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Here is an overview of what's coming up in class this week:
The kids will be bringing their math books home this afternoon. I would like them to remain at home, to be used as an at-home supplement for parents and students alike. The instruction mirrors the lessons I give in class, and assignments correspond to those lessons and can supplement the handouts and homework the kids bring home. We have access to, and utilize the same materials in class through the Chromebooks and via handouts. As several parents have inquired about at-home math resources, I think these books are a purposeful solution.

We will be continuing our first lesson in the new fractions unit, (Chapter 8 in the 2nd Volume of our MyMath books). The week kicks off with math vocabulary and some basic fraction concepts, expect to see the attached math worksheets come home at least twice throughout the week.

We will be starting a new creative writing project in class. It will provide learning and application of many facets of ELA and allow students to continue to develop their skills in word processing, the use of technology for presentation, artistry and creativity, and even social-emotional intelligence. They will be working alone and in small groups for collaboration, finally finishing the project as one cohesive unit. The final product will be a children's book about character traits, which I'm hoping they will be able to share with our younger grades upon completion. Stay tuned.

The kiddos will have a reading comprehension exercise and some grammar practice every day during morning matters. I encourage those who finish early to work on handwriting pages so as to improve the penmanship class-wide. The theme this month for many of these smaller, daily assignments revolve around saving the planet, in honor of the current wildfire crisis plaguing Australia, and the associated tragic loss of animal life.

Finally, anticipate a fair amount of reading starting this week. The kids will each be assigned a new book on Tuesday that coincides with US History, in addition to coming home later in the week with some daily reading from the nat geo readers.

If all goes well, maybe we will even find time for the much-anticipated "Squishy Circuits" lesson this week. Wish us luck!
Cheers,
Ms. Jessica

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To add tto our repertoire of resources:

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More and more, our students are working with digital tools and interacting online. As an educator, I have an opportunity to empower our students to use these tools confidently, and a responsibility to equip them to use these tools safely.

WHAT IS DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP?

Digital Citizenship is how we behave and protect ourselves and others online. It's how we conduct ourselves as citizens in the digital world of websites and social media, and it's a critical topic in the 21st Century.

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The students running for Mayor were asked to deliver "elevator pitches" to each of the four Fifth Grade classes today. One Bear and two Snakes were amongst the candidates. These kiddos showed courage and grit in going for this title, hats off to all three.

Candidate #1, Sheila Steadman

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Candidate #2, Andy Anderson

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Candidate #3, Maxwell Robertson

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Informational Flyer for Parents | DonorsChoose

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Thank You to Our Volunteers for BizTown!

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Thank You to Our Volunteers for BizTown!

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Knowledge Constructor and a Creative Communicator are two of the ISTE Standards for Students. With projects like these, students often have to learn how to communicate in a professional way, using any number of tech tools or platforms. They have to create something and get it out to the world through some sort of technology with a compelling pitch or video. They have to learn which tools are essential, not just flashy and fun. It’s about knowing how to use technology for an authentic purpose, using tech in a purposeful way.

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JA City 2-6-2020 Renaissance Academy - Volunteer Assignment Form

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Wednesday afternoon found the Snakes class in the science lab, immersed in learning through discovery, led by Mr. Tache. The kids learned about electric circuits, charges, types of electricity, they even made their own light sabers and had a chance to electrify their senses... check out the video and photos from our scientific afternoon.

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January 27th, 2020

Dear Renaissance 5th-grade Students and Families,

We have decided to create and introduce the use of student Google email accounts in 5th-grade. Typically, we have not offered school email accounts until 6th-grade. After some consideration, we feel it will be academically beneficial to allow and begin to teach students to appropriately use email for academic purposes in 5th-grade.

Prior to receiving access to their school email account, all students will be trained by their teacher in proper email etiquette as well as online safety. Email will be used for inter-student, and student/teacher communication and collaboration. Teachers will also have the ability to digitally assign work, share resources, and provide assessment feedback and live data to students in real time. Some aspects of the G Suite for Education your student's teacher may choose to utilize include: Gmail, Calendar, Classroom, Contacts, Drive, Docs, Groups, Sheets, Sites, Slides, Talk/Hangouts and Vault. Please see the following accompanying handout to learn more about the core services provided by G Suite for Education.

It is expected that all parents will have access to their student's email account for transparency and security purposes. For this reason, your student's teacher will provide all parents and students with the login and password for your student's email account (i.e., login: first.lastname@renacademy.org password: [insert student lunch number]Ren!].

To gain access to their school email account, all students must first obtain parental permission and return this form, signed by both the student and their parent/guardian, to their 5th-grade classroom teacher. Students and parents must also be familiar with, and agree to abide by our 'Renaissance Student Internet Policy' which also applies to email use.

RENAISSANCE STUDENT INTERNET POLICY
PHILOSOPHY

The Internet can be a valuable tool in achieving academic goals. Along with the opportunity to use the Internet at school comes the responsibility to use it appropriately.

STANDARDS

Students in Grades 5 - 9 may have access to the Internet under the following conditions:

1. Students have on file the Renaissance Academy Acceptable Use Policy signed by both the student and a parent.

2. The student has completed a review of the Acceptable Use Policy as conducted by a staff member.

3. The student uses the Internet to search for information related to a classroom unit only (NO web surfing). Students may search for information related to a special topic only if granted permission by a staff member.

4. The student is under supervision by a staff member who can periodically monitor the student's progress.

Students in Grades K-4 are NOT permitted to access the Internet for any reason, unless as a guided activity with a staff member. Students who use the Internet inappropriately will have their Internet/email privileges permanently rescinded. Students are not permitted to access the Internet for any reason after school hours. As a K-9 school, we use a filtering system that filters out websites related to pornography, obscene and tasteless material, alcohol, gambling, anarchy, chat rooms, criminal skills, drugs, personal ads, R-rated material, and web-based newsgroups. Although no filter will block all of the sites on the Internet that might be offensive, having a filter can help. All student-used Renaissance Academy computers will have an Internet access filter.

Please contact your me with any questions or concerns, or to refuse the option for your student to be designated a school email account. Thank you.

(See attached form with permission slip below)

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1. Maturation Program: The program is at 1:30 on Thursday, 1/30/2020. If you plan to participate with your child, please come to school at 1:20pm. Boys' parents please go to Mrs. Booth's classroom, girls' parents please go to Ms. Benson's classroom. Thursday I will be out of school because of a state training, please pass you questions to Ms. Benson if you have any.
2. Grade-Level Spelling Bee Finals: The semi-finals take place this Friday during school. Encourage your students to study the word lists and partcipate as much as possible!