CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
Important Reminders:
- We will be building a Haunted House for the entire school on October 31st! If you have any extra Halloween decorations at home you are willing to donate to the cause, please send them in next week!
- 5th grade students are to have a tech device and headphones each day. Chromebook, laptop, or tablet with an attached keyboard are acceptable. Please ensure they are charged before coming to school. If you must send a charger, make sure it is labeled with your child’s name.
- All 4th/5th-grade students are invited to our 6th grade Face Your Face Exhibition at the Ohio County Public Library on Monday, October 28th, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.!
- Our next change to the normal schedule is Thanksgiving Break, November 26th at 12:30 – December 2nd at 10:00 am.
Weekly Recap
Language Arts
- Finishing the Andrew Clements novels for our author study
- Creating power points to share with the class about each novel
- Working on 2 writing contests (spooky story and the YWCA Kindness essay)
- Both contests are on Google Classroom. Feel free to discuss and help your child work on these at home.
Math
- Completed a project called Snack Math where students found out how much money it costs to eat their favorite snack every day for a week. Needless to say, they were SHOCKED!
- Finished our unit on decimal multiplication with a test on Friday
Water Science
- Our budding scientists have set up their experiments and are gathering their own data. Here’s a look at what each group is discovering:
- Dark vs. Light Experiment: A dark environment with observation windows has been created. This group is observing the crawfish’s behavior in the dark first, then watching for their response when exposed to light.
- Crawfish Playground: Students added a tunnel, a toy snake, a ball, a tug-of-war rope, and a climbing string. The crawfish have become noticeably more active, especially around the tunnel. One hypothesis from this group is that with the toys, the crawfish will push rocks less and engage more with their “playground.”
- Crawfish Strength Test: This group is testing the strength of crawfish claws by providing various objects like a stick, a carrot, and more to see if the claws can snap or break them.
- Encourage your child to share which group they’re in and talk about their hypothesis!
History
In our fifth-grade history class, we held a lively debate between the Loyalists and Patriots, with students passionately taking sides on the events leading up to the American Revolution. Each student presented arguments from their assigned perspective, with the Loyalists defending their loyalty to the British crown and the Patriots advocating for independence. The debate encouraged critical thinking, as students used historical facts to back their positions. It was an engaging way for them to explore the complexities of the time period and practice respectful discussion and collaboration.
D.A.R.E.
This week in D.A.R.E with Officer John, we learned about stress and how it can affect our minds and bodies. We talked about common things that make us feel stressed, like schoolwork or big changes, and shared ways to manage those feelings in a healthy way. Some great tips we learned were deep breathing, talking to someone we trust, finding your happy place, and making time for fun activities that help us relax. It’s important to remember that everyone feels stressed sometimes, but with the right tools, we can handle it and stay in control!
This full week was packed with excitement for our fifth graders in their various special classes. In Spanish, they dove into learning about Spanish-speaking countries, and it was amazing to see them get curious about the different cultures and traditions. We had a lot of fun exploring maps and discussing what makes each country special. Then came the holiday show auditions with Mr. Alex, and wow, what energy! Cast list was announced on Friday and the students are so excited. We still have some tweaks to make to ensure every child has a role to play and we are almost there! Remember that the show is on December 18th at 6:00pm. They also really stepped up during our evacuation drill, setting a great example for the younger students by staying calm and focused. And to top it all off, we had yoga with Miss Kylie on Tuesday. They were fully engaged in every activity, and it made for an awesome week!
We will see you Monday!
Katie and Kristina