Select Page

Once in a Blue Moon

The second full moon of this month – the Blue Moon – added to the excitement of Halloween this year. But the real treat was the Halloween party and seeing our students at the costume parade on Friday. Many thanks to our amazing Classroom Coordinators, Mrs. Gloria and Mrs. Lorentz, plus the many others who may have worked behind the scenes to make our first classroom Zoom party a huge success. Thanks also to the families that were able to participate in our drive by parade. We love any opportunity we have to see our students in person, especially in their Halloween costumes. It was a great way to end the week!
In an effort to reduce the number of emails sent home and avoid any repetition, the 5th grade team has decided to combine our week-end emails into one Sunday newsletter. Please note the math and science plus the ELA and social studies updates to follow, as well as any general school information.

Math News: Students have explored different ways to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators. We will continue our study of fractions this week. This Friday 11/6, the students will be taking the test on these skills. Parents, please look for an email with an attached PDF of the test. You will have the option to print this test at home and give it to your child to complete during Friday’s math class. Students will be asked to return those tests in their orange supply/drop-off folder Friday afternoon. A digital version of the test will be offered as well as an alternative to the printed test.

Science/EE News: We completed our discussion of organic foods and how different farming types affect our environment. We will be continuing our discussions on food systems with a goal to better understand how to preserve our resources. During EE, narrated by Ms. Naomi, students viewed the proper planting of garlic bulbs in our 5th grade garden beds. She described the varieties of garlic. We hope to be able to harvest our garlic in June. Many students expressed an interest in planting their own garlic. The Grayslake Farmers Market may have some fresh organic bulbs to plant before the middle of November, if you are able to pursue this activity at home. Attached are planting instructions.

ELA News: At this point we have completed Week 1 and Week 2 of our Book Club slides. Students should now be reading Chap. 7-8 in Esperanza Rising and Chap. 13-17 in The Orphan of Ellis Island. The Book Club slide for Week 3 will be due on Thursday. We will have spelling tests on Wednesday as well as new spelling words for the next week.

Social Studies News: After our unit test on the Thirteen Colonies, we have started an interesting and timely discussion of the election process in our country. Using the articles from the most recent issue of Time for Kids, as well as a slideshow on the Electoral College, we are learning a lot of new vocabulary and beginning to understand how the President and Vice-President is elected. This will lead us into our next unit on the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the formation of our country and government. Please note that the 10 question assignment from Time for KIds will be due on Tuesday, even though we will not have school for Election Day.

NWEA results will be placed in the supply/pick-up folder on November 6th. Please let us know if you have any questions.

And finally, we ask that parents/guardians who have not yet made Hybrid/Remote selections for their children, please do so by November 6th.  You can find the Parent Commitment Survey here.

Upcoming Dates:
Monday November 2nd – Board Nominating Committee meeting 3:30 AGENDA
Tuesday, November 3rd – No School – Election Day
Friday, November 6th – Materials Pick up:
Kindergarten 1:00, 1st-8th 3-4:00 pm
Thursday, November 12th – PSO General Meeting, 7-8pm
Friday, November 13th – End of 1st Trimester: Early Release