site. Please stay tuned for more to come! You'll be able to find information about curriculum, field trips, and anything pertaining to our daily lives at Westwood. Students will be contributing to the site as well.
We have just finished our first trimester of 5th grade! I am so proud of the progress I am seeing in our class. Students are growing both socially and academically. They are putting in the hard work needed for success and are celebrating together for each achievement. We most recently reached a level 8 in Khan Academy "Brain Storm" Challenge and were also awarded 5 free memberships to Prodigy. These accomplishments don't happen without the engagement and dedication of our class.
We've begun our next math module on multiplying multi-digit numbers. It's a long unit so plan on this work continuing up to winter break. Please work on those math facts!! In reading, we've begun poetry, theme, and reading informational texts. Students continue their daily work in iReady (45 min per subject each week) to pass those lessons and move closer to their learning goals. Our Mystery Science unit on "Watery Planet" is moving along wonderfully. We're investigating possible causes of the Dust Bowl. Social Studies has moved into the first explorations of North America and how that progressed into colonization. Writing continues to focus on Narrative writing for the rest of the month. Students will be brining home their first published work after our break.
Students have also taken full ownership of our classroom community and make me so proud every day. Staff and parents stop me in the halls to praise how wonderful my class is on campus and they are truly setting the example. I cannot wait to see what the rest of our year holds for us! Great job :)
August 2018
Dear Students of E1,
Welcome to Fifth Grade! Can you believe you are fifth graders already? You are in for a fun, exciting and unforgettable year at Westwood with so many amazing experiences to look forward to! I am very excited to have the chance to be your teacher AGAIN for so many of you.
I hope you have been enjoying your summer with family and friends. I’ve been enjoying spending time with my family. We took a couple vacations to some great places in California! I can't wait to share my adventures and hear about some of yours. I was able to read some great books while I was travelling and will put them in our class library for you to read, too.
Your parents may have already ordered your school supplies, but if not, kindly take a look at the "5th Grade Supply List" section of my Teacher's Page. We have a fun-filled year ahead of us and I can't wait to see what we accomplish and celebrate!
See you soon!
Mrs. Starick 