Student Conferences: Please Sign-Up

Families,
I have created a sign-up genius for you to sign up for your child's student conference.  Please note that students are an active part of these conferences and so I'm hoping you will sign up for a time in which you child will be able to accompany you.  To sign-up please follow this link Student Conference Sign-Up

Thank you!  I look forward to sharing more with you about your child and their goals for this school year.

Sincerely,
Aaron

Huron River Water Quality Inquiry

We recently had the opportunity to visit the Huron River at Island Park in Ann Arbor, where Mackenzie and Lisa, from the Leslie Science and Nature Center provided us with opportunities to learn about watersheds, macroinvertebrates, and water quality.  Thanks LSNC!

Using a watershed model to understand the impact humans have on water systems.

Learning how to sample the river for macroinveterbrates.

Counting macroinvertebrates to better understand water quality

Chemical water testing helped us learn more about the quality of the water in the Huron River

Wonder, A Wonderful Book!

Wonder, A Wonderful Book!
by Marquece

     August Pullman (Auggie) is a ten year old 5th grader with small anomalies--a cleft palate.  In this book Wonder, August will have to face real world problems plus extra problems because of his deformed face and, the effect of his many surgeries. 
     At the beginning of the story August meets Jack, Julian, and Charlotte.  It all started with Julian when he makes an unkind joke about August's face and as the school year progress, Julian makes problems for August.  The story mainly focuses on perspective, meaning each chapter of the story is another one of the characters perspective of the story.  The main message of this story is to be kind and give people a chance.
     My opinion on this story is I feel like it has a lot of truth in it and it's very realistic.  I can relate to this book an abundance.  While I don't have August's challenges I have a lot of my own, but I've always eventually made friends.  I would recommend this book to anyone who asks.  Over all, I just think Wonder, is a wonderful book.

Sharing the Planet and More!

Dear Families,
We had a great walk in the woods last week looking for interactions in the forest.  Our walk has been the experience that drives our inquiry in to energy transfer in ecosystems.

Mammals!

Decomposers!

Yellow Spotted Salamander

Indian Pipe

The next step in our inquiry is going to be focused on water resources on our planet.  Our trip to the Huron River will be an experience to drive this inquiry and help inform our understandings of the interaction between land and water.

Upcoming Dates:
Field Trip Thursday 9/20 12:00-3:00 Island Park, Huron River, Ann Arbor
Curriculum Night Tuesday 9/25 6:00 pm
Early Release Wednesday 9/26 Dismissal at 1:29 pm

We are off to a great start!

It's been exciting to get to know more about one another and establish routines and norms for how our group will work together this year!  We have also begun to dig into the kinds of thinking we will do this year and how we will share our thinking with others!

 In conversation about the ways in which reader's notice themselves thinking when reading we discovered as a group we have a deep understanding of a variety of text features and how those text features demonstrate a balance of student interests in reading fiction and non-fiction text!  We are a group of clever thinkers!

CAMP STORER!
Camp will be here before we know it so it's important to give as much information to families as possible sooner rather than later.  Camp Storer Parent Meeting Wednesday, 9/12, 5:30 pm in the Mitchell Library.  That's THIS WEDNESDAY!

CABIN LEADERS!
We have commitment from two parents to fulfill the role of cabin leader this year.  Thank you!  Our camp experience is not possible without cabin leaders and we need at least four more!  Please consider whether or not you could fill this vital role for our trip to camp.

NWEA
NWEA testing will begin for our class on Friday 9/14.  The beginning of the year is about building classroom community, but also collecting baseline data to monitor student growth over the year.  Students will complete two NWEA assessments--reading and math.

Looking forward to another week together!

Welcome Families!

As we begin a new school year together, please take a moment to browse through the blog to become more acquainted with the classroom and the work we will do together this year.  There are some updates that will happen over the first week of school so check back after the first few days of school.  My hope is to use the Remind app and this blog to keep you and your child updated about what's happening in the classroom.  The Remind app sends a text to your phone and requires an up to date phone number.  I will also send an email to notify families of blog updates.  If either your phone number or email is not current on your child's school records, please let me know.

I'm ready to rock out the last few days of summer vacation while also looking forward to our year together! I can't wait to meet the students and families of our classroom and learn more about each of you!

Sincerely,
Ms. Padgen

P.S.  This is a great time to talk with your child about what they are excited about in 5th grade and any worries they have as we begin the year together.  We will be talking about our hopes and dreams for 5th grade very soon!

The Slave Route Map

http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/pdf/MapSlaveRoute.pdf