Weekly News: Week 30

Have a wonderful week off from school! I know we are all looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.

In your child's backpack today you should see a packet of work and a letter regarding all the important events for the last 8 weeks of school. 5th grade has a lot going on over the last few months so please keep that blue calendar handy. You can access the letter HERE or check them out below:

Upcoming Events:

• Spring Break
• Mon, April 3- Fri, April 7
• Module 5 Test
• Wed, April 12

Weekly News: Week 11

Reminder: There is no school tomorrow, Friday October 28th! Enjoy the three day weekend before Halloween!

This week we started reading the poetry book "Love That Dog" which has inspired a lot of creations in our classroom. Today we also heard wonderful speeches from our students about their pumpkins. Everyone was so creative in their designs and stories! They really brighten up our room for Halloween!

We are winding down the first trimester, which ends next Friday, 11/4. Assessments will be given over the next week or so before report card conferences begin.

If you haven't scheduled a conference yet, please go HERE and choose an open time slot.


Upcoming Events:

• Monday, 10/31
• Halloween Parade, wear your costume to school over your clothes
• Halloween Party, bring in donated items
• Pay Day
• Minimum Day (8:15-12:30)
• No Band and Strings
• Tuesday, 11/1
• October Auction
• Wednesday, 11/2
• Outdoor Ed Parent Meeting, 6:30pm, Multi-Purpose Room
• Friday, 11/4
• Last day of 1st Trimester

November 9th- November 17th--- Parent/Teacher Report Card Conferences. Check your appointment time!

Last Week of School Events

I can't believe it but it's the last week of school! What an amazing year this has been and it really has flown by so fast! Our last week is full of events so check out the schedule below.

Tuesday, June 7th
--last Band & Strings
--clean out desks

Wednesday, June 8th
--Pool Day, 9:30am-2:30pm

Thursday, June 9th
--Field Day, 9:15am-11:30am
--Ice Cream Sundae Class Party, 11:40am-12:25pm

Friday, June 10th
--Culmination, MPR, 10:30am-11:30am
--Report Cards go home

Tuesday's Events

Happy Memorial Weekend! Enjoy your Monday off from school!

A few things for Tuesday:

• Debates will be first thing in the morning. Just remember to practice your talking points over the weekend, so you're ready to debate with your group in front of the class.
• There will not be Band or Strings on Tuesday due to our field trip to Harvest Park. You do not need to bring your instruments. June 7th will be the final Band and Strings session for the school year.
• Our field trip to Harvest Park will be from 10:30-12:00pm. It's a regular day for us, so feel free to bring your regular lunch, or buy lunch on that day.
• We will also be having our last Pay Day on Tuesday, with our last Auction on Wednesday, June 1st.

Next Week's Testing

We're in the home stretch! Next week we are taking our last two tests. On Monday and Tuesday, please have your students at school on time. We are testing in the morning. We also have Open House and our annual Art Show on Tuesday night. Stop by the classroom and see everything your students have been working hard on.

Next Week
Monday- Math CAASPP testing
Tuesday- Math CAASPP testing; Art Show 5pm-8pm; Open House 6:30-7:30pm
Friday- Human Growth Part 1 (Maturation)


May 30-June 3rd
Monday, May 30th- No School, Memorial Day
Tuesday, May 31st- Harvest Park 6th Grade Visit
Friday, June 3rd- Human Growth Part 2 (Maturation)

Field Day Volunteers Needed!

Please check out the message from Kirk Gottschalk regarding Field Day! Hope to see you out there on Thursday, June 9th for your student's last Field Day!


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We are now ready to start signups for Field Day volunteers!!!! Amazing we have only 4 weeks of school left in this year.  Here is the url:   http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948A4A82BAAF85-mohr

We need over 100 parents who are cleared to volunteer starting at 8am till noon to make this event successful, fun and safe.  Please signup for 1 or more openings.

Thanks in advance,

Kirk

Upcoming Events & Projects

Another week of testing is over!

This week our class completed the ELA tests for state testing (CAASPP) and did a wonderful job! I know how stressful all the testing can be, so it's a relief to have a few under our belt, and be almost done.

We are also working on a fun new math project... Geometrocity! Students are in teams to create a complete city using all they know about geometry. The kids are excited to start building their cities and making sure they have a good infrastructure. It will be a fun project that you will all get to see at Open House!



Up Next Week
Monday- 6th grade math placement test



Week of May 23rd
Monday- Math CAASPP test
Tuesday- Math CAASPP test; Open House 6:30-7:30pm

Weekly Update 4/24/16

Progress reports and Friday Folders went home on Friday. Check for the latest assignments and grades. The students' Historical Information Reports are still in the process of being graded.

A quick update on a few things happening this week:

• Declaration of Independence Flipbooks due on Wednesday, April 27th
• work on Hatchet presentations... will be due after we finish reading

Also as we start our reading and writing unit on Argument/Persuasive, students are invited to bring in their devices all week. Students can bring in a smart phone/iPod touch, tablet, or laptop every day next week as we look up articles and videos to build our ideas and prepare opinions. 

Speeches start Tuesday, April 12th

Today, students learned about their upcoming speech. They will be presenting information on their Historical Informational Report that they have been writing for the last month and will be submitting their final draft papers on Friday, April 1st.

Below is the sheet that was handed out today with all of the speech requirements. Students should be an expert on their topic-- ready to teach everyone and answer questions afterwards. They should try to memorize as much as possible and have a visual aide.

Speeches will begin on Tuesday, April 12th.

PPIE Run- April 17, 2016

On April 17, 2016 PPIE is having their annual Fun Run. Join me and a lot of other Mohr teachers for the 5K run/walk. Information can be found HERE to sign up to participate. I'd love to have a large showing of the Wilcox Crew out there that morning showing our Eagle Pride.

For those of you who can't make it, there is also the "Snooze for Schools" option which allows you to donate to this wonderful program, even if you can't be there the day of the race.

Last year, PPIE was able to donate money to help PUSD with a technology coach, class chromebooks, smaller class sizes (TK & K), teacher and student grants, and help fund the elementary band & strings program. Also, one of our room mom's Mrs. Stadermann is one of the Mohr representatives for PPIE.

I hope to see you out there on Sunday, April 17th!

Santa Speech

Today the first speech of the year was assigned. Students will be creating a narrative story, imagining themselves as Santa. Based on the book, "How Santa Got His Job", which can be seen the in video linked below, students will tell us all about how they became Santa.

There is a lot of creativity involved in this speech and practice is extremely important! Speeches begin on Monday, December 14th. I encourage all students to memorize as much as possible, and keep within the 2 minute timeframe.

2nd Trimester Topics

Upcoming Events

Red Ribbon Week

Next week (October 26-30) is Red Ribbon Week.
Monday- students will get wristbands
Tuesday- wear crazy socks
Wednesday- wear red
Thursday- wear sunglasses
Friday- Halloween parade & class party; minimum day dismissal at 12:30pm

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Progress Reports

Today your student should be bringing home their latest Progress Report. Please look over your student's latest work.

Please keep in mind that we have several large projects in process:

• Students just turned in a nonfiction Narrative story on Wednesday which is in the process of being graded. 
• Students are also currently working on a fiction Halloween story which will be earning them a grade as well. 
• In Social Studies, we are also in the middle of a large project which will be completed before the end of the 1st trimester.
• In Science, they are working on a large Element project.

This progress report is simply a current picture of their grades. This is the last progress report that will be sent before November Conferences. If you do not currently have a November Conference time, please click HERE, and select an open time.

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Yearbook Ads- Attention 5th Grade Families!

Don't miss out! Congratulate your 5th grader and express your pride and love with an ad in the 2016 Mohr Yearbook! Each 1/8 page ad is $20. Create and pay for your ad online no later than November 6th. Download the flyer [http://www.mohrpta.org/Forms/2016-5th-Grade-Ad-Flyer.pdf] for instructions and more information!

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Outdoor Ed Chaperones

If you are interested in being a chaperone for Outdoor Ed in January, don't forget to fill out the Google Form, HERE. Names need to be submitted by November 6th.

Culmination Tomorrow

Just a quick reminder!

Tomorrow is Culmination for the 5th graders. We will be starting tomorrow at 11am in the MPR. The ceremony should last no more than an hour and then you are welcome to take your 5th grader home with you right after the ceremony.

Report cards will be handed out tomorrow, so make sure your student has it before you leave school.

It's been a wonderful year and it's gone by quickly. Have a great summer!

Last Few Events

As we enter the last few days of school I wanted to remind you of a couple key events happening:

Friday, June 5th, 2:05pm- Band & Strings performance
Wednesday, June 10th, 10am-2pm - Pool Day at Pleasanton Aquatic Center
Thursday, June 11th, 9:15-11:30 - Field Day
Friday, June 12th, 11am - Culmination

Also, in the Resources tab you will find a link to the photos I've taken in our classroom this year. Feel free to check them out!

Open House, Wednesday

Our classroom will be open on Wednesday 5/20/15 from 6:30-7:30PM. Stop by and check out all the work your student has done this year. We have created a lot of digital projects so in order to be able to check them out I recommend you download a QR reader app to your phone ahead of time. See you on Wednesday!

6th Grade Math Placement Test

The 6th grade math placement test will be given the week of May 11th. We will be taking the test as follows:

• Monday, May 11th- Part A
• Tuesday, May 12th- Part B
• Friday, May 15th- Part C

If you are interested in the details of the test and learn information about what the middle school math plan is, please click on the link HERE.

Also, please keep in mind that we will still be taking the SBAC Math Computer Adaptive Test that week on Wednesday, May 13th.

If you have any questions, please email me.

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

This Week

Here's a quick update of some important events & dates happening this week as our 2nd trimester comes to a close. Last Friday was the final day for 2nd trimester grades. Today is the beginning of 3rd trimester. We're already two-thirds of the way through 5th grade!

Assignments:

• Rosa Parks Google Classroom assignment due Wed, 3/11
• Topic E Math Quiz Thurs 3/12
• continue working on Hatchet presentation

Important Dates:

• Thurs 3/12 & Fri 3/13 are minimum days. School gets out at 12:30.
• Report Cards will be sent home Friday 3/13
• BYOD 3/13

Next week:

• Historical essays will be finished
• Book Fair 3/16- 3/20

Spring Break is 3/30-4/6. School resumes on Tuesday, April 7th. 

Can Food Drive

Holiday Can Food Drive

December 8th - 12th

Our class is participating in the Friends Helping Friends Holiday Can Food Drive. With your donations, we will be able to put baskets full of food together that we can donate to local families in need this holiday season.  Our class is signed up to bring 

boxes of granola bars.

Thank you for your support!