Upper El Weekly Newsletter
Friday, January 27, 2023
6th Grade Math Games
Happy Winter!
Dear Upper Elementary parents,
Highlights from the week and a look ahead to next week:
We enjoyed our morning (classroom opening) activities this week–on Mondays we share “Good Things,” on Tuesday we do mindfulness / brain activities, on Wednesday we have creative time, and on Thursday we do puzzles. This week, one of our classrooms had the opportunity to have a virtual tour of the Musee D’Orsay in Paris for creative time on Wednesday with a former student (19 year old) who joined us by video. We had a fun discussion afterward about where our students hoped to be when they were 19.
We enjoyed watching the Primary parade on Thursday, which celebrated Chinese New Year.
Students who chose to participate had the opportunity to audition for a community musical. Merrily Talbot is leading this performance and will be rehearsing with students from all North Fork Valley schools for a performance in the spring.
We began a new research project on US History. Students were introduced to a timeline of US history and were able to peruse cards with information about culture, society, government, territories, etc. They each have chosen a topic (an event in US history) and found a resource. We are asking them to take notes and then produce a newspaper article with illustrations as their final product. This project will be due on February 16. There are four weeks to work on this project.
We had a full week of academics. Math lessons included work with angles for 4th grade, multiplying fractions and customary unit conversions for 5th grade and algebraic inequalities and the distributive property for 6th grade. In science and social studies, 4th graders worked on their Colorado maps and on analyzing historical photographs from Colorado, 5th graders are studying the biosphere and set up an experiment with a plant maze, and 6th graders are studying the carbon cycle. In reading and writing, students are reading and responding to group books.
Thank you to all parents who have volunteered! We appreciate you.
Important information:
Our next Powderhorn ski / snowboard lesson day is next week Friday, February 3. Please register your child for his / her lesson by Tuesday, January 31. Our schedule for this trip will be the same as the others. Your child must complete his / her works in order to attend the field trip. We encourage students who are not completing their work on a daily basis to take it home for homework. Please check in with your child to see how he / she is doing. Here are the links for registering:
Here is the link to register your child for skiing lessons:
https://forms.gle/xBfcVd1kG3bTTLsh7
Here is the link to register your child for snowboarding lessons:
https://forms.gle/Nuh1tzPJ3yj3fHeQ9
Book fair and parent teacher conferences will be the week of February 13. Look for an email soon to sign up for a time. We will use our recently sent report cards to guide our parent teacher conferences this time. It is an opportunity for all of us to discuss questions and / or concerns regarding academic and social / behavioral progress. Please note as you look over your child’s report card that our grading system (1 - 5) differs greatly from the traditional letter grades (A - F). Our numbers don’t correspond directly to the letter-based grading system. In our system, a student who is progressing at grade level would receive all “3s.” A student who is progressing above grade level would receive “4s” or “5s.” A student who needs support to do grade level work would receive 2s.”
Parents of 6th graders: we are doing some things in class during the second semester to help our 6th graders make a smooth transition to middle school. So far, we have done some combined class, larger group math lessons in the middle-school style. We will soon also be asking your child to do homework on the weekends. This will be math homework, which will be review work. No new topics will be sent home as homework. We will be sending it home on Fridays, and it will be due on Mondays. Please support your child as he / she practices the responsibility of bringing work home, completing it, and returning it to school on time. Please let Esther know if you have any questions or concerns.
Please make sure your child is appropriately dressed for winter weather. This includes INDOOR SHOES and OUTDOOR SHOES and WARM CLOTHING. Please make sure your child has a pair of indoor shoes he / she can leave at school. This helps keep our classrooms and hallways clean. If your child is interested in playing in the snow (we have a sledding hill and a large field that students love to play in), please make sure he / she has boots, snow pants, jacket, and gloves, otherwise he / she will be asked to try to stay dry (and out of the snow).
Thank you to all parents who have donated snacks to our classrooms. Our students (and teachers) appreciate it. Thank you also to parents who pack snacks for their children.
End of year field trips: please make sure you are making payments for our end of year field trips (Crow Canyon Archaeological Institute for 4th and 5th graders and Catalina Island Marine Institute for 6th graders). Contact Chana and Denise if you have any questions. Final payments will be due this spring, prior to leaving on the trips.
Volunteers are always welcome in our classrooms, at home, on committees, and on field trips. We couldn’t do all that we do without your help, so let us know if you have some extra time, talent, or treasure you are willing to donate or volunteer. Volunteer opportunities in the classroom include giving and grading spelling tests on Friday mornings (8:30 - 9:30am), organizational projects, photocopies, etc. Other opportunities include helping with our fundraisers throughout the year. A lot of the money we raise is used to support our many field trips in Upper El, so we appreciate any time and efforts parents and Upper El students can give. Parents also can serve on leadership and fundraising committees. Please contact your child’s teacher if you are available and interested in volunteering.
Parents of 6th graders - you should have all received an email about 6th grade Yearbook Memoir pictures - here's the information. Each 6th grader has a page that will be in the yearbook and we call it the 6th grade memoir.
What do we need from you and your 6th grader? We need 5-6 PHOTOS that your child would like to include on his/her page. They can be photos that show different stages of their lives, they can be with family, on trips, in school, with friends - photos that are special to you and to them. The best way is to send them to us electronically by email. You can send them to this email address:
jack.bair@deltaschools.com and/or jennifer.chavez@deltaschools.com. If you cannot send them electronically, send the photos in with your child.
We need them by the end of February - but I wanted to give you a heads up about collecting them. THE deadline is FEBRUARY 27th. (This is the Monday after break). Please get them to us by this time. THANKS!!
Students will then work to arrange them on their page and write their memoirs.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call us. Thank you!
Ballroom Dancing
Thank you to our volunteers!
Ballroom dancing at PE - thanks to Scott Shishim!
Class yoga time: Tree Pose!
Virtual Tour of Musee d' Orsay
5th grade setting up plant maze science experiment
4th Grade Math Lesson
Making a model
Principal of the Day Michael helps check math work
Come see Montessori Artwork at the Blue Sage Art Show!
Upper El Contacts:
Ms. Esther - esther.alsum@deltaschools.com
Ms. Shannon - shannon.castle@deltaschools.com
Website: https://nfmc.deltaschools.com/
Location: 51 Fir Avenue, Crawford, CO, USA
Phone: 970-921-4935