5C News January 22nd-26th

Families, I hope you were able to enjoy the warm weather, snuggle up with a good book,
mark some things off your to-do list, enjoy a movie, or simply be! I’m looking forward to
a 5-day week full of learning, giggles, life-lessons, and fun!

Middle School Course Forms: Be sure to take some time to look through your
5th graders course options for 6th grade and return the blue form by Friday,
January 26th.

West Middle Parent Night: Tuesday, January 23rd at 7:00 pm.

Highcroft Spelling Bee: Monday, January 22 at 2:30 in the MPR. Good luck to
Jake Chapman

Conferences: Highcroft's Spring Conference Night is Thursday, February 15th, from
4:30-8:00 pm.  We will once again use MyConferenceTime, an online platform, to
schedule conference meetings.The website is now open for sign-ups.

There are a few easy steps to register for your conference.  If you have one child at
Highcroft Ridge:

1. Go to www.myconferencetime.com/highcroftridge

2. Click your child’s teacher from the list of teachers.

3. Choose your preferred conference time from the list of available conferences
and click “Sign Up” under your preferred time.

4. Fill in all required information and any necessary optional information and click
“Sign Up for Your Conference.” Please be assured that all information is submitted s

ecurely and will only be used by the school for confirmation purposes.  It will not be

available to outside sources.

5. You will receive a confirmation email confirming your conference time.

If you have multiple students at Highcroft please click “Register for Multiple
Conferences,”then follow the steps to enter the information for each child. You will
then be presented the schedules for multiple teachers to compare.

If you do not have access to a computer or have difficulty scheduling, please contact
Sherry Heyse at sheyse@parkwayschools.net or call at 314-415-6406.

Valentine Party Request: Please send your child to school with photo of him or her
prior to Kindergarten. It is for a fun activity at our party and photos will be returned
after the party!

No Food Policy: As Valentine’s Day approaches, remember that Parkway has a no food
policy which includes NOT sending candy or any type of food/snack items with the
Valentine's. You may send stickers, pencils, etc.

January

22: Spelling Bee, 2:30 pm, MPR

23: Kindergarten Registration, 7:30 am - 6:00 pm, MPR

     West Middle Parent Orientation, 7:00 pm, West Middle

24: Choice Informational Meeting, 6:00 pm, South High

25: Snow Date for Spelling Bee, 2:30 pm, MPR

     Snow Date for West Middle Parent Orientation, 7:00 pm, West Middle

  PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, MPR

29: Land of Smiles Dental Presentation, Grades K-3, 2:00 pm, MPR

January 29 - February 2: Stuffed Animal Drive

February

1 - 2: Stuffed Animal Drive

7: Late Start, School begins at 11:05 am

   Spirit Day - Twin Day

8: All Read, 3:25 pm

13: Spirit of Excellence, 6:30 pm, Touhill Performing Arts Center

14: Valentine Parties, 2:35 pm - 3:30 pm

15: Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm

16: No School - Records/Professional Development Day

19: No School - Presidents Day

21: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle

22: PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, Highcroft Library

28: Strings Concert, 4th & 5th Grade, 6:30 pm, Highcroft Gym

Reading: This week in reading, we will continue our unit, Argument and Advocacy.

Arguing to Learn: Students will learn that readers can prepare for and have a debate
on an issue they are researching, and this can help them find new ways of thinking about
their ideas and give them new insights into their issue.

Moving beyond Considering One Debatable Question: In this session, students will
learn that researchers push themselves to ask new questions and develop new ideas
about their issue, then narrow their focus before conducting further research.

Raising the Level of Annotating Texts: Students will learn that readers annotate
a text in a purposeful and deliberate way as they read--to help them remember the
author's big ideas, as well as their own thoughts and ideas--and that readers can use
their annotations to facilitate evidence-based conversation about the text.

Writing:  This week in writing, we will continue our unit, The Research-Based Argument
Essay.

Balancing Evidence with Analysis: Students will learn that writers analyze their
evidence and explain their thinking, so that their own voice is powerful throughout their
writing.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Students will learn carefully consider a variety of formats
and choose the one that will effectively convey their message.

Taking Arguments Up a Notch: Students will shift from writing a persuasive letter to
beginning a research project.

Bringing a Critical Perspective to Writing: Students will bring all that they know
about reading critically in to writing critically.

Math: This week in math, we continue our unit, Adding and Subtracting Fractions.

Add Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Students will learn to add fractions with unlike
denominators using equivalent fractions with a common denominator.

Subtract Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Students will use equivalent fractions as a
strategy to subtract fractions with unlike denominators.

Estimate Sums and Differences of Mixed Numbers: Students will use various
methods to estimate sums and differences of mixed numbers

Important Fraction Vocabulary: benchmark fraction, equivalent fractions,
common denominator

Social Studies: This week we will continue our Discovery, Exploration and Early
Settlement unit.  We will focus on the motives and impacts of the early explorers who
settled in America.  Students will realized that exploration and colonization played a
huge role on the history of America.  Our new vocabulary words include New World,
Age of Exploration, explorers, and archaeologist.

Science: Students will be tested over Mixtrues and Solutions on Friday, January 26th. Your child has been given a study guide and will work to complete the study guide during science.

5C News January 16th-19th

Last week, we discussed MLK and his message of love and good character.
We hope to follow in his footsteps, as we work to live out our own dreams! Check
out some of the dreams we have in room 501!

Thank you, Mr. Gillies, for reading to us during our January All Read and

for being so flexible with the time change!

Abilities Awareness Week: This week is Abilities Awareness Week! We will learn about different abilities inside and outside the classroom.

Central Middle School Field Trip: Our Field Trip to Central Middle School is this Thursday, January 18th. Thank you to everyone who has signed and turned in their permission forms!

January

16-19: Abilities Awareness Week

17: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle

22: Spelling Bee, 2:30 pm, MPR

23: Kindergarten Registration, 7:30 am - 6:00 pm, MPR

     West Middle Parent Orientation, 7:00 pm, West Middle

24: Choice Informational Meeting, 6:00 pm, South High

25: Snow Date for Spelling Bee, 2:30 pm, MPR

     Snow Date for West Middle Parent Orientation, 7:00 pm, West Middle

  PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, MPR

29: Land of Smiles Dental Presentation, Grades K-3, 2:00 pm, MPR

January 29 - February 2: Stuffed Animal Drive

February

1 - 2: Stuffed Animal Drive

7: Late Start, School begins at 11:05 am

   Spirit Day - Twin Day

8: All Read, 3:25 pm

13: Spirit of Excellence, 6:30 pm, Touhill Performing Arts Center

14: Valentine Parties, 2:35 pm - 3:30 pm

15: Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:30 pm - 8:00 pm

16: No School - Records/Professional Development Day

19: No School - Presidents Day

21: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle

22: PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, Highcroft Library

28: Strings Concert, 4th & 5th Grade, 6:30 pm, Highcroft Gym

Reading: This week in reading, we will continue our unit, Argument and Advocacy.

Strengthening Club Work: Students will research the question, “What moves can
people make that help a conversation to deepen and grow richer?”

Readers Think and Wonder as They Read: Students will learn that researching is a
continual cycle of reading more, raising new questions, and having new ideas...then reading more,
this time with those new ideas in mind. You always want to shift from taking in information to
reflecting on information.

Summarizing to Hold onto What is Most Essential: Students will learn that when readers
summarize arguments, they use their own words to express the most essential parts of the
writer’s argument--the central idea or claim, and major points--all the while being careful to not
distort any of what the writer meant. Students use the rubric below to self-reflect and set new
goals as they work to write thoughtful summaries.

Writing:  This week in writing, we will continue our unit, The Research-Based Argument Essay.

Using Evidence to Build Arguments: Your child will learn that argument writers don’t just say
what they think personally. They give compelling evidence to prove their point. To do this, they
pore over research materials, analyzing which evidence will really support their claim--perhaps the
exact evidence that convinced then in the first place--and they often start by putting that evidence
into their letters in their own words.

Using Quotations to Bolster an Argument: Students will explore the question,
“What makes a quotation powerful?”

Redrafting to Add More Evidence: Students will plan to write their pieces over again in a new and different way.
This will help them learn about the power of revision.

Math: This week in math, we continue our unit, Adding and Subtracting Fractions.

Add Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Students will learn to add fractions with unlike
denominators using equivalent fractions with a common denominator.

Subtract Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Students will use equivalent fractions as a
strategy to subtract fractions with unlike denominators.

Important Fraction Vocabulary: benchmark fraction, equivalent fractions,
common denominator

Social Studies: This week we will be starting a new unit in Social Studies called
Discovery, Exploration and Early Settlement.  Within this unit, we will focus on the
motives and impacts of the early explorers who settled in America.  Throughout this
unit, students will realized that exploration and colonization played a huge role on the
history of America.  Our new vocabulary words include New World, Age of Exploration,
explorers, and archaeologist.

Science: Students will be tested on Mixtures and Solutions on Friday, January 26th.

5C News January 8-12

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday break as much as I did!
I am so excited to start a new year with your kind, funny, talented, and social
5th graders!

Winter Reading Challenge: Check out these cozy readers enjoying their choice books!

#Highcroftreads #Winterreadingchallenge

Band Night: 7:00 Band Parent Information Night Parkway Central Middle School

Late Start Wednesday: We have a late start this Wednesday, December 6.

School will start 2 hours later than usual and buses will pick up 2 hours later.

Late Start Days are designed to allow teachers to collaborate in Professional Learning

Communities and commit to helping every child be more successful in school.

PJ Day: Wear Pajamas to school on Late Start Wednesday!

Family Groups: Family Groups will meet on January 10th from 3:15-3:45. The fifth graders will be presenting their information about hurricanes to each group.

Granting Dreams: Each year, the Parkway Alumni Association sponsors the Granting Dreams program.  This opportunity is designed to turn dreams into realities for students eager to further their learning or explore new opportunities. Grant requests have covered a wide range of interests, including Japanese lessons for a grade school youngster to a medical mission trip to Honduras and a student wanting to take a robotics class. Students can be awarded up to $250 to finance their dream, or they may be awarded community resources and/or alumni support. Students are encouraged to submit requests that demonstrate a commitment to developing a skill, acquiring knowledge or experience, or participating in activities related to school or the community.

Click here to download a Granting Dreams Application

January

1-3: No School, Winter Break4: School Resumes

10: Late Start, School begins at 11:05 am, Spirit Day - PJ Day

11: All Read, 3:25 pm

15: No School, Martin Luther King, Jr., Birthday

16-19: Abilities Awareness Week

17: Parkway Board of Education Meeting, 7:00 pm, Central Middle

22: Spelling Bee, 2:30 pm, MPR

23: Kindergarten Registration, 7:30 am - 6:00 pm, MPR

     West Middle Parent Orientation, 7:00 pm, West Middle

24: Choice Informational Meeting, 6:00 pm, South High

25: Snow Date for Spelling Bee, 2:30 pm, MPR

     Snow Date for West Middle Parent Orientation, 7:00 pm, West Middle

  PSO Meeting, 7:00 pm, MPR

29: Land of Smiles Dental Presentation, Grades K-3, 2:00 pm, MPR

January 29 - February 2: Stuffed Animal Drive

Reading: This week in reading, we will begin our new unit, Argument and Advocacy: Researching Debatable Issues. This is a unit that supports students in reading more complex, challenging nonfiction. It is also a unit that aims to support your fifth graders in becoming more activ

e and critical citizens. In today’s world, we need people who think for themselves. The world needs people who read to be informed, who try to truly understand an issue before having an opinion, and who do not just accept what they read, but who think deeply enough to question what they read. Above all, the world needs people who can work for change when it is needed.

In session one, students will learn that readers recognize that a good argument is supported by reasons backed up by evidence, so when readers analyze an argument, they ask themselves questions about the claim being made, the reasons supporting that claim, and the evidence backing up those reasons. In session two, students will learn that when readers research an argument, they learn to grasp both sides of that argument by focusing initially on texts that lay out the argument clearly, and then reading for both sides. Mid-week, we will pause to reflect and set goals based on our pre-assessments. In session three, we will learn that researchers read deeply about an issue, developing information that allows them to become authorities on that issue. Finally, Friday, we will work to grow our conversation with our clubs. Students will investigate the question, “What moves can people make that help a conversation to deepen and grow richer?

Writing:  This week in writing, we will begin our new unit, The Research-Based Argument Essay. Yes, your 5th grader is going to learn how to write a five paragraph essay! This skill is one that will be important for the rest of their academic careers. But, not only will they learn how to structure an essay, more importantly, they will learn to argue with logic as well as passion (and to listen to and read the arguments of others, testing them for their logic and credibility), your 5th grader will learn  to become discriminating and credible, influential and engaged.

During session one, students will learn that when argument writers begin to research a topic, they investigate and collect information about both sides of the issue. In session two, I will remind your child that writers often use what they know about structuring an essay to help them quickly write a full, rough draft of their argument. In session three, students will understand that argument writes conduct research and provide evidence that supports their claim.

Math: This week in math, we will begin our new unit, Adding and Subtracting Fractions.  We will begin this unit by reviewing fraction terms such as denominator, numerator, unit fraction, mixed number, benchmark fraction, equivalent fractions, and common denominator.  Throughout this week, we will learn about estimating fractions by rounding fractions to 0, 1/2, or 1.  This will help recognize if the answer if reasonable or not.  We will practice finding common denominators by listing out multiples of numbers and by drawing models.  Spending time practicing how to find common denominators will make it a smooth transition to adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.  I encourage you to discuss fractions in the real-world!

Important Fraction Vocabulary: benchmark fraction, equivalent fractions, common denominator

Social Studies: This week we will be starting a new unit in Social Studies called Discovery, Exploration and Early Settlement.  Within this unit, we will focus on the motives and impacts of the early explorers who settled in America.  Throughout this unit, students will realize that exploration and colonization played a huge role in the history of America.  Our new vocabulary words include New World, Age of Exploration, explorers, and archaeologist.

Science: Remember: Students will rotate every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for science. Our class is currently studying Mixtures and Solutions with Ms. Epstein.

Hi, families!

Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday break as much as I did! I am so excited to start a new year with your kind, funny, talented, and social 5th graders!