Recycling Presentations

Hello Families,

I hope everyone is having a great day. Today your child presented to different 5th grade classes about our bottle caps/lids recycling project. Everyone did AWESOME! The 5th grade seems amazed at the undertaking of this project and seem very excited to help.

I have added all the group presentations to my Google Drive. If you would like to view your child's group's completed presentation, please click here . Each presentation is titled with one child's name so ask your child whose group they were in. I have also tweeted out some pictures/videos so check out our class twitter feed here to see the presentations in action!

Don't forget to collect caps/lids over break! We already have 3 buckets full! We will weigh what we have when we return from winter break :-)

Enjoy your holidays and please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns! Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Martinson

A Peek at Our Week

Hello Families,

I hope everyone is having a great week! I must say that I am looking forward to winter break...Florida sunshine here I come! I wanted to give you some updates/info about our exciting, holiday filled week!

Holiday Activities
Students will be participating in different holiday activities this week to get them in the spirit of the season. Here is what is in store for them:

• Today we celebrated Holidays Around the World. Students "traveled" to different countries and learned about the holiday that was celebrated there. Ask your child to share something fun they learned!
• Wednesday, December 13th--Students will get to enjoy the Mercer Middle School band holiday sing along
• Friday, December 15th--Students will get to enjoy the staff holiday sing-along. This is an annual event that is enjoyed by everyone!

Cap Collection/Presentations

Keep sending in your caps and lids. We already have 2 large baskets full. We have to be close to 500 pounds now 😜.

Students have been working hard on their 5th grade presentations. In groups of 4, students have been preparing posters and PowerPoints to share our recycling project with the 5th grade classes. The hope is that we make them aware of the importance of recycling and encourage them to collect caps/lids for our project as well! Students will be presenting their projects on Thursday. While not required, it will make it feel more "official" if students dress to impress!

Winter Homework

I will be sending home some winter homework to encourage students to stay on top of their reading and math skills. While this homework is optional, I strongly encourage it. Students will be bringing it home on FRIDAY and it will be due the day we get back from school. 

Important Dates:

• Monday, December 11th-Wednesday, December 13th--Holiday Shop during school
• Wednesday, December 13th--Division Test (MY MATH CLASS ONLY)
• Wednesday, December 13th--Interims emailed home, please check on ParentVUE
• Thursday, December 14th--Recycling presentations to 5th grade classes (dress to impress!)
• Friday, December 15th--Word Study Tests

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Take care :-)

Mrs. Martinson

Field Trip and Hour of Code

Hello Families,

What an exciting day we have had so far! I wanted to share some important information about our upcoming field trip, the Hour of Code, and other important dates`.

Field Trip:
Our field trip is THIS FRIDAY! The weather looks cool and cloudy so please make sure your child dresses appropriately. We will be outdoors for part of the trip. Students will be eating lunch at the farm. Please remember to pack them a brown bag lunch. That means that all students bring their own lunch and everything in their lunch is disposable (DO NOT send students with Tupperware/reusable water bottles). Please write your child's name on the front of the bag as well. We will leave school at 9:00am and return by 1:30pm.

Hour of Code:
Students participated in the Hour of Code today. We started the day by listening to Mr. Stripling, a financial programmer, talk to us about coding, potential careers, and what coding looks like. After his presentation, students completed different coding activities. You can find the activities here if you want your child to do them at home as well. Finally, at the end of our hour, we had a celebration where students received a certificate of completion and their t-shirt. Students were SO excited about getting their t-shirts so thanks for keeping that a surprise. Please remind your child to WEAR THEIR T-SHIRT TOMORROW! We are going to take some celebratory group photos tomorrow. Check my twitter feed here to see some pictures from today's exciting event!

Important Dates:

• Dictionary Quiz TOMORROW! Students can complete a review on nearpod.com by entering the code RCDKP.
• Friday, December 8th--Holiday Cookie Orders due. All proceeds go to The American Cancer Society. Read more about it here and place your order here. 
• December 9th--5th Grade Pancake Breakfast and Holiday Bazaar from 8:30am-11:30am 
• December 11th-13th--Holiday Shop open during school hours at Pinebrook. Students can bring in money and shop for gifts for their family. 

Don't forget to keep collecting lids and caps! Thanks and let me know if you have any questions!

Mrs. Martinson

Dictionary Skills Review

Hello Families,

For the past week, students have been learning about the dictionary. They have been practicing putting words in ABC order, using guide words to find words in a dictionary, getting a variety of information about one word from the dictionary, and working with words that have multiple meanings.

Since we have spent so much class time practicing our dictionary skills, I will be giving kids a dictionary quiz on THURSDAY. In an effort to help students prepare at home, I have created a Nearpod lesson that students can navigate through to review and study.

To access the lesson, you need to go to nearpod.com. Once there, enter the code RCDKP into the box at the top (students DO NOT need to log in).

Once students are logged in, they can navigate through the lesson at their own pace. 

I hope this helps students get some extra practice! Enjoy :-) 

Mrs. Martinson

Hour of Code!

Hello Families,

I am so excited that Hour of Code is finally here! Our class has signed up to participate on Wednesday, December 6th. I have planned to have a speaker come in who has experience with coding come talk to the class to kick off the event. Then, students will have the opportunity to choose to work on Scratch or an Hour of Code activity for a solid hour. While students are working, I am going to have them keep track of how many lines of code they wrote. Finally, at the end of the hour, students will decorate a sign showing how many lines of code they wrote. We will celebrate their coding success by having a ceremony where students will be given a certificate of completion and their t-shirt. I am sure some students will want to wear their t-shirt immediately, but I ask that ALL STUDENTS WEAR THE T-SHIRT ON THURSDAY.  I will take plenty of pictures to capture this exciting event!

Upcoming Tests:

• Geography Test TOMORROW! Click here to access some activities to help with studying.
• Word Study will resume next week. They will have their Word Study test on Friday, December 15th.

Hope everyone is having a great Monday. As always, please email me if you have any questions or concerns! 

Mrs. Martinson :-)

Collect those Caps!

Hello Families,

Happy Sunday! Our Recycling project is well underway. Students have been working hard preparing for their upcoming presentations to the 5th grade classes in an effort to spread the word about recycling and our cap/lid collection.

I have been really proud of the ownership they have taken over this project. The kids are being responsible about what can and can't go in the recycling bin. One of the things we learned was that ziploc bags and plastic bags can't be put in the regular recycling bin because they jam up the machines when they get taken to the recycling centers. They are supposed to be returned to grocery stores. Taking this information to heart, we have started collecting our plastic bag items separately so that we can dispose of them responsibly. The kids are also bringing in caps/lids on a daily basis. Since starting this project 3 days ago, we already have 1 pound of caps/lids collected. That is AWESOME! I love how empowered these kids are and I hope this project will have a lasting impression on them :-)

To help aid in the collection of caps/lids and help to spread the word in the community, below is a flyer that was created that clearly identifies what caps/lids can be collected. If you would like to download the flyer, click here.

Upcoming Events

• Monday, December 4th--Word Study Test
• Tuesday, December 5th--Geography Test
• Wednesday, December 6th--HOUR OF CODE event!!
• Friday, December 8th--Field Trip to Ballentine Farms

Enjoy the remainder of your week! Let me know if you have any questions :-) 

Mrs. Martinson