Important Dates
December 25 - January 2 – Winter Break
DMS FUNDRAISER & SERVICE PROJECT
Wrapping up- the DMS Promo Card Fundraiser is being done in conjunction with our annual service project of raising funds and donations for the local Food Pantry. Students are encouraged to keep selling the discount cards to work towards reaching our school goals!!
Students are also encouraged to bring in donations of non-perishable items and toiletries or cash donations between now and December 20th.
CLASSROOM NEWS
Math with Mrs. Halweg
Hybrid Math- In math this week we wrapped up our unit on dividing with fractions and mixed numbers. You student was assessed over these skills today. Next week we’ll spend time reviewing some other important 5th grade math concepts. When we return from winter break, we’ll move into our work with Course 1 (6th grade math). Your student will get their Mathia account. You will see them working on this at home from time to time.
Math 5- This week in math we wrapped up our unit on long division with remainders and long division with decimal answers. Your student started their assessment over these skills today. They’ll continue to work on this assessment on Monday as well. After completing the assessment, we’ll start our unit about adding fractions.
Language with Mr. Amundson
In Language class this week students started writing persuasive writing samples. Students spent time reading various mentor examples, picking a topic, choosing an audience, also providing reasons and evidence to support their persuasive writing topic. We finished up the week working on completing our persuasive writing samples and are planning on sharing the first part of next week.
Reading with Mrs. Nowack
To wrap up our genre study, students attend the Reading Cafe for a book tasting. It was a lot of fun; see pictures here. Students are reading fairy tales, myths, and fables in small guided reading groups. They also have a long-term genre project they are working on (due January 9).
Reminder: Students are expected to read from their IR book daily (it should travel from home to school each day).
Science with Mr. Peterson
We finished with our Matter unit, which introduced the kids to the idea that matter is made of particles that are too small to see but can be inferred because they take up space and weigh something. We used that central insight to explore various phenomenon: how smells move through the air, how liquids evaporate, how solids dissolve in liquids. Finally, we explored the difference between physical and chemical changes in matter.
What’s happening outside right now? I’ll post some videos that Larry Reis from Winneshiek County Conservation made over the last several years. Each video highlights some organisms that you might be able to see outside at this particular time of the year. This episode features red-breasted nuthatches, coralberry, and sharp-lobed hepatica.
Social Studies with Mr. Fromm
What we did: Timelines and Introduction to Colonial Regions
Where we are going: Compare/Contrast Colonial Regions
Questions/Prompts for your student: Why is the year 2023 in the 21st century? What makes a culture unique?
Additional Information
Below is a Spanish copy of this newsletter as rendered by Google Translate.
December 25 - January 2 – Winter Break
DMS FUNDRAISER & SERVICE PROJECT
Wrapping up- the DMS Promo Card Fundraiser is being done in conjunction with our annual service project of raising funds and donations for the local Food Pantry. Students are encouraged to keep selling the discount cards to work towards reaching our school goals!!
Students are also encouraged to bring in donations of non-perishable items and toiletries or cash donations between now and December 20th.
CLASSROOM NEWS
Math with Mrs. Halweg
Hybrid Math- In math this week we wrapped up our unit on dividing with fractions and mixed numbers. You student was assessed over these skills today. Next week we’ll spend time reviewing some other important 5th grade math concepts. When we return from winter break, we’ll move into our work with Course 1 (6th grade math). Your student will get their Mathia account. You will see them working on this at home from time to time.
Math 5- This week in math we wrapped up our unit on long division with remainders and long division with decimal answers. Your student started their assessment over these skills today. They’ll continue to work on this assessment on Monday as well. After completing the assessment, we’ll start our unit about adding fractions.
Language with Mr. Amundson
In Language class this week students started writing persuasive writing samples. Students spent time reading various mentor examples, picking a topic, choosing an audience, also providing reasons and evidence to support their persuasive writing topic. We finished up the week working on completing our persuasive writing samples and are planning on sharing the first part of next week.
Reading with Mrs. Nowack
To wrap up our genre study, students attend the Reading Cafe for a book tasting. It was a lot of fun; see pictures here. Students are reading fairy tales, myths, and fables in small guided reading groups. They also have a long-term genre project they are working on (due January 9).
Reminder: Students are expected to read from their IR book daily (it should travel from home to school each day).
Science with Mr. Peterson
We finished with our Matter unit, which introduced the kids to the idea that matter is made of particles that are too small to see but can be inferred because they take up space and weigh something. We used that central insight to explore various phenomenon: how smells move through the air, how liquids evaporate, how solids dissolve in liquids. Finally, we explored the difference between physical and chemical changes in matter.
What’s happening outside right now? I’ll post some videos that Larry Reis from Winneshiek County Conservation made over the last several years. Each video highlights some organisms that you might be able to see outside at this particular time of the year. This episode features red-breasted nuthatches, coralberry, and sharp-lobed hepatica.
Social Studies with Mr. Fromm
What we did: Timelines and Introduction to Colonial Regions
Where we are going: Compare/Contrast Colonial Regions
Questions/Prompts for your student: Why is the year 2023 in the 21st century? What makes a culture unique?
Additional Information
Below is a Spanish copy of this newsletter as rendered by Google Translate.