Blanket Drive and Thanksgiving Brain Teaser

We are beginning to collect blankets for the blanket drive - please see this flier for more information.

Try out this Thanksgiving Brain Teaser!

Blanket Drive

Mann School is now participating in a Blanket Drive. Mrs. Sullivan is one of the community organizers and is thrilled that our Student Council has voted to have our school participate. We are joining Oak Park River Forest High School, Julian Middle School, and the local hockey teams in this Blanket Drive. 

A blanket of snow is coming and there will be many cold days and nights ahead for Chicago's homeless.Please help us gather new and gently used blankets of all sizes for Chicago's shelters. Help us reach Mann's goal of 150 or more blankets. 

Each homeroom will be making a "no sew fleece blanket" so students are active participants in this important service project. The student council generously donated the money to make this happen. 

Mrs. Sullivan will also offer the following dates if students want to bring two pieces of fleece (one solid and one patterned work great; use width size of ream and then get 2 yards of each) to make a blanket with her: November 16th, November 23rd, December 1st, December 7th, and December 8th from 3:00 - 4:15 in the library. Please send her an email if your child will be participating on a certain day. 

***Please bring new or gently used blankets to school between December 1st and December 11th

IFF and Geo Bee!

The International Fun Fest and Geography Bee will be held the evening of Thursday 11/12, with the International Fun Fest starting at 6:00pm and the Geography Bee following at 7:30pm in the auditorium. 

Check out the Study Guide to help you prepare for the bee!

Library Information!

Week in Rap!

Check out last week's Flocabulary. 

PBIS Store

The first PBIS Store will be NEXT WEEK! On Thursday, September 24th we will be taking our first trip to the Horseshoe Hooray store! Make sure to start collecting and saving those HH's to purchase something special!

MannPower Enrichment Classes Session 1

Man Families,

Interested in signing up for a MannPower class this fall? Check out the program guide!

Student Council

October Conference and Mystery Reader Sign-Ups!

Conferences are right around the corner! Make sure to click here to sign-up for a time during the week of October 19th for our fall conference.

Want to make a guest appearance in our learning space to share one of your favorite short stories or introduction to a novel? Our time slot for Mystery Reader this year will be Friday's from 12-12:30pm. Click here to sign-up for a time to come be a Mystery Reader. 

MAP Testing and Curriculum Night

Our homeroom will be Math MAP Testing on Thursday 9/10 from 9:30 until 10:45 and Reading MAP Testing on Thursday 9/17 from 9:30 until 10:45.

Also, don't forget - Curriculum Night is next Thursday evening. Our classrooms will be open from 6:30-7:00pm and we will be presenting in the Auditorium from 7:00-7:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

Happy First Day!

Happy first day! We survived. And what a great day it was! We did a lot of organizing today in preparation for a great year. Here is the first e-mail that went out to families today. 


Dear Parent(s),

First, I have to say how very excited I am for the upcoming school year! And second, I want to apologize for the length of this e-mail. 

Today and over the coming days, we are going to prepare to have a WONDERFUL fifth grade experience and set classroom expectations for the school year. These expectations will include both behavioral and and academic areas. However, I know we will all have a great year together! But here is some info I'd like to share with you before we meet again at Curriculum Night next week.

Email Contact Group

This is the first email you may receive from me as I added you into my email group through the information that was in Power School. This is what I will use to send out announcements as the year progresses.  Please let me know if there are additional email addresses or changes I need to make to any of your information.

Communication

Information pertinent to just my class is posted on the class blog at http://msmoncatch.blogspot.com/.  Information for the whole fifth grade team blog at  http://mannfifthgradeteam.blogspot.com/.  Please check these on a regular basis as all of our blogs have been updated and redesigned this year and have lots of links and resources.  I have also set up a Twitter account and hope to use that regularly to post things we are doing in the classroom. Search for me @MsMoncatch and also keep an eye on our school hashtag #mannschool and district hashtag #oakpark97 to see what is going on at Mann School and the district. Please let me know it there are any questions or concerns about publishing student photos or work on the internet.

Acceptable Use Form

Students received the Acceptable Use Form today that parents must read and fill out with their student before they can use any of the technology including their iPads. We are scheduled to complete iPad bootcamp on Wednesday, but students need this form returned before they can setup their iPad. Ipads will be distributed on Wednesday and will start coming home by the end of the week.  

Assignment Notebook

Students received an assignment notebook today.  This is definitely an important tool in organization in school. I will sign assignment notebook on a daily basis during the first trimester and will gradually release them during the rest of the school year to maintain it on their own in preparation for middle school. Please also try to review and sign the assignment notebook on a daily basis.  

Snacks and Water Bottle

Students can bring a nut free snack to school and we will have a working snack during the school day.  Information about this was shared by Mrs. Cole.  Please send into school a full water bottle daily so students can stay hydrated over the course of the day.  

Last, but not least...Parent Survey

In an effort to get to know each student and family, we have put together a short parent information form that we are asking each family to complete by Friday, September 4.  Information shared will be used only within the fifth grade staff.  This greatly helps us get to know your son or daughter.  Please take a moment to complete this using the link below.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE PARENT SURVEY

I think that's all for now! Please, please, please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns, now and throughout the year! I am hear to make sure your student has a wonderful, successful year in 5th grade. If there is anything I ever need to know please do not hesitate! I am really looking forward to a great year!

Ms. Moncatch

Welcome to 5th Grade!

Greetings!!!

I hope everyone had fantastic summers! I am thrilled to meet each of you next week on the first day of school. I am really looking forward to having a great year together!

See you soon! :)