5th

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Tuesday – November 11 – No School For Students 
• Wednesday – November 12 – 5th Grade Day of Giving
  • Drop off at Main Campus – Van to Volunteer at Soup Kitchen
• November 19-20 – 29 Hours of Giving! 
• Tuesday – November 25 – Early dismissal at 12:30 am – No aftercare
• Monday – December 1 – Return to School – 8:30 am
• Thursday – December 17 – Holiday Show!! Mark Your Calendars!

This coming Wednesday, the fifth grade will be going down to volunteer their time at the Wheeling Soup Kitchen. Students can be dropped off on main campus as usual, and we will transport them to and from in the school van. Students will return shortly after lunch and will be on campus for regular dismissal. We encourage students to wear casual WCDS apparel. They are also able to pack a bagged lunch if desired. Students are able to eat the food we serve at the Soup Kitchen. We will leave around 9:00 a.m. and return around 1:00 p.m. We are all very excited to get off campus and give back to our community! 

Weekly Recap:

Language Arts: 

• Submitted our essays for the 2026 YWCA Wheeling’s Project on Racism Contest. Students wrote an essay centered on the following quote by Dr. King: “Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”
• Covered grammatical concepts like than vs then and your vs. you’re 
• Began our class literature circles, where students read reviews and selected their favorite out of four Andrew Clements books!
  • The Last Holiday Concert” – Lyric, Ani, Amira, Vinny, Michael  
  • “The Troublemakers” – Dustin, Ethan, and Giovanni 
  • “The Landry News” – Parker, Alyas, Audrey, Alex  
  • “The School Story” – Ember and Palmer 

Math: 

• Began our unit on division! 
• Students learned that division is the inverse of multiplication, and is really just repeated subtraction 
• Practicing the standard algorithm with a one-digit divisor 

SEL – Social Emotional Learning 

This week, students learn about their brains, specifically about the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. The amygdala, also known as the “lizard brain,” is responsible for processing threats and emotions, and is associated with the “fight-or-flight” response. The prefrontal cortex, also known as the “executive brain” or the “wizard brain,” is a part of the brain responsible for complex thought, planning, decision-making, impulse control, and self-awareness. Students learn what it feels like when a certain part of the brain takes over, and how they can use tools to regulate their emotions and make responsible decisions both inside and outside the classroom. 

Drama:

Students *hopefully* officially have their lines memorized for the upcoming Holiday Show! We will spend the next few weeks working on the stage, using microphones, and refining our movements. All of that confidence is ensured by knowing their lines, so if your child isn’t fluently reciting them yet, please help them learn.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:

• Can you teach me the difference between ‘than’ and ‘then’?
• Which Andrew Clements book did you pick for literature circles, and what made you choose that one?
• How confident are you feeling about your Holiday Show lines?
• Would you like to practice a scene or a few lines for the show together?
• What did you learn about the “lizard brain” and “wizard brain”? Can you think of a moment when one of them tried to take over?
• What are you working on in Art class?

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Tuesday – November 11 – No School For Students – Faculty Professional Development Day
• ✨Wednesday – November 12 – 5th Grade Day of Giving (This is new)
  • ✨Drop off at WVNCC Campus – Volunteer at Soup Kitchen
• Tuesday – November 25 – Early dismissal – Thanksgiving Break 
• Monday – December 1 – Return to School – 8:30 am
• Thursday – December 17 – Holiday Show!! Mark Your Calendars!

The latter half of this week, our classroom transformed into a full-on Haunted House design team! We spent part of Wednesday and a big chunk of Thursday planning, building, rearranging, testing scares, and bringing our spooky ideas to life. Students took turns with different jobs, worked together on decorations and rearrangements, and demonstrated incredible teamwork and creativity. There were moments when it felt tricky working all together on one big project, but everyone stuck with it, and the end result was truly amazing. I was also incredibly proud of our fifth graders for how calm, patient, and caring they were with younger students who chose to go through our “un-spooky” version. Their kindness and leadership made the experience enjoyable for every student, whether they wanted a scare or a friendly tour.

We would also like to extend a special thank-you to the Redd family. While several families generously donated materials, the Redds went above and beyond, bringing in an incredible collection of animatronics, inflatables, and props that helped make our haunted house extra unforgettable. We are so grateful for their support and for helping bring this fun tradition to life for our school! 

WEEKLY RECAP 

Language Arts: 

• Students are putting the finishing touches on their forgiveness essays, recalling their own personal experiences and the lessons they learned 
• Language Arts came to life on Monday with Miss Reid for Halloween, as students reviewed concepts like sentence structures and figurative language in stations 

Math: 

• Continuing a daily practice and review of our multiplication facts so we can become fluent mathematicians
• Took a quiz on multiplying decimals 
• Will begin division and long division next week 

DRAMA: Students are to have their scripts memorized by the end of next week! 

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:

• What part of the Haunted House did you help create?!
• How do you think you did on your math quiz?
• What does it mean if I said it’s raining cats and dogs?
• DId you work well with your classmates while making the Haunted House?
• What was your favorite part of the Haunted House process? Building it with everyone? Scaring the big kids? Helping the younger kids?

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Friday, October 31 – Halloween Activities and Early Dismissal at 11:30 am (Aftercare until 3)
  • 5th Grade creates a Haunted House for the entire student body to participate in on Halloween! If you have any extra spooky decorations at home that you are willing to send in to help our cause, we greatly appreciate it!
• Tuesday – November 11 – No School For Students – Faculty Professional Development Day
• Tuesday – November 25 – Early dismissal – Thanksgiving Break 
• Monday – December 1 – Return to School – 8:30 am
• Thursday – December 17 – Holiday Show!! Mark Your Calendars!

This weekend, please sign the photo release form that is in your child’s yellow folder. WCDS filmed a commercial for TV, and all of our students were featured in it. The commercial will not go live until we receive all the students’ release forms. Please return them on Monday.

In the folder, you will also find a QR code that leads to an online apparel store. If you are interested in buying any new WCDS gear, check out the link: https://shirtsnmoreinc.printavo.com/merch/wheeling-country-day-school/?page=1

WEEKLY RECAP:

Language Arts: 

• Completed our novel study on No Talking and explored a new discussion style! Students prepared their discussion questions with text evidence and rotated through partners, engaging in wonderful one-on-one conversations about their perspective of the story 
• On Thursday, we completed our “no talking” experiment, just like in the novel! From 8:30 am – 11:30 am, it was a boys vs girls challenge! Students could only use three-word sentences and lost points for any longer ones. The girls were victorious! 
• Students completed a Voice Poster during our experiment, showcasing how they hope and want to use their own voices in their lives
• We are working on essays in Writing for a contest. Students are tasked with writing about a time when they had to forgive someone, and what that means to them.
  • We were able to workshop our writing with the college students on Friday. That one-one-one support each Friday has been so beneficial to our students

Math: 

• We continue to explore multiplying decimals, and if you enjoyed our last place value song, you’ll likely enjoy this catchy tune as well!
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHg4RVqQ12E&list=RDnHg4RVqQ12E&start_radio=1
  • Lyrical phrases from the song like “look at the numbers you are multiplying, count the number of decimal places, in the product move left that many spaces” can be so incredibly. beneficial to helping children remember the steps of the process
• Learning how numbers change when you multiply decimals together, and how to use estimation to check the reasonableness of our answer 
• We will have a small quiz on multiplying decimals before Halloween 

Social Studies: 

• We started the march towards the constitutional convention!
• The kids drew a persona and were given guided research questions to understand the framers point of view.
• They explored big state versus small state, federal government power versus states rights, and the issue of slavery.

Digital Discovery:

• Learned how to insert, modify, and move images within Google Docs 
• Practicing our typing skills to harness that muscle memory of mastering the home row 
• In just a few short weeks, most of our students have already gone from being able to type 5-7 words per minute, to 15-20 words per minute! Many hope to get to over 50 by the end of the year. Think of all the time this will save them in the future as essay writers!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:

• Did you survive the no talking contest?! How many rules did you break?
• If I need to buy three bags of flour and the each weigh 2.15 lbs, about how many pounds is that? (Round 2.15 down to 2, times it by 3)
• How many words per minute can you type now?
• What does your voice mean to you?
• How close are you to having your lines memorized for the Holiday Show? Remember you only have 2 more weeks to be off book!
• Who from history did you have to research?

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Saturday, October 18 – Vantoberfest! 
• Tuesday, October 21 – Reimagine Middle School Night!
  • Please RSVP to the email from Mrs. Ochap
  • Parents and children are all invited to attend!
• Friday, October 31 – Halloween Activities and Early Dismissal at 11:30 am
  • 5th Grade creates a Haunted House for the entire student body to participate in on Halloween! If you have any extra spooky decorations at home that you are willing to send in to help our cause, we greatly appreciate it!
• Tuesday – November 11 – No School For Students – Faculty Professional Development Day
• Thursday – December 11 – Holiday Show!! Mark Your Calendars!

Thank you in advance to all the families planning to attend our Vantoberfest fundraiser! Your generosity and school spirit will help bring us closer to our goal of purchasing a new school van for student transportation. The students had such a great time creating their class pumpkins, and we can’t wait for you to see them and join in the bidding! Our class’s Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas dioramas are sure to be a hit, along with so many other creative designs from our other classes. Events like this truly show how special our school community is—thank you for your support, enthusiasm, and for helping make Vantoberfest such a success!

WEEKLY RECAP:

Language Arts: 

• Continuing to read and discuss our class novel No Talking, and completed comprehension sheets for homework 
• Reviewed adjectives and how they can enhance our writing 
• Turned in our final memoirs! Some students completed two of them, and some even three! We can’t wait for you to read them.
• Beginning our new essay about forgiveness for the 2026 Project on Racism Contest on the Martin Luther King Jr. quote, “Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a constant attitude.”

Math: 

• Full steam ahead in all things multiplication 
• This week, we reviewed multiplying by a 1-digit and a 2-digit number before we add in decimals next week 
• Having multiplication facts memorized is a crucial step in achieving success in math from this point forward. If this is an area in which your child struggles, they can utilize the websites listed below. Just a few minutes on any of these, before engaging in online gaming, can lead to increased confidence and success. If you would like a pack of flash cards, please don’t hesitate to ask.
  • www.happynumbers.com – their login builds individualized foundational skills
  • play.numberhive.org – a fun and quick online game that builds fact fluency
  • www.multiplication.com – lots of online games just for multiplication fact fluency

Social Studies: 

• We have concluded our water science deep dive and begun our six-week history study. 
• Mr. Jividen is leading the action as the class reviewed the Revolutionary War and has begun learning about the Articles of Confederation   

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:

• What has been your favorite part of reading No Talking so far, and what do you think the author is trying to teach through the story?
• How many adjectives can you use to describe that lamp? that couch? that car?
• What did you learn about the Revolutionary War or the Articles of Confederation that you didn’t know before?
• What did you contribute to the pumpkin?!
• If you could go back in time to the Revolutionary War, what role would you want to play and why?

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Saturday, October 18 – Vantoberfest! 
• Tuesday, October 21 – Reimagine Middle School Night – More Details to come! 
• Friday, October 31 – Early Dismissal at 11:30 am

Thank you to all the wonderful guests who joined us for Special Person’s Day! Our fifth graders were so proud to welcome their family members, friends, and loved ones to campus for a fun-filled scavenger hunt. Visitors got to see our students show off their writing, explore the creek, share their math and music work, preview scenes from the upcoming holiday show, and even enjoy some time together on the playground. It was a joyful afternoon celebrating learning, connection, and the special people in our students’ lives. 

WEEKLY RECAP:

Language Arts: 

• Putting the finishing touches on our memoirs, with some kids even writing their second or third one! 
• Began our new novel, “No Talking,” which follows a fifth-grade class as they debate who could go longer without talking: the boys or the girls? 
• Look for reading comprehension sheets to start coming home again for homework, along with chapters to read each night.
  • Students can always listen to an audiobook as they follow along in their novel! 

Math: 

• Began our unit on multiplication, which will soon expand to multiplying decimals, after we review multiplication of whole numbers 
• Practicing and refreshing our multiplication fluency facts 
• Passed back and corrected our addition and subtraction quiz, which showed much better results than our first quiz of the year! Great job, everyone! 

Water Science: 

• Students continued with their exhibition-style lessons as they took their skills to our Senior Kindergarten and 2nd-grade classrooms. Our kids have had a blast teaching the younger students all that they have learned this year and showing them what lives in our creek

Reminder: We are less than one month away from needing students to have their lines for the Holiday Show memorized. We ask them to all be off book by November 6.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS:

• Were you nervous or excited when you had to teach the younger kids about Water Science?
• What is 600 x 20, and is there a trick to do it in your head?
• What was your favorite thing to do with your guests on Special Person’s Day?
• How long do you think you could last without talking?
• Did you escape the math escape room?!

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Monday, October 6 – NO SCHOOL
• Tuesday, October 7 – Return to School – 8:30 Start 
• Friday, October 10 – Special Persons Day! Details Below 
• Friday, October 17 – Mural Ribbon Cutting at 2:00 pm
• Saturday, October 18 – Vantoberfest! 
• Tuesday, October 21 – Reimagine Middle School Night – More Details to come! 

Next Friday, October 10th, we will celebrate Special Persons Day from 1:15 to 2:30 pm, and it’s sure to be an exciting afternoon! Students are welcome to invite one or more special guests—such as grandparents, relatives, family friends, or anyone important in their lives—to join in the fun. Together, they’ll embark on a scavenger hunt adventure that will take them around our classroom, through the school campus, and even down to the creek as they explore and learn side by side. At the end of the event, students may leave with their visitors at 2:30 p.m. if arrangements have been made in advance. We are looking forward to this wonderful tradition and can’t wait to see the smiles as our fifth graders proudly share their school with their special people.

WEEKLY RECAP: 

Language Arts: 

• Submitted our final paragraphs on Out of My Mind with topic sentences and text evidence 
• Learned about antagonists and protagonists and what that means in our novels 
• Putting the finishing touches on our memoirs! 
• Thank you to the SK teachers, Miss Arden and MIss Hanna, for allowing us to spend Thursday in their classroom so we could finally watch Out of My Mind! 
• We wrapped up our week with a special visit from the Ohio County Public Library!

Math: 

• Students spent the week learning about decimals related to the world population, preparing their study guide for the upcoming test, or working through hands-on math addition and subtraction of decimal problems 
• Students took the quiz on Thursday morning, and they will be graded and returned after the Long Weekend 
• When we return from the Long Weekend, we enter the world of multiplication. They can visit the links below online at any time to practice fluency facts. Just 5-10 minutes a day, before video games, could really help boost children’s confidence in math in the coming months.
  • www.99math.com – their login prompts certain skills
  • www.happynumbers.com – their login builds individualized foundational skills
  • play.numberhive.org – a fun and quick online game that builds fact fluency

Water Science: 

• This week, the students got their first taste of exhibition-style learning! Throughout the week, students worked to prepare different stations they would lead to teach other WCDS students about water pollution, turbidity, macroinvertebrates, and water sheds. On Thursday, they led other classes through their water science tour! They also took students to the creek to help capture and identify various macroinvertebrates.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS: 

• Did you check the Answer Key that was on Google Classroom on Tuesday night for the math study guide? 
• What did you think of Out of My Mind, the movie?! Was it similar to the book or different? 
• Were you nervous when you had to present to the fourth graders about water science? 
• What did your group teach the fourth graders about? 

Don’t forget, no school on Monday! See you at 8:30, Tuesday morning!

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• Friday, October 3 – 11:30 am Early Dismissal 
• Monday, October 6 – NO SCHOOL
• Friday, October 10 – Special Persons Day
• Saturday, October 18 – Vantoberfest! 

Scholastic Bookstore Open: We have had students ask about being able to order from Scholastic Books. If you are interested in ordering any books for your child, doing so from our class store with Scholastic provides us with points that we can use for our fifth-grade classroom. Orders are due by October 3rd. You can shop at the link below. 
Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/32M7K7 Class Code: 32M7K7

We have asked all students to have their lines for the Holiday Show memorized by November 6th. If you find yourself with free time in the evenings or weekends throughout the next month, we would love for you to practice reading lines with your child. Their script should always be in their yellow folder. Thank you in advance for your help! 

WEEKLY RECAP

Language Arts: 

• Learning how to write a detailed paragraph while citing text evidence from the book
• Explored grammar concepts like subject, predicate, and coordinating conjunctions as we hone our writing skills 
• Using all of our reading and writing skills in a reflective paragraph on Out of My Mind, on which character had the biggest impact on Melody’s life 

Math: 

• Learned how to add and subtract decimals 
• Continuing to emphasize the importance of decimal place value 
• Will have a quiz next Thursday, October 2nd. Look for a study guide to come home on Monday. 

Water Science: 

• Students went on a macroinvertebrate hunt with special guest, Mrs. Farris! 
• Our students found Tier 3 water, which indicates the healthiest quality! 
• Studied riparian zones (the ecosystems along the sides of creeks, rivers, etc.)

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS: 

• How are you doing with managing your time and staying up to date with your homework?
• Who are you writing your final Out of My Mind paragraph about?
• Did school feel different this week without access to the internet? 
• If chips are $3.99 and a drink is $4.79, is a $10 bill enough to buy both? (decimal estimation, addition, and subtraction)
• Did you have any money to deposit into the class bank this week?

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information:

• Tuesday, September 23 – Preschool – 1st – School Pictures
• Wednesday, September 24 – 2nd – 5th – School Pictures (Free dress. No uniform.)
• Friday, September 26
  • Freedom Friday
  • Parent Coffee
• Friday, October 3 – 11:30 am Early Dismissal 
• Monday, October 6 – NO SCHOOL

Your children were sent home with their school picture order form. Please complete the form and send in payment with your child next week, prior to photos. They also have raffle tickets for a meat raffle that will take place during Vantoberfest! You can send the raffle tickets back to school with your child as well. 

WEEKLY RECAP

Language Arts: 

• We finished Out of My Mind!
• We had small group discussions to make predictions in the book and question the actions taken by characters
• We will be wrapping up our novel study with written reflections next week, and we will also watch the movie that came out last year on Disney+ 

Math: 

• Early in the week, we practiced all of the math skills that would be on our quiz in hands-on ways
  • ordering decimals with cards
  • rolling decimal place value dice to practice expanded form
  • moved post its around a large number line
  • played Decimal War to compare decimal numbers
• Took our first math quiz on Wednesday after completing the practice quiz on Monday
• Students were able to make corrections before they received their final score, but all were sent home with their final quiz grade in their yellow folder
• Next week, we begin adding and subtracting decimals, so working on fluency facts will be the most helpful thing you can do! 

Water Science: 

• This week, Miss Cutlet from the Water Pollution Plant came to WCDS to test the creek water with the help of the 5th graders! 
• We also enjoyed a class with a familiar special guest, Mrs. Brittney Farris, who helped kids learn to use kick nets and differentiate between various macroinvertebrates 

Computer Science: 

• We worked on creating and formatting a Google document.
• Students learned how to select a piece of text, change the font size and color, bold text, italicize text, and underline text.
• Students will now be required to rent our class computers, chargers, and headphones for a fee of $10 a class period if their equipment is not prepared for that day. 

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS: 

• How did you feel after Melody stood up to her classmates?? Are you excited to watch the movie version of Out of My Mind?
• What did the water testing of the creek show?! 
• Were you nervous at all during the first round of the math quiz, and were you able to find your mistakes and fix them the second time?
• What is the name of your character in the Holiday Show?! 

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates and Important Information: 

• September 22 – October 3 – Parent/Teacher Partnership Meetings to be scheduled 
• Tuesday, September 23 – Preschool – 1st – School Pictures
• Wednesday, September 24 – 2nd – 5th – School Pictures
• Friday, September 26
  • Freedom Friday
  • Parent Coffee 

PARENT PARTNERSHIP MEETINGS: For those of you who were able to sign up in person for our Parent Partnership Meetings on Parent Night, thank you for taking the time to do so. If you need to see your time, sign up, or change your time, you can click this link to access the sign-ups. If these times and dates do not work for you, please do not hesitate to let me know, and we can certainly find a time that works for us both. Next week, I will email you with a confirmation for your meeting time. I look forward to speaking with you all one-on-one about your child! 

WEEKLY RECAP 

Language Arts: 

• We hope you enjoyed the I Am From poem on Parent Night!
• Continued writing our memoirs  
• Learning the art of class discussions: when to speak, what to say, and how to respond when you respectfully disagree
  • We used a string to pass around the room to show students who talks, how often, and to help visually see if we include everyone. For our first whole group discussion of the year, the class impressed us massively by getting the string to space out amongst the whole group!
• Next week, we will finish Out of My Mind, watch the movie, and write a persuasive essay 

Math: 

• Learned how to order decimals when you have a long list 
• Rounded decimals to various place values and to whole numbers 
• Will take our first quiz next week! 

Water Science: 

• Students studied the water cycle and ran an experiment to see how much water evaporates over night and over time 
• Discussed the concept of watersheds and where water settles 

Computer Science: 

• Learned how to organize our folders within Google Drive 
• Discovered how to name documents, share documents, and collaborate with classmates within Google 

On September 11, we spent some time discussing the history of Patriots’ Day. This group of students is very interested in history and engaged in a wonderful discussion about the events and aftermath of the attacks. Everything was presented at grade level and was only a brief period of our day. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. 

We hope to see you this coming week for Parent Night on September 11th! We ask parents to arrive at 6:30pm  and can come directly to the 5th grade classroom. We will review a few concepts pertaining to the 5th grade year, have an opportunity for questions, and then will meet as a WCDS parent group in the gym at 7:00. The event should be no more than an hour and is for parents only. Look for an email from Mrs. Wallace early in the week with a handout and details for the year. This will give you a chance to look over some basic information so you can come with questions should you have any. I am looking forward to getting to meet you all in person! 

The Bank is Open! The fifth grade utilizes a class economy system for our class rewards. What does this mean? Each fifth-grade student has a job for the month. They rotate all year and are to be completed daily. Students get paid $5 a day if their job is done completely,  but also have to pay rent on their desk and chair each month. All of the children have been given access to an “online bank” where they keep track of their total cash and can buy rewards for the classroom, such as a free dress day or a no homework pass. Teachers hand out cash dollars as rewards that students keep in their wallets, and at times, can issue fines for poor behavior or leadership. Every Friday, students “go to the bank” where they count out their cash, deposit it, and sign for their money. Our Bank Boss then reconciles the accounts. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know! 

This week, our student teacher, Miss Lexie Reid from Bethany College, joined our classroom for the first time! The students were excited to meet her and played Get to Know You Bingo to help her get to know everyone as well. We are excited to be a part of her teaching journey and are excited for the year ahead. She will be with us on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the first half of the year, and her experience as a math minor will bring even more support to our tiered math groups. Welcome aboard, Miss Reid! 

Weekly Recap: 

This week, students completed their first round of Aimsweb testing. As returning families, I imagine you are familiar with this process and that it is computer-based and done three times a year. Our first round is used as baseline testing to see what our students’ strengths and weaknesses are and what gaps may have occurred over the summer. We will send the final results home at the end of the year, but if you are interested in seeing the fall results, please just let me know. 

Language Arts: 

• Students continued reading chapters of Out of My Mind 
• Began drafting our memoirs and worked on editing techniques 
• Had our monthly visit from the Ohio County Public Library – a wonderful opportunity presented by the Library staff to help instill a love of reading in Ohio County schools 

Math: 

• Decimals continue to be the topic of conversation (a completely new concept to fifth grade), so noticing them and discussing them in the real world is the most helpful thing parents can do at home 
• Learned to compare and order decimal numbers 
• Looking ahead – if your child has struggled with fluency facts (addition, multiplication, etc) and you worked on these skills at home, now is the time to pick the practice back up! If you ever want flash cards or tools for home help, don’t hesitate to ask!

Water Science:

• Learned about the different groups of macroinvertebrates and completed guided notes on various species
• We got into the creek for the first time this week and student were able to begin catching various creatures and worked to identify them against their picture key

This week in specials, our students had some exciting experiences across the board! In music, they reviewed how to read notes on the staff and then practiced playing Country Roads on the xylophones. In drama, students worked on facial expressions and performance skills, building confidence and getting more comfortable in front of each other as we count down to the holiday show just three months away! Meanwhile, in Spanish, Madame MacAteer has been guiding students through the study of root languages and ancient cultures, helping them make connections between history, language, and the world around them.