The 5th grade Band and Orchestra Concert will be on December 21st at 10:30 a.m.

As a reminder:

• There is limited to NO parking at LAF.
• There is NO parking in the high school.

Please plan accordingly. All street parking rules are in effect on this day. Again, there is not enough parking for everyone at LAF.

Sometimes I come across resources that are too good not to share. We have been incorporating these two calendars into our SEL (Social Emotional Learning) lessons and our Calm Cougars videos. I hope you find them useful at home as well.

Gratitude Calendar

December Kindness Calendar

December:

7 - Walk to School Wednesday

15 - Night of Music 7:00 pm Gazebo

16 - Hickory Tree Pizza Day

16 - Report Cards Posted in Parent Portal

21 - 5th Grade Band and Orchestra Concerts - 10:30 a.m.

23 - Early Dismissal @ 1:00 pm

Winter Break - See you in 2023!

MINTED Fundraiser now runs year-round!! Use code FUNDRAISECHATHAMPTO to receive 20% off all Minted items, excluding fine art prints, when code is entered at checkout. 15% of the net sales from each purchase will be donated back to Chatham Schools at the end of the year!!! Thank you for your support.

Hundred X Update for December 2 newsletter:

The Hundred X Fundraiser has raised over $900 and we have 2 weeks left! Don't forget to sign up and keep completing the surveys.

Fourth grade is currently in the lead but there is enough time to catch up!

To sign up:

1. Text SCHOOL to 90412
2. Choose Lafayette PTO and either Grade 4 or Grade 5.
3. Enter your information and click yes for consent. (This simply means that you are giving consent to complete the surveys. You will NOT be solicited by any companies and after the fundraiser is over, December 13, you will NOT hear from them again!)
4. Thank you

Due to the overwhelming response for tickets during the presale, the Wizards have agreed to run a second presale for our families that wish to give the gift of a truly fun experience this holiday season.

Take that second shot and score your tickets during this presale event, launching Friday, December 9th at 9 pm, at https://pretix.eu/harlemwizards/Chatham. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase during this presale event. Items included with “Courtside Plus” tickets will be available for local pickup prior to 12/24.

Stay tuned for details on the general ticket sale after the new year.

Questions? wizards@chathampto.com

I saw this last year and just loved the analogy. I thought sharing it right before report cards were published might give us a little perspective on progress, potential, and academic pressure.

Report Cards will be posted in the Parent Portal on December 16th. Lafayette uses the same format as the K-3 schools when reporting on your child's progress - Standard Based Reporting. You can click here for more information on Standards-Based Report Cards.

In order to begin to understand what the teachers are reporting on, you need to know what they have been working on since August. You can gain a very full picture of what your children are working on if you visit their Google Classroom. All of our students know how to access and navigate Google Classroom so take some time over the next few weeks to sit with your child and go over their work in Google Classroom. Below is a quick overview of what has been happening during English Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

4th Grade: English Language Arts

The students have been concentrating on reading comprehension strategies (metacognition, schema, inferring, visualizing, building interpretations, making connections, etc.) and applying them to realistic fiction. Our writing process has also focused on realistic fiction, with a concentration on craft, as well as mechanics. Supporting our ideas and written responses with text based evidence is an ongoing goal, as well.

4th Grade Math:

We have covered whole-number place value concepts and have learned several different strategies for multi-digit multiplication and division. Students have had opportunities to utilize these strategies in order to solve word problems. We will begin a unit on factors, multiples, and prime numbers, before transitioning into fractions.

4th Grade Science:

The students investigated the effect of forces on moving and stationary objects. First, to gather data, the students conducted a hands-on, marble collision experiment. They also gathered evidence from various nonfiction texts and videos and conducted an online experiment. Finally, the students used this data to create scientific models and then wrote an evidence-based scientific explanation to explain why a stationary object moves after a moving object collides into it. Next, the students explored how energy is transferred and transformed to turn mechanical energy into light energy in a hand-crank flashlight. Similar to the first investigation, students gathered evidence from online simulations and nonfiction texts and videos before creating a scientific model and an explanation to explain how a crank flashlight works.

4th Grade Social Studies:

We began the year learning how social studies works through the lenses of social scientists (historian, geographer, economist, and political scientist). Map skills are a central focus in the first unit, as well. We have analyzed several primary and secondary sources. Learning how people live, what they do and where they live is discovered through exploring the regions of the United States. We began at home with the Northeast region! We will continue to study the regions of the United States throughout the next marking period.

5th grade English Language Arts:

The primary focus for this marking period has been reading and writing realistic fiction. In reading, we developed a deeper understanding of fictional elements such as characters and themes and supported our thinking with text evidence. We also focused on determining and comparing themes across texts. Students have been learning to support their ideas with evidence from the text. Additionally, students have been working on developing good reading habits such as being able to read for longer periods of time and consistently finding “just right” books in a variety of genres. In writing this marking period we worked on fictional narratives with a focus on elaboration and author's craft.

5th grade Math:

We have explored place value concepts and how to express numbers in a variety of forms. We have also utilized the standard algorithm for addition, subtraction, and multiplication of whole numbers and decimals.

5th grade Science:

The students began the year investigating the pattern of star brightness in the night's sky. First, to gather data, the students conducted a hands-on flashlight experiment. They also gathered evidence from various nonfiction texts and videos and conducted an online experiment. Finally, the students used this data to create scientific models and then wrote an evidence-based scientific explanation to explain why some stars in the night's sky are bright and others are dim. In the next investigation, the students explored how the Earth's rotation causes shadows to change in length and direction throughout the day. Similar to the first investigation, students gathered evidence from online simulations and nonfiction texts and videos before creating a scientific model and an explanation to explain how and why shadows change throughout the day.

5th Grade Social Studies:

To start off the year, we discuss how history is a discipline of inquiry and analysis of the evidence of the past to create useful understandings of the human experience. In 5th grade, we begin the study of Native Americans before European exploration and continue into the exploration of the Americas. Then we compare regional cultures developed in the colonies because of the climate, geography, natural resources, as well as the education and religion of colonists. Now we have begun to study the systems of slavery and triangular trade between Europe, West Africa and the Americas. Students analyze how slavery affected the economy and the culture of all of the colonies and how African slaves reacted to their lives as slaves in various ways. Throughout each unit, students analyze primary and secondary sources to think critically about how people live their lives as individuals and in groups.