Weekly Update Oct. 27-31

Announcements:

-The delivery for the Washington D.C. fundraiser is tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 28th.  The students will need to pick up their orders tomorrow after school. As a reminder, they are responsible for getting the products to their customers.  If they can not deliver right away, they need to keep their products where they will not spoil or become damaged.

-Our field trip is this week, Wednesday! Your child will need to dress in warm clothing with a jacket and closed-toed shoes. He/she will also need to bring a sack lunch if he/she is not receiving a packed lunch from the cafeteria.

-Gibraltar Elementary is working with the Door of Life Food Pantry in Sister Bay and the Door County Community Resource Program Feed My People to help stock the Food Pantry shelves with items for local families. Starting November 3rd to November 21st, we will have a food we will have a food/personal care item drive to help local families in our area. Each grade level will be responsible for collecting a certain item. Please, if you are able, send that item to school to have your child put in the appropriate container in their classroom. There will also be a container in the lobby of the school to collect additional donations.  6th graders are responsible for bringing in peanut butter. Thank you for your support!

-Parent/Teacher Conferences are right around the corner! If you forgot your scheduled time or are unable to make your appointed time, please email me. I look forward to seeing you all again November 6th!

-On October 30th, Katie McKy visits Gibraltar to perform and teach.  Katie is the author of the picture book, PUMPKIN TOWN, which is the story of some wayward seeds and some boys who don’t quite tell the truth, with runaway consequences.  It has sold more than 900,000 copies around the world and is a great way to talk to your kids about honesty.  She is also the author of WOLF CAMP, which is her book about unconditional love, a love that’s tested when a girl comes home from a summer camp run by wolves.  Katie also wrote IT ALL BEGAN WITH A BEAN, which is a silly story about the Big Bang of Flatulence and was given an excellent rating by School Library Journal. A form will be sent home this week if your child would like a signed and personalized copy of Pumpkin Town, Wolf Camp, or It All Began With a Bean.  Katie will mail the books upon her return to Maine.

-Please see the following YMCA Fall Program list. This will be sent home with your child on Monday.

-Here is more information regarding Fitness Fridays sponsored by FOG!You will also receive a copy of this on Monday.

What are we learning???

Math:
This week, we will be finishing up Unit 2! Students will be working on dividing large whole numbers and decimals. We will also be converting numbers from standard notation to scientific notation. I will be putting websites up on the Student Link page for additional practice with these skills. The test for Unit 2 will be Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 4th-5th. They will be given a study guide this Friday to prepare for the test and answers to the study guide will be handed out Monday, Nov. 3rd.

Science:
The students definitely stepped up to the challenge of our Scientific Method Summative Project! Presentations began last Friday and will continue on Monday. Tuesday, we will look at the results of both classes and each child will receive a list of our findings that compare the quality of various brands. I will encourage them to share this list with you so you, as a consumer, will benefit from their hard work! The students shared with me that they really enjoyed the independence of being able to choose what products they would test and how they would test it.

ELA:
Spelling - Since we will not have our usual spelling time on Friday due to the early release, we will test on Thursday, Oct. 30. For this week, students only need to complete the sentence activity and ONE additional activity of their choice. Usually they are required to complete the sentence activity and TWO additional activities. These activities will be due the day of the test, Thursday, Oct. 30th. Thank you for your support!

Writing - On Friday, the students had an opportunity to share their personal narrative stories with the
class. Monday, the students that have not had an opportunity to share will do so in small groups. We will then begin work on a Patriot's Pen assignment. Patriot's Pen is an essay writing contest sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). This year, the theme is "Why I appreciate America's veterans". Through this assignment, students will be researching the theme, communicating their gained knowledge through their writing, and developing their essay in an easy-to-understand format. Your child will be coming home with a brochure explaining the assignment in more detail. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Reading - The students have been challenged to discern why an author may choose to have multiple narrators in a story and how the different narrators develop the story. We have also looked closely at how characters respond or change as a plot unfolds. Students then use these skills during their DEAR time in class.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Ball

mball@gibraltar.k12.wi.us