Week 8 - October 24 - 28

Parent - Teacher Conferences - These are beginning this week. I will email a reminder home for your date and time. If you are unable to attend please let me know ahead of time so that we can reschedule. If your child is able to attend the conference, that would be great.

Khan Academy - Students have been taught how to sign in to Khan Academy and work in the area that is most critical for them to reach their goals. These areas were determined by their RIT scores on the NWEA testing that was done this fall. Please encourage your child to continue to do this at home when possible.

Camp - Continue to check the weather as we get closer to camp dates. If you need a copy of the packing list, please let me know. Coming prepared to camp will help everyone have a better time.

Early Release Day - Remember that Wednesday, October 26 is an early release day. The students will be dismissed at 11:53am.

Classroom needs - We are in need of disinfecting wipes, tissues, and non-perishable snacks for students who do not have a snack and are hungry before lunch.

Week 7 - October 17 - 21

School Spirit! This Friday is school spirit day for the fifth graders at Pattengill. Every year we have a competition to see which class can celebrate school spirit with the greatest enthusiasm. Your child can wear gear, face painting, stick on tattoos, hair spray, etc. of any school that he or she would like to support. Judging will take place at lunch time and there is a trophy at stake!

Thursday - Picture retake day.

Family Movie Night - This Friday is Family Movie Night at Bryant. It will begin at 5:30 pm. Parents must stay with their children during the movie. The votes have been cast and the movie showing will be Zootopia.

Math - We are continuing to work on multi-digit multiplication. In the past students have learned how to work these types of problems using partial product. They are now learning how to complete these types of problems using traditional multiplication. This is most likely the way you learned to multiply! Please support your child in working on this method correctly. Here is a link to an explanation that you and your child could watch: 2 digit multiplication

Reading - Your child should be reading for 30 minutes every day. We are focusing on conflicts in stories as well as the structure of stories and plots. Please talk with your child about his or her book.

Week 6 - October 10 - 14

Math - Students will be getting their Unit 1 tests back this week. Unit 2 focuses on multi-digit multiplication, place value, and powers of 10. Students should continue to work with Xtramath to learn their facts quickly.

Reading - Students will be learning about the 4 types of conflict in literature. By the end of the week they should be able to talk to you about person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society, and person vs. nature. 

Camp - All camp forms should be in by now. We will be moving forward with making plans for camp. Please be sure to check over the packing list ahead of time. Let me or the office know if there is anything your child needs for camp but you are unable to supply.

Core Democratic Values - We are continuing to work on the CDVs. There is a link on the right of this page that lists the values. Students are also learning about the Preamble to the Constitution. We are working on understanding the meaning of this and attempting to memorize it. Many asked if they could sing it to me (Schoolhouse Rock style) and I said "Of course!"

Preamble:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Week 5 - October 3 - 7

Count Day is Wednesday, October 5. Please be sure your child is in school that day!

Math Assessment - Monday, October 3 will be the first math assessment for Unit 1. Students should be able to explain and find the volume of a given figure.
We will be starting Unit 2 on Tuesday.

Camp - Packets and information for Howell Nature Center were due on Friday. If you have not turned in any parts of the packet, please do so as soon as possible.

Reading - All students should be reading daily for 30 minutes. The students should be reading "just right" books. This will help them to become better readers.

Math - Please be sure your child is working on Xtramath every day if they did not do it in school. A few students have already tested out of the multiplication!

Special Schedule - The special schedule changed a bit. Please check the blog link for new times. Students will be getting instruments soon. It will help if you can remind them to bring these on Mondays and Wednesdays. Library books are due on Fridays.

Week 3 - September 19 - 23

Curriculum Night - Please join us on Tuesday from 6:30 - 8. You will have an opportunity to sign up for Parent-Teacher conferences and hear about what we will do this year.


Parent Camp Meeting - Thursday, September 22 at 6pm. Come to the cafeteria, hear about camp, ask questions!

Math - The students completed the Beginning of the Year assessment and we are underway with Unit 1 in Everyday Math. The students should be working on homework nightly as well as completing Xtramath if they did not have an opportunity to do so in class. On the right side of this blog is a link to Xtramath. Here are the outcomes for Unit 1:

Book Orders - Book orders are due by Tuesday, September 20th. You can order on line directly or send in an order with payment if you are interested.

Practice drills - We have had a fire drill and a severe weather drill so far. The class has done a great job with both of these. We will continue to have a couple of these before the cold weather sets in. We will also, at some point this year, have a coupld of lockdown drills. This will be the same or similar to ones in the past.

Week 2 - September 12 - 16

We all survived the first week! Thank you for sending your children ready to learn and get used to fifth grade. The heat made it difficult but it seems as though we might have it a bit easier this week. Please be sure to check and sign your child's planner nightly.

Curriculum Night is coming!
Please join us for Curriculum Night on Tuesday, September 20 from 6:30 - 8pm. There will be information on what we will work on this year as well as camp information. The PTO will present and you will have opportunities to volunteer in the building.

NWEA 
The testing window will begin soon. When I know the dates of our math and reading testing I will post it on the "Important Dates" link on the blog.

PLTW 
We will be starting Project Lead The Way this week. Your child will have this class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:55 - 9:55 all of first semester.

Homework
Students will have homework most nights. It should take about an hour to complete this. There will be a math page that will follow what was done in class that day or the previous day. With the remaining time students should read for half an hour and do some other type of academic work. Other options are things like Xtramath or Khan Academy.

Week 1 - September 6 - 9

Welcome to Mrs. Embry's Fifth grade class!

I'm very excited to start a new school year at Pattengill. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of the students.  Please be sure to visit this page for updates, information on the classroom and the school, and resources that could be helpful. 

Planners - Please be sure to check and sign your child's planner daily. The homework will be listed daily.

Curriculum Night - This year Curriculum Night will be on Tuesday, September 20th from 6:30 - 8pm. Meet first in the cafeteria then go to the classrooms.

ELMAC Intern - My class will be joined this year by Chrisara Moore. She is an intern with the University of Michigan. Read more about Ms. Moore in the opening day letter.