A Helping Hand

Parents,

Our time in the classroom over the past week-and-a-half has been full of collaborative projects and setting firm foundations for the students' coming school years in middle school.

5th Grade Small Mall
As we mentioned in the previous post, this year at AD each grade is raising awareness and financial assistance for a cause outside of our community.  As a grade, we have chosen to sponsor schools and students in India.  Most of the students and families that we are going to be helping live on less than $1.00 a day.  In order to raise funds, 5th grade is hosting a "Small Mall" for all AD students to shop from for holiday gifts for their families during the week of December 3-6 between 8:00-8:45 in the morning.  5th graders will usher younger students throughout the store and help make gift choices based on the amount of money the student wants to spend.  Once the week is complete we will donate all proceeds to Carole Rogers (a retired AD teacher) who will travel to India in the Spring of 2014.  Our goal is to send Carole with at least $1,000, which would go a long way in providing essentials for students and families in India.  To give you an idea of just how far it would go; you can provide a uniform from head-to-toe for a student for $5 and build a brand new school for $300.  We cannot wait to see all the students here at AD catch the vision for this project like our 5th graders have over the past two weeks.  Please see the video below for more information from Carole Rogers about her work in India.

We are still in need of 5th grade helpers and parent volunteers for the small mall.  Please email either 5th grade teacher for more information on how you and your student can help!

Classroom Communication via Our Blog and Edmodo
This year we have been using technology as much as possible in place of paper communication.  The following information is going to clarify how we are using two tools to communicate with parents this year.

Blog- We are using this blog as a place to update parents on activities and big events happening in our classroom.  This is not the place to check for homework, planner, and other day-to-day happenings for your student.  With Mrs. Rhea taking a leave of absence earlier this year, it has taken some time to redistribute her responsibilities between Mrs. Porter and Mr. Baldwin.  We appreciate your patience and grace in that time, but now you can expect an update on the blog on a weekly basis.

Edmodo-  Edmodo is the avenue we have chosen to communicate with students and parents on a day-to-day basis.  This is where students will find their homework every day and where they will take quizzes for morning work daily.  You, as a parent, can have access to this information by signing up for an account at www.edmodo.com and selecting the "I'm a Parent" link on the home screen (see screenshot below).  Once you have an account email Mrs. Porter for a classroom code so you can be added to our digital classroom.  Please feel free to email either Mrs. Porter or Mr. Baldwin with questions or concerns about Edmodo or the blog.

Upcoming Events (See your student's Edmodo calender for a description of these events)

November 27-29: No School
December 2-6: 5th Grade "Small Mall" Open (8:00-8:45 AM)
December 2-6: Canned Food Drive for Liberty Community Christmas Tree
December 2-6: Toys for Tot Drive

Have a great holiday!

AD 5th Grade

A Whirlwind

The past two weeks in 5th Grade have been spent doing a whirlwind of different activities.

Parent/Teacher Conferences
During the week of October 21 - October 25 Alexander Doniphan held their Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences. Parents were updated on their student's progress so far this year, as well as, .  It was great to see all of our fifth grade parents and to share a little bit about each of our students during this time.  If you were not able to make it to a conference please contact your kiddo's teacher so we can arrange a conference at a convenient time.

Fall Party
On Thursday, October 31 Alexander Doniphan celebrated the season with our fall parties!  Our students went above and beyond with some great costumes this year.

We want to say a huge "THANK YOU!!!" to our party planners and parent volunteers who through a fantastic party for our kiddos!  YOU ROCK!

Visiting Author
On November 5th our students had the opportunity to hear from one of their favorite authors, Kelly Milner Halls.  Ms. Halls love to write about subjects that tend to gross and creep other people out, such as ghosts, dinosaurs, and other things.  We had a great time asking her questions and hearing about all of her crazy adventures.

Passion-Based Learning
This year, Alexander Doniphan wants to instill a sense of responsibility for the world around us in our students by having each grade take on a worldwide or nationwide cause to raise money for by doing different activities.  This past week our 2nd graders raised over $400 for endangered animal protection by raffling off different prizes.  The Grand prize was a hot-air balloon ride.  Way to go 2nd grade!  Be looking in the near future for announcements about 5th grade's passion-based project!

Birthdays in October
We celebrated our one birthday, Addy Shiddell, at the end of the month with caramel apples.  It was a great fall treat and we all had fun celebrating with Addy.

Continue to look here for updates and posts about what's going on in class from week-to-week.  If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to email or call your kiddo's teacher.

Have a great day!

Fifth Grade Team