Upcoming Events

Attached to this week's progress report is a letter highlighting all the important dates that are coming in the next few weeks. I've also included the letter here. Please keep these dates in your calendar as we have so many events in these next 6 weeks.

Middle School Math Placement Test
On Monday, April 22nd, students will be taking the Math Placement Test for middle school. This is a paper and pencil test designed by the 6th grade teachers, featuring all 5th grade standards. This test features 2 parts. Part 1 is 30 multiple choice questions. Part 2 features 3 word problems. Students will be completing both parts on Monday. This test can cause a lot of stress for students, so please talk with them about trying their best. I know that many students want to score well enough to be placed in the 6/7 math class next year. All the questions are taken from the 5th grade standards. I recommend reviewing old tests, if you wish to prepare.

CAASPP Testing
5th grade begins testing the week of May 6th.  These computer tests will be happening in the morning, so please help to make sure your student is well rested, has eaten breakfast, and is on time to school. In 5th grade we take 2 ELA tests, 2 Math tests, and 1 Science test for the state. Please be on time to school.

DARE Graduation

This Thursday, April 26th is our DARE graduation! Students should be at the Amador Theater around 5:45pm. The graduation begins at 6pm. All are welcome to attend!

Students will be receiving their t-shirts on Thursday, which they should wear with dark colored pants (or jeans). The ceremony lasts around an hour. Students will be performing multiple songs that they have been practicing with Mrs. Robertson.

See everyone on Thursday!

Week 19 Newsletter

I hope everyone had a wonderful two week winter break! It was so nice to relax, spend time with family, and sleep in!

2018 is upon us and we started off the week by talking about our New Years Resolutions. Students thought about what goals they have for the new year, what they hope to achieve, and we created a cute art project with it. They are brightening up our classroom!




This week is the last week of Feature Articles. We've been working for 4 weeks! Everyone has been working hard to create their magazine articles about their topic and I'm so excited at all the progress I'm seeing! Everyone is taking a lot of care in their research and picking out the perfect pictures to go along with their information. A printed copy of their article is due on Tuesday, January 16th.

Next week we will be starting our DARE program. DARE is taught weekly by a Pleasanton Police Officer. This year we have Officer Batt joining us. This is always a highlight of our 5th grade year and the kids were very excited to start. Please return the permission slips by Tuesday, January 16th, which is our first day of DARE!


UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Monday, Jan 15
• No School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Tuesday, Jan 16
• DARE permission slips due; DARE begins
• Feature Articles due (printed out please)

DARE Graduation Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder...
Tomorrow (May 9th) is the DARE Graduation!

Students should be at Amador Theater by 5:40pm, wearing their DARE shirt and long pants.

The program is set to begin at 6pm. Hope to see you all there!


STUDENTS:
Do not forget any necessary props for the performance.

Weekly News: Week 34

The first week of May found us finishing up our study of graphing in Module 6, wrapping up our exploration of the Revolutionary War, and starting a few fun projects.

On Thursday we started putting together our Kites. This takes a lot of patience and attention to detail but the kids loved putting together the beginning frames for their Kites. We will be putting the finishing touches on our kites next week.

We also started our Geometry project... Geometrocity! Together with their table groups they will be designing their very own city complete with neighborhoods. This gives students a chance to put their Geometry knowledge to the test. The cities will be ready for viewing at Open House.

Donation Opportunity:
We are in need of paper road maps of the United States. If you belong to an auto club, like AAA, please consider stopping by a location and asking for a couple of their free road maps. We are in need of at least 11 maps to complete our Social Studies simulation. More information can be found HERE. Any help you can give is much appreciated!



Reminder: 
We start our CAASPP Testing on Monday. Please have all students at school on time as we begin testing right at 8:15am. I recommend bringing a book in case you finish the test early. This week we are taking the ELA portions of the state test.

Monday, 5/8-- ELA CAT
Thursday, 5/11-- ELA PT




Upcoming Events

• Monday, 5/8
• ELA CAT
• Tuesday, 5/9
• Social Studies Unit 6 Test & notebook check
• DARE Graduation. 
• Amador Theater. 
• Students need to arrive at 5:40pm.
• Thursday, 5/11
• ELA PT

DARE Essay

I've posted all the important information regarding the DARE essay on Google Classroom. Officer Batoy has asked that all essays be completed by Thursday, April 20th.

Included in the Google Classroom assignment is:

• a template for your essay that includes title, date, teacher, and school
• a link to the DARE workbook instruction page
• a past student's sample

The essay must be a minimum of 1 page, and no longer than 2 pages. Please make sure you use size 12 font for the main body of your essay. Please use the Google Doc to type your essay and do not forget to TURN IN your essay when you are done.

If you have questions, please make sure you ask them in class so everyone can benefit. 

Weekly News: Week 20

What a quick four day week! We had a lot of rain which led to a lot of indoor recess time... hopefully all this rain continues to help with the California drought.

In Social Studies we learned about colonial America, the kinds of jobs people had and the way the colonial marketplace worked. We quickly discovered that the King of England stood to make a lot of money in the colonial system! Too many taxes! This will help us begin to learn why we needed the American Revolution.

On Thursday we had our first DARE session with Officer Batoy. Students are excited to learn from a Pleasanton police officer! We are in for many weeks of fun!


Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, Jan 24th
• Science test with Ms. Britto
• Wednesday, Jan 25th
• BYOD
• Thursday, Jan 26th
• Mid Module 4 Test
• Safety Valet Ice Cream Party @ lunch

DARE Essay

Yesterday, Officer Batoy assigned the DARE Essay which needs to be completed in order to go to the DARE culmination on May 11th.

The essay is due on Thursday, April 23rd.

Information can be found on Google Classroom in the Language Arts room.

I recommend you get started on it soon. If you have questions, ask me in class and we can go over it.

Mark Your Calendars!

We have many things in store for our last few months of 5th grade. Please mark these dates on your calendar. Times for events will be sent out as they approach.

For testing, we will be taking 1 test per week starting the week of April 27th. Please make sure your student is at school on those days.

Testing Dates (SBAC and CST Science Tests)

Monday, April 27
     SBAC ELA Computer Adaptive Test
Monday, May 4
     SBAC ELA Performance Task
Wednesday, May 13
     SBAC Math Computer Adaptive Test
Tuesday, May 19
     CST Science Part 1
Wednesday, May 20
     CST Science Part 2
Friday, May 29
     SBAC Math Performance Task

**6th Grade Placement test has yet to be scheduled

Field Trips & Events

Monday, May 11
     DARE Graduation AVHS Theater 6:30pm
Friday, May 15
     PUSD Short Film Festival
Wednesday, May 27
     A's Game
Wednesday, June 10
     Pool Day-- Pleasanton Aquatic Center
Thursday, June 11
     Field Day
Friday, June 12
     Culmination  MPR; Time TBD

DARE box

Every year for DARE, Officer Batoy offers a contest to the 4 classes. Decorate your DARE box any way your class wants... the class with the best design gets a donut party.

Our class was very enthused to try and win the contest. This group of kids worked really hard during recesses and lunches, after school and at home to create this cool box. While we don't know if we won yet, they are very proud of what they created.