HEADING TO THE HOLIDAYS

OUR HALLOWEEN PARTY is this Monday afternoon beginning at 2:20. Christina Scarpino is coordinating this event and many of you have agreed to bring to special treats.  Students may bring, not wear, appropriate costumes to school for the afternoon party.  Our classroom is always a fun area for the costume parade to travel through.

THANKSGIVING is just around the corner.  Information about the the annual food drive will be coming your way soon.  Fifth grade students will be selling candy bars during the holiday once the shipment arrives at Lake Hills around November 17.

CHRISTMAS PLANS are already in many of your schedules.  Our Class Christmas Potluck will be at the Chittenden Home on Thursday evening, December 8, from 6:15 to 8:00.  More information about this student event will be coming next month.

Kearstin and Anna work on their violin parts during orchestra rehearsal.

THE FUN RUN was a great success.  The fifth grade White Dogs came in SECOND place raising $930.61 to help support PTA-sponsored activities at Lake Hills.  Thank you for your generous support of this primary event last Friday afternoon.  A total of $5,276.76 was raised in the all-school effort.

BREAKFAST is the most important meal of the day.  I was surprised to hear that several students choose not to eat breakfast on school days.  After going without food, fasting, for the entire night, the body needs to be replenished with fuel for the new day, a break of the fast.  Please make sure your child eats breakfast EVERY day or make arrangement for them to eat at school before our day begins.

Macy and Nate determine equations for the perimeter and area of complex figures.

BOXTOPS for education is an excellent way for our school to earn dollars.  Our class came in second place in the recent collection and will enjoy an ice cream sundae party.  Please keep saving your boxtops for the next round of collection.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES are scheduled for November 1-3.  Your conference day and time was sent home this week.  Please reply with the attached confirmation portion of the appointment reminder.  There will be NO school on the afternoon of November 3 as well as all day November 4 and 5 due to these important conferences.

Kaitlynn, Robbie, Mason, Justin, and Sam join the woodwinds during band rehearsal.

OUR STUDENT COUNCIL is a service-oriented group that works to represent our student body at Lake Hills.  The fifth grade council meets frequently with our principal during their lunch period.   We are glad that Mason Mahacek, Anna Holman, and Kaitlynn Park represent our class.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

FULL SPEED AHEAD

THE SCHOOL YEAR is in full gear and students are actively engaged in the routines of each day.  Thank you for your continual support of all we do for students at Lake Hills.  Our recent Outdoor Movie Night was a great success and something we hope to repeat in future years.  Our blog has a new look and the post today features some of the special activities our fifth grade students enjoy at Lake Hills.

MEDIA SKILLS CLASS has allowed students to create a PowerPoint presentation about how non-fiction titles are organized in the school library with the Dewey Decimal System.  Students meet with Cyndi Phillip for a 50-minute class each week in media and computer skill development.

Kaitlynn and Isabel work together on their PowerPoint presentation in Media Skills.

MEAP TESTING begins next Tuesday for fifth grade students.  Students will complete the Reading portion of the assessment on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.  Math and Science MEAP tests will be given the following Tuesday and Wednesday, October 18-19.  It is very important that students are in school these days or else they will need to be assigned to take the MEAP test on a make-up day. 

THE FUN RUN provides our school families with a plan to support the many activities sponsored by the Northshore PTA.  The goal for each student is to raise at least $20 to support a wide variety of activities including special assemblies.  Please be generous in your giving and support this all-school event on Thursday, October 20.

JUNIOR GREAT BOOKS offers a great place for us to move full speed ahead with reading before our Reading Workshop groups are established.  Learning to provide evidence for our directed notes allows students to become actively engaged in an interpretive reading, writing and discussion about literature.

Alexis is reading a short story in which she will provide a written response to several comments by a main character. 

SNOW CAMP is an outdoor education program at YMCA Camp Pendalouan that our fifth grade students participate in each winter.  Students will begin a fund-raising effort next month to help pay for the $50 tuition required for this two-day event.  Information about selling World's Finest Chocolate bars was sent home yesterday.  Parents are asked to respond to the information by next Wednesday, October 12. 

ART CLASS allows students to explore a variety of concepts including drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, and more. Irene Sipe provides instruction to our class on Friday mornings.  Students are currently working on constructing a life-size painting of a guitar using fluorescent paints.

Carter and Robbie work on creating their guitars in art class.

OUR ROOM LIBRARY is now actually FOUR libraries totaling more than 700 selections sorted into grade level fiction by author.  Finding that "just right" book is now much easier for students based on their selection in the blue, green, red, and yellow libraries.  Students and parents may donate books to our room library at any time.

Nate and Anna search through our recently updated room library of over 700 selections.