Fifth Grade Weekly Update...April 22-26, 2024

5th Grade Families,

Happy Friday Everyone!

Just six weeks to go!  It's getting warmer, but no shorts are allowed until May 1 per our school dress code.  Please be sure to read several very important notes below the important dates for this week.  Also, don’t forget to wash your gym uniform each weekend… they are being used every day now! 

IMPORTANT DATES:

• April 22: Earth Day!
• May 14 (Reading) & 16 (Math): Spring MAP TESTING
• May 15: 5th Grade Riveredge Field Trip
• May 17: Spring Choir/Band Concert

COMING SOON / PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR:

• May 19: ALL STUDENTS sing in church (8am L-Z & JuBellate / 11am A-K)
• May 24: 1/2 Day  11:40 Dismissal
• May 27:  NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day
• May 28: 5th Grade Ropes Course Field Trip
• May 30: Track & Field Day
• May 31:   LAST DAY OF SCHOOL & Closing Chapel Service with 10:00 dismissal

INFORMATION/UPDATES:

☂️📖Shower Your Support For Our New Reading Curriculum!  Have you been able to fill your April Reading Curriculum Calendar with donors?  100% of all funds raised will go toward the new curriculum that will be introduced next school year.  Our first initial quote came in at $110,000.  Please find sponsors that will help us reach a goal of raising enough to cover at least 50% of our new curriculum.  Calendars were shared in the 2nd trimester report card packets.

✝️Lutheran Junior Honor Association (LJHA) Information...This coming August, our fifth graders will have the opportunity to apply for membership into the Junior Lutheran National Honor Association (LJHA) if they are able to meet the criteria set forth. If you are interested in this honor, please see my detailed email from 3/9. I will discuss this opportunity briefly with the fifth graders this coming week and they will have an opportunity to ask questions.  Please know that many more details will be sent from the NJHA Coordinators - Mrs. Yurk, Mrs. Wulfkuhle, & Mr. Fischer in a couple of months.  

🍕📖Eaton's Pizza Reading Challenge: This year St. Paul is participating in a new reading incentive sponsored by Eaton’s Pizza of Grafton.  We want to instill a love of reading that is lifelong for our students.  Reading may positively affect student academics, improve writing skills, enhance creativity and imagination, provide relaxation before bedtime, and develop empathy. For 5th grade, your child must read 350 minutes or more in a month. If you would like your child to participate in this year’s reading program, please have your child fill out the calendar (available for pickup outside of Mrs. Wulfkuhle’s classroom on the wall), noting the days they read and how many minutes. Be sure to include a parent signature, and have your child hand the calendar in to Mrs. Zvara on the last day of each month to receive their certificate for a FREE PIZZA!  The reading program will run beginning December 1, 2024 and end on May 31, 2024.

5/6 Spring Field Trips Information:

🌱MAY 15, 2024: This spring, the 5th graders will be traveling to Riveredge to help apply our classroom learning about Energy & Ecosystems to their everyday world. This field trip usually costs around $15.

TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2024: SAVE THE DATE! Each year, our middle school classes also do a fun/educational field trip in the spring. This year, our students will be participating in a ropes course.  Students will need to bring gloves with a rubber palm (gardening gloves, batting gloves, football gloves, etc) and parents will need to sign an electronic waiver for their student to participate. Please plan on $40 plus the bus fee.  As soon as the bus company gets us the quote, we will share the exact amount with families.  We will use this field trip for multiple purposes: it will challenge many students both physically & mentally, it will require students to take risks, problem solve and to work together to achieve some of the challenges. It will be a fun opportunity for this group of kids to bond with each other and build their social community. This field trip will also offer us an opportunity to revisit/reteach some of the lessons from our Kindness Retreat while it offers the kids a platform where they can put these lessons into practice.  Ropes courses often present an opportunity for kids to “see each other in a different light”/setting, which often presents strengths & fears that we often don’t learn about in our classroom. It offers students opportunities to show respect to one another, to lead & encourage those around them. We will plan to have a picnic lunch outside if weather permits. 

When we get closer, we will be looking for adult chaperones to join us and will then send out communications to find out if you are interested.  We have a limited number of “climbing” chaperones, but unlimited non-climbing chaperones.  If you are interested, please save the date. 🙂