Lynchsters Mr. Lynch's 5th Grade Class 

Students will take their first math test on Thursday, and they will take home a review packet on Monday to complete by Wednesday. We will review for the test in class on Wednesday. I also offer an additional, optional math review session before school on Thursday at 7:30 AM. Students who have attended in the past find it very helpful.

The Bike Ride went very well on Thursday morning, and all of my students survived unscathed and unblemished, despite sprinkler and mailbox obstacles.

The Egg Drop was a great success. Unfortunately for me, the students beat me this year. 14 eggs survived, while 9 were victimized by their great fall.

Picture Day is on Monday. Students should dress up all pertty-like. Cats are optional.

 

Upcoming Events

School Picture Day – Monday, September 26

Sturbridge Village – Friday, October 21

Parent/Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 8 and Friday, December 9

Nathan Hale Homestead – Friday, May 19

Students went to Winding Trails last week, and it was an absolutely perfect weather day. They worked together to complete many challenges, and finished the day with a human chain challenge. (See photo below – our class is the super squiggly line.)

Thursday is the (optional) bike ride to school. We leave from the Avon Free Public Library at 7 AM, and take a scenic and mostly flat ride into school. Students who want to come along will need a working bicycle (not the one they got when they were four with the training wheels still attached), properly inflated tires, and a helmet that fits. Every year someone shows up with either a helmet that doesn’t fit, flat tires, or a bike that is far too small/far too big. I also need parents to join us for the ride so if you would like a great way to start your day and get some exercise, please come along!

The Egg Drop is on Friday at 11:20 AM. Basically, I get on the roof of Thompson Brook School and throw down students’ egg containers, trying to break them along with all their hopes and dreams at the same time. They try to stop me. We’ll see who wins. Parents (and little ones not in school yet) are welcome to come watch. Everyone loves smashing things. Parents are also welcome to come back to the classroom afterwards to watch as we open the containers one at a time.

Upcoming Events

Bike Ride to School (optional) – Thursday, September 22 @ 7 AM

Egg Drop – Friday, September 23 @11:20 AM

School Picture Day – Monday, September 26

Sturbridge Village – Friday, October 21

Parent/Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 8 and Friday, December 9

Nathan Hale Homestead – Friday, May 19

Myself and a few of my former students appeared on the season premiere of the Better Connecticut television show on September 12 talking about the book students wrote last year.

WFSB 3 Connecticut

We have another four-dayer this week with Monday off for students. The Grade 5 Parent Open House is on Tuesday at 7 PM. I will be revealing all the secrets for getting your child into sixth grade astrophysics and sixth grade super duper advanced calculus. If you don’t come, you’re out of luck.

Our team goes to Winding Trails on Thursday. Students should bring sneakers and a lunch/water bottle. Disposable lunch bags are preferred as students do have to bring their lunch around with them from one location to the next and then to the next and the next and the next… If it’s disposable, at least they can be hands-free halfway through the day. Also, make sure the lunch bags are strong. I recommend at least a double plastic bag, or some other clever bag combo like a brown bag inside a plastic bag. Just a plain brown bag lunch is a bad, bad idea. Trust me. The kids swing their bags, and every year at least one kid sees his lunch bag break, with food spreading out into the fields into the awaiting mouths of hungry ants. Also, at this time of year it can sometimes be chilly in the morning and brutally hot in the afternoon, so if your child tends to be cold then a sweatshirt isn’t a bad idea. It’s easy to remove layers, but if the kids are cold and they’re only wearing a t-shirt then the only option is building their own grass and mud fleece. That gets itchy.

Homework Slips start on Wednesday. Up until this point if students forgot to turn in their homework, didn’t do it, or forgot their name on it (because doing document analysis on each homework without a name takes up valuable class time every day) we just had a conversation. It’s the beginning of the year and they’re just getting into the routine so thus far so I cut them a break. However, starting on Wednesday if they don’t turn in homework on time with a name then I send home a homework slip to be signed by a parent. It’s amazing how quickly the homework problems disappear each year when I start doing this.

On Thursday, September 22 I’ll be taking any interested students on a bike ride to school. We leave from the Avon Free Public Library at 7 AM, and take a scenic and mostly flat ride into school. This event is optional, but students who decide to come along will need a working bicycle (not the one they got when they were four with the training wheels still attached), properly inflated tires, and a helmet that fits. Every year someone shows up with either a helmet that doesn’t fit, flat tires, or a bike that is far too small/far too big. I also need parents to join us for the ride so if you would like a great way to start your day and get some exercise, please come along!

The Egg Drop will take place on Friday, September 23 at 11:20 AM. Basically, I get on the roof of Thompson Brook School and throw down students’ egg containers, trying to break them along with all their hopes and dreams at the same time. They try to stop me. We’ll see who wins. Parents (and little ones not in school yet) are welcome to come watch. Everyone loves smashing things.

 

 

Upcoming Events

Grade 5 Parent Open House – Tuesday, September 13 @ 7:00 PM 

Winding Trails – Thursday, September 15

Bike Ride to School (optional) – Thursday, September 22 @ 7 AM

Egg Drop – Friday, September 23 @11:20 AM

School Picture Day – Monday, September 26

Students survived the first three days of school, completing a 60% week. This week we’ll acclimate them a bit more with an 80% week, followed by an 80% week after that. We’ll get to one of those five day weeks sometime at the end of September. Unless a hurricane hits. Or some crazy fall snowstorm. Then we’ll go with power failures and no full weeks until November. Good times.

The Grade 5 Parent Open House is on Tuesday, September 13 at 7 PM. This is your opportunity to hear about all the ways you could get your child into both Harvard and MIT, where they will attend both schools majoring in seven advanced degrees all at the same time. If you miss the Open House you’re out of luck. Be there. All the cool parents are coming.

We spent the first three days doing all the preparation activities, getting kids ready to be successful once I barrage them with all the academics that start on Monday. Well, I snuck in a lot of academics last week, too, but shhhhhh…. don’t tell them that.

On Thursday, September 22 I’ll be taking any interested students on a bike ride to school. We leave from the Avon Free Public Library at 7 AM, and take a scenic and mostly flat ride into school. This event is optional, but students who decide to come along will need a working bicycle (not the one they got when they were four with the training wheels still attached), properly inflated tires, and a helmet that fits. Every year someone shows up with either a helmet that doesn’t fit, flat tires, or a bike that is far too small/far too big. I also need parents to join us for the ride so if you would like a great way to start your day and get some exercise, please come along!

The Egg Drop will take place on Friday, September 23 at 11:20 AM. Basically, I get on the roof of Thompson Brook School and throw down students’ egg containers, trying to break them along with all their hopes and dreams at the same time. They try to stop me. We’ll see who wins. Parents (and little ones not in school yet) are welcome to come watch. Everyone loves smashing things.

Below is the students’ schedule for the year. Targeted Instruction time is when students leave for Orchestra, Band, and Chorus (and a variety of different activities) on these days. Basically, Targeted Instruction is like a train station – students in and out of the classroom in droves depending on their particular schedule for the day.

7:55-8:20          Homeroom

8:20-8:40         Morning Meeting

8:41-9:31           Math

9:33-10:25        Specials

10:25-10:50      BRUNCH

10:51-11:15        RECESS

11:17-12:07        Language Arts

12:09-12:59       Language Arts

1:01-1:51            Targeted Instruction

1:53-2:43           Science (3 days a week)/Language Arts (2 days a week)

Mondays–Music; Tuesdays–Art; Wednesdays–PE/Spanish; Thursdays–Library; Fridays–Spanish/PE

Upcoming Events

Grade 5 Parent Open House – Tuesday, September 13 @ 7:00 PM

Winding Trails – Thursday, September 15

Bike Ride to School (optional) – Thursday, September 22 @ 7 AM

Egg Drop – Friday, September 23 @11:20 AM

School Picture Day – Monday, September 26

My 2015-2016 class wrote a book – Just Don’t Do It: 1,665 Things You Should Never Do. These are pictures from the filming done this summer for a segment on the Better Connecticut show with Scot Haney and Kara Sundlun. The air date is yet to be determined, but probably in September.