Wow! It's hard to believe that we are so close to being half way through the school year. The second quarter is quite a busy one with several projects in the works. As we move through the quarter, we focus on independence and continue to strive for better organization and study habits.

In Math, the class was introduced to integers, algebra, and the distributive property. The class was very enthusiastic as we studied these chapters, and I hope that their enthusiasm continues into our upcoming chapters, which look at adding and subtracting fractions.

In Social Studies, we have concentrated heavily on the effects of geography in the lives of the early Native Americans. The students are working collaboratively with their groups on their Native American projects. As we start the second half of the quarter, we begin our study of early exploration and its effects on the Native Americans.

In Religion, we completed our study of how Jesus calls us to serve others. We discussed the importance of using our talents to continue Christ's work. In Family life, we discussed the different types of families, the importance of families in a society, and how our moods affect others. We are currently discussing the meaning of Advent, as well as the Beatitudes. Towards the end of the quarter students will begin a saint report.

In English, we studied nouns and verbs. Students created their own songs or poems to help them memorize the helping and linking verbs. We all enjoyed these performances very much. We will begin a new unit on adjectives in the coming weeks.

In Literature, we completed our first novel, James and the Giant Peach. Students are also writing to our first grade Mass Buddies about the adventures they have had with Flat Stanley. We are currently reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as well as the second unit of our text.

We are working hard, but having a good time along the way. The students are very positive and enthusiastic and make learning new concepts fun. I am looking forward to the rest of this quarter!

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! I am so excited to welcome all of you to a new school year. It's hard to believe that we are almost midway through the first quarter. I look forward to meeting with all of you in the coming weeks. Fifth grade is a significant year for students. It is their first time in the "Big Building", and they begin to learn about the culture of being in the upper school. The school year will focus on building organization and study skills, as well as community building in order to strengthen our commitment to the Catholic faith and mission.

The work will be challenging, but students will be given the skills and support that they need to meet these challenges. This year, one of my main goals is to emphasize the importance of being responsible, especially for one’s actions and work. We will also work on organization. I would like the students to realize the importance of learning, and encourage them to take pride in and ownership over their work.

These first few weeks focused on learning classroom procedures and routines. We've also been working on learning our basic classroom rules and getting ourselves and our desks organized. We are well into the fifth grade curriculum. In Religion, the class has been studying the beauty and wonder of God's creations. Students have created posters about how we can show our respect and appreciation for all of God's gifts and are preparing to present them to the class.

In Math, the class has worked on factoring numbers, and we are currently looking at how to simplify and compare fractions.

In Social Studies, we have been discussing the different types of natural resources found in the United States and how they are used in products we use in our daily lives. We have made connections between what we are learning about natural resources in Social Studies with our discussion of respecting God's creations in Religion.

In English, both 5th grade classes wrote about their summer vacations are are now identifying the simple subjects and predicates of sentences.

In Literature, the class began to learn how to outline and spent a lot of time outlining the events of both summer reading books.

I look forward to meeting with you next week at our Parent Teacher conferences.