FIFTH GRADE

It's been a long January, with no days off due to weather, and we, the fifth grade class, has been working hard at handling the school work load.  However, it really has been warm and cozy in our classroom.  That's because all of us feel so good about ourselves, what we have done for our fellow beings, and the amount of growing up that has been achieved within our classroom. 

We began November by organizing a non-perishable food drive, which benefited Helping Hands.  Over 1,000 non-perishable food goods were donated from our school students and their families, grades pre-k through eight, and sent to Helping Hands.  Thank you to everyone for your generosity.

Through all the excitement generated from the food drive and the holidays, we have worked very hard to push on with the curriculum.  Religion finds us just finishing our Family Life unit connected with learning about ourselves and the physical and mental changes we are experiencing.  Our class was very anxious to begin the supplemental religion program, covering young adults and communication with their family, classmates, and the outside world, and the maturing of their minds and bodies.  We really enjoyed our time studying about our up-coming young adult years.

Social studies is beginning to help us realize exactly what it was like to be a pilgrim, puritan, or settler on our land before our country was formally established.  We are realizing what it took to leave your native land and come to new shores.  The Native Americans life and point of view is also being investigated.

Math has introduced us to fractions.  It really is challenging to learn exactly what we could do with fractions.  Denominators, numerators, greatest common factors, lowest common denominators, multiples, etc., have all been taught and learned.

English has found us writing and then writing some more.  Our latest essay, a how-to composition, was probably one of our best works yet.  Paragraphing and applying all the grammar and punctuation we have learned to our writing is really a challenge.  Our next essay will address DARE and they will be judged by a group of teachers.

DARE has taken a good amount of our science time.  We have learned to not allow ourselves be found in trying situations when it comes to drugs, alcohol, and/or tobacco.  Officer Cooper, our DARE officer, has been wonderful.  We really looked forward to his nine visits and will miss him tremendously when his time with us is done.  The trip to the police station, part of the program, will be very impressive, of this we're sure.  In between all of this, we have also been studying our human body systems, and quickly moving into the study of matter.  The time spent doing experiments in our new science lab have been great, and Talcott Mountain will be visiting us soon, with programs on the human eye and optical illusions and our solar system.

Literature has found us reading together Island of the Blue Dolphins.  When we completed this book, we went back into our texts to read several selections, and then again jumped into another book, Bridge to Terabithia.  Mrs. Mainstruck just finished reading Hatchet to us, and we are beginning The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It turns out that the classics are still good reading.  It really is great to be able to read stories about individuals our age.  Book reports have kept us doing some individual reading and the creative aspects of them have proven to be fun.

Half the school year is gone already, and it really hasn't been too bad.  Mrs. Mainstruck says we really have grown up a lot!  Our DARE graduation ceremony is on the horizon and before you know it, we'll be moving on to sixth grade.  We have all felt a few growing pains, but we are still working very hard to please our teacher and our parents.  Hopefully, we'll be able to take the rest of the year in stride and comfortably grow and mature even more, but now with ease.

           
                 Mrs. Mainstruck