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Ms. O'Leary, Language Arts, 5th

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Hi all,
 
Today was my last day with your students and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to every single one of you. Your students are all fantastic and I have had a fantastic time being their teacher. They are all kind, respectful and hardworking. I know each of them has a great future ahead of them. Thank you for all of your hard work at home. I hope everyone has a wonderful Summer break!
 
Here is a reminder about the carnival as well:
  • General entry is free. Wristbands are for using the inflatables.
  • $25 presale wristbands, $30 at the door
  • Wristbands are for unlimited access to the inflatable play area + one ticket.
  • All students must be supervised by their parent/guardian at the event.
  • Tickets can be bought separately - $5 for 5 tickets good only for popcorn, cotton candy, or bottle of water. (not good for food trucks)
  • Pay for wristbands with a check or cash at the school. Or to order online - access the payment portal
  • Find more information on the Student Led Conferences and Carnival: 2025 Westgate CARNIVAL - Community Events - Westgate Community School
     

Hi Parents,

I cannot believe that this was my last full week with your students! As a reminder my last day is May 21st. This conflict was a trip I had already planned 😊 I am so excited to return next year!

Reminder for the end of year carnival! Your students should have gone home with a flyer today about it all as well. Our pod's theme is Taco Tuesday & Backyard Barbeque.

Reading and Writing:

We started the week with our Author Party! Your students created AMAZING stories, and it was so fun celebrating the work they have done. We then moved onto Readers Theatre. All students had the chance to adapt the script to fit their voice & interests. I think this is such a fun way to end the school year with reading. We are really practicing reading with expression. I hope I am able to see them perform these next weeks. Both the imaginative stories & readers theatre scripts will be available to see and take home at the Parent showcase at the end of the year.

Math

In math this week we took an assessment on Unit 13. Please ask your students about this test because I saw growth in scores from every single student! What a fantastic way to end the year. We then started unit 14 which is all about two dimensional shapes. We will likely not test on this unit. However, before the end of the year students will be taking a post course test. Next week after unit 14 we will be focusing on review from chapters throughout the year.

I am so proud of your students and the growth they have made! It has truly been such a joy teaching your students. They are all wonderful people, and I can’t wait for them to change the world someday.

All the best,

Hannah O’Leary

Hi Parents!

I hope you all had a fantastic week. I cannot believe it’s already May. Just a reminder that I will be with your students until May 21st.

Reminders:

  • Please fill out the permission slip for the Denver Aquarium field trip on May 21st.
  • https://forms.office.com/r/sDTenxjGbY
  • The end of the year 5/6 Carnival Basket theme is backyard Barbeque and Taco Tuesday. Please have your student drop off donations to the front office labeled for “5/6”

Math:

Students finished unit 12 late last week. We completed an assessment and students had time in class to make corrections and ask me questions. If your student came home with a test score, they are not happy with please have them correct the ones they got incorrect, and I am happy to regrade it.

This week we started a new unit on volume! This has been a very visual unit which I think many students have enjoyed.

  • Just so you are aware I do not grade the classwork they are completing while I am teaching. I provide immediate feedback as they are working. What I am grading is the exit tickets at the end of the class. These are roughly 3-5 questions. Students are always welcome to ask me to unlock them for a retake.

Next week we will finish up this unit and begin working on unit 14!

Reading and Writing:

This week students completed their DIBELS test. During the testing time students were able to complete any work from this week along with catching up on any work that was missed.

Starting Monday we will be working on Mystery Readers Theatre scripts! I am so excited for this, and I hope your students are too. No more testing in reading 😊

Our imaginative stories are officially due today! If your student chooses to work on it over the weekend, please have them email it to me ([email protected]). We will be creating our book covers and having a publishing party to celebrate our hard work on these! These will be on display for your students to share with you at the end of the year. They all have wonderful stories.

Thank you so much for your continued support & making Teacher Appreciation week so special.

Hannah O'Leary

 

 

Hi all,

I apologize for not posting last week. Your students did a fantastic job with CMAS, I am so proud of them! This week we completed our MAPS testing. If your student missed Thursday or Friday this week they will make it up next week.

We have earth week celebrations next week. A reminder to send your student with close toed shoes and an extra snack on Tuesday April 29th. We will be having outdoor education from 12:45-3:00

If you have not done so yet, please fill out this permission slip below no later than April 29th. We will be doing a Global Clean up day on May 2nd.

https://forms.office.com/r/tZuj44Qckj

Finaly, the 5/6 pod has chosen our theme for the end of year carnival! It is a Taco Tuesday/ Backyard barbeque basket. If your family has anything they would like to donate please have your student leave it at the front desk labeled for the 5/6 basket. There is also an amazon wish list where Miss. Calder added some items. I will send that link out ASAP.

Now into the academics 😊

In math we have just finished unit 12, which was all about coordinate planes. Students most recently learned how to identify numerical patterns using data points and graphs. Students will have time on Monday to review and ask questions before the assessment on Tuesday. I have been so impressed with their work during this unit! I am having students complete an exit ticket at the end of each session and you should start seeing them uploaded in the grades here soon. Students are always welcome to retake these for a better score, they just need to let me know so I can unlock it for them.

In reading we have been reading different types of mysteries. Students have been looking closer at what techniques authors use to evoke more emotions. Next week we continue with mysteries! They will have an opportunity to practice writing their own start to a mystery and reading it aloud to a partner.

We are continuing our imaginative stories in writing. This week we worked through how to expand their writing using sensory details, dialogue and adding/ removing sentences where necessary. The goal is to move onto revising and editing next week so that way we can begin the publishing process. They are really excited about this, and I can’t wait for you to see the final product.

Thanks for the support!

Hannah O’Leary

Hi Parents! Happy April, I can’t believe we’re nearly half way through the month already!

Your students did SO well for CMAS this week and I am so proud of them. I know it can be tough but your students have definitely shown up in fantastic ways. Next week for 5th grade is ELA testing.


This week we predominantly worked on Reading and Writing because of the time constraints of CMAS.

In reading, your students continue their prediction skills and understand why they are so important. We read a mystery named Mr. Linden’s Library and looked closely at the authors purpose and sensory words that were used. Students completed a quiz that was graded and sent home. They will be finishing a figurative language and comprehension sheet early next week which I will be grading and returning asap.


In writing we have continued to work on our rough drafts. We spent some time this week reflecting and creating goals for our writing based on what we currently have written. Please ask your kids about the writing because they all have fantastic starts. We don’t have ELA (Tues, wed and thursday) next week but should be wrapping these up in the next few weeks. 


Math:
On Monday we did our final CMAS practice to prepare your students for the week ahead. Today, we did a unit 11 review. Students came home with page 561 + 562 as optional practice. I will be integrating some more chapter 11 reviews into next week's warm ups.


Unit 12 starts next week and is all about coordinate planes. Your students will be able to identify points, label symmetrical points and create their own graphs.

ELA and Math:

Hi Parents,


We have had a busy but fun week! Below is a breakdown of what we have been working on this week along with what’s next.


Reading: We needed to fit in some CMAS practice, so they completed a few practice tests in order to familiarize themselves with the system. Your students read silently at the start of class for about 10 minutes to work on reading stamina.


Writing: Students have started their very own writing process with imaginative stories. These have been SO fun to work on. A lot of the students are getting really invested in their stories. After break we will work on adding details, dialogue and better vocabulary. Many of them have started their drafts. Please ask them about what they are writing about-- they have been so creative. 

Math:

In math this week we learned all about metric and customary unit conversions. We focused on weight, length and capacity. We had a brief introduction into line plots and finished off this week continuing how to answer multi step word problems.


We will revisit these items after spring break to fill in any gaps students may be missing. I have continued to give them the option of bringing work home with them. Again, this is not required or graded. Just an option for those who want to do it. 


After break our unit explores plotting data points on graphs and interpreting data. 


Below is our CMAS schedule.  

April 8 -10 

CMAS Math – am 

CMAS Science – am 

 

 

ELA – 1:35 t0 3:15 PM 

 

The 1st week no specials 

 

1:05 – 1:35 Advocacy – take out for recess 

CMAS Math – am 

Science/SS - am (40 minutes each) 

 

ELA 1:35 to 3:15 PM 

 

The 1st week no specials 

 

1:05 – 1:35 Advocacy – take out for recess 

 

April 15 - 17 

CMAS ELA – am 

 

10:15 t0 11:15 – specials 

 

11:15- 11:45 – Advocacy 

 

12:45 – 1:35 – math 

 

Regular science/SS 

 

 

CMAS ELA – am 

 

10:15 to 11:15 – specials 

 

11:15- 11:45 – Advocacy 

 

12:45 – 1:35 – math 

 

Regular science/SS 

 

 

April 24-25 

Thursday am – Reading MAP Testing 

 

Friday am– Math MAP testing 

 

Rest of the day is regular 

Thursday am – Reading MAP Testing 

 

Friday am– Math MAP testing 

 

Rest of the day is regular 

 
 

Week of March 17-21

Hi Parents,
This week your students read through a story named “Elisa’s Diary” and made inferences for how she may have been feeling. We are continuing to work on adding textual evidence in our responses.
During writing we wrote a class imaginative story working through the writing process. I explicitly taught each step of the process in preparation for them to write their own stories next week. We had a brainstorming session today and I am so excited to see what they create next week
 
Your students will complete at least one CMAS practice test this week.
 
 Thank you for your continued support. Remember that we have our field trip to Young Ameritowne on Friday the 21st. 

Hi Parents,

This week your students read through a story named “Elisa’s Diary” and made inferences for how she may have been feeling. We are continuing to work on adding textual evidence in our responses.

During writing we wrote a class imaginative story working through the writing process. I explicitly taught each step of the process in preparation for them to write their own stories next week. We had a brainstorming session today and I am so excited to see what they create next week


Your students will complete at least one CMAS practice test this week.


 Thank you for your continued support. Remember that we have our field trip to Young Ameritowne on Friday the 21st.

Week of March 10-14

Reading
Students are continuing to work on inferences and identifying character emotions. They will also be analyzing different literacy elements and why authors may use them. 
 
Writing
There will be an intro to the writing process, and students will work as a class to create the different steps. Then, the following week, students can follow the process with their writing.
 
Grammar
Students will be learning about homophones and homographs.
 
*Don't forget the field trip scheduled for Thursday, March 13

Week of Feb. 24-28

Reading
This week students will be reading A New Home, and reading about moving to a new country. There is a focus on poetry, which provides students with opportunities to identify the elements of poetry and the author’s craft in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter informational text and realistic fiction to build knowledge across genres.
 
Writing
This week students will focus on their Rabble Rousers Research essay. Students are working at different paces through the writing process to complete their rough drafts, edit with peers, and write their final drafts. Final drafts are due on Friday and can be submitted in the assignment found in Miller's Class team. 
 
Please email Mrs. Dewar with any questions!