Week of February 3-7

Hi Families,
    What a week! Play day collaboration and the 100th day of school all in one week. For fifth graders the 100th day of school also marked their 1000th day of elementary school! Time sure does fly! We also had a virtual field trip from the Kennedy Museum that helped students understand the role of senators and how they pass a bill. We did this through talking about environmental impacts and what rules or laws would help support the creation of an environmentally sustainable future. Thank you to our enrichment coordinators for organizing this informative event.
   Students enjoyed Global School Play Day. They all did a great job collaborating, being inclusive, and being kind to one another. 
   Valentine’s Day is Friday and I will set aside time for activities and valentine card exchanging. Here is the notice that went home. We will also do a “Secret Snack” on Valentine’s day. Be on the lookout for a paper bag with a Secret Snack notice on it. You can surprise your child with a fun, less healthy snack for the day and write a little love note to them (if you wish).

   If your child comes to school early to hang out with friends outside, please remind them about their responsibility of showing the Barrows Belief of safety. Many students are playing on the icy hill or close to the street and demonstrating unsafe behavior. We want our 5th graders to be role models for all of our younger shining stars and make positive choices, before, during, and after school hours. Thank you!
   Here is the link to the Yearbook Committee’s letter: 2025 Yearbook

   Here is what we’ve been up to this past week.

Math 
Unit 5: Place Value Patterns and Decimal Operations
    This week we continued building our foundational understanding of decimals and their values.  Students learned about the different ways of referring to decimals, such as decimal form (0.541), fraction form (541/1,000), word form (five-hundred forty-one thousandths), and expanded form (5 x 0.1 + 4 x 0.01 + 1 x 0.001). Students also learned that each place to the left is 10 times more than the one to the right and each place to the right is 10 times less than the one to the left.

English Language Arts
Unit 3: Adventure and Survival: Narrative and Literary Analysis
    We wrapped up our novel study of Storm Runners. Students were thoroughly disappointed by the cliff-hanger ending. I gave students a comprehension check on the story. Students planned and drafted a literary essay to describe the main character’s traits. We focused on following an essay structure using a clear thesis statement, clear topic sentences, evidence from the text, and an explanation of that evidence.
   In language skills, we continued practicing adding the suffix -ion to words, particularly verbs turning into nouns. For example, communicate → communication, and participate → participation. So many academic words use these Latin-based suffixes. This tied in nicely to our study of the water cycle in science: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection!

Science
Unit 3: Water on Earth
     We learned more about the water cycle from our good friend, Bill Nye the Science Guy. I love sharing my nostalgia for this show with the class! Students continued to monitor their models of the water cycle in class, which all have clear signs of condensation at the top hanging from the plastic wrap. We learned more about runoff, an often overlooked stage of the water cycle that can have big environmental impacts. 
    We also started our last lab on creating water filters. We learned about the Everglades and how the plants there can filter polluted water. We learned about the elements of a filter and different materials that can be used in filtration. I challenged student partnerships to design their own water filters using given materials. Students created prototypes, calculated the cost, and explained to the class their design decisions. Next week we will test them using dirty water to see how clean each group can get the water using their filters.

Community Building
    Global Play Day offered a wonderful opportunity for community building this week. We also had a discussion about “The Zones of Regulation” in preparation for all of the excitement and high emotional potential surrounding Play Day. Students did a nice job navigating their self-regulation skills and empathizing with one another when they go over excited or anxious, or tired or mopey.

Homework
   I gave a little less homework than usual this week –no grammar packet and skipped a day of math. My hope was that students would use that extra time to read in our last week of The Read Bowl!
   Please review your child’s work before they return it to school and use this interaction as an opportunity to teach them the importance of work quality, personal responsibility, and independent practice. Thank you!
   You can stay on top of your child’s homework with my Homework Assignment Log. 

Upcoming Events

• Friday, February 14: Valentine’s Day -See notice
• February 16-23: No school, February Break
• February 26: Term 2 closes
• March 21: Report cards emailed home

Pictures
   Below are a few pictures from our week: changing table groups, math activity, play day, and filter project.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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