Announcements

SCIENCE TEST ON SOUND AND THE EAR ON WEDNESDAY!!!! HOPE YOU HAVE ALL BEEN 
STUDYING FROM THE REVIEW SHEET GIVEN ON THURSDAY.

We have a short week- only two and a half days!  Lots of fun activities going 
on...the 5th graders will perform in the Winter Concert at 10am and 2pm for 
students and at 7pm for parents (followed by a performance by the Stark 
School Jam Band!) on Monday.  On Tuesday we will have morning treats and a 
book share with our buddies in First Grade and in the afternoon we will have 
a special dessert celebration.  Parents are welcome to join us!  Finally, on 
Wednesday we will participate in the Stark Sing-along in the morning and then 
we'll celebrate Miss Lynam's birthday in the afternoon before early 
dismissal!  Whew...hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the 
vacation week.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We had 100 PERCENT of our parents come in 
for conferences or talk to us on the phone.  We had lots of important 
discussions and are so grateful for the support that our students receive at 
home.

If you have not returned the parent survey on workshops or Room 203, please 
do so as soon as possible.  We are also still waiting for a few more 
permission slips so we can add pictures to this site. 

Thank you also to the generous parents who have sent in snacks for the class.

Holiday Singing at Barnes and Noble on Friday night was lots of fun!  Thanks 
to all of the families that made it out on a freezing night to support Stark 
School.

Our Winter Concert will be on Monday the 21st at 7pm.

Order your Stark School spiritwear online and get items shipped right to your 
house or Stark for your convenience (copy and paste the link below or visit 
our Links section)

http://www.itownstore.com/index.php?
main_page=store_view&cPath=5_385_739_740_1033_1034&cid=1034

Our United Nations Feast was another great success!  Thanks to all the 
families that shared their favorites and joined us for lunch.  Our walls look 
great covered with posters and projects on our countries of origin.

Academic Updates:  
Spelling- no spelling until after vacation!

Math- Believe it or not, we are already into Unit 5 Fractions and Decimals. 
Students will be working on identifying and making equivalent fractions, 
making pictoral representations of fractions and decimals, and converting 
mixed number to improper fractions and vice versa. It is most important that 
children have automaticity with the multiplication facts.  Here's another fun 
site to practice (as always parents please preview sites before letting 
children play).  Copy and paste link or visit our links section.
http://www.sporcle.com/games/multiplication_table.php

Also, with the new district grading policy, it is very important that 
students are fully prepared for unit assessments.  Please look out for Review 
Sheets and help your child prepare at home.  Unit 5 assessment will be soon 
after we return in January.

Science- We are wrapping up our Sound unit.  Students will have a quiz on the 
parts of the ear and an end of unit assessment on sound and how it travels 
before vacation.  Check bookbags for review sheets.  Our study of Light will 
begin in January.

Literacy- After reading about animals in the wild, we read essays on "Should 
there be zoos?"  Students are now drafting their own persuasive essays to 
express their opinions.  

Across all subject areas, we are working on "How do you know?"  and "What's 
your evidence?"  Feel free to ask your child to explain their thinking no 
matter what the topic!  In school, they always expect a teacher to 
say "Because?..."
 
We've done a great job of staying healthy so far this year!  If your child 
has a fever they MUST stay home until 24 hrs. AFTER the fever breaks.  If 
they are not feeling well, please keep them home.  It helps them recover more 
quickly and keeps their neighbors from getting sick as well.

The first Monday of every month is Dairy Inn night for Stark Schoool!  Miss 
Lynam will be there helping to take orders and serve you ice cream.  Come on 
out for dinner or dessert, eat-in or take-out...a percentage of your bill 
will be donated to the PFO.  The Dairy Inn is located at 1092 Hope St in the 
Springdale shopping center (across from Twin Rink ice rink).