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.