Purple House 5 2023-2024

This week truly flew by! We wrapped up our final STAAR test and completed our mCLASS assessments, what an accomplishment for our hardworking learners. They have shown incredible perseverance, and now we are shifting into some exciting choice projects and meaningful end-of-year learning experiences.

Next week, we will take our MAP assessments, and we are looking forward to celebrating the tremendous growth our students have made this year. I am especially excited about the creative work happening with our Reality Composer projects, our upcoming owl pellet dissections, and a very special year-end celebration with Mrs. Keiko. Our strawberry farming journey will come full circle as we enjoy the fruits of our labor by making homemade ice cream together on May 15.

It’s a joyful and memorable time in fifth grade—thank you for your continued support as we finish strong!

With gratitude,
Ms. Voltz

We are always learning new things about interesting organisms, both great and small! From tiny creatures with surprising survival strategies to larger animals with incredible adaptations, our learners continue to discover how structures and functions help living things survive in the world around them. Each new organism gives us another opportunity to wonder, research, discuss, and appreciate the amazing diversity of life on Earth!

Math warm up? Yes, please! This week we’re diving into a fun data collection activity to strengthen our understanding of key statistical terms. With a little teamwork and curiosity, range, mean, median, and mode become very manageable—and even enjoyable—for our growing mathematicians!

Start by collecting a simple set of data (favorite snack, number of siblings, shoe sizes, or even how many minutes you read last night). Once you have your data, we’ll organize it and explore what it tells us:

• Range helps us see how spread out our data is (largest minus smallest).
• Mean gives us the average.
• Median shows the middle value when data is ordered.
• Mode tells us the most common value.

As we analyze our data, we’ll look for patterns, make comparisons, and discuss what our numbers reveal. These conversations help build strong mathematical thinking and real-world connections—because data is everywhere!

Learners have been busy investigating volume, nets, and surface area through hands-on exploration and mathematical thinking! By building and unfolding 3D figures, they are seeing how nets connect to the faces of solids and how surface area represents the total area covering a figure. They are also strengthening their understanding of volume by considering how much space an object takes up and using cubic units to support their reasoning. It has been wonderful to see learners make connections between formulas, models, and real-world design!

Click here to explore open positions, see what to expect, and submit your application. We’d love for you to be part of the team! Applications close May 1st.

Game on! 🎲 Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4–8. Help us celebrate our amazing Lee Designers and Staff all week long. Check out all the details below on how you can join in the game of appreciation throughout the week! Make sure to check out the staff Favorites list to get a head start on your game plan!

As part of giving back to our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week this year, we’d like to cover lunch duty on May 4th and drop off car line duty on May 6th to allow our teachers and staff to enjoy their special meals together. Please sign up here to show your appreciation and volunteer!

Grab two identical sheets of paper and try this simple (but powerful!) investigation:

Roll one sheet into a tall, skinny cylinder and the other into a short, wide cylinder. Tape them so they hold their shape.

Now ask your learner:

• 🤔 Which cylinder do you think holds more?
• 💭 Do you think height or width matters more? Why?

🔍 Test Your Thinking

Fill each cylinder with the same material (rice, beans, or water) and compare:

• Which one holds more?
• Were you surprised?

💬 Take It Further

• What happens if you make one cylinder twice as wide?
• Does doubling the height double the volume?
• Where do you see cylinders like this in real life?

This hands-on activity is a great way to build curiosity, test ideas, and connect math to the real world!

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Success- the gain of something desired or attempted

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Never stop improving. Great people are always learning and keep their minds open to new possibilities.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“If you want to be successful, it’s just this simple...know what you’re doing, love what you’re doing, believe in what you’re doing.” -Will Rogers

Teacher Appreciation Week will be here before we know it!! We will be celebrating our amazing Designers and Staff at Lee all week long May 4-8! Be on the lookout for more details coming soon. In the meantime, check out the staff Favorites list to get a jumpstart on ideas for spreading the love!

The coaches have asked for our help this year for field day, and we need all our parents’ helping hands to make it a success! Please sign up to contribute through volunteering or donating! Whether you can spare some time to supervise the little ones at the event on May 8th or to provide snacks to keep our staff energized, every bit counts! NOTE: This signup will go out to other volunteer organizations soon, so if you plan to volunteer, grab your slot asap!

Reminder, all volunteers will need a completed background check for this school year.

Please start sharing with learners and families that Zoo Crew will be at Lee on May 15. This mobile truck will have stuffed animals that will be made with the learners during the school day. They will bring them home in a string backpack with a birth certificate. Here is the link to order one of the two packages online.

Social Spurs will be gifting our cafeteria gift cards on Friday, and if you feel inclined, please help your class recognize our ladies any way you see fit. For inspiration and ideas, feel free to explore the website. No gesture is too small, and every bit of appreciation makes a difference!

Join the fun and serve your community on the PTO Board for the upcoming 2025-26 school year! We have roles that will be a great fit for you, no matter how much or how little time you have to give. Click here for all the details on what to expect, the open positions, and the application form. We’d love you to join us! Applications close May 1st. Please feel free to email PTO, or join us at the virtual PTO meeting on April 14th to learn more and ask any questions!

Where: Paris Baguette, 1525 S Belt Line Rd #100, Coppell, TX - 75019

MCLASS WINDOW OPEN

MAP WINDOW OPEN

ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

May 4 -

National Star Wars Day (wear your Star Wars shirts)

Imagine Learning Party on Pavillion (2:00)

May 6 -

College Shirt Day

National School Nurse Day

May 7- LEEdership Council Meeting (8:00-9:00)

Paris Baguette Spirit Night (2:00-9:00)

Green House Music Performance (2:00 and 6:30)

Green House Art Show (6:00)

May 8- Field Day

Day 0

Fifth-grade designer of learning experiences at RJ Lee Elementary a Net Zero school in Coppell, Texas.

Our Guiding Purpose: We empower learners to positively impact the world by designing learning experiences that promote relationships, risk-taking, and collaboration in a flexible learning environment.

Apple Teacher

HEB Excellence in Education State Finalist 2018

Twitter X: @MayV1