Mrs. Myers' Blog

Conference time is near!  Our annual goal-setting conferences are in the planning stages.  Below find dates and times offered for us to get together and talk about where your child is currently performing, where we are headed, and how we are going to get there! 

Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for two days in mid-October as per the district calendar.  However, it is very difficult to put full attention into 23 conferences in the span of a day and a half.  So, I have added some other possible times for conferences: before school, after school, over lunch, and during my planning time.  If you can’t find a time to suit your schedule, we can always have our conference over the phone. 

I may need to change a few appointments to accommodate everyone’s busy schedules.  If you have more than one child in the building and would like to coordinate your conference times back-to-back with multiple teachers, please let me know!  Likewise, if you feel the need to meet with another of your child’s teachers, please make me aware so that I can find a time for us all to meet together or at back-to-back times, whichever you prefer. 

I will send paper copies of conference information home as necessary. 

I will send you a conformation of the time and date for your conference via your child’s take home folder.  If at any time your schedule changes and you need to cancel our scheduled time, please let me know right away so that I may adjust my schedule accordingly! 

The following times are currently available. 

Afternoon conference times, Friday, October 7, 3:45 – 4:15. 

Afternoon conference times, Monday, October 10, 3:45 – 4:15. 

Morning conference times, Tuesday, October 11, 8:00 – 8:30. 

Afternoon conference times, Wednesday, October 12, 1:30 – 2:00

Evening conference times, Thursday, October 13,  4-8pm  with a break for dinner. 

Daytime conference times, Friday, October 14, 8-1.  

We are in full swing here at school, we’re back into school mode and everyone is doing a great job!  Some due dates have changed so I wanted to give everybody a quick update of coming events!

Sat 9/24 Fall Festival at IR 10am – come support our PTO!

Tu 9/27 – 13 colonies quiz, see study guide

Fri 9/30 – States, Caps, Abbreviations quiz, see study guide, there will be no spelling test this week (lesson 3) because students will need to spell the state name correctly on the quiz. 

Mon 10/3 – lesson 3 grammar/comprehension test

Tues 10/4 – states project due

Wed 10/5 – picture day!

Fri 10/7 – tentative date for Unit 2 math test

10/11 – lesson 4 grammar/comprehension/spelling test

10/13 – evening Parent-teacher conferences 4-8pm

10/14 – daytime Parent-teacher conferences 8-1pm

Thank you to all parents who volunteered to help chaperone our field trip to Gettysburg Military Park!  I am sorry that only 3 parents are necessary for this trip and that so many other were turned down.  Fortunately there are some other opportunities to become involved in upcoming events here at school. 

During the week of April 4, we will need a parent or student to sew a hem around our class flag for our Gettysburg trip and then return it before Tuesday, April12.  On Tuesday April 12, we will need a parent to come to school to iron student’s individual patches onto our class flag. 

We will need many chaperones on Wednesday, May 20th to travel with us to Baltimore to tour Fort McHenry and the Maryland Science Center.  It will be a very long day requiring a lot of walking and close supervision in crowded areas.  That being said, it is a field trip that is great fun for both the students and the adults that accompany them.  We will get an early start to our day arriving at IR around 7am and returning around 4pm.  If you are interested, be on the look out for a chaperone request sheet in a month or so. 

Both field trips 4/13 and 5/18 will require students to pack a lunch which  includes no soda or glass bottles.  Each trip will also require a fee.  Gettysburg will cost students $6.00 and adults $7.50 while Baltimore will be a bit more expensive.  If you family is in need of assistance with entrance fees, please let me know, we  can help!!!!

On May 20th, from 1:00 – 2:15, we will need a few parent volunteers to help run stations here at Indian Rock set up by the Susan Byrnes Health Education Center regarding growing older and body changes due to adolescence.  If you are interested, please let me know!

Provided the weather cooperates, we will be having our olympics on Friday afternoon starting at about 1:00.  Each classroom will need one or two parent volunteers to facilitate our stations and/or help with crowd control.  If you are available and willing to donate your time, please email me for more details!

Thanks!

Hello 5MY families, I want to congratulate you all on a fabulous variety show!  The show included a variety of acts, great MC’s, and a terrific stage crew consisting of many students from our homeroom!  The night was a great success!

On Friday of this week, your child’s second marking period progress report will come home via backpack express.  I will meet with each child to discuss his or her progress and goals for the last marking period.  As a fifth grade we have a few tools to put in place to help ease the transition between elementary and middle school including keeping grade sheets, taking notes, and some long term projects. 

Over the next few weeks, we have some special events planned as a grade level and as a class.  This week will consist of the Math and Reading portion of the PSSA tests.  3 math tests and 3 reading tests will be given, one each day save Thursday which will include 2 tests.  I have snacks for the morning sessions to bolster morale. 

 Along those lines, we will be holding the first annual Indian Rock Potato Olympics next week!  Each homeroom will be assigned a continent (not North America) from which studnets will choose a country.  The students will research an olympian from their country for a mini-research paper.  Students will need to bring in a potato from home (I have extra if anyone is in need), decorate their ‘olympian’ and create a personal history for their spectactular spud.  Each spud will participate in olympic events such as: luge, high jump, javeline throw, high dive, etc.  We will have a closing ceremony to award medals to finalists.  We have plans and activities in mind to incorporate skills in reading, writing, math, physics, and geography throughout this event. 

The last week of March brings us to the Writing PSSA test.  Monday, March 28, students will take the multiple choice portion.  Tuesday through Thrusday that week, each day will include one writing prompt.  On Friday we will celebrate our class-wide birthday party.  I know some parents are interested in helping to plan/donate snacks, etc.  I greatly appreciate the offers and assistance, but please feel no obligation to contribute!  The party will be held on Friday, April 1 from about 10:15-11:15.  Activities may include pajamas and slippers, extra recess time, a short movie, board games, etc.  We will make activity decisions closer to the date when we can factor the weather into our plans.  If you would care to donate something to our party, please email me at amyers@yssd.org OR call my new extension at 845-6651 ext. 5112. 

As we draw nearer to the end of the year, students and teachers begin to think field trips!  We will be going on two trips this year, one to Gettysburg to reenact Picket’s Charge and to view the battle field museum on April 13.  We will be in need of 2-4 parent chaperones for this trip.   Additionally, we will be visiting Fort McHenry and The Maryland Science Center in Baltimore around mid May.  We will need many chaperone’s for this trip!  As the dates draws closer, I will send home a letter asking for chaperone volunteers.  If we have more volunteers than we need, a drawing will be held and parents will be notified if they have been chosen. 

I find it incredible that we have only 11 weeks of school left.  June feels pretty far away when the nights dip down to 20 degrees, but Spring has sprung!  I look forward to ending our year with fun projects, big ideas, and happy kids! 

Enjoy warmer days!

Near the beginning of the week, I had announced that our class-wide birthday party would be held the last Friday of February, after considering how close this date is to today’s Valentine’s Day party, I’ve decided to change the date to the first Friday after PSSA tests which will be Friday, April 1. 

Thanks!

Well, it has been quite a while, after much snowy weather and schedule changes, hopefully we are back on track! 

Some upcoming important dates:

Valentine’s Day parties will be held this Friday 2/11 from 2:45 – 3:30.  School will not be in session on Friday 2/18 and Monday 2/21 for Mid Winter Vacation.  Additionally school will be closed Friday, March 4th for staff development.  The second marking period will end March 9 (already!!!!)  grade sheets outlining current averages will be coming home shortly with report cards coming home Friday, March 18th.  Following this, the PSSA window will open for math and reading testing from March 14th – March 25.  Fifth graders then move right into the PSSA writing exam during teh week of March 28th. 

Barring more snow days, I plan to schedule our class-wide birthdayparty/PJ day for the morning of Friday, Feb. 25.  Donations for paper goods, goodies, drinks, etc. would be greatly appreciated – based on interest I can send home a sign-up sheet. 

Our students have wrapped up their rocks unit with Mrs. Molin and are back to having SS with me.  We will briefly explore government and the writing of the Constitution then begin Westward Movement, the build up to the Civil War, as well as the beginning of the fighting before we head to Gettysburg for our 5th grade field trip in mid-April.  Following the end of the Civil War, the kids will head back to Mrs. Molin for Oceanography and a short unit on soil. 

In preparation for a smooth transition to the middle school, we have been talking more about percentage grades, exploring notetaking utilizing the Cornell Method, and increasing responsibility with longer term assignments.  Please encourage your children to plan ahead and chunk assignments. 

Please plan to have your children in school during the PSSA testing window.  Plenty of rest, a good breakfast, and a healthy attitude about the test will help us have a productive 3 weeks of testing.  Additionally, utilizing the online program, Study Island, is a great way to refresh skills in preparation for the tests! 

Enjoy a calm-weather week!

Happy Monday

http://posterd.glogster.com/nellie-bly-did-you-know/

Access the above link to view our documentaries on Nellie Bly.  Our class worked hard with Mrs. Poster’s class to create photostories about the famous reporter. 

Don’t forget!!!!  No school on Tuesday!!!!

Parent visitation day is approaching!  Thursday I welcome you to our classroom during two separate time slots.  9:30 – 11:30 during which we will be reading, traveling to our literature stations, practicing spelling and vocabulary words, as well as reviewing prepositions.  The second time slot is from 1:30 – 3:00 during which we will be beginning a persuasive writing, starting  a math unit on fractions and continuing the study of rocks.  I will send home a schedule with your child on Wednesday, we will note which classroom your child will be in for each class.  Regretfully lunch will not be served to parents on Thursday. 

Deadlines approaching this Friday – book orders and IR spirit wear!  If you are interested in ordering books to add to your library as well as our classroom, please do so by this Friday.  Our class activation code for online ordering is H69KY at Scholastic.com  Please return all spirt wear order forms in an envelope addressed  to Jillian Wolfenberger in 4N.