Updates: February 20

Thank you for taking the time to stop by our blog and read about what's going on in 5th Grade. Please be sure to check the Google Calendar that is linked at the top of the blog for important updates. 

Announcements

• Town Center Cookbook - We wanted to have the opportunity to create a TCE Family Traditions cookbook this year since our theme is all about family and celebrating the diversity within our community.  We would love to have you share one of your favorite family recipes to go into our cookbook this year.  If you are interested in participating, please send in your recipe to Casey Wagner, cwagner@coppellisd.com, or you may send in a paper copy of your recipe to the front office. 

• As a reminder, we did add headphones to the learners' supply kits this year. We invite the learners to watch videos, use online learning tools, and play educational games in class often, and it is really important that they have headphones for these tasks. If your learner does not have a pair of headphones at school, please help them locate a pair so that they can be prepared for class. 
• Thank you so much to everyone that was able to come to the Engineering Extravaganza! We loved seeing our #tce5th families!
• Coppell offers a great summer program called Camp Invention. Check this link to learn more about this opportunity. 
• We are pleased to announce that we will have another Field Trip opportunity for the learners in the spring! We will be visiting the Coppell Biodiversity Center. This trip is tentatively scheduled for May 12th. 
• Our lovely Room Moms set up a photo booth at our Valentine's Party, and they created a video montage from all of the pictures. Click here to see the video! Thank you to all of our parent volunteers that helped make the party a success!

Sky Ranch Updates

• Please see our Sky Ranch flyer for updates and details about our trip. Within this flyer, we have included a link to our payment letter and a place for you to ask questions about the trip (should you feel the need). 
• We had an informational meeting for all 5th grade parents on Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 5:30 PM. If you were not able to make it to the meeting, you should have received a copy of the paperwork in your learner's take home folder. 
• Our third payment of $50 was due on Friday, January 27th. After this payment, your paid balance should be at least $150. If you are unable to make these payments, please reach out to your son/daughter's homeroom teacher.  Of course, we understand that sometimes budgets can be tight and it may be hard to make the payment by that date, and we are happy to help if we can, but we do need for you to communicate with us rather than just not pay. Thank you for understanding! 
• All payments (a total of $200) and all paperwork is due March 10th. 
• We had many parents volunteer to come along on our trip as chaperones! Thank you to everyone that offered to come along. 

Coppell Middle School North Visits

• Coppell Middle School North counselors will be coming to visit our 5th graders on the morning of April 5th to talk about the transition to middle school and course selection. 
• In addition, we will be taking the fifth graders to North for an elective showcase on April 3rd. We will have more information about this trip in the weeks to follow. 
• Finally, please see the following flyer about a guest speaker at Coppell Middle School North. You can learn more about the speaker, Michelle Icard, here and here. 

Curriculum Tidbits
*We hope that you will periodically check our Twitter accounts as we tweet glimpses of what we're learning in class. You can find our tweets by searching the hashtag #tce5th or by going to our individual pages.

Math

In math the learners have begun learning about the key attributes of coordinate planes. The learners are expected to graph  an ordered pair on a coordinate plane. In addition, learners will be expected to generate a numerical pattern when given a rule in the form of y=ax or y= x + a and graph.

Science

In science, we are continuing to explore Earth’s changing surface. We will be focusing on what fossils can tell us about the Earth’s past and the advantages and disadvantages of alternative energy resources (renewable energy) as compared with fossil fuel resources (nonrenewable energy).

Reading, Writing, & Spelling

In reading, we will continue to analyze text and find text evidence to defend our thinking. We will also continue to review key vocabulary words to support our learning! 

In writing, we will continue to explore persuasive writing by researching both sides of an issue and developing arguments. 

Social Studies

We are learning about the various events that angered the colonists and eventually lead to the American Revolution. Ask the learners about the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, and the Sons of Liberty! 

Homework Tidbits

• Reading Homework: 
• We are counting down the weeks until STAAR! Starting this week we will have your learners studying STAAR Reading vocabulary words for homework. They will also be exposed to these words during the school days and will be assessed on Fridays. 
• In addition, we will be starting our weekly Article of the Week (AOW) homework this week. If you were here last year, this homework will look similar to last year's homework. The learners will be provided with a current events article, and they will have specific tasks to accomplish each night. 
• ***We will not have an AOW for the shortened week of February 20th. 
• Weekly Spelling List - Quiz on Friday: As a note, the learners do have a weekly spelling list that they are expected to study throughout the week. We include "Study for Spelling Quiz" in the homework section of our daily agendas, so if every your learner says they don't have homework, they do. While we do cover spelling in class, it is important for them to take the time to study at home as well. 
• Math/Science Homework: The weekly homework packet will be including Math practice and Science practice. The learners will have up to 5 Math questions and 5 Science questions a week. The learners also need to be completing their Reflex Math time. If their Reflex Math is not completed for the week, they will be required to spend that time in Homework Club during Texan Town. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact your learner’s Math/Science teacher.

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Finally, thank you again for taking the time to read our blog. We know how important it is for our TCE families to know what is happening at school! If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. Our contact information is linked below for your convenience.

5A Morgan Peccarelli - mpeccarelli@coppellisd.com

5B Kate Seifert - kseifert@coppellisd.com

5C Marly Natherson - mnatherson@coppellisd.com

5D Jenna Taylor - jltaylor@coppellisd.com