Livesay's Owl Post

12/15 - 12/18 - Holiday Spirit Week! (see below for details)

12/18 - Winter Party 8:30-10:00 in classroom 🎄

12/19 - No School (Teacher Work Day)

12/22 - 1/5 - Winter Break ⛄

Thank you SO much to the families who have already donated to our Make-A-Wish fundraiser! Because of your generosity, our class is currently in 1st place with $140 donated! 🎉 Our kids are very motivated to win, and the excitement is real!

This fundraiser is especially close to my heart. As many of you know, my son Kaden received his wish through Make-A-Wish this past year. The experience gave our family something truly priceless—time together, joy without medical worries, and memories we’ll carry with us forever. Your support means more than I can say.

We’re also incredibly proud that our school’s feeder area has been ranked #1 in the NATION for Make-A-Wish fundraising for several years now! What an amazing community to be part of!

We will be accepting donations through December 12th.
Cash only, please. Just have your child drop it off with me, and I’ll make sure it gets turned into the office.

Thank you for helping bring hope and magic to kids who need it most. 💙

Report cards (EPRs) will be available for parents to download on Engaged Parent Portal beginning December 19th. Please take a moment to review your child’s progress together—it’s a great opportunity to celebrate strengths and set goals. You’ll see grades for Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Art, and Music, as well as marks for behavior and work completion from both 5th grade and Specials teachers. We will also be reviewing your child's EPRs during Parent Conference in January.

Our grading scale includes Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations, and Does Not Meet. To earn an Exceeds Expectations, students must consistently score 95% or higher consistently on their daily assignments and assessments.

If your child is on a learning plan of any kind, this will also be reflected and taken into account on their EPR.

We are incredibly proud of the effort, progress, and growth our students have shown so far this year!

Just a quick reminder that winter has officially arrived, and with it comes snow, ice, and very chilly playground adventures. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed for the weather each day—coats, gloves, hats, and especially snow boots are a must.

Snow boots are required if your child wants to play in the snow (and let’s be honest… most of our playground turns into a snowy wonderland this time of year!). We want everyone to stay warm, dry, and ready for fun.

And yes, I couldn't resist a GOT reference!!! 🥶

It’s that festive time of year again—Holiday Spirit Week is coming up, and we can’t wait to see everyone dress up and join in the fun! This is one of our favorite yearly traditions, and the kids always look adorable and spirited.

Week of December 15–18:

• Dec. 15 – Reindeer Day: Antlers, brown outfits, anything Rudolph-inspired!

• Dec. 16 – Grinch Day: Wear your best green gear or Grinch-themed attire.

• Dec. 17 – Pajama Day: Come cozy and comfy!

• Dec. 18 – Holiday Parties & Holiday Attire: Break out the festive outfits, including ugly sweaters!

We’re excited to celebrate the season together!

In reading, we’ve been working through our Wonders story “They Don’t Mean It!”, which explores family traditions, cultural misunderstandings, and learning to appreciate differences. Students have been practicing key skills such as identifying theme, making inferences about characters’ feelings and motivations, using text evidence to support their ideas, and determining word meanings through context clues. We’ve also discussed how different characters can view the same situation in totally different ways, helping students build deeper comprehension and empathy.

In math, we just wrapped up our unit on dividing with decimals, and the kids have been working hard to master placing the decimal correctly, interpreting real-world word problems, and checking their answers for reasonableness. They’ve shown great growth with this skill!

Next, we’ll be moving on to adding and subtracting fractions, where students will review finding common denominators, creating equivalent fractions, and using visual models to make sense of fractional parts. This unit can be challenging, but it’s also a fun one because students get to see how fractions connect to everyday life. Below are some helpful videos for extra support at home if your child wants a refresher or needs additional practice.

Finding a Common Denominator (Least Common Multiple)

Adding/Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators

Adding/Subtracting Mixed Numbers

In writing, I have to brag—our Monster Narratives turned out fantastic! The creativity, voice, and effort your kids put into these stories were truly impressive. You can read your child's masterpiece on Google Classroom, as well as see their scores and my notes highlighting their “glows and grows.” We’re now moving into our next project: a Snow Globe Narrative, where students imagine being trapped inside a snow globe and write a descriptive, suspenseful story using strong sensory details, clear paragraphing, and a well-developed beginning, middle, and resolution. This has quickly become a class favorite, and I can’t wait for you to read their finished pieces!

In science, we’ve been exploring our Watery Planet unit, where students dive into just how essential water is as a natural resource. They’ve been learning about the distribution of fresh water and salt water on Earth, as well as how water moves through Earth’s systems in the water cycle. We’ve also looked at how the hydrosphere and atmosphere interact to create weather patterns. As we wrap up, students are thinking like scientists and engineers by examining how water impacts human societies and designing solutions to help reduce the effects of weather-related natural hazards.