MRS. PIERCE’S CLASS WINTER PARTY!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be our class party to celebrate our Secret Snowflakes. Your child should bring in a small gift for his/her snowflake. Please leave me a voicemail by TONIGHT (225-8243) if you cannot do this for any reason so I can take care of it. Also, feel free to provide refreshments for the kids. We will reveal our Secret Snowflakes, celebrate together, do a project and clean up the classroom for the holiday vacation. Have a wonderful, restful week!
Melissa

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/g0LyZotbe4GAS4Eu

Once On A Housetop

Our 5th grade play will be today at 1:30, tomorrow at 9:45 and tomorrow night at 7:00.
Hope to see you all there!

Reading test

Today all of the 5th grade students were given the Gates-McGinitie Reading assessment. Stay posted to hear how your child did.
Melissa

Class Newsletter

Newsletter - Room 219 - December 4, 2009


Hi Families,

It was great to see so many of you at the conferences last week, and to see how confident the kids are when talking about their hopes, dreams, goals and achievements.

In Math, we have moved into Unit 5, which is a Fraction review. Please contact me if your child is struggling with homework or seems to need extra assistance.

In Science, we have started a Human Body unit, which we are all enjoying.

In Writing, the students were assigned Procedure essays due on December 21. These are how-to essays with clear steps provided. We read some benchmarks yesterday and kids chose topics. Most of their work can be done here, but you should see it coming home as well.

The kids chose names yesterday for our class “SECRET SNOWFLAKE” game which will begin Monday. The point is for the kids to keep quiet about whose Secret Snowflake they are, and to do nice little things for the person for the weeks leading up to December vacation. Some ideas include drawings, kind notes, stickers, a pencil, gum, a comic book, fidgets, bouncy balls, nice words and compliments...SMALL GIFTS ARE OK BUT THE COST SHOULD NOT EXCEED A FEW DOLLARS. We will have a party on the last day of school before break, share some holiday snacks, exchange small gifts and reveal our Secret Snowflakes! If this is a hardship at any time, or if you can’t think of what to do, please tell me and I will take care of it.

Have a terrific weekend!


Melissa
http://mrspiercesfabulousfifthgradeclass.blogspot.com

Welcome Back!

I hope you all had a terrific break - it was good to see so many of you at conferences. I am pleased to announce that we have hired a substitute for my maternity leave. Her name is Kylie Slater and she'll be in school visiting and learning the ropes as of late December. Please stop in and welcome her!
Melissa

We the People

I went to a fabulous workshop yesterday sponsored by the Center for Civic Education. It was called We the People and I came back with a ton of classroom materials and ideas to teach government and The Constitution. Check out their website at www.civiced.org

Flu Season Here!

Please keep us all healthy by washing hands a lot and keeping your kids home when they are sick. I'll do my part by keeping the classroom clean! Thanks for your help.
Melissa

Kids at Recess

Flu Shot Clinic

Families,
Be sure you return your consent forms for the H1N1 flu shot clinic being held here November 9. Return the forms whether your child is going to receive the shot or not.
Also, this Friday we'll be going on a hike to Hubbard Park for the afternoon!

Pajama Day!

We are celebrating the end of NECAP tests with a Pajama Day and RAD (Read All Day)! We are also starting a new Read Aloud book today called Weedflower.

Haiku and "Cheese!"

Today was school picture day. We had a frantic run to the restroom after Math to fix hair and outfits. We are also taking a break from NECAP testing and doing some leaf rubbings. We are writing haiku to go with the rubbings. Below is an example of Desiree's autumn haiku -

Fall is coming - yay!
To play with leaves all day - yay!
Halloween - Come now!

NECAPs

We are in the middle of NECAP testing - be sure your child gets adequate rest and food, they are working so hard!
Mrs. P

Lucas, Walker and Sarah at the top of Spruce Mountain

Pen Pals!

We have been matched up with our new pen pals in Orlando, Florida. They are in 5th grade, we have just started writing our first letters today. Ask your child about his/her pal!
Mrs P

Bake Sale Friday!

We will have our bake sale this Friday, September 25. Bring items in by 8:30 am. Thanks!

Upcoming Events

Tuesday, September 15: USPG Meeting, cafeteria, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 16: Melissa Pierce’s Class to Spruce Mountain

Wednesday, September 16: Board Meeting

Thursday, September 17: UES Open House, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Friday, September 18: All-School Assembly

October 6 - School picture Day




Homework Club will begin on Monday, September 14th. The new time is 7:50 until 8:20 when the bell rings. The new location is in the cafeteria. It is not a social time-HOMEWORK ONLY! All grades welcome!

5th grade picnic

There will be a 5th grade potluck picnic on Friday, September 11, from 5-7 pm in the Old Shelter. This was organized by parents and they hope to see you there!

Upcoming Events

9-16 Tentative hike to Spruce Peak
9-17 Open House at UES
9-25 Bake Sale

We survived the first three days!

What fun it has been for me to see you all again! Fifth grade will surely be busy! This week, we'll be starting Math and Writing and Reading - get ready to roll!
Mrs P

Almost Time for School!

As you've noticed, I've changed the name of our class blog to reflect the fact that you are now FIFTH graders! See you soon!

Mrs. Pierce's News!

Hi Everybody,
In case you haven't heard already, I am expecting another baby! Chris, Somerset and I are thrilled. We will welcome the addition in late January, so I'll take a maternity leave and then be back by May. I am busy this summer with working on our driveway of our eventual new house, and Somerset and I have been going to museums, playgrounds, to the beach, etc. I am taking a Math course in August and then I'll be getting the room spruced up for fifth graders! See you soon!
Mrs. P

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Wow! It's hard to believe it's the last day of school for the year! What a terrific time we've had. I'll be keeping up with the blog over the summer, so keep in touch. See you in the fall!
Mrs. P

Field day!

Yesterday was the fourth grade Field Day and boy, was it fun! We spent the day at the Recreation Fields playing kickball, volleyball, tennis, sack races, etc. We were hot and tired by 2:30!

Egg Drop and Vermont Play

Today is a busy day - we have the play at 9:45 and 7:00 pm , and we have the 4th grade Egg Drop at 1:00!

WOW!

The fourth graders did a fantastic job presenting their Vermont projects today, We learned about the CCC in Vermont, George Dewey, Vermont counties, food in Vermont (and sampled some maple apple bars!), the history of skiing, etc. Nice work!

Vermont Projects

The NEW due date for the Vermont Projects is JUNE 1, 2009.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Mrs. Pierce reading a poem!

Upcoming Events

5/20, 5/22 - Science NECAPs
5/20 - Band Concert
5/22 - Last spelling test of the year
5/26- Vermont projects due
5/27 - 4 Winds trip to Hubbard Park, 9-12
5/28 - Poetry Reading, 1:30
5/29 - Shelburne Museum
6/3 - VT Performance, 1:30
6/4 - VT Performance, 9:45 am and 7:00 pm
6/4 -Egg Drop, 1:00
6/10- Field Day

Technology Conference

I attended the always fabulous Dynamic Landscapes conference at Champlain College on Friday. I learned some cool blogging tools and took a workshop on creating Personal essays through digital storytelling. Fun stuff for next year!

Hubbard Park today

We had a picnic and nature hike at Hubbard Park today!

DCF Blogging

If you want to be able to view your child's post on the official DCF website, go to www.dcfaward.org

DCF Book Conference

I attended a wonderful set of workshops at the Lake Morey Inn on Friday. I learned about the new 09-10 book list and took a class about using technology to support the DCF books - we'll be posting comments to the DCF blog this week and we'll start designing comics based on a DCF book next week.

Yeah!

I am looping to 5th grade!

Field Trip to The Swimming Hole and Ben and Jerry's Factory

We had a blast on the field trip to Stowe!

Busy Busy Busy!

Here is a list of upcoming events..

4/9 - 2nd field trip to the Vermont State House with Vivian Tomasi
4/10 - Mrs. Pierce at a school leadership retreat
4/14 - Contemporary Vermont Art Study with Vivian Tomasi
4/16 - Voting for DCF book award
4/17 - BAKE SALE AND PAJAMA DAY!!!
4/20-4/24 - Vacation Week
4/30 - 4 Winds
5/1 - Mrs. Pierce at the DCF Book Conference
5/4-5/8 - “Way to Go!” Week - bike, scooter, skateboard, walk or carpool to school!
5/5 - Hubbard Park for the afternoon for a hike and nature study
5/14 - National Life trip to view/discuss Paul Sample mural with Vivian Tomasi
5/19 - Flynn Theatre to see “Our Hidden Heritage” for Vermont Studies
5/20, 5/22 - Science NECAPs
5/26 - Vermont Project due
5/29 - Shelburne Museum field trip
6/4 - 4th Grade Egg Drop
6/9 - 4th Grade Field Day at the recreation fields

Class Introduction

Recess!

Service Learning Project!

We have made our goal - we raised enough money from the sale of the water bottles to buy EVERY FAMILY at UES a reusable shopping bag. What fun we had researching facts, organizing bags and delivering them to the delighted students. Go Team!

Update by Isla

We have finished recorders and we have now started chorus . We will also be going to the Vermont Historical Society Museum on Thursday, March 12.

Welcome back!

What a restful vacation! I am rejuvenated from a week of cooking with my daughter, going to the local libraries, getting together with friends and catching up on lost sleep! The classroom was deep cleaned and looks great and we have a new hermit crab. Red was Somerset's pet but we lost interest so he'll live here now. He could use a friend so if anyone is at Petsmart pick up another hermit crab for us!

Update by Lucas

We have been looking forward to a pajama day party on Friday and plan to have a read all day. Mrs. Pierce is thinking about having pizza for lunch.

Book Reports due Friday

We saw an awesome presentation by our Nicaraguan visitors yesterday, and today we are working on book reports, due Friday.

Hood Museum of Art

Update by Desiree - We went on a field trip to the Dartmouth Hood Museum of Art on December 23. We learned about the Wabanaki baskets and other things. Today was the first day back to school!