We are back to a full week of school and what a busy one it will be.  This week is Spirit Week at Rivendell. So please be sure to share your pride by dressing up for the following days:

• Monday, February 11th – Sports Day! (show your pride for your favorite sports team)
• Tuesday, February 12th – Pajama Day! (be aware of weather too, we will still play outside)
• Wednesday, February 13th – Book Character Day! (dress as your favorite literary character)
• Thursday, February 14th – Valentine’s Day! (wear all your hearts and valentine designs)
• Friday, February 15th – Rivendell Pride Day! (show your love by wearing your Rivendell gear)

Thursday we will have our Valentine’s Party.  Today we decorated our Valentine boxes, so students may bring in their valentines and deliver them to the boxes.  Be sure to include one for all classmates and book partners too. Thank you everyone for contributing to our Valentine bags for the residents at the Rehabilitation Center.  They definitely enjoy getting these, and it is both gratifying and fun for our kids to deliver them.

We are starting a new recitation.  This project is quite different from those we have done so far. This recitation is a continuation of the work the students have been doing with Jessica.  They will need to identify the things that stress them out both at and outside of school and identify different strategies that can be used to relax and feel better during these stressful times. We will create a classroom poster of these strategies. Students will not need to share their stressors with the rest of the class. You can find directions to the recitation here.

Novel study groups start for all older kids this week.  Each group is reading a historical fiction novel. We meet on Mondays and Thursdays, so please help your child stay on top of reading and assignments.  They may need to bring their book home over the weekend. Next week, we will meet on Tuesday as there is no school on Monday.

Upcoming Events

Feb.14 – Valentine’s Day parties

Feb.18 –  President’s Day – No school

March 9 –  Spring Event Fundraiser

March 11-15 – Science Fair (projects are being done at school)

March 14 –  Science Share Night

March – 18-22 – Spring Break

Homework

Monday

Spanish

Read (novel study)

Recitation- start to think about your stressors

Tuesday

Math 25 minutes

Read (novel study if necessary)

Wednesday

Read (novel study if necessary) and make sure novel study assignments are up to date

Recitation

Thursday

Read (novel study)

Recitation

It is hard to believe that it is February! Which means it’s time to bring in empty cereal boxes to decorate for Valentines. Please have them to school by Friday, Feb. 8. For the last three years we have been putting together gift bags for the residents at The Rehabilitation Center of the Rockies. I have put together a SignUpGenius for each family to sign up to bring items to put in the bags. We have 28 kids and 28 slots so please only sign up for one slot. Items need to be brought to school by Thursday, Feb. 7 to be delivered on Monday. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

On Monday we will be holding our Classroom Spelling Bee to narrow down who will be competing in our Schoolwide Spelling Bee on Thursday.

Novel study groups will be starting for most kids next week.  One group will be given their novel this week as it is rather long.  All novels are historical fiction, and we will have our discussions on Mondays and Thursdays.  You child will be expected to read the required pages before we meet. They do have some time during Reading Workshop, but most kids will also need to read at home.  Please help your child keep up with reading and any assignments, and help them remember their book. We have some great novels that take place during or slightly after the Revolutionary War.

Rivendell Has Heart Week is coming up, February 11th – 15th. This year, for our service project, we will be collecting disposable diapers for The Nappie Project, which is a local charity that provides diapers to families in need in Larimer County. Diapers are not approved items to be purchased with any kind of public assistance, so often these families struggle to keep enough on hand. They are also required to have diapers in order to drop their children off at daycare, which creates an added stress. The Nappie Project is looking for any size, new, disposable diapers, but especially sizes 4, 5, and 6. You can drop off your diaper donation in the front lobby of Rivendell. Thank you for your generosity!

During Rivendell Has Heart Week, we will also be having our “Spirit” dress up days. Those are as follows:

Monday – February 11th – Sports Day (show your pride for your favorite sports team)

Tuesday – February 12th – Pajama Day (be aware of weather too, we will still play outside)

Wednesday – February 13th – Book Character Day (dress as your favorite literary character)

Thursday – February 14th – Valentine’s Day (wear all your hearts and valentine designs)

Friday – February 15th – Rivendell Pride Day (show your love by wearing your Rivendell gear)

Upcoming Events

Thurs., Feb. 7 8:45 School Spelling Bee

Fri., Feb. 8  Conferences-No school

Weds., Feb. 14  at 2:00pm Valentine Party

Mon., Feb 18 President’s Day-No school

Homework

Monday: Spanish

Read 20 minutes

Tuesday: Math 25 minutes

Read 20 minutes

Wednesday: Read 20 minutes

Remember 5th grade math is due either Tuesday or Monday

Thursday: Read 20 minutes

Remember 5th grade math is due either Tuesday or Monday

Perspective is our conceptual lens this year.  A conceptual lens is a particular concept that helps focus the thinking for a unit of study; a way to produce intellectual depth and understanding.  While studying the causes of the Revolutionary War we have been looking at both the American and British point of view. Our students discovered what it was like to be taxed in a way that seemed unfair and learned the slogan “No taxation without representation.”  However, they also looked at why the British needed this money and whether this was indeed unfair. Our students read passages about the Boston Massacre from the two different points of view and had quite a discussion as to which account was true. They are trying to decide if they would be a patriot or a loyalist.  Surprisingly, we do have some loyals in our midst!

Our topic work is carrying over into Writers’ Workshop.  All students have chosen a famous person from this time and will write an essay about his/her life and importance to the war.  We will be focusing on organization, transitions and detailed facts when completing this five paragraph essay. The older kids are excited for this challenge.

On Tuesday we have Rivendell restaurant night at the Panera Bread from 5:00 to 7:00, so please come and support Rivendell while socializing and eating good food.  It is the Panera Bread on Council Tree Avenue. The older kids’ teachers and Jessica will host.

Remember – no school on Friday due to parent/teacher conferences.

Homework

Monday

Read

Complete vocab A-D/ study vocab

Spanish

Tuesday

Read

Math 25 minutes

Wednesday

Read

Study vocab

Do more research for essay, if necessary

Thursday

Read

Complete finding the main idea section E/Study vocab

Upcoming events:

Tuesday, Jan. 29 Restaurant Night at Panera (Council Tree) 5-7.

Friday, Feb. 1  Parent Teacher Conferences no school

Friday, Feb. 8  Parent Teacher Conferences no school

Tuesday Note, Jan. 22

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend. We had a lovely time exporing sound and music at the YES (Youth Education System) concert on Thursday. We are busy preparing for parent teacher conferences, if you have not signed up for a time please come in and sign up on the sheet outside of our classrooms.

Upcoming events:

Tuesday, Jan. 29 Restaurant Night at Panera (Council Tree) 5-7.

Friday, Feb. 1  Parent Teacher Conferences no school

Friday, Feb. 8  Parent Teacher Conferences no school

Homework

Tuesday: Math 25 minutes

Read 20 minutes

Wednesday: Research your famous founder

Read 20 minutes

Thursday: Math Goal

Read 20 minutes

Mad Minute

 

It was great to be back last week.  Everyone was a little tired, but we had a good week catching up with each other and getting back into our work.  We have started our new unit on Colonial America and the Revolutionary War and introduced this topic with a fun simulation.  Groups of students became a joint-stock company and planned to sail a ship to America to start a new colony. They had to make decisions about who and what to bring that affected the outcome of their journey. Some made it to their first Thanksgiving, but others suffered through disease and starvation.  We learned a lot about what it takes to successfully start a new colony. This week we will take a closer look at life in the colonies and learn about the original thirteen colonies.

On Thursday, we will be taking our field trip to see the Fort Collins Symphony.  We will be heading out after lunch and ask that students dress nicely on this day.  Permission slips went home on Friday, so please return those along with $5 as soon as possible.

Our next restaurant night is at Panera off Council Tree Ave. on Jan. 29th.  Panera is giving us 20% of the orders between 4:00 and 8:00. This restaurant will be hosted by the older kids teachers and Jessica, our school counselor.  We hope to see you there as to enjoy this community event.

Parent/teacher conferences are coming up on February 1st and 7th.  Sign-up sheets are posted outside of classrooms. Please be sure to sign up early, especially if you have more than one child at Rivendell in order to get back to back slots.

Rivendell’s priority enrollment process will take place January 8th – January 31st.  We very much value your family as part of the Rivendell community and are pleased to provide the opportunity during priority enrollment to ensure that your child has a spot at Rivendell for the 2019-20 school year.  Priority enrollment will end January 31st, and open enrollment for all families will begin on February 4th. As many of you know, our school has been growing! This is great for our Rivendell community, but it also means that it’s important to have your registrations submitted before the February 4th open enrollment period opens up to the public.

If you wish to re-enroll your child at Rivendell for the 2019-20 school year, please review, sign and submit the Renewal of Financial Agreement, which was e-mailed to you on January 8th.  If you did not receive an agreement, contact Madeline (madeline@rivendell-school.org).  Thank you!

Upcoming Events

Thursday, January 17 – YES concert with Fort Collins Symphony

Monday, January 21 – No School

Tuesday, January 29th – Restaurant Night at Panera

Friday, February 1st – Parent/Teacher Conferences – No school

Friday February 8th – Parent/Teacher Conferences – No school

Homework

Monday

Spanish

Read

Finish Vocab A-D if not completed in class

Tuesday

Math 25 minutes

Read

Wednesday

Read

Study Vocab

Thursday

Read

Study Vocab

Finish Vocab E if not completed in class

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I don’t know about you but those two weeks just flew by. I hope that you are all rested and ready for an incredible second semester. We are starting the year off with our new topic- Colonial America which will lead into the American Revolution. We have some activities planned that we hope will help the kids step into the shoes of the early settlers of our country.  

The kids did a wonderful job researching their South American/ Central American country and relaying the information to their classmates. They got a better idea of how much time and effort it takes to really research a topic. We will be focusing on making their expository writing more interesting with leads, transitions and conclusions in the next couple of weeks.

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, Jan. 17 Yes Concert (Ft. Collins Symphony)

Monday, Jan. 21 MLK Day No school

Friday, Feb. 1 and 8 Conferences (No school)

Homework:

Monday: Spanish

Sort Spelling words

Read 20 minutes

Tuesday: Math 25 minutes

Read 20 minutes

Wednseday: Read 20 minutes

Thurday: Ready 20 minutes

We are sure you were amazed by all the wonderful art created by our students. Thank you, Tina, for all your hard work and for showcasing all our student talent. Thank you also to all the parents who helped set up and take down the Gallery Walk.

As winter break approaches, we slow down a little and check in with our students to measure progress in goals, celebrate our successes, and take note of areas for improvement. Our older kids have already come a long way in their academic and social growth. We’re so proud of them. This week we have our more formal assessments in math and reading as we take the MAP tests today and Wednesday. We also have quite a lot of students ready for end of book math tests.

We will be completing our Central/South America unit over the next couple of weeks. Our students are working hard on creating a display board or book about their country. The research and a lot of the writing is done, so now they can work on being creative as they put it all together. Recitation projects are due the last week of school, December 18th.

Next week is a short one, so we will not be posting a newsletter. We will be taking our annual field trip to EPIC on Wednesday, December 19th. We will ice skate in the morning and swim after lunch. Please be sure to send your child to school in long pants with long socks, and pack a swimsuit and towel. We will eat lunch at EPIC so kids need to bring a sack lunch.

We end this semester with our annual talent show. Please encourage your child to share a talent with the school. Groups may also enter the talent show.

Important dates

Dec. 12, Weds. Map Testing

Dec. 19, Weds. Field Trip to Epic

Dec. 20 Talent Show/ half day

Jan. 7 Back to school

Homework

Monday: Spanish

Read

Recitation

Tuesday: Math

Read

Recitation

Wednesday: Recitation

Finish Vocab A-D

Read

Thursday: Recitation

Read

I hope you are enjoying learning a little about the country your child is researching. They should have a list of places they would like to visit. This week they will be mapping out their trip and planning what they will be doing daily. In class we are working on finding out information about the culture, geography and history of their country. They will be creating a display board or a book about their country in class. If they have not finished sections in class they may have some homework.

This topic works well with our literacy concentration which is reading and writing nonfiction. We still encourage our students to enjoy their novels at home, reading every night for at least 20 minutes.

Upcoming Events

Friday, Dec. 7, 6:00-7:30 Student Art Show

Monday, Dec. 10 Map Testing

Wednesday, Dec. 12 Map Testing

Wednesday, Dec. 19 Field Trip to Epic

Thursday, Dec. 20 Talent Show and half day

Homework

Monday: Spanish

Sort Spelling words

Recitation

Read 20 min.

Tuesday: Math for 25 min.

Recitation

Read 20 min.

Wednesday: Recitation

Catch up on Country paragraphs/text features

Read 20 min

Thursday: Catch up on Country paragraphs/text features

Recitation

Read 20 min.

Whether you spent Thanksgiving away or at home, with family or friends, we hope it was a good one. Now it’s time to focus in on our last few weeks before winter break, and we have a lot planned for this time.

In literacy, we are moving into our study of non fiction. We will be looking at text features and the organization of text, and their purpose in non fiction. We will transfer this knowledge to our topic work. Students are researching a country in South or Central America. They are using both books and the internet to gather information on the culture, history, government, wildlife and topography of their chosen country. They are getting a lot of practice at researching and taking notes. They will create either a display board or book using text features to organize the information.

Our recitation will coincide with this study of a country. Students will create a travel itinerary for their country. The good news is that much of the research will have been completed in class. We will send home a sheet with details about the recitation and post the requirements on our blog later this week.

On Thursday we will be having an informational meeting for 5th grade parents about transitioning to middle school. The meeting starts at 5:30 and should be about an hour long. Please let us know if you plan to attend.

Important Dates

Fr., Dec. 7  6-8 Art Walk

Mon., Dec. 10 Map Testing

Weds., Dec. 12 Map Testing

Weds., Dec. 19 Field Trip to Epic

Thurs., Dec. 20 Talent Show (School is out at 11:30)

Homework

Monday:

Spanish

Vocab A-D if not finished/study words

Read 20 min

Tuesday:

25 minutes of math

Read 20 min

Wednesday:

Read 20 minutes

Study Vocab

Recitation

Thursday

Read 20 minutes

Study Vocab

Recitation

 

I like to call this week our Monday/Friday week. The only homework this week will be Spanish on Monday and reading every night.

Fifth Graders: We will be holding an informational meeting for the parents of students who are in fifth grade and are planning on attending a school in Poudre School District. The meeting is on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 5:30. Please let us know if you will be attending.

Important Dates:

Nov. 21-23 Thanksgiving break (no school)

Nov. 29, 5:30 Middle School 101 (Parents of 5th graders)

Dec. 7, 6-8 pm Rivendell Art Show

Dec. 19, Field Trip to Epic for Ice Skating and Swimming

Dec. 20, Talent Show (Half day)

Dec. 21-Jan. 3 Winter Break