Important Dates:
- Tuesday, January 27 – 4th and 5th Grade Swap Day, see below
- Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th, and Friday 30th – Aimsweb Testing
- Thursday, January 29 – Forward to 5th, 4:00 PM, more details below
- Friday, January 30 – Parent Coffee, 8:30 AM
- Friday, January 30 – Freedom Friday
- Friday, February 6 – 11:30 AM Early Dismissal for Winter Long Weekend
- February 9 and February 10 – No School for students, February 10 – Teacher Professional Development
Click the link below to stay up to date on more whole-school events!
Thank you to everyone for the donations for the House of the Carpenter. The staff at the House of the Carpenter are very grateful for the donated food items. Our donations will help over 200 area children!
- Note: We will be AimsWeb testing next week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Please make sure your child gets a good night’s rest and a good breakfast to start the day.
Forward to 5th – Forward to 5th is coming up, and we would love to see you there! Mrs. Wallace, our 5th-grade teacher, will share about all of the fun, influential, and inspiring things your child will do in 5th grade. If you’re on the fence or just curious about next year at WCDS, we would love to have you join us at 4:00 on Thursday, January 29th. Aftercare is available for your child during that time at no cost, but they may also join the discussion as well. If you are planning on coming, please reach out to Mrs. White or Ms. Stella to let us know.
4th and 5th Grade Swap Day – The 4th and 5th graders will be swapping classrooms and teachers on Tuesday January 27th. The 4th graders will head to the 5th-grade classroom to experience a day in the life of 5th grade. Mrs. Wallace will teach 5th-grade lessons to the students. They will experience math and language arts lessons and see what 5th-grade robotics looks like. 5th graders will participate in lessons led by Middle School teachers (Mrs. Boldrick and Mrs. McFadden) to give them a glimpse of Middle School.
ELA – Students are continuing with their literature circles with the 5th graders. Next week, those will wrap up, and we look ahead to a new novel study! In writing, students are also working on creating their own fictional stories and adding some suspenseful elements to make an exciting climax! Through this, they learn elements of a story through the lens of an author. In grammar, students have been working hard on descriptive, comparative, and superlative adjectives. Next week, we will begin irregular adjectives.
Math: The students continued with 2-digit-by-2-digit multiplication. This process is getting easier for them! It is imperative that your child know their multiplication facts with fluent and fast recall (we recommend memorization at this point). Not knowing their facts creates difficulty for the students as they try to work through the multi-digit multiplication process. We strongly encourage at least 10 minutes of multiplication fact practice outside of school per day. Next week, we’ll add a digit to the “top” number; they’ll move on to 3-digit times 2-digit multiplication.
Digital Discovery – We hope you are enjoying the emails your child has been sending. They are enjoying sending little notes to their grown-ups and get excited when they receive a response. We’ll continue practicing this skill. They also learned how to create a folder on Google Drive. They are practicing adding things such as PDFs, Google Docs, and more to their drive!
Character Ed – This week, students are learning about diversity and bias. Through classroom conversations and activities, students are discovering what they have in common with their peers as well as what makes them unique. When kids learn to respect and value all people, regardless of similarities or differences, they feel more connected to others, show greater social awareness, and build stronger relationships. Talk to your student about the diversity of your own family. Where were your ancestors born? What languages are spoken in your family? What foods do you eat, and what traditions do you celebrate?
Homework – Please remember to have your students check their agendas each night to complete their homework. Students are staying in from snack and/or recess to complete these assignments if they are not finished. Our goal with this is to get them ready for 5th grade and beyond. If they are unable to complete their homework for any reason, they should email Mrs. White or Ms. Stella (or both) to let us know.
Reminders –
- We experienced some very cold temperatures this week, and the forecast shows more to come. We limit outside time when the temperatures drop below sub-freezing. Please send your child with a winter coat, gloves, and a hat every day. We do not allow the students to go outside without proper outerwear.
Check out our fun-filled service week below!
