Last Week of School

A mix of Pine Hill and Chickering students during the high ropes course at Hale Reservation.

 ​Highlights from Last Week:

• The big highlight from last week was our Hale Reservation field trip. Students were in groups of 11-13 with students from both Pine Hill and Chickering. Led by an exuberant guide, each group performed team building activities and engaged in a variety of nature-based endeavors. Students enjoyed building fires, catching fish, creating shelters, navigating through the woods with maps and compasses, swinging from the trees on high ropes, eating edible plants, and investigating the life and health of a pond. 
• I created a survey for students to get feedback on their experience at Hale. From their responses, it sounds like they loved the trip, though mixing with Chickering students may not have been everyone's favorite experience. We'll definitely use students' feedback to improve the trip next year.
• In 5K, we had fun working on our word scales. Students chose lame words that mean the opposite, such as big/small or smart/dumb, and went on a digital quest through Thesaurus.com to find and define better words that describe various states of their opposites. We had great discussions about the nuance of word meanings. For example, where does "absent-minded" fall on the "smart/dumb" scale? Is it not as dumb as "dumb?" Or is it a more severe state of dumbness? Students are excited to use their words in normal conversations, and 5K is filled with vocabulary-driven conversation.

What We Didn't Get To:

• We didn't get very far in our viewing of "Liberty" on the American Revolution. We made it up to the start of the Battle of Long Island. We'll have to skip a lot and I'll do some dramatic summarizing in order to get to the end of the war before the end of school.

Great Student Work
As promised, here are students' American Revolution News Reports. We hope you enjoy these entirely student-created videos.


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This Week's Plan

Upcoming Special Events: ​​​​

• Promotion Ceremony Rehearsal --Monday at 10am.
• Grade 5 Promotion Ceremony --Tuesday, June 20th from 9:00-11:00am. Families are invited to attend. Students should dress to impress.
• Field Day --Tuesday, June 20th from 12:15-2:30pm.
• Last Day of School -Wednesday, June 21st.

Remaining Academic Activities:

• Finish vocabulary "Word Scales."
• Watch clips from PBS' "Liberty! The American Revolution," and learn about the major battles, the outcome of the war, and the development of the US Constitution.
• Some students still need to take a brief reading assessment with me.
• We're working on some articles for our last 5K Newsletter.

Non-Academic Activities:

• Organize student portfolios.
• Reflect on progress and successes this year.
• Engage in closing activities to say "goodbye" to 5K.

Report Cards
Be on the lookout for an email from the Pine Hill Administration with a link to your child's report card. Report cards are now digital only, so you will need to log into Aspen to access them. Need help? Call the front office at: (508) 655-0630.
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Thanks for Your Support All Year!
I hope your children had a great year in 5th grade. It was a pleasure to be their teacher. I welcome any feedback, so please feel free to email me. Thank you for your kindness, generosity, and support throughout the year!

Have a wonderful summer!