Week of September 3rd-6th

Hi Fifth Grade Families,
I hope your child had a great week at school! We’ve been busy establishing routines and expectations while gradually introducing academics. With me being new to 5th grade at Barrows this year, I’m a little behind where other classrooms may be, but I’m confident that we’ll be on track once we establish a strong, welcoming classroom community of learners who value and respect themselves, one another, and their teachers. There are many responsibilities that come with being the oldest students in the school, and I hope, with guidance and encouragement, each fifth grader will rise to that challenge.

Thank you so much for the many school supplies purchased for our classroom! As the year goes on, we may run out of certain things. I will include any classroom needs in the Weekly Update. Also, thank you so much for filling out the Student Information Questionnaire. I appreciate all of the information you provided to help me serve your child best. I often go back to those questionnaires throughout the year as I learn more about each student's specific strengths and challenges.

Below is an overview of our week’s accomplishments and suggested prompts to encourage conversations with your child about their learning.

Math: Unit 1 “Finding Volume.” We learned to count unit cubes to find the volume of a rectangular prism.

• At home with your child: Reinforce basic multiplication fact internalization by frequently practicing basic multiplication fact recall. 

English Language Arts: Historical Fiction novel study of, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham -1963,” by Christopher Paul Curtis. We learned about the features of historical fiction, historical context of the time period (1963), literary techniques such as hyperbole and flashback, and some great vocabulary words.

• Ask your child to describe behavior that could be considered “hostile.” Ask them who in the story is hostile.
• Ask your child to describe a “narcissistic” person. Ask them who in the story is narcissistic.

Language essentials review of consonant speech sounds.
Quick reading screener for all.

Community Building: Morning meeting routine. Nonverbal communication. Group names and cheers. All About Me mini poster.

• Ask your child about their table group’s name and cheer, and how members had to come to consensus.
• Ask your child about the “Colored Dot Game” and how helping others can lead to others helping you.

Important Dates: 

• Wednesday, Sept 11: Curriculum Night. 5:30 - 6:00 in the classroom and 6:00 - 6:30 in the cafeteria with Mrs. Gallegos. This is a parent/guardian-only evening. Please note we have real-time translator devices available for those needing them. We encourage everyone to attend and learn about what’s to come in 5th grade!
• Wednesday, Sept 18: School Picture Day. Be on the lookout for forms next week.

A Message from the PTO: 
The PTO is looking for volunteers to be Classroom Parents. Ideally,  we will have one per class. Classroom Parent's act as a parent contact for the grade, help organize grade level participation at PTO events (raffle baskets, grade level tables at events, organize classroom support when requested by teachers). It is a fun way to get involved with your child's class and the school. If you are interested please click this link to volunteer by Friday September 6th - https://forms.gle/F7XqHpGfwJURKjeL9. 
(Ms. Kimball’s class currently has no room parent.)

The PTO will reach out to selected parents to organize a kick off meeting in September.     

Also, the PTO is collecting contact information by classroom. They will provide this information to the Classroom Parents for your child's grade level so they can reach out to you throughout the year and they can also provide classroom contact details to you to help with planning play dates or birthday parties. This is completely optional, but very helpful as the school/teachers are not allowed to provide. Please click the link and complete for each of your enrolled Barrows students - https://forms.gle/HD3Jnu3XQ9LQfqYN7


Thank you for reading! 

Ms. Kimball
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