Welcome Packets

Hello All,

If you received the wrong packet today, please return it to school tomorrow and I will send home the correct one tomorrow. I am very sorry for the mistake, I know you want to get these done as soon as possible! 

End Of Year

Happy End of School Year! 

We have so enjoyed your students through out this year and we wish all the best of luck and good times at the Middle School. Please remember to keep in touch with us and tell us how you are doing!

Important End-Of- Year Dates:

Thursday, June 11th- Afternoon Field Day- Please bring/wear sneakers and outdoor movement clothing.

Thursday, June 11th- Middle School Band Demonstration- If you are interested in joining the band or chorus at the Middle School next year, please bring in the interest slip on this day. All will see the demonstration and I am sure there will be more opportunities to sign up.

Friday, June 12th-  Health and Safety Fair- This will be an all day activity conducted largely outside. It would be a good idea to wear sneakers on this day as well.

Monday, June 15th- Final Story Pirates. Be sure to ask your students about this, the story was "Stolen" from the 5th graders!

Tuesday, June 16th- Bradford 5th Graders to Simonds- The 5th graders from Bradford School will be coming to have lunch and a special activity with us. I will also be sending kids home with all their personal items in their desks!

Thursday, June 18th- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL- we will be having the Davis Awards and end of year celebration at the Jim Mitchell Memorial Amphitheater (behind BookEnds) starting at 9:30. The 5th grade celebration will be after lunch in the MPR. We hope you all can make it!

**Please Remember to Send in ALL LIBRARY BOOKS This Week!**

Week of May 26-29th

I am so sorry the Environmental Camp Picture Post did not go through until this morning! We must have had a lack of service in Croydon! I hope you still enjoy them today- as well as this group picture!

Important Dates:

June 2nd - Middle School Step-up Day. Students will need to arrive at the Middle School the way they plan on for the upcoming school year. Mrs. Grimes will be handing out bus passes so that students know what time the bus will get to their homes. This is an exciting day for 5th graders!
June 5th- Simonds School Step-up Day. 5th graders will have a guidance lesson with Mrs. Cermak during this time.
June 9th- Half Day Field Day with base groups and a hill climb. The Simonds School Student Council has asked for this afternoon, because of the cancellation of Winter Carnival!
June 12th- Health and Safety Fair. This is an all day activity!
June 18th- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

This Crazy Week:

It seems regular weeks are no longer in the books for us! In our attempt at normalcy this is what we hope to cover in each subject!

Writing: We are finishing writing up our GRIT interviews, and will be taking the district wide writing prompt this week.

Science: We continue to explore pond life, with the end goal of creating a ThingLink.

Social Studies: We are delving deeper into the civil war, with a mini project.

Math: We are wrapping up 5th grade and heading into preparations for 6th!

Reading: We continue to work on finding important information in what we read, as well as, defining unknown words by using text clues.

Camp Pictures!

ENVIRONMENTAL CAMP!!

Check here on Thursday and Friday for pictures of your students having fun at Environmental Camp!

Speaking of Environmental Camp...

Please remember to drop off your student at regular time on Thursday and be ready to pick your student up at the end of the day on Friday. Students cannot take the bus with all of their luggage.
If your student would like to bring a fishing pole and tackle box, that is fine, but they may not bring knives!
If you are in need of any of the packing items, let us know! We might have some extras or may be able to borrow something from another teacher.
We hope you are really excited about camp, it is always a great time!

Packing List:

• sleeping bag & pajamas
• pillow
• warm clothing (2 sets)
• shorts, socks (2-3 sets)
• sneakers, boots, sandals
• toothbrush, paste, soap, etc.
• wash cloth/towel
• sun glasses
• hat
• flashlight
• non-aerosol insect repellent
• sunscreen
• rain gear
• binoculars, disposable camera (if desired)
• fishing gear (if desired)—PLEASE, NO KNIVES
• small games, cards, books, etc.

Directions to Camp:

• Take I-89 North to exit 12-A
• Go left off the exit
• After about .10 mile, take right onto Stoney Brook Rd.
• Go about 2-3 miles on Stoneybrook
• Turn left when you see the sign for Camp Coniston
• The camp is about .5 mile on the left

The beginning of the week will be run as usual!

There are a few dates to keep in mind coming up:

May 19th is Literacy Day with Steven Kellogg

June 2nd is the Middle School Step-up Day

June 9th we will be having a half day Field Day -to make-up for the cancelled Winter Carnival.

June 12th is the Health and Safety Fair.

Week of May 11-15th

A Few Reminders:

Please send in your students' permission slips for Environmental Camp as soon as possible. Remember that if you student takes medication to send in only the amount need, in the original containers.

We start our Music Artist in Residence today. Students will work with Mike Alberici, who is the winner of this years Christa McAuliffe Sabbatical. Fifth graders will enjoy three sessions with Mr.Alberici. If you would like to find out more information about his program you can check out his website here: http://soundinfocus.net/ .

Please help your child complete their GRIT interview, it is due Friday.

This Week in Fifth Grade:

Writing: We continue to work on self editing and conventions of writing.

Science: We are finishing up our climate books and will begin exploring pond life.

Social Studies: Mrs. Fonte will be coming in this week to start our exploration of the Civil War.

Math: We are finishing up adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers and will then be starting multiplying and dividing them.

Reading: We continue to use context clues to help define and decode unknown words.

Lowell Mills Trip

Here are a few photos from our trip to Lowell. Enjoy!!

Week of May 4-8th

Welcome Back! 

We had a very exciting week before break! I will post a few pictures from our field trips on another post!

Coming up:

We will be headed to Camp Coniston May 21-22nd. 

This Week:

Writing: Students will be working on their final Story Pirates of their Simonds School career!

Science: Students will be wrapping up their Climate Books.

Social Studies: We continue to discuss the importance of the Industrial Revolution and the Assembly Line.

Math: We are learning to convert mixed numbers into improper fractions in order to add and subtract them.

Reading: We are working on defining unknown words that we read as well as breaking down stories to better understand authors voice.

Win: Students continue to work on their literature circle group books.

We have sent home SPELLING packets again this week. Please remember that the test is Monday.

Week of April 20-24

Happy week before vacation, and week after testing!

We are officially done with SBAC testing!

We have two field trips this week, Wednesday we will be going to the Rochester Opera House to see Suessical the Musical, please be at school by 8:15 as the buses are leaving at 8:30, no exceptions. On FRIDAY we will be headed to the Lowell Mills, the bus leaves at 7:45 SHARP. Students will need to pack a disposable lunch for both of these days. On Friday students must pack a lunch that can be thrown away, without soda's or glass bottles. We will not be taking any bags back with us.

This Week (when we are not field tripping :)

Writing: We continue to work on grammar and conventions of writing to make our writing better.

Science: We have started a Climate Book project that we will be working on throughout the next few weeks.

Social Studies: We continue to explore working on an assembly line and talking about the Mills.

Math: We have just started adding and subtracting mixed numbers.

Reading: We continue to look for important ideas in texts, as well as, defining unknown words in our reading.

Week of April 13-17

Happy SPRING! Finally!

Important Reminders:

We are still testing this week, please try to get a good nights sleep each night, and eat a good breakfast! We will finish up on Thursday.

Please bring in your permission slips for the two field trips next week. Let us know if you need a new copy.

Scholastic Book Orders are due Friday, you can also order online.

Square One Art Orders are due Tuesday, you can also order online.

Upcoming Events:

Rochester Opera House "Seussical The Musical" Wednesday, April 22nd
Lowell Mills Friday, April 24th

This Week:

Writing: Continuing to work on stamina and writing from multiple sources.

Science: We are beginning to learn about different climates and are working collaboratively with Mrs. Palin and Tech class to create a digital book.

Social Studies: We are working on an Industrial Revolution web quest, as we continue to learn about the different inventions of the time. We also will begin an experiment to learn about working in an assembly line.

Math: We are taking it easy this week on math, as that is what we are testing on.

Reading: We will be working on close reading and finding important facts while we read.

Week of March 30- April 3

Weekly News:

Thursday will be our DARE celebration and pizza party for the students. The winner of the DARE essay contest will be announced. Students will walk down to the Town Hall for this event.

Monday, April 6th begins our Smarter Balanced Testing. Please come to school well rested and having eaten a good breakfast!

This Week:

Writing: We continue to work on our writing stamina in preparation for the writing portion of the SBAC,

Science: We are talking about clouds and forecasting tools to finish up our weather unit and take a short test on storms. Watch for a study guide to be coming home on Wednesday for a test on Friday.

Social Studies: We continue to work on on research for our inventor presentations.

Math: We are finishing up adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators and will be testing this week.

Reading: We will be looking deeper at the conventions of writing and how they impact what we read.

Week of March 16-20

Events This Week:

Curriculum Fair/ Science Fair
Wednesday is the annual Curriculum Fair/ Science Fair! It starts at 6:00, please remind your fifth grader to stay with their project for the night.

Please remember to have your child bring in any materials they would like to display to school Wednesday morning. We will complete the rest of the project here at school.

This Week:

Writing: We continue to work on our writing stamina, and sticking with the topic as we write. Students are also completing their DARE essays.

Science: SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS continue to consume us this week, but after the fair we will begin talking about extreme weather. We have also rescheduled Kevin Skarupa for March 25th.

Social Studies: We are starting our inventor research projects, using the tech tool Thinglink.

Math: We are starting FRACTIONS! Students will begin with estimating fractions before learning to find common denominators to add and subtract unlike fractions.

Reading: Students continue to write from multiple sources they have read.

Week of March 9-13

Smarter Balanced Testing:

We have started preparing for the upcoming SBAC Testing. Students are using the new Chromebooks to work the test online. There is a lot for us to learn about this new way of testing. Please help us by talking with your child about the testing, and keeping them positive!

Science Fair:

This week students should be working on their experiments at home. Please remember to be taking pictures and keeping track of what they are doing in their notebooks. All experiments and data must be done and completed by Monday the 16th. We cannot offer any extensions on this project, the Science Fair is Wednesday the 18th at 6.

This Week:

Writing: We will be working on our DARE essays. The winner of the competition will earn $50. We will have one winner per class. We also will be continuing to work on answering writing prompts.

Science: We will have our forecasting quiz on Wednesday, and spend the majority of the week working on Science Fair.

Social Studies: We are continuing our journey through the Industrial Revolution. We are also reading Lydie together- reading this book helps the students understand what life was really like in the Mills and will help a lot when we go to them in April.

Math: We should be finishing up Topic 8 this week and will begin to delve into FRACTIONS!

Reading: We continue to define unknown words in text by using text clues, answer questions from reading, and find parts of speech and other conventions in our reading.

Week of March 2-6

Welcome Back!!

We hope you had a great VACATION and are ready to get work done! We have a couple of very busy weeks coming up before April Vacation, and a lot that we need to complete!

A Couple of Important Dates:

Science Fair/Curriculum Night is Wednesday, March 18th.
Remember to be working on your science fair experiments!
SmarterBalanced testing is starting soon.

This Week:

Writing: We are going back to basics with how to answer writing prompts, sticking to a topic, and writing so others can understand.

Science: We will be doing a mix of science fair work, the scientific method, and finishing up meteorology- Hopefully sneaking in a visit with Kevin Skarupa!

Social Studies: We are learning about the Industrial Revolution. Students are exploring the shift from cottage industries to factory life, and as a result how the lives of women and children really changed. We are also learning about the many inventions that changed America during this time.

Reading: We are working on pulling main ideas, new vocabulary, and pulling evidence from short stories and excerpts.

Math: We are beginning Topic 8! Which explores some numerical reasoning. We expect this to be a fast moving topic, so be looking for a test next week!

Week of February 16-20

Happy SPIRIT WEEK!

Monday- Touch of Class
Tuesday- Sports Day
Wednesday- MisMatch Day
Thursday- School Colors
Friday- Winter Carnival -Bring all your snow gear!

Due to yet another 2-hour delay, we have to reschedule Meteorologist Skarupa once again! Ms.Connor will let the kids know as soon as we have a new date!

This week in Fifth Grade:

Writing: We are still plugging away on the How-To's! Students are just beginning to write up their first draft.

Science: We will be doing our green screen's of our forecasts this week.

Social Studies: We are starting to read Lydie together, in preparation of our trip to Lowell Mills. We are also discussing more in depth about mill life and the Industrial Revolution.

Math: We will be finishing Topic 7 and starting Topic 8 this week.

Reading: Some literature circle groups have been able to start new books already last week, and the rest of the students should start new ones this week.

Week of February 10-13

Happy Tuesday!

We hope that you enjoyed your Blizzard Bag Day and were able to spend some time outside! Hopefully you didn't have to do too much shoveling!

Meteorologist Kevin Skarupa will be coming next Monday- Presidents Day. Please watch for us on News 9 Tuesday Morning! If you miss it, don't worry I will post a link to it here on the Blog.

This Week:

Writing: We are starting to write our own step-by-step directions and How-To's.

Science: We are creating our own weather maps and will be doing our forecasts in front of the green screen this week.

Social Studies: We continue our exploration of the start of the Industrial Revolution.

M:We will finish up Topic 7 this week and begin talking about Topic 8. Feel free to check out some of the materials  on your child's Pearson Realize account. They can never be too prepared!

Reading: We continue to work on fluency and reading with expression.

Week of February 2-6

We hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend!

Ms.Connor is currently working on rescheduling Meteorologist Skarupa for a date in the near future.

Don't forget about our new Parent Lunch Menu- A notice went home last week about the new pasta choices for Parent Lunch - which will be this Wednesday. We hope to see you there!

This Week:

Writing: We are beginning to discuss How To writing and the importance of listing every step.

Science: We are working on the water cycle in technology with Mrs. Palin and we continue to talk about meteorology and weather forecasting in class.

Social Studies: We are starting our exploration of the Industrial Revolution.

Math: We are about half way through Topic 7: Dividing Decimals.

Reading: We continue to work on fluency and reading with expression.

January 29th

If tomorrow is a snow day it will be BLIZZARD BAG DAY #3.

Week of January 26-30

Reminders:

We are looking at the possibility of a BLIZZARD BAG DAY tomorrow. Please make sure your student completes the BB and returns it to school the next day. If you have misplaced your BB it is on Google Drive. Please feel free to email Mr.Shepherd or Ms.Connor if you have any questions throughout the day!

Tech with Mrs.Palin starts this week!

This week in fifth grade:

Writing: We are wrapping up persuasive writing and are diving head first into How-To writing.

Science: Weather, Weather, Weather, and more Weather! This is the beginning of our new unit. We will discuss; The Water Cycle, Storms and Extreme Weather, Climates, and Meteorology.


Math: We are starting Topic 7: Dividing Decimals.

Reading: We continue to work on fluency and pulling out important facts from what we read.

Week of 1/20 - 1/23

Important Dates:

Science Test on Wednesday!
Thursday we have DARE and SKIING.
The QUARTER ends on FRIDAY.

This Week in Fifth Grade:

Writing: We are still plugging away at writing to make a claim and using reasons and evidence to back up our claim.

Science: We will be having our Electricity and Magnetism Test on Wednesday and will start our new unit on Weather!

Social Studies: We are assembling our guide books and will have a test before the end of the week.

Math: We are wrapping up Topic 6: Multiplying Decimals, and will begin Topic 7: Dividing Decimals.

Reading: We continue to work on fluency and flow of reading aloud. Students will participate in "Readers Theater".

Week of January 12- 16

Upcoming Events:

We will have our first DARE lesson (rescheduled) for Thursday. Please feel free to join us for our first lesson, or let Mr.Shepherd or I know if you have any questions or concerns.

Friday we will have GRIT and HEALTH, it seems like a long time since our last lesson in either of these two subjects!

Thursday will be the new first day of the Learn to Ski Program at Pats Peak. Don't forget to bring your warm clothes and ski equipment.

This Week in Fifth Grade:

Writing: We will be working on argument writing, the organization of a five paragraph essay, and choosing new topics to make a claim about and support using reasons and evidence.

Science: We will be completing magnetism centers, and studying for our Electricity and Magnetism test on Monday. Please be looking out for study materials going home.

Social Studies: We are making our final choices about our guides, and will be hitting the trail. Groups will be responsible for completing guide books along their routes.

Math: We are still working on multiplying decimals. The students are working hard on understanding estimating decimals before multiplying to make the multiplication easier.

Reading: We continue to look at facts and details in argument writing and articles.

WIN: Literature circle groups continue to plug away at their books. A few groups are getting close to finishing and moving on to their next book.

Week of January 5-9

Welcome Back! and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

This week:

On Thursday we will be having our first DARE lesson with Officer Tokarz. We will be sending home a letter outlining the program. DARE will meet every Thursday for ten weeks.

Writing: We are beginning to write letters to schools in all fifty states. We are hoping that we will get letters back from each school that we write to.

Science: We are finishing up our electrical safety brochures and will be starting our electricity unit review. We will be having a test next week.

Social Studies: Students are progressing Westward. They have to choose what they will pack, staying within their weight limit, and pick a guide to follow.

Math: We are beginning Topic 6: Multiplying Decimals.

Reading: We continue to pull important information from articles, and answer questions from our reading.