Miss Costigan’s Tidbits

September Newsletter

Thank you parents…

for sharing your children with me. I am truly enjoying getting to know your son/ daughter. Anything I can do to make your child feel more comfortable in my room, please let me know. I am here to make their learning experience enjoyable.

In Search of…

Before you throw out your next magazine, please think about donating it to my classroom. I like to use magazine cut-outs for different activities throughout the school year. The more variety, the better.

Also, we are always collecting box tops so keep on gathering!

Math Club

Math club will be starting up within the next few weeks. Miss Bober (the other 5th grade math teacher) and I will be the advisors. Flyers to be out soon.

Principal’s Award

Congratulations to Emma Burkholder. She was the room 27 Principal’s Award recipient. She was chosen on the basis of participation in class, dedication to her studies, and good behavior.

Say Cheese – School Pictures

School pictures are scheduled for Tuesday, September 14th. Don’t forget to send in the picture form that was sent home last Friday.

Academic Reminders

Please make it a habit to check your son/ daughter’s assignment book on a nightly basis. I do my best to make sure every student has the correct homework written down. Students do have a designated time each day to write down all assignments.

Also, I would like to stress the importance of going over multiplication facts each night for at least 10 minutes. Please let me know if your child needs a set of flashcards to borrow. By fifth grade, students should be able to complete 32 multiplication facts in one minute. We must reach this goal in order to excel on the OAAs.

I also encourage students to study their spelling words about three times a week. In addition, your child should be reading for at least 25 minutes a night. This reading should either be from our class novel (if pages were assigned that night) or an independent read book which is required each quarter from every student. No reading logs are required this year. Instead, a book report is due at the end of each quarter.

Math Update:

We are currently studying number theory: arrays, factors, divisibility, prime numbers, square numbers, and exponents. I have also incorporated decimal place value into this unit as a review from last year. Students were tested on this material today. Next week, we will begin estimation and computation.

As mentioned before, we are really focusing on memorizing the multiplication tables. Therefore, students are tested twice a week on their times tables. Their goal is to improve from one test to the next. I have personalized each student’s goal from week to week. Please encourage your son/ daughter to meet this goal!

The extended math time this year has been working out quite well. Congratulate your child on a job well done. They are doing a great job staying focused and involved for such a lengthy time. During this time we usually do a combination of homework review, concepts review, multiplication practice, introduction of a new math concept, and then a reinforcement activity.

I encourage all parents to check out the Everyday Math website ( . There, students can find games we have played in class, their textbook should they forget it at school, and algorithms (alternative ways to solve multiplication and division problems). Students can log onto this site using the password on their assignment notebook cover.

Language Arts Update:

We just recently began Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise. It is a novel in the form of letters, memos, postcards, and official documents. During this unit, we will focus on letter writing, and we will also begin our water animal research report to go along with the water theme of the book.

Additionally, we have been studying literary techniques such as alliteration, hyperboles, and similes and metaphors. We have also been working on the 4 sentence types: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory. We will soon be moving onto subjects, predicates, and parts of speech. I encourage you to discuss all of the above terms with your child.

Missing Work

Missing work reports will be issued out this coming week. Please make sure your son/ daughter turns in any missing work by Sept. 24th, otherwise the grade for that assignment will turn to a zero. It is each student’s responsibility to let me know which worksheets s/he needs a copy of. Additionally, students who are missing work will be asked to stay after school rather than recess. There is not enough time during our 10 minute recess to get work done.

Book Orders

Book orders have been sent home in the Friday Folders the past few weeks. If interested, the orders are due September 17th. Any orders will help benefit our classroom’s library 

Walk-A-Thon

Walk-A-Thon packets were sent home last Wednesday. We are hoping that it will be as successful as last year’s. Incase you haven’t heard from your child, our classroom will be receiving a new SmartBoard as a result of last year’s Walk-A-Thon money! Thank you for your support in the past and future.

First Grade Buddies

Our class has partnered up with Mrs. Robinson’s first grade class. Each 5th grade student will be paired up with a first grader. We will meet monthly. During this time, 5th graders will act as both a mentor and tutor to the 1st graders. This is sure to be both an enjoyable and beneficial experience.

Important Dates

9/17- Picture day (send form to school)

9/17- Constitution Day Ceremony 1:15

9/27- First Grade Buddies

10/4- Book Fair Week

10/15- No School

10/21 Walk-A-Thon

10/22 Walk-A-Thon Rain date

That is it for now… Enjoy your weekend 

Miss Costigan

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