Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Let's Get It Started....
I am so excited! The classroom is ready and waiting for you to arrive tomorrow morning. It was so nice meeting you last night at Meet and Greet. I am looking forward to a fantastic year ahead.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday Newsletter 5/26
Hello, Fifth Grade Fabulous Families!!
As we wind down the month of May, I'd like to wish you all a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget that our students will be performing in the Elm Grove Memorial Day Parade on Monday. It is a great tradition!
Thank you to all of you who came to our Go West performance. It was a wonderful experience for all of our students! Thanks to the many volunteers who helped make the day such a success, including Mrs. Olander. I do have a DVD available for check out for those of you who were unable to attend.
Friday is our all day field trip to the Clay Creek Experience. We will be outdoors the entire day so please dress appropriately. I suggest layers. and sunscreen. We will be near the lake so it might be 10 degrees or more cooler than it is in Brookfield. I plan to bring gloves and a hat in case it is windy. Please have students wear tennis shoes instead of flip flops. I know the calendar says it should be warm, but this is Wisconsin!! Also, all students will need a full lunch including drink. We will be leaving first thing in the morning and returning to school between 2 and 2:30. Special thanks to Mrs. Jurva and Mrs. Joyce for joining us on this first time adventure. We are really looking forward to it!
Tomorrow is the last day for our Family Fun Night Basket. We have several very nice games in it. Please consider donating to our basket---bags of popcorn, soda, movies, games, etc. This is a fun and very successful fundraiser for PTO. Special thanks to Mrs. Olander for coming in to wrap it for us.
Yearbook sales will be taking place on Monday, June 6th. As you know, we will be gone all day on a field trip to Milton House. Therefore, fifth graders only may bring in their $11 to me on Thursday and Friday of next week (June 2nd and 3rd). They will then be given their yearbook on our last day of school for signing by friends.
Any questions...hit reply!
Thanks again for all you are doing to support Swanson, me, and your amazing kids!
Cindy
Student Council is hosting a "gently used" book drive. Please consider donating your books for this charity drive.
As we wind down the month of May, I'd like to wish you all a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget that our students will be performing in the Elm Grove Memorial Day Parade on Monday. It is a great tradition!
Thank you to all of you who came to our Go West performance. It was a wonderful experience for all of our students! Thanks to the many volunteers who helped make the day such a success, including Mrs. Olander. I do have a DVD available for check out for those of you who were unable to attend.
Friday is our all day field trip to the Clay Creek Experience. We will be outdoors the entire day so please dress appropriately. I suggest layers. and sunscreen. We will be near the lake so it might be 10 degrees or more cooler than it is in Brookfield. I plan to bring gloves and a hat in case it is windy. Please have students wear tennis shoes instead of flip flops. I know the calendar says it should be warm, but this is Wisconsin!! Also, all students will need a full lunch including drink. We will be leaving first thing in the morning and returning to school between 2 and 2:30. Special thanks to Mrs. Jurva and Mrs. Joyce for joining us on this first time adventure. We are really looking forward to it!
Tomorrow is the last day for our Family Fun Night Basket. We have several very nice games in it. Please consider donating to our basket---bags of popcorn, soda, movies, games, etc. This is a fun and very successful fundraiser for PTO. Special thanks to Mrs. Olander for coming in to wrap it for us.
Yearbook sales will be taking place on Monday, June 6th. As you know, we will be gone all day on a field trip to Milton House. Therefore, fifth graders only may bring in their $11 to me on Thursday and Friday of next week (June 2nd and 3rd). They will then be given their yearbook on our last day of school for signing by friends.
Any questions...hit reply!
Thanks again for all you are doing to support Swanson, me, and your amazing kids!
Cindy
Student Council is hosting a "gently used" book drive. Please consider donating your books for this charity drive.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Thursday Newsletter 5/19/2011
Hi, Wonderful Parents of Amazing Fifth Graders!
We hope to see you at 2:30 tomorrow in the gym. We will be performing our musical. The kids have worked so hard and have shown continuous improvement. Please help us celebrate their success! For some, this experience has watered their talents and grown their enjoyment of the arts. For others, this experience has shown them that the arts are challenging and hard work. For all of them, it has made them appreciate the practice it takes to learn something well. For us, it is a chance to enjoy our children as they "try on" history as a character from the Westward Movement. I know they will never forget it! I will have a DVD of the performance for those of you who are not able to attend. I can loan it to you so that you can see your child's performance. (That is what I will be doing, too, with my kindergarteners performance...so I completely understand.)
This week, your student has been participating in the Spring MAP asessments. You will soon receive a report that shows the scores your student received in fall and in spring. These scores will be in three areas: reading, language arts, and math. Most students demonstrated nice growth and gains. This mirrors what you and I both have seen during this year. For a very few, there was not a demonstration of growth. This is the reason why we never rely on just one assessment to measure a students achievement. As you review these results with your student, please focus on the progress that you have seen. This testing situation can be stressful for the students. We want to be sure they understand that we look at the whole picture. Meanwhile, if you have questions or any concerns about the assessment, never hesitate to contact me to discuss them. I look forward to speaking to you about them.
Congratulations to Abby and Sabrina who were a part of a law day contest recently held by the Wisconsin State Bar Association. The team took first place. If I receive any more information on where you can view the video, I will be sure to pass it along. Both girls were given copies of their work. Congratulations! We are so PROUD!!
This just in...Family Fun Night! It will be held on Friday, June 3rd from 5:30-8:00 p.m. at Wirth Park Aquatic Center.
It is time for us to start putting together our classroom basket for Family Fun Night. This year our class has decided to make our Theme: Family Game Night. Please have your item(s) returned to the classroom by: Friday, May 28th.
Thanks so much for all you are doing to make the most of our final weeks together!
Cindy Stemper
We hope to see you at 2:30 tomorrow in the gym. We will be performing our musical. The kids have worked so hard and have shown continuous improvement. Please help us celebrate their success! For some, this experience has watered their talents and grown their enjoyment of the arts. For others, this experience has shown them that the arts are challenging and hard work. For all of them, it has made them appreciate the practice it takes to learn something well. For us, it is a chance to enjoy our children as they "try on" history as a character from the Westward Movement. I know they will never forget it! I will have a DVD of the performance for those of you who are not able to attend. I can loan it to you so that you can see your child's performance. (That is what I will be doing, too, with my kindergarteners performance...so I completely understand.)
This week, your student has been participating in the Spring MAP asessments. You will soon receive a report that shows the scores your student received in fall and in spring. These scores will be in three areas: reading, language arts, and math. Most students demonstrated nice growth and gains. This mirrors what you and I both have seen during this year. For a very few, there was not a demonstration of growth. This is the reason why we never rely on just one assessment to measure a students achievement. As you review these results with your student, please focus on the progress that you have seen. This testing situation can be stressful for the students. We want to be sure they understand that we look at the whole picture. Meanwhile, if you have questions or any concerns about the assessment, never hesitate to contact me to discuss them. I look forward to speaking to you about them.
Congratulations to Abby and Sabrina who were a part of a law day contest recently held by the Wisconsin State Bar Association. The team took first place. If I receive any more information on where you can view the video, I will be sure to pass it along. Both girls were given copies of their work. Congratulations! We are so PROUD!!
This just in...Family Fun Night! It will be held on Friday, June 3rd from 5:30-8:00 p.m. at Wirth Park Aquatic Center.
It is time for us to start putting together our classroom basket for Family Fun Night. This year our class has decided to make our Theme: Family Game Night. Please have your item(s) returned to the classroom by: Friday, May 28th.
Thanks so much for all you are doing to make the most of our final weeks together!
Cindy Stemper
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday Newsletter 4/7
Hi, Fifth Grade Families!
You probably heard wonderful comments about our Spring Fling yesterday. It truly was a well-deserved break in routine for our students. With such a long time between Winter and Spring break, it was great to share a team-building day for all of us! We started the day with an Earth Day Project teaming with Metro Market. We then had a 30-minute walk and talk. After that, we had some computer time and a session of chess and/or checkers. We then headed to the gym for some dancing followed by creating our own personal trading cards. The fun continued after lunch with a read-in, a Peanuts social studies movie about the constitution, and, finally, a problem-solving board game challenge with Blockus. It was such a treat!!
Student Council is hosting a Donate Day on April 15th. We are asking students to bring in a donation of any value to put towards the Tsunami Relief fund to help those in Japan. The class that brings in the largest donation will receive a small 'choice' celebration. Student council members would announce the winners and come share some of the choices students could vote on for their 'celebration'- we would notify the classroom teacher to establish the choices and the parameters prior to their visit. Let us know if you have questions :)
Thanks for another great week!
Cindy Stemper
You probably heard wonderful comments about our Spring Fling yesterday. It truly was a well-deserved break in routine for our students. With such a long time between Winter and Spring break, it was great to share a team-building day for all of us! We started the day with an Earth Day Project teaming with Metro Market. We then had a 30-minute walk and talk. After that, we had some computer time and a session of chess and/or checkers. We then headed to the gym for some dancing followed by creating our own personal trading cards. The fun continued after lunch with a read-in, a Peanuts social studies movie about the constitution, and, finally, a problem-solving board game challenge with Blockus. It was such a treat!!
Student Council is hosting a Donate Day on April 15th. We are asking students to bring in a donation of any value to put towards the Tsunami Relief fund to help those in Japan. The class that brings in the largest donation will receive a small 'choice' celebration. Student council members would announce the winners and come share some of the choices students could vote on for their 'celebration'- we would notify the classroom teacher to establish the choices and the parameters prior to their visit. Let us know if you have questions :)
Thanks for another great week!
Cindy Stemper
Monday, April 4, 2011
Thursday Newsletter 3/31
Hi, Fifth Grade Families!
Can you believe tomorrow is April 1st? This week we have kicked off our fourth quarter with the motto: Finish Strong! We plan to make this our strongest and best quarter of fifth grade. There will be many exciting events and many sentimental moments. There will also be high expectations and a lot of hard work! Sounds like a recipe for a very good quarter.
In social studies, we have reached the end of the American Revolution and will soon start discussing how our system of government was established. Students will also have the opportunity to choose from a list of projects that coincide with our studies.
In science, we continue our chemistry unit with a quiz tomorrow on our second investigation on solubility. The kids have been learning a lot of chemistry vocabulary as well as the need for accuracy in scienctific investigation. Today they brought home two optional (and FUN) enrichment activities as well as two non-optional math-science connection problems.
In math, we are moving into unit 10 with logical thinking problems, algebra, and pi. Today your student (if they are in my math class) brought home a not about our pi(e) day celebration. Please let me know if you are able to send in a pie for sampling.
Writing this quarter will consist of a higher expectation of the quanitiy of writing as we have built our stamina. your student is expected to be bringing his/her writer's notebook in to write in 3 times per week at home as well as daily at school. We have been doing daily grammar and conventions lessons along with our spelling to really "raise the bar" in our editing skills. We will be doing three units of study in writing during this last quarter. They are: advice articles, advice columns, and memoir.
Reading this quarter will continue to work on comprehension, accuracy, and fluency, with a special empahsis on expanding vocabulary. We will be reading articles and memoirs to influence our writing. We will also be using some kindles in our classroom to determine the impact of this technology on our readers. It will be an exciting time!
Many of you have begun to inquire about dates. Formal invitations for Go West are going home tomorrow, but here are some dates that you might want to pencil in to your calendar:
April 20th--Fieldtrip to Discovery World Museum
May 6th--Fieldtrip to Wisconsin Hills Middle School
May 20th--Go West Musical (Our time is 2:30-3:15)
June 8th--Fifth Grade Recognition (1:15 start)
Thank you so much for all of your on-going support!
Cindy Stemper
Can you believe tomorrow is April 1st? This week we have kicked off our fourth quarter with the motto: Finish Strong! We plan to make this our strongest and best quarter of fifth grade. There will be many exciting events and many sentimental moments. There will also be high expectations and a lot of hard work! Sounds like a recipe for a very good quarter.
In social studies, we have reached the end of the American Revolution and will soon start discussing how our system of government was established. Students will also have the opportunity to choose from a list of projects that coincide with our studies.
In science, we continue our chemistry unit with a quiz tomorrow on our second investigation on solubility. The kids have been learning a lot of chemistry vocabulary as well as the need for accuracy in scienctific investigation. Today they brought home two optional (and FUN) enrichment activities as well as two non-optional math-science connection problems.
In math, we are moving into unit 10 with logical thinking problems, algebra, and pi. Today your student (if they are in my math class) brought home a not about our pi(e) day celebration. Please let me know if you are able to send in a pie for sampling.
Writing this quarter will consist of a higher expectation of the quanitiy of writing as we have built our stamina. your student is expected to be bringing his/her writer's notebook in to write in 3 times per week at home as well as daily at school. We have been doing daily grammar and conventions lessons along with our spelling to really "raise the bar" in our editing skills. We will be doing three units of study in writing during this last quarter. They are: advice articles, advice columns, and memoir.
Reading this quarter will continue to work on comprehension, accuracy, and fluency, with a special empahsis on expanding vocabulary. We will be reading articles and memoirs to influence our writing. We will also be using some kindles in our classroom to determine the impact of this technology on our readers. It will be an exciting time!
Many of you have begun to inquire about dates. Formal invitations for Go West are going home tomorrow, but here are some dates that you might want to pencil in to your calendar:
April 20th--Fieldtrip to Discovery World Museum
May 6th--Fieldtrip to Wisconsin Hills Middle School
May 20th--Go West Musical (Our time is 2:30-3:15)
June 8th--Fifth Grade Recognition (1:15 start)
Thank you so much for all of your on-going support!
Cindy Stemper
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