December 3, 2020 
 
Next Week 

● Content covered: 
○ ELA:  
■ Writing Opinion Essays 
■ Learning Possessive Nouns 
■ Using Interactive Text Features 
■ Creating Informational Podcasts 
○ Math: 
■ Unit 2 Review and Unit 2 Assessment Part 2 
■ Dividing Whole Numbers by Powers of 10 
○ Social Studies: 
■ The Boston Massacre 
■ The Intolerable Acts 
● Schedule: 
○ Wednesday (12/9) will follow the 5-day week schedule 

Genius Hour Projects  

● In ELA, students have been working on their Genius Hour Projects 

during asynchronous days since September. They should have 
researched their topic and made a hands-on project (a poster, a model, 
etc.) based on the topic. Students have been offered to get support with 
their projects during optional small group times.  
● On Wednesday, December 9th, students will be working on their 
presentations for their asynchronous ELA work. These presentations can 
be live or they can share a pre-recorded presentation. Students will be 
sharing with their classes during the third and fourth weeks of 
December. Please make sure and encourage your child to prepare to 
share their projects and presentations. We look forward to seeing them!  
Conferences 

We will keep you posted once we hear about the rescheduling of Conference 
Day. 

Music Message from Ms. Ruppert 

● Throughout the month of December, fifth grade students will be 

learning about the music of The Nutcracker by composer Peter 
Tchaikovsky. In order to learn about music elements such as melody, 
rhythm, and form, students will need the following items during music 
class throughout the month of December: 
○ paper/pencil or whiteboard/marker 
○ a variety of found sound instruments such as markers or spoons to 
tap together, a box to tap, or a real percussion instrument such as 
a drum, tambourine, or triangle 
○ a solo cup or plastic cup or plastic bowl/container (to be used as an 
instrument to tap on the floor – no glass please!) 

Counselor’s Corner 

● Please read the attached message from our counselors about the 
December lesson  

Reminders 

● Grades 
○ Please remember to check grades with your child every week 
○ Students have ​one week​ to redo minor assignments 
○ Students can work with their teacher to complete redos and receive 
additional support from 3:00-3:30 
● Cameras 
○ Students are encouraged to have their cameras on during 
instruction. Please email your child’s teacher if there is a reason 
that they cannot have their camera on. 
○ ANYTIME a student’s school computer is open it can be assumed 
the camera and microphone are on. 
○ Students should be appropriately dressed and aware of their 
surroundings when using their computers 
  

● Emergency plans 
○ In the case that your child’s teacher has an emergency, you will 
receive a message in the morning with instructions. 
○ There will be an emergency lesson posted in your child’s Math or 
ELA course. It will be in a black folder labeled “Emergency Sub 
Plans.” 

Technology Corner 

Speech to Text / Text to Speech: 

● Just a reminder that these features are available! 

Tech Support:  

● Please join the ​Tech Support Corner for WES Course ​on Schoology​ ​to 
locate tutorials and find information on contacting our support team for 
help. To join: 
1. Click ​COURSES a ​ t the top of Schoology 
2. Select M​ Y COURSES 
3. Click ​JOIN COURSE​ on the right 
4. Enter the COURSE code​ SCD2-9QCK-TX6HH 
5. Click ​JOIN