Blue Dragon Newsletter October 14, 2022

 

Keenoy’s Blue Dragon Newsletter                                         10-14-22

 

Dear Families,

     This is a wonderful class of fifth graders. They are kind and helpful to each other. We have built a strong community in room 209, and I enjoy coming to work each day to teach them.

     Thank you to anyone that donated to our Comet Carnival basket.  I am blown away by your generosity and know that our basket will earn a high bid. The silent auction is a great success each year and earns a lot of money for our school.  Hopefully, you will be able to enjoy the carnival tonight-Friday, October 14th from 4:30-7:30 pm.  It is a fun event for the entire family.

Parent Teacher Conference Forms

You will find a conference form in your child’s Friday folder today.  Please take time to share possible dates/times that work with your schedule.  Please return these forms by Tuesday.  Thank you.

Paxton Food Drive   

The Paxton Keeley annual food drive begins on Monday.  Proudly, Paxton Keeley traditionally donates the most food items when compared to other elementary schools in the district.  If you can donate, please send food items (no glass and must be non-perishable) or money to school next week.  Thank you!

Buddy Class-Mrs. Gilliland’s 2^nd Graders

You would have been SO incredibly proud to see how your son/daughter interacted with their 2^nd grade buddy last week.  My class will pair up with Mrs. Gilliland’s 2^nd grade class once per month for a fun activity.  Last week we met for the first time, and it was truly a wonderful experience.  Each fifth grader met with their 2^nd grade “buddy” partner and your child was a perfect role model.  Make sure to ask your child about this great experience.

Math

Unit 2:  Whole Number Place Value & Operations

Students are:

-Learning about powers of 10 and exponents.

-Solving multiplication problems using the traditional algorithm.

-Using the relationship between multiplication and division to mentally divide multidigit numbers.

-Using strategies for dividing whole numbers (next week).

Writing

We analyzed the scoring rubric and several pieces of writing to set the expectations prior to drafting.  Students are understanding that the standard and expectation from one year to another does increase and that a typical beginning for a third grader will not be considered proficient for a fifth grader. 

Students will continue to work on their personal narrative drafts next week. Upcoming lessons will focus on revision and editing strategies.  These strategies include: the importance of using details that show not tell, beginnings, elaboration, internal thinking, and dialogue.

Reading

Students continue to enjoy our read aloud by Will Hobbs.  Jackie’s Wild Seattle is a book that provides great practice with the story element strategies that I have been teaching.  I model these strategies each day as I read and ask students to practice the comprehension strategies during their independent reading time.  I will give students an assessment over these skills early next week.

I also started some small reading groups in our classroom.  These groups will focus on skills that will help them continue to grow as readers.  There is not a need to be concerned if your child is or is not in a small reading group.  Each student will participate in small group work in all academic areas during the year.

Science

We concluded our life science unit on Thursday.  Our class unit assessment scoring average was 12.4 points out of 14!  That is equivalent to an 89% as a class……WOW!   Our next focus area in science is Matter.

Social Studies

Since we completed our first science unit, we will be spending more time focusing on social studies in the next couple weeks.  During this instruction, students will learn about the Civil War and Reconstruction.

 

Have a wonderful weekend.  Thank you for supporting your child and my teaching.

Dan Keenoy