Hi Everyone!

We had such a wonderful time today at the end of the year PBIS celebration. Mrs. Tubolino and a committee of other teachers put together an absolutely great morning of fun for all of us. Some of the highlights of our morning were frisbee golf, tug of war and the dunk tank. We had a picnic lunch outside, and ended the day with a bowl of ice cream that Stewart's donated for our special day. It truly was a perfect way to celebrate positive behavior, and great kids.

Tomorrow is our last day together. Most of the kids have emptied their desks. Some still have odds and ends around. We will take care of this tomorrow. We will also spend our last morning enjoying some fun activities before it is time for summer vacation to officially begin!

It is incredibly important for you to encourage your child to read EACH and EVERY day this summer. Books, magazines, newspapers, it doesn't matter. Any form of print is acceptable, as long as the student is interested and reading! To push your student one step further this summer, encourage conversation about what your child is reading. Ask them "w" questions, for example, who are the main characters? Where does the story take place? What problems are the characters facing? Promoting and encouraging conversation is another great literacy rich activity to keep your students using their noggins, and is an easy activity for you to stay connected with them this summer!

Thank you for all of your help and support throughout the year. It was an absolute pleasure to work with your students daily. They truly are an outstanding group of young ladies and gentlemen.

Have a safe, and very happy summer!

posted 6/22/2010 4:33 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

Today was our last full Tuesday of school. We are beginning to wrap up a variety of things in the classroom. The last few weeks, we have been finishing up our final unit of writing workshop, fiction writing. The kids did a great job with this! They used story mountains to help guide their thinking, and then took their story mountain points and begin crafting scenes. Their writing is fantastic and incredibly impressive for fifth graders. We also wrote book reviews. The kids picked books they have recently read, and wrote a review that we will share out before the end of the year. This way, other members of the class can get some new titles or ideas for summer reading selections. Please remember, reading over the summer is so very important!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

posted 6/15/2010 4:36 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Welcome to the last full week of school!

I am still having a hard time realizing how quickly time flys, and how fast this year in particular, has flown! This will be our last week for DOL and spelling. The kids were very excited by this. Our last day of switching will be on Thursday. Please make sure that all textbooks are back in school by then, if they have made their way home.

The fifth grade picnic is this Friday. Mrs. Griffin has begun contacting all of you with a list of food objects we are looking to have donated. Thank you, in advance, for providing us with all of these goodies! We appreciate it very much.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns as they year wraps up.

posted 6/14/2010 4:34 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

We had an awesome time on our field trip last Wednesday. The kids were very well behaved and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They were a wonderful representation of Minetto School.

This week, we will take the DRP's on Thursday afternoon. Please plan accordingly, if at all possible. I will also be collecting Scholastic Book orders until Thursday (June 10th). I will expedite the shipping so the books will be in in plenty of time.

Science projects are due Friday! All parts of the project must be completed in their entirety. Each day the project is late, the student will lose five points.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns. Have a great Monday afternoon!

posted 6/7/2010 4:10 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Happy June!

Tomorrow is our field trip! PLEASE make sure students are here by 7:45AM, as we will be leaving promptly at 8:00AM. We will not wait for late students. Students need to have a bag lunch (with no glass). Please label your students lunch as well as any drinks they may have. Students may bring backpacks on the bus with a DEAR time book, homework, or other quiet activities. Electronic devices of any sort are strictly prohibited - except for cameras! Students may bring cameras. However, please be cautious about sending in cameras, as it is the student's total responsibility to take care any and all of their belongings. Students may also bring a blanket or towel to sit on. If the weather is nice enough, we will have our lunch outside. We will return to Minetto School at 4:00PM. If your student will be riding home with another parent, please send in a note giving your son or daughter permission to ride home with someone else.

Thank you for your cooperation in making our field trip a success!

posted 6/1/2010 3:03 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

This is a friendly reminder that we are still collecting $5 from each student for our upcoming field trip on June 2nd. Please send that money in as soon as possible.

In other news, we are working hard on an end of the year research project in science. Here are some important dates for you to know about:

Friday, May 28th - Rough draft is due with citations

Friday, June 4th - Realistic diagram is due

Friday, June 11th - Entire project is due

Please let me know if you have any other questions about the project. Have a great afternoon!

posted 5/20/2010 3:52 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

By now, you should have all received notification about our upcoming field trip to the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Wednesday, June 2nd. We are asking each student to bring in $5 to help defray the cost. Please send this money in as soon as possible. In the event that you are unable to send this in, please simply send me an email or call. We will make something work!

Minetto Carnival information went home a while ago as well. Our homeroom parent, Mrs. Griffin, is the organizer of this event. She is looking for volunteers from our classroom to work at the event. We have only had two parents step forward at this time. If you are able to give up a half hour or more of your time, the kids would really appreciate it! Or, if you are unable to volunteer your time, but can make a cake or buy a cake for the cake booth, the Carnival committee would be very appreciative. Please let me know if you need any more information.

Have a good rest of your Monday!

posted 5/17/2010 4:21 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Good Afternoon!

We have successfully made it through all NYS testing. The kids worked really hard on both the ELA and Math test. They have a lot to be proud of!

A notice was sent home today regarding our June 2nd field trip to the Rochester Museum of Science. We will be leaving before school begins, at 8:00AM, and will return to school after dismissal, at 4:15PM. Because of this, students will need to find alternate transportation to and from school. We are also asking each student to bring in $5 to defray the cost of admission to the museum. Students are to bring a bag lunch, with no glass items, too. At this point in time, I am unsure of how many adults we can take. In the event we need extra chaperones, I will send a notice home.

Have a great Tuesday!

posted 5/11/2010 3:54 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Good Afternoon!

Please remember that there is no school for students on Monday, May 10th. Next Thursday, the 13th, is the Minetto Walk-a-thon. If you are interested in making a donation, please bring in the money by the day of the walk. The rain date is Friday the 14th. That day, there will also be a picnic lunch. If you are interested in joining your child for lunch, please send in the slip by Monday.

posted 5/7/2010 12:08 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the month of May. On Wednesday and Thursday this week, we will take our NYS Math test. Please make sure your student is in school for the afternoon tests.

In other news, our classroom won the PARP bulletin board/door decorating contest for fifth grade! Congratulations! We used the theme, "Buzz into a good book," to help design our bulletin board. If you have a chance, please come up and see it.

Lastly, if the spring cleaning bug has hit you and you come across any new or slightly used notebooks (one subject) and are looking to donate them to a good cause, our classroom is in need of a few. The students use a notebook for DOL and spelling. Many of the kids have filled an entire notebook and are on to their second notebook. We have a few extras floating around the classroom, but will need more in the future. If you would like to donate any to our classroom, we would be very appreciative!

Have a great afternoon!

posted 5/3/2010 3:04 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

Just a friendly reminder that I am collecting the April book orders that were handed out at parent/teacher conferences until Friday. Please send in a check made out to Scholastic. You can also place an order online! Go to scholastic.com, click on the parents link at the top. In the menu, under quick links, will be a book club order link. Click on that and enter our classroom information (user name: mrstes23, password: minetto). We are also always collecting Campbell's soup labels, Box tops for education and pull-tabs off of cans.

Enjoy the sunshine!

posted 4/28/2010 4:01 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Good Afternoon!

We jumped right back into the swing of things yesterday. Today we took part one of the NYS ELA test. The kids did a great job. Tomorrow we will take the second part. Next week we continue with the NYS Math test on Wednesday and Thursday.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns. It was great to see everyone at parent/teacher conferences!

posted 4/27/2010 4:02 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

The fourth quarter officially begins today. With that said, report cards are being printed and reviewed as we speak, so that they are ready for distribution at parent/teacher conferences Thursday and Friday. I am looking forward to seeing all of you! In the event that you are unable to come, please email or call me as soon as possible so we can reschedule. Since our week is shorter, there will not be any spelling homework due.

Please email me with any questions, comments or concerns.

posted 4/12/2010 12:19 PM | comment | view comments (0)

posted 4/7/2010 7:16 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

I hope this post finds everyone well. Yellow notices are officially heading home to the rest of you this evening regarding parent/teacher conference times. Please fill these out and send them back ASAP. Conference times are on the half-hour. The students are also bringing home the next Current Events calendar. I neglected to put the directions on the bottom of the calendar, like I always do. I am sorry! The next round of articles is to be on advertisements. We discussed this today, as well as where advertisements can be found. Please encourage your students to complete their Current Events sheet in pen, cursive and complete sentences.

One concern that has arose is how little the kids are using their planners. These planners are provided for students to stay organized and on top of their homework. I know as adults, we live by our calendars and to-do lists! Our fifth grade team of teachers has stressed the importance of the use of these planners, but some of the students just will not budge. With that said, we would appreciate any support and encouragement you could provide from home in regards to the use of these planners. It is a great habit to get into using them NOW, especially as our students progress on to more challenging and demanding academics. Thank you for your support with this!

As always, please feel free to email me with any questions, comments or concerns. Have a great day!

posted 3/25/2010 10:13 AM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

We had another great week together. Time is really flying, and before we know it, it will be April. I just put together my letter about spring parent/teacher conferences, so please look for that sometime next week. As always, please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

posted 3/19/2010 4:01 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I hope you are enjoying the sunshine as much as I am. We started a new chapter of study in science, the universe. On Monday, the students took a test for the previous chapter, weather. Once the tests are graded and returned, I would like the students to have them signed by an adult at home. This lets me know that someone at home has seen the culminating grade for the chapter and is aware of how their child is doing.

In other news, renovations have begun at Minetto School. The carpets are being taken out of classrooms and tonight is our night for removal. It is a very exciting time for our building. We are fortunate to benefit from the capital project. Minetto School is in desperate need of a face lift. If you haven't had the opportunity, pop your head in and take a look around!

Please note that on the school calendar, this Friday was a scheduled Superintendent's Conference Day. This has been rescheduled to May. Therefore, Friday is a regular day of school.

Have a great day!

posted 3/17/2010 12:16 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hello!

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine. It is so nice to see the sky so bright. We are very fortunate to have a classroom with many windows. The sun is giving us the boost of energy we all need to make it through a Monday!

On Friday, book order forms went home. All orders are due back by Friday, March 12th. Please submit checks only. Remember, you may also place an order online! Our classroom earns free books when you place orders online. If you need the information to log on, please let me know.

On Thursday, the entire building will travel to the high school first thing in the morning to see the musical. Half of our class is involved, so it will be great to see the product of the students hard work! Due our change in schedule on Thursday, as well as so many kids travelling to the high school Tuesday and Wednesday for dress rehearsals, we will eliminate meaningful sentences from our weekly spelling homework. Students are responsible for completing ABC order and three times each. We will have our test on Friday.

In science news, Minetto School was featured on the Channel 9 News broadcast Saturday at 6pm. To view the podcast, go to the following link: http://www.9wsyr.com/weather/default.aspx

Scroll down to the middle of the page where it says storm team videos. On the right hand side of that window, you will see a video with the Minetto School pennant called "Shout out to Minetto Elementary." Take a look! To finish this chapter, we have been working on an essay comparing and contrasting the book and the movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. These essays will be due early next week. We will have a quiz on Friday about clouds, and a regular chapter test will follow on Monday. We will review in class this week and students will also receive a study sheet.

Lastly, in the very near future, I will begin to contact you about upcoming parent/teacher conference times in April. I will start with the students in our room who have siblings in the building so that conference times may be coordinated.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

posted 3/8/2010 12:05 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hello!

This morning, we had a special guest, meteorologist Jim Teske from News Channel 9. It was great! The kids were wonderful audience members and asked interesting questions at the end. It was a nice way to wrap up our chapter of study on weather.

If you have not had a chance to send in pictures yet, please do so for our pen-pals. Our next round of letters will be mailed Friday. Students were asked to bring in a recent school picture as well as any snow pictures they might have. Our pen-pals in Asheboro, North Carolina will really enjoy seeing these photos!

Have a great afternoon.

posted 3/2/2010 4:02 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Happy Snow Day!

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm. Since these are our first snow days of the year, I am sure students are concerned about work that was due Thursday or Friday. I realize that some students may not have grabbed the necessary materials and therefore have not had the opportunity to do their homework. I completely understand and we will adjust due dates when we are back together on Monday. We will have our spelling test on Monday though. I will post our words below for those of you who may have misplaced your list that is supposed to stay home.

Have a great weekend!

Spelling words:

1-10

careless, available, reliable, restless, believable, helpless

tasteless, comfortable, understandable, priceless

11-15

homestead, despair, rations, perch, concocted

posted 2/26/2010 8:32 AM | comment | view comments (0)

Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend. Our short week is going to fly by! On Friday, we are having a mid-year PBIS celebration. It is beach themed. Therefore, kids are encouraged to wear appropriate beach clothes (i.e. shorts, capris, flip flops). Kids were also asked to bring a beach towel in on Friday because we will be having a picnic lunch together in the cafeteria. If you have one that you can send in, that would be great! Since our schedule is already a little wacky due to this celebration, we have rescheduled our afternoon of fun outside in the snow for Friday afternoon. That means that kids will also need to come to school with appropriate winter clothes. Yes, we are going to enjoy both extremes of the weather on Friday! A note was sent home about this. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Next week, we will begin taking practice assessments for our upcoming NYS standardized testing. Please remember that the NYS ELA and NYS Math test are scheduled for the end of April and beginning of May. It is important that students are here for all testing days.

In other exciting news, on Tuesday, March 2nd, Meterologist Jim Teske from News Channel 9 will visit our fifth graders to talk about the weather! We have been studying weather since the end of January. It is a fascinating topic that we are enjoying very much. We are very fortunate that Jim was able to make time to come and visit.

Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments or concerns.

ktesorie@oswego.org 

posted 2/17/2010 4:12 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Happy Friday!

Report cards went home with your kids today. Please take a look, and let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns about what you see. Please sign above your previous signature, and return them to school on Monday.

Please remember that next week is a short week. Again, Thursday is a half day and Friday there is no school. Information went home yesterday about our Valentine's Day celebration on Thursday.

Also, our outdoor/sledding afternoon of fun remains postponed until further notice. We are all anxiously awaiting enough snow to go outside and actually have fun! We will make sure plenty of notice is given prior to the day we do decide to reschedule our outing.

Have a great weekend!

posted 2/5/2010 4:19 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Hi Everyone!

Can you believe it's February? This month will be very choppy due to our President's Day long weekend. Please remember that Thursday, February 11th is a half day for all students. We do not have school on Friday, February 12th, Monday the 15th and Tuesday the 16th.

We will have a Valentine's day celebration in our classroom on the 11th. Students are welcome to bring in valentine's and/or candy for the entire class. More information will arrive home by the end of the week, including an updated class list.

The second quarter came to an official close on Friday. The third quarter is a fresh start for all of us. Report cards will arrive home at the end of the week. Please sign and return the envelopes to school on Monday.

Have a great rest of the week!

posted 2/3/2010 3:21 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Happy Friday!

Today was Hat Day for Haiti. The kids really enjoyed themselves. They were also incredibly giving. The last I heard, Minetto School had raised close to $700 for the American Red Cross. That's great! Thank you for your generosity.

A notice was sent home with many reminders for next week, including the Growing Up presentation, visit from Jack Gramlich and Friday fun in the snow. Please email me with any questions or concerns.

Earlier in the week, a book order was also sent home. If you are interested in placing an order, please have them back to school no later than Friday, January 29th.

Have a wonderful weekend!

posted 1/22/2010 4:28 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Good Morning!

Congratulations to our class representative Rachel G., who participated in Minetto's spelling bee yesterday. She did a great job, but misspelled the word extinct and was unable to move on to the next round. We were very proud of her hard work.

Next week, fifth grade has many "extra" activities going on. On Thursday, we will participate in a Growing Up presentation. Permission slips were sent home, and students must return them in order to be present for this. On Friday, Jack Gramlich will visit Minetto School. He is a science expert and will teach us all about weather, our next chapter of study. Students are encouraged to dress in layers as we will be going outside for this. Also on Friday, the entire fifth grade team will have an afternoon of fun in the snow. Students are welcome to bring in sleds or tubes, but they may not come on the bus. An adult must bring them in. Students must also have the appropriate snow gear (i.e. hat, gloves, coat, pants, boots). This will be a great way to end the month of January and the end of the second marking period!

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

posted 1/21/2010 10:14 AM | comment | view comments (0)