Field Trip Tomorrow!

We are headed to the Lawrence Livermore National Lab and their Discovery Center tomorrow. Every student needs to come early to school and be in the classroom at 9:00AM!

Please make sure you are early to school so we can head to our field trip. Thank you!

Week 16 Newsletter

This week we started our nonfiction writing with Feature Articles! Over the next few weeks students will be researching a topic of interest, gather facts, and writing informational articles. This is always one of my favorite writing pieces of the year!

We are also finishing up our Unit 3 in social studies, where we have been learning about the struggle between Native Americans and European settlers for land and resources. We will have our Unit 3 Test on Wednesday, December 13th.

Next Friday, December 15th is our field trip to the Blackhawk Museum in Danville. Students will be able to see many artifacts from Native Americans and the Westward Expansion of the United States.

Holiday Can Food Drive - December 11th - 15th

Our class is participating in the Friends Helping Friends annual Holiday Can Food Collection.  With your donations, we will be able to put tubs of food together that will be donated to local families during this holiday season :) Our class is collecting Brownie Mix, Cake Mix, and Frosting. Thank you for your support!!!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Wed, Dec 13
• SS Unit 3 Test
• Fri, Dec 15
• Blackhawk Museum Field Trip (9:15am-12:15pm)
• Mon, Dec 18
• Band & Strings Concert (1:15pm-1:55pm)
• Fri, Dec 22
• Dec. Pay Day (Class Economy)
• Holiday Party
• Minimum Day (8:15am-12:30pm)
• Start of Winter Break

Weekly News: Week 28

This week we took our Mid Module 5 test to see how we understood volume of rectangular prisms, we finished reading Tuck Everlasting and have started a map of events, and learned all about Zentangles. It was a fun and busy week.

Most importantly, on Friday, we went to the Lawrence Livermore National Lab's Discovery Center where we learned new science concepts from a real scientist. I've uploaded a bunch of photos to our photo tab, but here's a few of the highlights...

 

 

 



Upcoming Events:

Thursday, March 23rd-- Eagle TV

Eagle TV release time on Thursday, March 23rd will be at 3:45pm.

Ms. Wilcox and Mrs. Carrolan have an after school meeting that will require us to leave campus at 3:45pm.  Please plan accordingly!

Weekly News: Week 27

This week was the first week of the 3rd trimester! We are two-thirds of the way done with 5th grade. Wow! In just a few short months all the students will be heading off to 6th grade.

Last week we had studied the Lincoln Assassination plot and learned a lot of new information. To show what the students learned they created Wanted Posters for John Wilkes Booth & we also memorialized President Lincoln. It was a fun way to end our mini-unit on Lincoln.

In math we started Geometry (Module 5)! We're learning about Area, Volume, and beginning to draw 3-d prisms. This is always a popular module as the kids love to figure out the different shapes.

Social Studies has us right in the middle of the 1760s as the colonies begin to realize they want to fight for their independence. We've learned about the French & Indian War, The Royal Proclamation of 1763, The Stamp Act, and The Quartering Act of 1765. Students are beginning to realize why the American colonies wanted to fight Britain for their freedom.

On Thursday we earned our second class party and had delicious root beer floats. It was the perfect way to cap off all the hard work they've done for the last few months.

Report Cards went home today with your student. Please sign the envelope and return on Monday.


Upcoming Events:

• Tuesday, March 14th
• Science Fair
• bring your projects before school. 
• MPR is open from 5pm-7pm for families

• Friday, March 17th
• Lawrence Livermore Lab field trip
• 8:30am-12:15pm
• students will be back in time for lunch at school.

Field Trip Tomorrow

Tomorrow we are heading to the Blackhawk Museum for our first field trip. We will be gone from 9:30am to about noon. Students do not need anything special for this trip.

We will be back at Mohr by lunchtime, so students will still be able to buy lunch at school if they need to. Students should bring their backpack & homework, like usual, as we will only be gone for a small part of the day.

Thank you to all our wonderful chaperones!

Blackhawk Museum “Spirit of the Old West” Exhibit

3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle • Danville, CA 94506-4652

Visit our Website: www.blackhawkmuseum.org

Email: museum@blackhawkmuseum.org

Weekly News: Week 8

It's hard to believe that two months have already flown by! We've started learning about the Age of Exploration in Social Studies, we're using area models to complete long multiplication problems and conversions with expressions in math, and we just finished up our Narrative pieces. It's amazing how much we've accomplished in the first two months of school!

On Monday, October 31st we will be having our Halloween Party following the Halloween Parade. We'd love your help in donating breakfast items. Click on our SignUp Genius link HERE.

Upcoming Events:

• Thursday 10/13- Field trip to Blackhawk Museum (9:30-12:30pm)
• Friday 10/14- Mid Module 2 Test

Future Events:

• Thursday 10/27- Halloween Pumpkin Narrative Speech
• Friday 10/28- No School
• Monday 10/31- Halloween Parade & Party

Field Trip Drivers Wanted

I hope you've had a chance to take a look at the class site and get used to where things are. If you have not done so yet, please go to the earlier post, HERE, and fill out the Google Form with your contact information.


Field Trip Drivers/Chaperones Wanted
We'd love to have you join us for future field trips. Please head to our class signup, HERE, to submit your name for future field trips. I will only be contacting those of you who have submitted your name.

In order to drive and chaperone you need to complete two things for the school:

1. Driver's Insurance Form...  filled out and approved by Mrs. Wolfinger. The fillable online version can be found HERE. Print it out and send it in with your student.
2. Volunteer Clearance Form... most likely turned in during Walk Thru Registration. If not, please make sure you submit it to Mrs. O'Neal as soon as possible. 

Photo Site

You may have noticed a new tab at the top of our page labeled Photos... this will lead you to our new Shutterfly picture site. https://thewilcoxcrew201516.shutterfly.com/

I will update the site with pictures taken from field trips, holidays, and class activities.  I'm new to the Shutterfly site, so if you notice any problems, please let me know.  All visitors should be able to view all of the photos that have been uploaded to the various albums.

Many of you have attended these events with us and have taken lots of wonderful pictures.
If you would like to contribute to the site by adding your own photos, sign in with your Shutterfly account...

And then click on Ask to become a member in the right hand corner.

Once you've become a member you can add any photos you've taken this year. We'd love to have you contribute!

Field Trip Drivers Wanted

If you are interested in being one of our driver's this year, please make sure you have signed up HERE to get added to our class list.

Our first field trip will be in the middle of October. In order to drive you need these two forms filled out and turned in to the front office.

1. Driver's Insurance Form... fillable form found HERE
2. Volunteer Clearance Form... which you should have turned in during Walk-Thru Registration. If not you can get one from Mrs. Wolfinger or Mrs. O'Neal in the office.

Thank you in advance to the 8 parents who have already signed up to be drivers this year. We appreciate you!

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

Lawrence Livermore National Lab

We had a great time at our field trip to the Livermore Lab. They have a ton of hands on experiments for the class to try out. I've posted some photos and videos from the experiments. All the students commented on how much they enjoyed it.

Some questions to ask your students:

• What are good conductors of electricity?
• What are good insulators of electricity?
• How can you make a gas turn into a solid?
• How much energy did you create by using the bicycle?

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Lawrence Livermore Lab

Last Thursday we had a wonderful field trip to the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. The students spent time in the Discovery Center and then were able to participate in some hands-on experiments. Take a look at some of the pictures and videos from this fun field trip!