Patriotism is the word of the month for our Character Education program. On May 26th we will come together as a school community and wear red, white and blue. Patriotism is the quality of being supportive for one’s country. One way to show devotion to our country is to honor and respect the American flag. Pam Ryan’s The Flag We Love reminds us of our country’s ideals.

Ronald Reagan said, “If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.” Another way to show your patriotism is to honor our service men and women. Vetiquette is a character education program that teaches children the importance of showing gratitude for our veterans and particularly for gold star families (families that have lost an immediate family member in service to our country). Please make sure you read the biography of the service member assigned to our class. We will create a tribute quilt which will be gifted to the service member’s family. Here are additional biographies of some true American Heroes.

It is time to get those creative juices going again! Mrs. McBride is offering another opportunity to put your skills to work. Find out more details for this month’s challenge here – The Gummy Bear Challenge.

April is blue for respect. Cottage Lane’s book of the month, Pinduli, is a surprising story about self-image, self-acceptance, and treating others with respect. After reading, sharing and discussing this special book you will realize how a few tiny words – bad or good – can create something enormous!

Have you seen my class?

In our review of theme, we have been listening to and dissecting the lyrics of a number of different songs in hopes of identifying the themes and messages the songwriters/composers/artists hoped to get across to their audiences.

Try your hand at uncovering the theme of the following songs. Choose one song to comment on and remember to keep our guiding questions in mind! Please make sure to state which song you are focusing on in your response.

Guiding Questions:
-Why do you think they choose this title for the song?
-What words or phrases do you notice are repeated most often?
-What are the most important lines in the song?
-How do you think the song writer was feeling when he/she wrote this song?
-Can you connect this song to your own life?
-What message(s) (THEMES) did the songwriter want to express with this song?

This month at Cottage Lane we are focusing on compassion.  “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama At today’s assembly, we discussed the meaning of compassion and how we can show compassion in school, at home and in the world.  Our Compassion Cards will encourage us to perform random acts of compassion.  From the Buddy Bench to Jump Rope for Heart, our compassion can make a difference in the lives of others.

Our book of the month, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world. The main character realizes the lost opportunity for friendship and thinks about how much better it could have been if a little compassion was shown toward others.

What is your New Year’s Resolution? How do you plan to make 2016 meaningful?   Even though this video is from 2014, it’s still really fun to watch.  Check it out and blog about it!

Blog about a tradition that you and your family do over the holidays.  Be specific!  Don’t just write,  “We buy a tree” or “we bake cookies.”  Do you all go on the same day every year?  Do you bake a special recipe with the same people?  What do you bake and what makes it so special.  Try to capture the moment and describe your tradition.

Autumn is a beautiful time of year.  What do you and your family like to do during the fall?  Do you go on a hayride or do you go apple picking?  Blog about it.

Fifth grade is an amazing year!  You will be exploring so many new concepts in math, science and social studies.  You will also be reading and writing across many genres. Hard work will bring you much success.   What are you going to do this year to ensure you are successful?    Share some of your 5th grade goals.