February 27th through March 3rd

Keenoy Koala News                                   2-24-17 

Dear Families,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week.  The Keenoy family will be traveling to Kansas City for Caleb’s first soccer league games on Saturday.  It looks like the weather will be perfect for an early March day outdoors.  We also solidified a trip to Florida over Spring Break.  The kids are so excited to go on a vacation to see the ocean!  Have a terrific week and thanks you for all that you do.

Koala of the Week: Lily Fox

Hello!  My name is Lily Fox.  I live with my mom (Lori), dad (Jeff), my cat (Wally), and my dog (Joey Snickers).  I like going to small group at my church, playing softball, reading novels, and hanging out with my friends and family.  I also like watching the Harry Potter movies with my family.  My favorite book is the one that I am reading right now called, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Heather Lee.

BizTown Junior Achievement

Included in your child’s Friday folder is an informational sheet about this fantastic 5^th grade opportunity.  If you are interested in volunteering, please return the Volunteer Information form by Friday, March 10^th (next week).  If you are unable to volunteer, you do NOT need to return the form.

We will begin our preparation work in the next couple of weeks so that we are ready to travel to Chesterfield on Tuesday, April 25^th for our field trip. Students will learn about:

*The importance of sound personal finance.

*Explore their role as citizens of a community.

*The circular flow of money and goods in an economy.

*Interests, skills, and careers.

This will be an exciting unit of study so be sure to ask your child about his/her learning during the week.

The link below was shared with the class this week and gives general information about the visit.  Feel free to take a look!

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/public-juniorachievement-org/presentations/JA+BizTown+Intro/index.htm

Writing

*Students completed their non-fiction research post assessments on Thursday.  These will be scored over the weekend and given back next week.  I am EXTREMELY proud of their effort and progress with this genre of writing.  The comparison of pre and post tests are quite remarkable. 

*Our new focus is on research-based argument essay writing (opinion writing).  Students will complete their pre-assessments early next week. Students will form an opinion and write an essay about whether exotic animals should be allowed/kept as pets.

*We will be tying social studies in with writing as students will be choosing inventions that they feel are the most important invention of our time.

Math

* Students learned how to multiply mixed numbers.

   Students were surprised to learn that the first step in this process is to change mixed numbers      

   into improper fractions.

* Students learned how to divide whole numbers by fractions.

* Students learned how to divide fractions by whole numbers.

* Quick checks were completed and extra support was given to students who needed it.

* We will be assessing over this topic next week (more than likely on Wed. or Thurs.).

Reading

I continued reading aloud the book called Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt.  Students seem to be enjoying the character’s decision making involving a ‘fountain of youth.” We worked on main ideas and identifying cause/effect relationships within the story.  Students were asked to practice these skills within two short shared texts.  I met with each student to clarify any confusions on their Dust Bowl homework.  These were marked with a grade at the top, but solely for the purpose of identifying who needs a bit of extra practice with this skill.  I would expect that many students would fall into this category at this point.  I will continue meeting with individuals and small groups to support all comprehension skills taught this year.

Word Study

This week we focused on words that have a silent consonant and become sounded consonants.  Students will take a test over their 10 words next week.  These words should be found in their student planners, and they are encouraged to study them a little bit each evening. 

Social Studies

We created a chart this week that outlined important information about the first battles of the Revolutionary War (Bunker Hill, Fort Ticonderoga, and Lexington/Concord).  I showed each student my completed chart and they were asked to modify their own chart (if needed).  I then gave students class time and two evenings to study for the quiz.  They must have used this time wisely, because I was very pleased with the overall scores.  The quiz was created directly from the chart.  Nice Job!

Science

As you know, we started our matter unit this week.  Students are in the beginning stages of identifying the properties of matter in learning cycle #1.

My School Color Run

This year, Paxton will be hosting our own school color run!  This is an exciting new program that will help create awareness for healthy living, raise funds, and is sure to be a blast.  Register Online by 4/7/17

www.paxtonMSCR.eventbrite.com

Reminders

March 7         Early Dismissal 12:50

March 16        Spring Pictures

March 27-31   Spring Break -  No school!

Have a terrific week and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Dan Keenoy

February 21st through the 24th

Keenoy Koala News                                         2-24-17 

     We are moving right along with our year!  It is so hard for me to believe that March is so quickly approaching.  My son Caleb has his first soccer tournament this weekend.  We love taking the family to his games and the kids are looking forward to soccer season starting back up.  This sport keeps our weekends VERY busy in the spring. 

     It was great meeting with everyone at conferences.  I loved having the opportunity to share your child’s accomplishments and hard work.  I am confident that they will continue working hard during our last trimester of elementary school.  The last third of the year goes by quickly and is an extremely busy time of year for 5th graders.  Thank you for your continued support and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Koala of the Week: Evan Groman

My name is Evan and I love my family.  I have six people in my family.  My mom (Kimberly), mama (Jen), dad (Thom), Makenzie (sister), Jersey (sister), and Kyler (brother).  In my free time I like to build forts outside with the kids in my neighborhood.  I also love to read Harry Potter books and watching the movies.  My favorite book/movie from the series is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

Math

Students took an assessment over topic 10 on Wednesday.  These are graded and should be included in your child’s Friday folder.

For the next couple of weeks, students will be learning how to…….

     * multiply a fraction by a whole number.

     * find the product of two fractions.

     * multiply mixed numbers.

Writing

I enjoyed teaching Non-Fiction writing, but I think that it is safe to say that both students and I are excited about the change in genre.  Students will be taking a post-assessment for Non-Fiction writing next week.  Students will learn information about Harriet Tubman (two articles and one video).  Their job will be to organize this information by planning and writing a five paragraph essay.  I am confident that students will be able to apply the non-fiction writing strategies learned during this unit.

Our new writing unit revolves around research based argumentative essays.  I view this as editorial writing, with a little bit more emphasis on research based arguments.  The process that we will be following includes: 

     *researching the topic by reading/viewing trusted sources.

     * listing the pros and cons for each side of the argument.

     *creating a thesis statement and turning that into a terrific beginning

     *using a plan sheet to organize our thinking and arguments

     *drafting these ideas

Word Study

Our focus during the last two weeks has been on words with similar ending sounds (er, ar, and ure).  Students took a test on Thursday over their 10 spelling works. Look for these graded tests in your child’s Friday folder.

This week we will be focusing on words that have a silent consonant and become sounded consonants.  Examples of these words include: muscle, muscular, design, designate, moisten, moist.

Reading

Students really seem to enjoy the start of our new read aloud book called Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt.  I have modeled and shared several main idea lessons during the last couple of weeks.  This week we continued using these strategies to improve comprehension, but I also introduced cause/effect relationships within the story.  I will continue meeting with individuals and small groups to support these skills.

Social Studies

We completed chapter 7 (Pre-Revolutionary War Events) on Thursday.  Students seem highly engaged during lessons, videos, and discussions.  I’ve provided students with a variety of sources to help build background/reinforce main ideas.  Next week we will start diving into the key details of the Revolutionary War.

Science

A couple of scheduling changes this week caused our new Matter Unit to be moved to next week.  This is a lengthy unit that is filled with fun activities and exploration.  Below, I have listed the science standards that we will cover during this unit.

* Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

* Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.

* Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

* Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Dan Keenoy

Buddy Classroom Activity!  Valentine's Day Fun!

February 7th through 10th

Keenoy Cardinal’s News                2-10-17

Dear Families,

The weeks are flying by right now!  It seems like in a blink of an eye, I’m typing up another newsletter again.   I will not be sending home Friday Folder marks this week.  I plan on using the weekend to complete all of my progress reports.  Have a wonderful week and thank you for everything that you do!  Please do not ever hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.  

Koala of the Week-Kaelin Tindall

My name is Kaelin.  I have a mom, dad, and step dad.  I also have two siblings and two step siblings.  My step brother's name is also Kalen.  My step sister is younger than me and my other two siblings (Kai and Taylor) are older than me.  I enjoy playing basketball and baseball.  I also like traveling to new places. Another interest of mine is going to amusement parks.

Conferences

I sent home a confirmation note last Friday with your scheduled conference time.  Please contact me right away if changes need to be made.   I look forward to meeting with you about your child’s second trimester progress next week.

Valentine’s Classroom Party

The February room parties are on Tuesday, February 14th from 2:15 – 3:00 pm.   I want to thank ALL of the parents that have planned, organized, and/or contributed supplies for our classroom parties (Fall, Holiday, Valentines).  Our class greatly appreciates all of your time and effort! 

Your child may exchange valentines with his/her classmates at some point during the Holiday party.  Last week I sent home a current class list to use for Valentines.  This is an optional activity. However, if your child chooses to pass out valentines, there should be one for each child in the class.  Students may also decorate a box/bag, at home, to use to gather their valentines. 

Math

I was extremely impressed with our overall Topic 9 fraction assessment scores.  Over half of the class scored a 90% or above! 

This week we have been working on adding and subtracting fractions in Topic 10.  In this unit students have to apply the skills learned in Topic 9. 

**A single fraction addition/subtraction problem might involve students:  finding a common denominator, borrowing from a whole number, changing an improper fraction to a mixed number, and simplifying.  Although students have been extremely successful with these skills in isolation, combining these skills with one problem can be challenging.   I will continue providing enrichment opportunities for students who are showing terrific understanding of these skills.  I will also give students extra support for those who need the practice.

Reading

The last few books that we have read aloud connect very well together.  The latest book called, Children of the Dust Bowl focuses on the migration of people from the dust bowl states to California.  When they arrived in California they faced even more hardships and hateful discrimination.  Police blockaded state lines to prevent the entrance of “Okies.”  These actions are sparking great conversations about kindness and constitutional rights of American citizens. This shows that the readers in Koala Land are deep level thinkers and are comprehending the book well. 

Informational Writing

Many students have completed their plan and first draft.   Next week we will be entering the revision phase of the writing cycle.  My lessons next week will focus on improving student writing with: beginnings, endings, and blending a storytelling voice with research fact based information.  I am pleased with the progress that we have made so far.  

Social Studies

We started back up with social studies at the end of this week.  Students are learning about the Pre-Revolutionary War events in Chapter 7.  My goal will be to connect real life taxing situations with how taxing was handled during the 1700’s.  Students will have the opportunity to look at these situations from different character perspectives (colonists, King George, British Soldiers, Patrick Henry). 

Science

Students completed their friction investigation and graph this week.  We accumulated the data collected from each group and found a classroom average.  The main idea of this activity was to determine the amount of force needed to pull a bag of sand across three different surfaces (tile, carpet, and concrete).  We measured this force by using the measurement Newtons.  Students are becoming experts at conducting a proper science experiments from a testable questions.       

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy

 

January 30th through February 3rd

Keenoy Koala News                             2-3-17

Dear Parents,

I hope that everyone had a terrific week.  The Keenoys are traveling to St. Louis to celebrate two  brother-in-law birthdays.  The kids love spending time with their cousins and uncles.  Our class worked hard this week.  I recently noticed an overall decline with organization and attentiveness with many Koalas.  I’ve spent more time this week emphasizing the importance taking care of materials and class responsibilities.  I have seen a steady improvement throughout the week.  They are a great group that just fell into a couple of bad habitsJ

Koala of the Week

Kyler Thomas is our Koala of the week.  He really likes video games and roller coasters.  He has a mom (Jackie), dad (Pat), brother (Kobe), and a dog named Maisy. 

Mini Trip To Smithton

Next Wednesday, February 8, all 5th graders at Paxton Keeley will be having a walking field trip to Smithton Middle School to watch a musical.  Please let me know right away if you have any questions or concerns about this walking field trip.

Parent Teacher Conferences

A confirmation note is in the Friday Folder with your scheduled conference time.  Please contact me right away if changes need to me made. I look forward to meeting with you about your child’s second trimester progress.

Tissues Needed

Our classroom is quickly running out of tissues again.  If you are at the store and do not mind picking up a box, we will definitely put them to good useJ  Thanks.

 

Reading  

We started reading, Children of the Dust Bowl last week.  This week during read aloud, we have been concentrating on the cause/effect of important text events.    

During our independent reading time, I will be conferring with individuals and guided reading groups.  These conferences and guided reading groups help support the comprehension skills we are practicing during whole group with our read aloud.

Writing

*Students have been busy researching about their self-selected charity.

*Each day I have shown students how to research, take notes, use a plan sheet, and ways to develop subtopics.

*We will begin/continue working on our first drafts next week.  Our focus will shift from organization to elaboration and craft.

Math

*We wrapped up Topic 9 (Fractions and Decimals) on Wednesday with an assessment.  Our next two topics continue to focus on fractions as well.

*We began Topic 10 (Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers) on Thursday. Many of the concepts learned in Topic 9 will be applied in Topic 10.

*Objectives for this topic include:

Add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators.

Add and subtract mixed numbers.

Word Study

Students learned about a spelling pattern with the suffixes tion and sion.

Drop "d" and add "sion"

Base                 Suffix

Explode             explosion           

Collide               collision

Drop "e" and add "ion"

Base                 Suffix

Educate             education

Decorate           decoration

Words already ending with s like express add ion=expression

Science

Next week we will complete our experimental design friction investigation.  Make sure to ask your child about this experiment next week.

The Valentine Party

I forgot to attach a class list to the hard-copy newsletter last week.  I will make sure to include a list this week.  Last week’s newsletter included the basic information about boxes/cards/party.  I updated our blog that has this information.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Volunteers Needed

Calling fifth grade parents and students!!! We need your help with distributing the Shakespeare’s pizzas on Monday, Feb. 13th at 3:00.  This should be about an hour and this event directly supports the fifth grade and our field trip to Biz Town. If you have a student who is in Adventure Club, and is willing to help, we do have a parent that is willing to assist with those students.  If you do have an Adventure Club student who is able to help, please let Ms. Thelen know at  sthelen@cpsk12.org. In addition, you will need to write a note to Adventure Club, excusing them (after they check in) to the office so that they can help with the distribution. They will return to Adventure Club in an hour. Thank you!

Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy

January 23 through 27th

Keenoy Koala News                                1-27-17

Koala of the Week

Our Koala of the Week is Kyan Larson.  Kyan loves being involved in sports.  He plays basketball and soccer.  He also loves to go to the skate park to work on his skateboarding tricks.  Some of his other hobbies include solving different types of Rubik’s cubes and playing outside with friends.  His family includes his mom (Somer), dad (Brian), brother (Holden), and sister (Hannah).  He is the youngest in his family.

The next Koala of the Week is Kyler Thomas.  It is nice when students bring in pictures, medals, or other items to fill the bulletin board outside of our classroom.  Thank you!

Shakespeare’s Pizza PTA/BIZTOWN Fundraiser

Our class sold over 700 dollars’ worth of pizza!  Our class goal was for each person to sell two pizzas totaling 24 dollars.  24 dollars X 25 students = $600!  As you can see, we exceeded this goal by over 100 dollars!  I am VERY proud of the Koalas for helping PTA with the cost of this trip.  Thank you Koalas and Parents!

Valentine’s Party and Exchange

Our valentine party will be Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 2:15-3:00. Any parents that are helping with the party may begin setting up at 2:00. Students may bring valentines for their classmates. This is not required. However, if students choose to bring valentines, there should be one for each student in the class. Attached to this newsletter is a class list. While we will not decorate bags/boxes at school, students are more than welcome to do this at home and bring to school for exchanging valentines.

Math

This week we focused on:

*Identifying fractions that are in simplest form and finding the simplest form of a fraction.

*understanding the connection/equivalence of fractions, decimals, and percents.

*Representing decimals as fractions (tenths and hundredths).

We will spend the next couple of days reviewing. The assessment will more than likely be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Reading

We started discussing our next read aloud on Thursday called, Children of the Dust Bowl.   I spent a couple of days building background knowledge about the Great Depression and life during the 1930s.  During this time, a section of the United States (Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska) went through a devastating drought. The combination of the economic crisis and the drought made life for people living in this area especially tough.  One of the reasons I selected this informational text is to help students with their own charity informational writing.  I plan on frequently using this story as a model text during our writing workshop time.  

The comprehension strategies that we will continue focusing on include:

*Compare and Contrasting

*Point of View

*Cause and Effect

*Main Idea

Informational Writing

Thank you for taking the time this week to visit with your child about their charity selection ideas.  This discussion seemed helpful, and I enjoyed reading each of their summaries about the great conversations.  Students have now selected their charity to research. 

During the first part of writing, my lesson has focused on Organization.  We have looked closely at the rubric expectations for organization. We then graded several non-fiction texts to help better understand how writers organize their informational stories.  I am then providing students time (during the second half of writing) to research information about their charity.  I shared a Google Doc with them that provides several helpful sites for each charity.  Although students can branch off of this list, most students are finding the information needed within the sites provided. 

Science/Social Studies

Typically we save a portion of our afternoon for either Science or Social Studies.  Since we started researching charities, it has been very difficult to get the lessons in during that time of the day.  Students are finding out that researching information from the web takes a lot of time!  We will get back into our regular routine again next week.

In science, we will finish up with our experimental design unit.  Students will conduct an experiment by testing the amount of force needed to pull a bag of sand across three different types of surfaces.  Our next unit in science will focus on matter.  In social studies, we will continue learning about Pre-Revolutionary War events.

Word Study

Word Study is also an area that I plan to make a bigger priority starting next week.  We will focus on when to use the suffix sion vs. tion.  Please look for students to bring home their spelling words to study throughout the week.  I will have them write the spelling words in their planner too.     

Upcoming Dates

Feb. 6               No School - Teacher Workday

Feb. 9               Bookapalooza 6-8pm (see note in folder for more info.)

Feb. 13-17          Conference Week

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy

January 17th through 20th

Keenoy Koala News                                1-20-17

   

I’m very thankful that the ice storm stayed away from Columbia last weekend.  The Keenoy family is staying busy with frequent after school activities.  My 5^th grade son, Caleb enjoyed the Smithton Try Me Out Night this week.  He loved playing the Viola and is hopeful that this will be the instrument that he plays next year.   Gabby entertains us daily by trying to keep up with everyoneJ  Students love hearing my “Gabby Stories,” and ask for them daily.  I really feel a strong sense of community in our classroom and I love coming to work to teach your child each day.  Have a wonderful week and thank you for all of your continued support!

Koala of the Week

The Koala of the week is Harrison Kimmons.  He likes to play with his brother Connor outside.  Harrison also likes to play video games on his XBOX One. He has a mom (Janet), sister (Alaina) and a brother (Connor) that he cares a lot about.   Harrison and Alaina are twins, and she is about two minutes older than him.  His brother Connor is eight years old.

Home School Basketball League

Paxton Keeley will have its first ever 4th and 5th grade basketball team which will compete in Columbia Public Schools Home School Basketball League.  If your child is interested in participating, please complete the form sent home today and return it as soon as possible.  Depending on numbers, there may be tryouts.  Each team is only allowed a limited amount of players.

Literacy Night:  Bookapalooza 2017

Bookapalooza  2017 is Thursday, February 9 from 6- 8 pm.   We’ll have cheap books, good food and fun!  We’ve planned a kids’ poetry jam, a used book sale, book-themed raffle baskets created by our own PKE teachers, cool guest readers, pizza $1/slice, and more. 

We are currently collecting  children’s books, DVDs, and magazines for the Used Book Fair.  If you have donations, please bring them to the Paxton Kelley office.

Watch for more information in the coming weeks.   If you have questions or would like to volunteer for Bookapalooza, contact Jill Varns at jvarns@cpsk12.org

 

Math

We are currently in the middle of our Fraction Unit in Topic 9.  Next week we will focus on these skills:

*Identifying fractions that are in simplest form and finding the simplest form of a fraction.

*Representing decimals as fractions (tenths and hundredths).

*Labeling a point on a number line using a fraction, decimal, and percent.

Reading

We completed the book, The Watsons Go To Birmingham and students really seemed to enjoy the movie.  Afterwards, we naturally compared and contrasted similarities/differences in both.  This story mentioned some of the racial tensions that existed in our country during the 1960s.  I was then reminded about the book, Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges.  This is a story about Ruby attending one of the first integrated schools in Louisiana in 1960.  Since I started reading this autobiography last week, students have had INCREDIBLE conversations.  We have discussed that there are still problems with prejudice that exist in our country, but progress has been made. We have also connected this story with the Civil Rights Movement and researched the Supreme Court decision, Brown vs. Board of Education.  Students are VERY interested, and I am enjoying the learning going on because of the great ideas being shared.   

The comprehension strategies that we will be focusing on during this book include:

*Compare and Contrasting

*Point of View

*Cause and Effect

*Main Idea

Each of these strategies will be connected with the Common Core State Standards.  Students will be asked to practice these strategies in their own reading notebook during this unit.

Informational Writing

This week, I spent some of our writing time introducing several well-known charities.  While introducing these charities, students selected the main ideas and took notes.  We completed this work today and now it will be time for students to select the charity that most interests them to research.  After students complete their research, they will then turn their notes into an informational report (essay).

Students have a much better understanding of what is needed to write an effective informational report (essay).  A way that we have accomplished this is by focusing on an informational rubric while dissecting several informational report examples.   Next week, students will start researching/note-taking information on the charity that they selected.      

Social Studies/Writing

Students completed and presented a mini group research project this week.  Each group (4-6 students) selected one of the three Colony Regions (Southern, Middle, New England).   As a class, we created a criteria list of important ideas to research.  Each group was responsible for including information about: way of life, important people, geography/climate, treatment of others, and a map of the region.  Impressive list!  Each group had a two hour deadline to complete their poster.  These are hung up in our classroom and I am impressed with the end result.  Students also did a wonderful job presenting and working together in their group.  The Koalas are a VERY cooperative class! 

  

 

  

                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy

January 4th through 6th

No Koala of the Week Scheduled Due To The Short Week

Keenoy Koala News                                   January 4th, 2017

Dear Families,

    

     I hope that everyone had a wonderful Winter Break and enjoyed the extra time with your family.  Students came back ready to work and we have had a terrific week.  Thank you for all that you do to support your child’s learning and my teaching!

Since it was such a short week, I will hold onto the Friday Folder Work Study Habit marks today.  These will be sent home next Friday with teacher comments.  I will also keep the newsletter mostly informational and brief.

Fundraiser To Help With 5^th Grade Field Trip to BIZTOWN-in Chesterfield St. Louis!

Dear PKE Families,

            Who loves Shakespeare’s Pizza? We have an exciting and easy fundraiser opportunity. We are selling their frozen pizzas to help support our 5th grade students going to Biz Town in St. Louis and other various PKE projects. This is a very unique, special, and memorable opportunity for our 5th graders. The cost is $15/student, and PTA would like to help offset some of those costs for the students. Our goal is to sell at least 200 pizzas, which would earn PKE $1000. I think we can easily surpass that goal with a school of our size! Please consider asking family, friends, neighbors, posting on social media, and co-workers! These pizzas are delicious and an easy fix for dinner on those busy nights!

            The fundraiser ends on Jan. 25th. Please submit your order and MONEY on or before the due date. We will NOT place any orders that haven’t been paid for. PTA cannot front the money in hopes people will pay on delivery day. Checks need to be made out to PKE PTA! Please consider submitting 1 check for your order, so it will be easier on our treasurer to process all the checks.  

            Delivery will be on February 13th from 3:00-3:40pm and 5:30pm-6:30pm. We will be asking the 5th grade students to help with the delivery.

            Again, thank you for your continued support of PKE PTA!

Happy Pizza Fundraising!

 PKE PTA

Fine Arts Field Trip

All 5th grade students in CPS will attend a district sponsored event, 5th Grade Fine Arts Extravaganza, on Wednesday, January 11th.  This event will be held at Hickman and the Jesse Auditorium.  The program highlights all of the fine art opportunities available to rising 5th Graders: band, orchestra, choir, art, and theatre.  More detailed information about the trip was sent home earlier in the week. 

Instrument Enrollment Night

All current 5th graders interested in being a member of the middle school band or orchestra next year need to attend one Instrument Enrollment Night. You do not need to attend the enrollment night where you will be attending middle school. Please attend the night most convenient for your family and plan to stay for the entire evening.

Smithton: January 17^th at 6:30

Lange: January 12^th at 6:30

Gentry: January 19^th at 6:30

During the Enrollment Night, parents and students will receive a brief orientation to the band and orchestra program. Following the orientation, 5th graders will try each instrument. At the end of the evening, students will be matched with an instrument based upon interest, ability, and balanced instrumentation needs.

Math Topic 9

This unit will focus on the understanding of fractions, decimals, and percents.  Listed below are the objectives for Topic 9.

Students will learn:

*That division can be used to divide objects into equal parts that are fractions of a whole

*to express fractions greater than 1 as mixed numbers (3 ½) or improper fractions 9/7

*to identify fractions that are equivalent

*compare and order fractions and mixed numbers

*to identify fractions that are in simplest form and find the simplest form of a fraction

*represent decimals (tenths, hundredths, and thousandths) as fractions and percents

                                                                            

Sincerely,

                                                                                                Dan Keenoy