Classroom Update - Week of November 4th
Upcoming Events / Reminders:
I will be holding Fall Conferences this week and next. Please visit the Signup Genius link to choose a time that works best for your schedule. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DAFA62FA13-fall6 I look forward to seeing everyone soon!
Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 5 MES will again host elections on campus. As last time, we will have students eat in the classroom on this day. Therefore, we will not permit guests for lunch on this day to make sure we are maintaining security. Thank you for your understanding.
Fall Picture Make-up Day is Friday, November 8th.
Readvolution has started again in Wake County! Just like in previous years, there is a school wide goal and an individual goal. We have met our goal of reading 2020 books. As of Friday, we have read 2,620 books and are 17th place in the county. Keep encouraging your child to read and log those books and minutes!
The Kids Heart Challenge has begun! Go to heart.org/kidsheartchallenge or search “Kids Heart Challenge” in your app store to download the app to register.
Spirit Wear on Sale: We have cool, new MES spirit wear t-shirts and sweatshirts this year, including tie dye! Please click on this link to order online: morrisville.memberhub.store and then click on MES Spirit Wear from the left side bar or, if you prefer to order by check, then you can fill out and print this form and return it with payment to your child's teacher. ***We only order spirit wear once a year! Orders close on November 8, so don’t miss out!
Make-up Days for last weeks inclement weather will be as follows:
Thursday, 9/5 – Make up day Saturday, November 16
Friday, 9/6 – Make up day Saturday, December 7
On these days, the building will open at 8:45am, instruction begins at 9:15am and dismissal starts at 12:45pm. Breakfast will be served on these days, but not lunch. Please make sure to provide your child with a snack or two on these days.
MES scientists and mathematicians, start planning your projects for the MES Annual Science Fair scheduled for Tuesday, December 10th from 6-8 pm! All students in K – 5 are welcome to participate in the non-competitive portion of the MES Science Fair. Students in grades 3 – 5 have the option to compete in the competitive portion of the MES Science Fair. All projects should be registered by December 1st using the following link, https://forms.gle/DBoFqFFBCpi2WLMn9. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Bonani Langan (bonani.langan@gmail.com) or Janis Gould (jgould@wcpss.net).
E.L. Education:
This week, the students will continue to learn more about animal behaviors and defenses through a variety of nonfiction texts. A heavy emphasis will continue to be placed on finding the main idea and supporting details and then using that to write a complete summary. The students will also refine their speaking and listening skills by having a science discussion regarding the animal defense mechanisms that we have studied thus far.
How to Help Your Child at Home:
Take your child to the library to check out or learn more about defense mechanisms that animals use to help them survive.
Have them identify the main idea and supporting details of nonfiction paragraphs or text sections, then have them write a summary of what they have read.
Have your child orally paraphrase what they just read in a nonfiction text.
Point out tricky words, while reading and discuss strategies that your child used (or could use) to determine the meaning.
Math:
This week in math the students will be ending their multiplication unit on multi-digit multiplication on Wednesday. For the remainder of the week, the students will start long division. They will begin by using place value pieces to model what is happening when we divide then they will learn the area/rectangle algorithm for long division. I will be sharing and posting video models to my classroom website to give you models of how to divide using these new methods.
How to Help Your Child at Home:
Does your child know all of their multiplication facts? If not, they should be practicing them each night to improve their math accuracy and fluency. There are great sites like multiplication.com or arcademicskillbuilders.com that have fun games and strategies that your child can use at home. There are also many other fun apps and sites that your child can visit, in addition to flash cards.
Watch the video lessons on my website or look back through your child's student notes together. Have them show you some of the new ways that they are learning to multiply or divide numbers.
Science:
This week students will be learning about animal adaptations. They should be taking their science notebooks home each night to spend several minutes studying to prepare for their test next week.