Miscellaneous:

Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences

• An email was sent to parents this week regarding virtual conferences which will be held on March 8th or March 10th. Please check your inbox for an email from your child’s classroom teacher and sign up for a time slot on the link provided.

March Reading Month

• Georgetown will be celebrating reading for the month of March. We will have a school-wide western theme of Saddle Up & Read!  (Tied to Book Fair’s “Wild West” theme.)
  • A Daily/Weekly Reading Goal calendar will be sent home with the students. As a parent, you will sign the log agreeing that your child read for the 5th-grade weekly goal. The goal for 5th grade is 30 minutes a day or 150 minutes per week. If they reach this goal their name will be put in a weekly drawing.
  • We will have dress-up days each Friday in March. The first date, Friday, March 5th, will be Hats Off To Reading. Wear a hat, bandana or handkerchief!

Book Fair

• As in the Fall, there will be a book fair for the kids to shop in person or online during conference week. Watch for more information.

Early release on March 5, 2021

Math: 

• We are continuing Unit 5: Division with Whole Numbers and Decimals

ELA:

• We are focusing on themes and continuing to create a literary essay about the theme found in our book club books.
• Since we’re asking students to spend a few extra minutes reading to complete the reading month calendar, we will not have our normal weekly reading homework sheet for the month of March.

Social Studies:

• We are learning about the events that lead to the Revolutionary War.

Literary Essays in Progress

Author Chat: An Interview with Kwame Alexander!

We got the opportunity to listen in on “Light for the World to See: A Conversation with Kwame Alexander,” hosted by Hope College!

As a part of our Black History Month conversation, the Light for the World to See event is prompted by Alexander’s newest powerful and provocative collection of poems that cut to the heart of the entrenched racism and oppression in America and eloquently explores ongoing events.  Light for the World to See is a rap session on race. A lyrical response to the struggles of Black lives in our world . . . to America’s crisis of conscience . . . to the centuries of loss, endless resilience, and unstoppable hope.

Alexander also discussed some of his popular books that our students have eaten up this year, including The Crossover, Rebound, Booked, Becoming Muhammad Ali, and others! Full of tips for aspiring writers and inspiration for us to live and treat each other with respectful understanding, this conversation will be one that students will hopefully remember for a long time!

Miscellaneous:

• Please make sure your child comes to school with a jacket and outdoor clothing appropriate for the weather.
• Parent-teacher conferences will be held in early March. Like in the fall, our conferences will be held via Zoom. Watch for an email with a sign-up link coming soon.
• STAR Testing reports will come home in a white, sealed envelope on Friday, February 19. These are sent home on behalf of the district to fulfill State of Michigan requirements. We will discuss and interpret these at our upcoming parent-teacher conferences in March.
• A quick reminder to relay the importance of having
  your child wear their mask appropriately while in school. Since lots of condensation accumulates after being outside, we have back-up masks available. Alternatively, you could pack a backup mask in your
  child’s backpack if that would be more comfortable.

Habitudes

A GPS is only helpful if you are on paved roads. If you are entering new areas, you need a compass that shows you true north. Similarly, we need values that provide direction when we enter new territory.  Today, during our Habitudes time, we talked about how a compass represents Self-Awareness and Self-Efficacy. Read more about these below!

Miscellaneous:

• Please make sure your child comes to school with a jacket and outdoor clothing appropriate for the weather. Boots, snow pants, gloves, and hats are all highly encouraged! 😉

Math: 

• We are beginning Unit 5: Division with Whole Numbers and Decimals

ELA:

• We are focusing on themes and will begin writing a literary essay about the theme found in our book club books.

Social Studies:

• We are continuing to explore our unit on life in colonial America.

Valentine’s Day

In fifth grade, we do not have individual parties for Valentine’s Day. We will have an optional Valentine exchange. If your child chooses to participate, please have him or her bring a Valentine for each student in the class. If not, that’s okay too! 

In lieu of a party, we will be watching a film to extend our ongoing Black History Month conversations. Our class will be watching The Watson’s Go To Birmingham, 1963, based off of the middle grades novel by Christopher Paul Curtis. Apart from being a highly recommended book that all teachers endorse in 5th grade, this story contributes to the conversation we, as a district, are engaging with regarding some of our SOAR-IV goals relate to the values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Throughout the month, we will continue to look for ways to highlight a person or event related to Black history.

Birthday Reminders

Many students have asked if they may celebrate their 1/2 birthday in class, and, of course! Your child may choose that or during the last week of school, we’ll do a “Birthday Blowout” of any summer birthdays that have not been celebrated yet. Please review our birthday policy HERE. Thanks! 🙂

This February, we would like to embark on a journey as a larger school community to bring awareness to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We recognize that these symbolic endeavors do not replace the need for systemic actions to advance our goals related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. For this reason, the district is currently engaging in committee work with a third-party consultant to develop a strategic plan that will promote the long-term sustainability of these efforts. 

As a district, some of our SOAR-IV goals relate to the values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Throughout the month, we will look for ways to highlight a person or event related to Black history.

As a grade-level team, we will begin by using our 5th-grade social studies curriculum to guide our instruction through the history of African Americans in colonial times. Next, we will explore segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. Finally,we will focus on contributions from Black Americans in the area of arts, literature, culture, and science.