The countdown is on! Only 8 more days left of 5th grade! I can hardly believe it.
We are trying to reschedule our Itasca Trip to Thursday, May 25th. I will let you know as soon as I can!
Here is our schedule for the rest of the year, as I know it.

May 24th, Wednesday- Inclusive Playground

May 26th, Friday- Relay Recess

May 29th, Monday- No School

June 1st, Thursday- Graduation 9:30am

June 2nd, Friday- Last day of school

Please encourage your kiddo to finish strong! We are still working towards making our AR goals as it is a part of their reading grades.
As the year is ending, can you have your kiddo check around home for any materials that belong to school such as Reading books.  The library is looking to wrap up the year and get a count on their books.
On a more personal note, I cannot thank you enough for sharing your child with me this year. It has been a tremendously fun year and I hope that your kiddo enjoyed it as much as I have. It is fun to watch them grow and evolve into their own person. I am eager to see all the successful things they accomplish throughout their lives and that they will always cherish their times here at Horace May.
Kudos to you, parents, for raising truly incredible kids!
Carley Luggar

Happy Monday!
This is going to be a busy week! We are headed to the Middle School today for a tour. This is such a fun experience for the kids. They really get to know the lay of the land.
On Tuesday, there will be a Choir concert during the day but there will also be a performance at 7pm.
We will be heading to Track and Field day on Wednesday (weather permitting). We will be gone the whole day and it will be held at the high school. You are more than welcome to come watch your child! Please make sure they bring a lunch. The school can provide a lunch, if needed, but we will need a heads up if you do.
On Friday evening, there will be a school dance from 6-8pm. I will be there chaperoning and it will be "Glow-tastic" I would love to see all the kiddos there!
Our Carnival day will be on Friday, which means the kids have to have their game completed by then. We have been working really hard building these games and I cannot wait to see how they turn out! They are quite the builders!
While all these events are occurring this week, we are going to be working on reviewing some concepts for reading as we take our MAP tests on Tuesday morning.
Have a great week! They are going fast!
Carley Luggar

Hey there!!
We are just about done with our MCA testing. We will take our Science test on Wednesday. I am so proud of how well the kids have done. They have truly blown me out of the water.
Our schedule will be extremely busy from here on out with field trips and events taking place. I will do my best to keep you posted with all that is going on.
Before we get into our events and activities, I want to fill you in with what we are doing in class.
For reading, I am going to do a unit on Aviation. We will be reading about all the different types of planes, how they work and maybe even create out own. We will also be focusing a lot of our time with trying to reach our AR goals. I will be trying different activities to encourage reading within the classroom.
I wanted to thank you for being so prompt with getting materials for our carnival project in math. I cannot wait to see what the kids come up with. We will be having our carnival next week. The kids will be doing most of the work here at school, but I do understand that there are things that need to be done at home. Please feel free to help your child in any way that you would like.
We will be having Mr. Hildenbrand, from the Middle School, coming to visit us on Friday. He will be giving students an idea of what life is like at the middle school and what they can expect. We are still working on a date to tour the Middle School.
Next Wednesday (17th) is Track and Field day. This will be held at the high school. Information about track and field day was sent home last week.
Have a wonderful week!
Carley

May is upon us! Wow, this year has gone really fast! As I reflect on this school year, I am so pleased to have had your child in my class. The amount these students have learned is incredible. I am proud of how hard they have worked this year.
 For the next week or so, we are working on a 5th grade commercial for reading. The kiddos have created a script for the commercial and we are now working on different backdrops. I am hoping to get the final project published by the middle of the month.
 In math, we are busy reviewing and getting ready for the math MCAs. I cannot wait to see how they do on this. They have worked extremely hard and have grown immensely this year.
In Social Studies, we just wrapped up our Brochure project. The brochures turned out really neat and we have received many compliments on them. This week, we are focusing on Lewis and Clark and their expedition.
Just a reminder that tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be taking our Math MCA. Please make sure that your child gets a good nights rest and a decent breakfast so they can perform the best they can.
Have a great week! Let's finish strong!
Carley

April is soon coming to a close. I have noticed it is harder for the kiddos to remain focused as they are getting spring fever. We have just a few more weeks and I keep encouraging them to finish strong!
 We are wrapping up our last Book Club discussion for the year this week. They have done such a great job with our Book Clubs and I think they enjoyed reading and learning together. My hope is to do a fun project reflecting on 5th grade. It is still in the works and I want the kids input so we will work together to create something.
In math, we are working hard on test taking strategies and reviewing the major concepts we have learned this year. They are working hard and making nice improvements. We will take the Math MCA next week.
For Social Studies, they are to finish up their Brochure of their Thirteen Colony and present it to their classmates at some point this week. We will work on Lewis and Clark following the project and then move on to the American Revolution.

Upcoming Events

May 2nd- Math MCA

May 4th- 2nd Grade Play

May 10th- Science MCA

May 12th- Visit from Middle School Staff

May 16th- Choir Concert @2pm

May 17th- Track and Field Day

May 19th-Spring Dance

May 22nd- Itasca field trip

May 24th- Inclusive Playground Picnic

May 26th- Relay Recess

May 29th- No school

June 1st- Graduation @ 9:30

June 2nd-Last Day of School

Hey there!
What a beautiful, long weekend that was. I hope you were able to spend time with family and friends.
We will be finishing up our Book Clubs this week or next. This will probably be our last book club of the year as small groups. We may move to a large group Book Club after this.
In math, we are going to work with Prime and Composite numbers as well as review exponents. I am going to encourage students to practice their math facts as much as they can. They can access their MobyMax account, which is an awesome online resource for them to get some extra practice on their facts.
For Social Studies, we are going to wrap up our brochures this week. The kiddos will present their brochures to their classmates and they will be displayed in the hallway for others to see.
This Friday, I will be taking the students in Math Masters to their competition. I will not have a sub, but the students who are not attending will be either in Mrs. Vind's or Mr. Greendahl's classroom for the day.
We have two testing dates left. We take our Math MCA on May 2nd. Our Science MCA will be the following week on May 10th.
Have a great week!
Carley

Good Morning!
We have a short, but crazy week ahead of us. We do not have school on Friday, as it is our Spring Break.
We will be continuing to work on our Book Clubs this week. The kids do so well with this and it is fun to watch them converse with one another about what they read. We will not have a focus skill this week due to the shortened and crazy schedule that we will have.
In math, we are going to work with decimals this week. We are going to review adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals. This all should be review, but it has been a while since we talked about them.
We are going to be wrapping up our Brochures this week or early next week for Social Studies. The kids will present their Brochure to their classmates. These are turning out pretty neat.
Now on to our busy schedule. We have a few events this week which are:

Tuesday:MCA Reading-All Day

Wednesday- BSU Tour- Afternoon

Thursday- Peer Leader Visit (Students from Middle School)- Afternoon

Since we are taking our MCA reading test tomorrow, please make sure your child gets adequate sleep and a good breakfast. I know they are going to do so well and I am looking forward to see their progress.

Have a great week!!

Carley Luggar

Happy Monday!
April is here! I cannot believe how fast the year is going.. (I think I say this every week!) We are going to get really busy this week.
In math, we are going to start reviewing the concepts we have already learned this year. We are going to start with Fractions. We are going to revisit how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions. I am hoping this will be an easy review, but much needed.
In reading, we are starting a new book club series. While students are working on that I will be going over different concepts about reading. We have our MCA reading test Tuesday, April 11th.
We are still plugging along with our Social Studies Brochures. I imagine we will be working with them over the next 2 weeks or so. They are coming along nicely!
You can be expecting report cards to come home this Friday. Which means a new quarter starts today! Please encourage your kiddo to finish the year off strong.

MCA Testing Schedule

Reading- April 11

Math- May 2

Science- May 10

Have a great week!!

Carley Luggar

Holy smokes.. The last week of March is upon us! The end of the 3rd quarter is this Friday.
With the end of quarter so near, please make sure your child keeps reading towards their AR goal. It is a big part of their reading grade.
Our focus for math this week is surface area. I introduced it today and the kiddos really seemed to understand it. We are going to be working with it all week to improve their understanding.
This week for reading we are going to review our reading concepts, read passages and go over practice tests for our MCAs. We will be starting a new book club next week.
In Social Studies, we are working hard on our Thirteen Colonies brochures. The students are learning all about their assigned colony. They will present their brochure when it is all completed.
We will be going to the High School again this Friday for the Bemidji Orchestra performance. This will be a really neat experience.
I have our MCA testing dates. The kids will spend one day on each subject area.

Reading- April 11

Math- May 2

Science- May 10

Have a great week! Report cards will be sent out within the next couple of weeks.

Carley Luggar

Happy Spring!!
I am so ready for nicer weather! I think the kids are ready too!
We have a busy week ahead of us.
In math for the week, we are going to work on finding the area of triangles, as well as surface area of cubes and rectangular prisms. This is a fun unit as we are moving around the room and doing more hands on learning (Which I LOVE).
For reading, we just wrapped up our Timelines and will move on to reading short passages, folk tales and fairytales.
We took our Social Studies test for Chapter 4 and will move on to the Thirteen Colonies. We will do a project to help us learn about the different colonies and how they impacted what the United States is like today.
The end of the quarter is next week (Friday), which means report cards will be sent home. You can probably expect similar grades from conferences.  Please make sure your child is reading so they can accomplish their AR goal. We will have a class party if ALL students make their goal.
We switched up our daily schedule. Students will have a half hour of Grammar/Writing, Science and Social Studies 4 days a week. This way, we have our kiddos at the end of the day for easier transition. You can check out the daily schedule on my class website.
I sent home permissions slips for a few field trips coming up. This Friday, we will be going to the High School for a Vocalmotive performance. This is so cool to watch!! Next Friday, we will go the the High School again for an Orchestra performance. These are really neat opportunities for students to see what is available to them when they get older.
Have a great week!
Carley Luggar

Happy Monday!
I was so happy to see so many of you at conferences. It truly is one of my most favorite times of the year.
I will have a substitute teacher Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I have a workshop in town that I must attend.
In Math this week, we are going to wrap up Chapter 8. We will be having a test on Friday on the chapter. Next week, we will move on to writing word problems and starting to prep for our MCAs.
For reading, we wrapped up our Book Club and our Timeline Projects. The students will present their timelines over the next week or so. Our next focus is Compare and Contrast.
In Social Studies, we are finishing Chapter 4 and will test this Friday. Our next area of study is the Thirteen Original Colonies.
We have 3 weeks left of the quarter, which means students need to work really hard in all areas especially reading AR.
Have a great week! It looks like the arctic weather will finally subside!
Carley Luggar

Conference Week is upon us! I am looking forward to meeting with you to discuss how your child is doing and what to expect for the remainder of the year.
Due to the fact that it is conference week, there will be no school Thursday and Friday. Just a heads up-- There will be an early release NEXT Wednesday, March 15th.
In math this week, we will be finishing up volume. There will be a math test sometime next week.
For reading, the kiddos have been working really hard on their Timeline Projects. Be looking for these projects in the hall during conferences. They have chosen a famous person to read about and create a timeline of important events for that person. They will present their project to the class next week.
In Social Studies, we are going to wrap up Chapter 4 shortly. I plan to have a test either late next week or the following week. We will be starting a project on the Thirteen Colonies after this Chapter.
I think that is all. I will see you this week!
Carley Luggar

February really flew by and we are officially half way through our 3rd quarter!
The kids really seemed to have a great time at Buena Vista. It was fun seeing them enjoy being outside and helping one another out.
Conference slips were sent home today. If you could, please check if the conference time works for you or not. If not, please contact me so we can make arrangements. Conferences are set for next week Tuesday through Thursday. Kids will NOT have school Thursday (March 9th) and Friday (March 10th).
In Reading this week, we are going to focus again on Text Structure. I am hoping to get started with a project with the different text structures as the kids are finishing up their Book Club.
In math, we are going to keep on with Chapter 8, which is dealing with finding perimeter and area of objects.
We will have a spelling test this Friday with the words the kids received last week. The words are also posted on my class website.
This week is also Read Across America and Dr. Suess birthday celebration. The kids will be encouraged to read all week when given the chance. This is great timing as we could really get those AR points for this quarter.
Have a great week!
Carley Luggar

What a beautiful weekend that was! It was nice to have one extra day to enjoy it, even though it was rainy.
We are going to Buena Vista this Thursday after school. Please fill out your child's form and turn in as soon as possible. This is such a fun event and I am excited to participate in it!
For reading this week, we are starting a new Book Club. Our focus for this week and next week will be text structure.
In math, we are going to learn about units of measurement and converting between the different units such as millimeters and centimeters.
We have moved on to Chapter 4 in Social Studies. This Chapter is talking about the early colonies that were created in the Americas.
We will have the same spelling list for two weeks due to a four day week this week. Please encourage your child to study their words.
Conference slips will be sent home within the next couple of weeks. The plan is to keep the same time slot as Fall Conferences.
Have a great week!
Carley Luggar

Good morning!
I hope you had a great weekend! It was beautiful outside and it sounds like this week will be nice and warm.
For math this week, we will be wrapping up Chapter 7. We will take a short quiz on Thursday and move on to Chapter 8 next week.
Our focus for reading will be Fact and Opinion. I am encouraging students to be reading as much as they can at home. Reading more often makes a huge difference!
We are taking a Social Studies test tomorrow (Tuesday) and move on to Chapter 4. Please encourage your kiddo to study their notes at home.
Just a reminder that there will be an early release this Wednesday. Kids will be dismissed at 12:50.
Also, Monday February 20th there will not be school due to President's Day.
Have a great week!
Carley Luggar

Happy Monday!
I hope you were able to enjoy the weekend! I saw many tired kiddos this morning from staying up to watch the Superbowl. I could have a used a few more hours of sleep!

In reading this week, we are going to work on Character Traits. We have worked with this skill previously but it is good to review.

For math, we are moving on to Chapter 7. This chapter is on Order of Operations. I have the students remember PEMDAS, which will help them with math computations.

We are going to try to wrap up our Social Studies chapter this week and test next week sometime. The students have taken notes and can use them on their test.

The kiddos received their spelling words for the week. The test will be on Friday as usual.

I have talked with the students about a new policy we are going to try. Students will need to have all assignments completed and turned in by the Friday of that week. I am hoping to get students to get their homework done in a timely manner. If they do not turn it in on that Friday, they will receive a zero.

Just a reminder that we have our Valentine's Day party this Friday. I sent home a letter last week explaining the events. Please have your child bring in a shoebox that we will decorate at school.

Upcoming Events:
Next Wednesday, February 15th will be an early release day.
Thursday, February 23rd will be our ski trip to Buena Vista. Permission slips will be sent home in the next week or so.
Conferences will be held the first full week of March.
I think that is all for the week. Have a great one!
Carley Luggar

We are off to a new start as we enter the 3rd quarter of the school year!
Report Cards will be sent home this Friday, February 3rd.
     As we start our new quarter, I wanted to remind you and your child that AR is a part of their reading grade. There were many students that did not make their goal and it had a negative impact on their reading grade. Please encourage your child to read at home.
     Speaking of reading, we will be focusing on genre this week for our reading skill. We are going to take a few weeks off from our Book Club to focus on goals and other reading skills.
     For math, we are going to wrap up Chapter which is on division. I have been so pleased with how the kiddos are doing. We will be having a test either Thursday or Friday this week.
     In Social Studies, we are still plugging along with our Chapter on Exploration. I am hoping to have a test within the next 2 weeks.
     A new spelling list is available on my class website. I will also send out a REMIND with the words this evening. The students always receive a paper copy in school on Mondays.
Book Orders are due tomorrow if you plan to order. You can either order online or send in the form to school.
I will gone Tuesday morning at a training for school as well as Thursday afternoon. I will be having the same sub for both half days.
Have a great week!
Carley Luggar

We are closing in on the end of our 2nd quarter. This Friday, January 27th to be exact.
    Tomorrow, Tuesday January 24th we will start our OLPA testing for Math. This is just a way to gauge where students are at and what needs to be addressed before we take MCA's later this year.
     Our reading focus this week will be Cause and Effect. We will also be wrapping up our Book Club by this Friday. That way, the students will be able to AR test on their book to help make it closer to their AR goal. Reminder that it is a part of their reading grade to achieve their AR goal.
     For math, we are going to continue to work on division. We are moving on to division with decimals with a test sometime next week.
     We are plugging along with Social Studies and the Early Explorers. The kids really seemed intrigued by this chapter and the people. It is interesting to learn what happened so long ago and how it affects us today.
     Our spelling test will be this Friday. They have had the words for 2 weeks. Please encourage your child to study at home. This is the last spelling test for this quarter.
     Book orders are due January 31st, which is a week from tomorrow.
     We will have an Early Release this Wednesday, January 25th. Students are dismissed at 12:50 with buses leaving at 1:00pm.
Have a great week!

It sure looks like a beautiful week ahead of us! If only winter was always that nice.
     Today (Tuesday), we will have narrowed down a 5th grade Horace May representative to move on to the next round of Spelltacular. The representative will move on to the middle school and compete against other students in the district.
     The end of the quarter is Friday, January 27th which is next week. I will do a grade check with the kiddos today so they have an idea what to expect on report cards and what things they need to work on.
     For math this week, we are moving on to Division. We had a math test last Friday that went extremely well! I am so proud to see the hard work pay off.
     In reading, we are working on our book clubs and will finish those up right before the end of the quarter. They are working together very well on this and making great progress. We are plugging away on the skill of sequencing for this week as well.
     I have posted the spelling words on the class website. We will have a test on these words NEXT Friday, January 27th. That means the students have 2 weeks to practice these words. I noticed last week that many students did not study their words and the spelling test results showed. Please encourage your child to practice their works at home.
    In Social Studies, we are learning about the early explorers. So far, we have learned about Marco Polo, Johannes Gutenberg and Christopher Columbus. This is an exciting Chapter as we are learning about what happened so long ago.
     I think that is all for this week. Have a great warm week!
Carley Luggar

Happy Monday!
We have a busy week a head of us.
I sent home new flyers for book orders. The book orders will be due January 31st. You can either order online or send the order form into me.
The 5th graders partake in a Spelltacular, which is a spelling bee. We have a written test tomorrow (Tuesday) to start the process. After that round, we will do a spell down in our class to get a final four. We will then have a 5th grade spelldown with Mrs. Vind and Mr. Greendahl's classes to get a 5th grade representative. The 5th grade rep from our building will compete at the Middle School January 24th.
In math, we started chapter 4 last week and will test on the Chapter this coming Friday. The chapter is on multiplication and I am very impressed how well the kiddos are doing. Next week we are looking to move on to division.
For reading, we are going to start our next round of Book Club. The kiddos will be working in small groups towards completing a book and discuss what is occurring. Our focus will be on on sequencing for the week.
In Social Studies we are learning about the Early Explorers. This is one of my favorite chapters as we learn about what really happened when Columbus arrived in the Americas. We also will learn about other explorers who made great feats with their exploration.
Our spelling test will be this Friday. The words were given to the kiddos last week. Please find some time to practice these words.
The end of the quarter is January 27th, which is coming quick. I will do a grade check with the kids so they know where they are in their classes.
I think that is all for this week. Have a great one!
Carley Luggar

Happy New Year!
I hope you enjoyed the week vacation from school! I could tell the kiddos were unsure if they wanted to be here this morning. I know I was sure happy to see them this morning!
With this week in mind, we are going to be working with multiplication for math. This should be review for the most part and should go fairly well.
Our focus for reading will be on THEME, which is the lesson learned from a passage or story. This is often confused with the main idea, but we will work hard to understand the difference. Next week, we are going to start our next round for our Book Clubs. The kids will choose their book this week and work throughout January with their group to better understand book.
Since this is a short week, we will not have a spelling test this Friday, however I did hand out the list for the next test which is January 13th.
That is all for this week! Enjoy all of the snow!
Carley Luggar