Weekly Update - March 23-27

This week's update comes close to the end of the week, but I have a lot to share and don't want to wait until next week!

First off, I'm so proud of all of my fifth graders for their hardwork and perseverance last week on the End of Grade tests. We had three days of testing and they all worked so hard. I was impressed with the scores and thankful for a great group of students this year! And I would like to apologize to those of you that emailed me during last week's tests. This was my first time administering the tests and it was tiring! I was slow to respond to many of you and I'm not even sure if my emails made sense when I did send them. Hopefully I'll get better at this for next year!

Now for the fun stuff...

In the coming weeks, we are going to be doing fun activities that require some supplies. I have asked students to please bring in shoe boxes. We are going to be making "6th grade survival kits." If you have a shoe box, please send it in with your child. If you have an extra shoe box, feel free to bring those in for students that might forget to bring theirs. Also, if you have any of the following items, these would help us make our boxes a little more"our own." Let me know if you would like to donate any of the following:

• glitter


• pipe cleaners


• colorful cotton balls (kind of like cotton balls, but for crafts)


• construction paper


• markers/sharpies

As a class, we will also be making a book for the rising fifth graders. Your child is going to write "advice for next year's fifth graders" and this book is going to stay with me. I'm looking forward to seeing what they learned this year in this fun and creative paper. Ask them about this - it could be interesting to see what they share!

We have a lot of celebrations and exciting events coming up in the next two weeks, all of which I am truly excited about. The first celebration is next Wednesday, June 1. I am going to transform Room 604 into a Poetry Cafe (as best I can - please shoot me an email if you want to donate supplies to help with this). The Poetry Cafe will open at 5pm. All family members are invited to come. An RSVP card will be coming home in next week's Monday folders. Please please try to come if you can. The students are so excited about their poems and can't wait to share them with everyone.

The last week of school is going to be slam full of celebrations! The DARE graduation is on Monday June 6 from 12:40-2:00. That time isn't set in stone, but it's a good estimate at this point. I'll let you know if anything changes. Don't forget the fifth grade picnic June 9 from 12:00-1:30. Please let me know if you would like to donate any items for the picnic. And the last day of school is graduation from 9:30-11:00. Report cards also go home that day - hopefully this will be a celebration too (:

I am looking to have a classroom celebration on Wednesday June 8. I am so proud of my fifth graders and want to thank them for being a fabulous first group of students. If you would like to help donate food items for this celebration, please let me know. If you would like to volunteer to come in and hang out during the celebration, let me know that too. I would love to have you! I haven't figured out the time yet, but it will be in the afternoon.

*The fifth grade team will begin teaching the Human Growth & Development curriculum next week. We are still trying to figure out all of the details for this, but please email me if you have questions. We will begin teaching next Wednesday through Friday.

Please do enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend! I'm looking forward to going to a few cookouts, relaxing by the pool, and doing more wedding planning. And I can't believe when we come back, we'll have a total of 9 days of school left. CRAZY!

Enjoy the rest of your week!