Lynchsters Mr. Lynch's 5th Grade Class 

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Parent/Teacher Conferences last week. Although the next conferences aren’t until the spring, please contact me at any time if there are any questions, comments, or concerns.

The World Food Fest is on Friday, December 22 at 11:45 AM. Parents (or even grandparents) are invited to come join us. We will have plenty of food so even if you can only stop by for a few minutes, feel free to pop in to grab some food and go. Students will do almost all of this project in school. The only exception is that each student is required to bring in one dish from the country they chose. Students decided amongst themselves if the dish would be be a main dish, an appetizer, or a dessert. I asked students to give parents A LOT of time to see if the food is doable. If it’s easier to buy the food as opposed to making it, that’s ok, but I just want the student to make the decision (or have a discussion with parents) as to what food will be.

Finally, this is Miss Colgan’s final week with us in the classroom. She has been student teaching with us since the very first day of school so the students really don’t know what the classroom is like without her here. Both myself and the students will greatly miss her, but she is on to bigger things – hopefully getting a classroom of her own in the near future!

Upcoming Events

World Food Fest – Friday, December 22 (11:45 AM)

Winter Break (No School) – December 23 – January 1

Nathan Hale Homestead trip – Friday, May 18

Students will start Unit 4: Multiply and Divide Decimals in math on Monday.

Thank you to everyone who helped out with the Holiday Bear Project. Our journey to Walmart went very well on Wednesday afternoon, and then we concluded the project with a wrapping fest on Thursday. Two kids will hopefully have a nice surprise this holiday season with their gifts.

Parent/Teacher Conferences are officially on Thursday & Friday this week, although I will be offering conferences all week as well. If you haven’t signed up, make sure to do so. There are a few open spots still available.  

Upcoming Events

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

Nathan Hale Homestead trip – Friday, May 18

Students will have their Unit 3 Math test on Thursday. An optional, extra review session will be held on Thursday morning as well.

Our Holiday Bear Project is coming to a conclusion this week. Whoever is interested/available will be meeting me at Walmart in Avon on a day this week (the day which is on the Monday Memo). Using the money we collect, we will purchase gifts (also wrapping paper and tape) for these two kids, and then the entire class will wrap them up the next morning (after a lesson on present wrapping). ​

Upcoming Events

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

Nathan Hale Homestead trip – Friday, May 18

We have a 2.5 dayer this week. Enjoy those turkeys and of course, the infamous Black Friday.

Last week I introduced students to our class business, Bungles. They received a job applications and had the opportunity to apply for a position as either a manager, sales representative, or advertising agent. On Monday they will find out their positions and then we will start inventorying and pricing items; training the sales reps on the cash boxes and receipts; and creating an advertising campaign for our December Grand Opening.

Our Holiday Bear Project is underway, and students worked on their scripts and started to call businesses last week. We are sponsoring a​n 10​​-year-old ​girl and a​ ​10-year-old boy​ boy ​(who I don’t think are brother/sister​) whose famil​ies​ ​are​ having a difficult time and would be hard pressed to provide gifts for their kids during the holidays.

Upcoming Events

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

Nathan Hale Homestead trip – Friday, May 18

With the cold weather finally here, students should bring a jacket to school. Yes, some of them will refuse to wear anything but shorts and a t-shirt because they are made out of fire or something like that, but they should still wear a t-shirt in case their fire burns out.

Students will be taking a test on Story Mountain on Tuesday. They started to review this on Friday, and will do a practice one on Monday using the book Wonder.

On Monday I will be introducing students to the Holiday Bear Project, which is a charity that sponsors children who need a little holiday boost. We will be sponsoring a​n 10​​-year-old ​girl and a​ ​510-year-old boy​ boy ​(who I don’t think are brother/sister​) whose famil​ies​ ​are​ having a difficult time and would be hard pressed to provide gifts for their kids during the holidays.

Upcoming Events

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

The Unit 2 Math Test was last week. We start Unit 3: Add and Subtract Decimals this week.

If you haven’t signed up for a Parent/Teacher Conference yet, refer to the previous e-mail I sent with online sign-up information.

Upcoming Events

Picture Makeup Day – Friday, November 10

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

Last week students had the opportunity to participate in the fifth grade More Than Money Conference  at Aetna. This conference focused on financial literacy and used the Junior Achievement curriculum. It was taught by volunteers from Aetna, and students had the chance to meet other fifth grade students from the greater Hartford area.

The Unit 2 Math Test will be on Thursday. An optional, extra math review will take place on Thursday morning at 7:30 AM. Students will also have an in-class review on Wednesday.

We head to Sturbridge Village on Friday. Students will be walking quite a bit so sneakers are a must, as well as a lunch/drink. The class will be split into a few groups and each group will decide for themselves where to eat. Therefore, students will be walking around with lunches for a few hours. Those tiny drawstring backpacks are great on this trip. Regular backpacks are a pain – otherwise, students are better off carrying their lunches in a sturdy disposable bag. Electronics are allowed on the bus, but they cannot make an appearance in Sturbridge itself.

Upcoming Events

Picture Makeup Day – Friday, November 10

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

Students started Junior Achievement last week with Ms. Barcikowski. They will be involved in a five session program over the next few months. This will fit in nicely with both the More Than Money Conference, and the other financial literacy tie-ins we will be doing this year such as our class business (Bungles) and the upcoming Holiday Bear Project (more info to follow on that second one).

Students started Genius Time last week. Genius Time is a modified form of Genius Hour, which originated from the company Google. Engineers at Google were encouraged to spend 20% of their time (one hour) each day on any project that they wanted to work on. Many really cool ideas came out of these special side projects. According to Google, the idea is very simple.  Allow people to work on something that interests them, and productivity will go up. For students, it’s not a full hour as it will take place during the second half of Targeted Instruction (TO) time, but the concept is the same. They will choose a project to work on from a list I created (along with their input). All components of this project all housed on Google Classroom so students have access to it at any time, even at home. At first all projects will be individual, but eventually they will be allowed to work with other students, too. If students have a project idea that is not on the list, they could discuss it with me to see if it could be added.

Upcoming Events

Picture Makeup Day – Friday, November 10

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

Thank you to everyone who helped out with the bike ride, whether it was waking your kid up early and bringing bikes back and forth, riding with us, or hauling backpacks to school.

Our first math test is on Tuesday, and students will be tested on Place Value. I will also hold and extra, optional review session before school on Tuesday. We will be reviewing in class on Monday as well – this is an additional review. This optional review session will take place on Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM in the classroom. All I ask is that if your child is attending, that you let me know in advance by responding to this e-mail. There is no need for any adults to come down to the classroom. Just kick your kid out of the car at the front door, tears and all, and have them drag themselves up to the entrance, all while glancing back at the car with angry glares. Depending on when they arrive, they may need to hit the buzzer on the outside wall for someone in the office to let them in. I taught them all how to do this a couple weeks ago.

Last week we had school pictures, the bike ride, Winding Trails, and the Egg Drop. Here ya go:

Upcoming Events

Picture Makeup Day – Friday, November 10

Parent Teacher Conferences – Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 (although I will offer times each morning all week as well)

An actual, real, true five day week! This week we have school pictures, the bike ride, Winding Trails, and the Egg Drop.

On Thursday, 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!

Thursday will also be our team’s day to go to Winding Trails in Farmington. We’ll be doing team building activities outside for most of the day. Students should bring a lunch, preferably one in a disposable bag. They have to carry it around to several spots so it’s much easier if they could toss it. Also, skip the brown paper bags and go with something strong, like plastic. With all the carrying they have to do, they tend to swing it around, breaking weak bags (especially brown paper ones) and feeding the Farmington ants.

The Egg Drop will take place on Friday at 8:40 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. While students heard that this event while take place, they will not learn any details about it until Tuesday.

Upcoming Events

School Picture Day – Tuesday, September 26

Winding Trails – Thursday, September 28

Bike Ride to School (optional) – Thursday, September 28 @ 7 AM

Egg Drop – Friday, September 29 @8:40 AM