TCE 5th Grade: Week of February 17

Welcome! Thank you for visiting our blog and taking the time to read this communication. We appreciate you!

We had a really great Valentine's Party on Thursday! Our Room Moms worked hard to organize such a fun afternoon for our kids! Thanks Room Moms!

February 20th: TCE Cultural Night (See image below)

March 5th: Spring Picture Day

March 5th: Open House from 5:30-7:00 PM

April 3rd: All Sky Ranch Paperwork due

3rd Annual TCE Cultural Night

Please see the image above to learn a bit about Cultural Night.

February Coupon

This year, we gave the students a coupon book with a coupon for each month. The coupon for February is in the image above. We plan to let the students use this coupon on Friday, February 28.

Spring Book Fair

The Spring Book Fair is just around the corner. If you're interested in signing up to volunteer in the book fair, visit this link.

Friendship Friday

A quick reminder that we will be having Friendship Friday every Friday for the rest of the year.

Yearbook Pictures

6th Grade Parent Meeting - CMS West

Please see the image below regarding a 5th Grade Parent Meeting at West. This meeting is only for parents of incoming 6th graders at Coppell Middle School West. As we receive information about parent meetings at East & North, we will share that information here. If you are unsure as to which middle school your son/daughter will attend, please contact Laura Fairchild, our Principal's Secretary, or Kelly Matlock, our Counselor.

Photos for 5th Grade Graduation Slideshow

The 5th grade room parents have created Google photo folders where you can start uploading photos of your learners with their TCE friends to be used for the 5th Grade Slideshow at the end of the year. The ideal photos to upload are of groups of 3 or more and have Town Center 5th graders in them. Please use the links below to upload photos to your homeroom teacher's album.

5A Schaaf: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MKzHHRr5ZM539zW89

5B Foroodi: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EKppkUJuzWkkVW23A

5C Natherson: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xb4Lyjm3zVrnUhGGA

5D Taylor: https://photos.app.goo.gl/NJgD6S8Ef7JyYKh49

Please click here for a digital version of the Sky Ranch information packet. The forms that will need to be filled out are towards the back of the packet. Please ask your homeroom teacher if you have any questions!

For access to a digital Google Folder that includes all of the required forms to be filled out and returned, please click here.

Please remember that the required Sky Ranch forms are not due until April 3rd, 2020. However the sooner you get them in the better!

As you know, we have a payment plan for our Sky Ranch trip. You can view the information letter here. The third payment of $50 was due Friday, February 7th. You may pay by cash, check, or online via this link. Please contact your homeroom teacher or Mrs. Ford, the Assistant Principal, if you would like to discuss payment plans.

Math
In math next week, we will be continuing our unit on coordinate planes and graphing. Learners will be exploring scatterplots and lines of trend. They will also participate in learning experiences to see how x and y coordinates follow either a positive or negative trend, or pattern.

Science

In Science next week, we will be continuing our unit on Patterns in the Natural World. Learners will be exploring cycles such as the Water Cycle and the Moon Phases.

Language Arts & Reading
Last week, the students wrote a second draft of their argument essay. Within this draft, learners focused on adding powerful quotes to support their arguments. As we continue through this unit, the students will begin to focus on writing counter arguments. In reading, each student is researching a debatable issue. Students have been focusing on summarizing their research by including a claim, reasons to support their claim, and evidence to support their reasons. This week, the students will participate in debates in their research groups. You could help us out by talking to your son/daughter about claims, reasons, and evidence! In Spelling, we have just started a brief study of Greek roots. Ask your son or daughter to tell you about the Greek roots phon & graph.

Social Studies
We in our 4th Unit, Westward Expansion. The learners are working through a Numbers file as they learn about Westward Expansion, Manifest Destiny, Lewis & Clark, the Oregon Trail, and the California Gold Rush.

As a reminder, all of the activities listed below are optional resources for you and your family.

Math

With seven instructional weeks left until the learners take the Math STAAR test on April 7th, we would like to begin providing some optional homework opportunities for the learners to practice the format and question set up they will see on the end of the year state assessment. Please click here to access a collection of mini-assessments on a variety of topics. For this upcoming week, we recommend learners work on pages 15-18. You will also find an answer key. Please let us know if you have any questions!

Reading & Language Arts

Please click here for a Time for Kids article:

We would love for your son/daughter to spend time reading at home! They can read any text that catches their interest. We are currently in our Argument & Advocacy Unit, so persuasive texts, debates, or nonfiction articles would be advised. You can check out some interesting debate topics here.

Here are a couple of websites that offer current event articles targeted towards preteens and teens. With your guidance, they could choose articles of interest to read.