Dear families,

I can't believe I just typed the week of 12/1 - December already?! I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday. I have relaxed and eaten for a good part of the week - and loved every minute of it! However, I am anxious to get back to school, see the kids, and start working again. 

Book Fair is this Tuesday - we will visit at 9:30. You can send in cash or a check, or you may plan to visit with us! There are lots of great books on the fair this year.

Field Trip! We are going on a field trip THIS FRIDAY, 12/5, to see the Nutcracker at Brenau! We have several 5th graders performing this year, so all classes are going to see this production and support our wonderful Gainesville Ballet. Tickets are normally $6, but we have discounted ticket prices of $2! You'll receive permission slips in Tuesday folders. Please send them back signed as soon as possible.

Mon, 12/1 Back to school!
Tues, 12/2 Book fair visit at 9:30; Red folders come home (with permission slips!)
Thurs, 12/4 Permission slips due
Fri, 12/5 Science test; math homework due; field trip to see the Nutcracker

Reading
This week, we start a three-week unit on organizational structures. Students will read a text and try to decide how it's organized: description, cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, or chronological-sequence. We will start off by identifying a text's organizational structure, and next week, we'll begin to compare the organizational structures of one text with a different text. We will test the week before we get out for winter break.

Math
We start working with fractions this week! This is another three-week unit. We will start by identifying the least common denominator of two fractions (also known as least common multiple), then we'll start adding and subtracting them for these three weeks. In 4th grade, your child added and subtracted fractions with LIKE denominators (the number on the bottom is the same). However, in 5th grade, we are adding and subtracting fractions with UNLIKE denominators (the number on the bottom is different; for example, 1/3 + 2/5). We will also be adding and subtracting whole numbers and fractions, mixed numbers, and improper fractions. Whew! We will also test for this unit the week before we get out for winter break.

Language Arts
We are continuing to work on conjunctions and informational writing. Students will be working on the differences between coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. We will also begin how-to writing. Students final how-to paper will be due on next Monday. 

Science
Students are finishing a science unit with Mrs. Hawkins. They are studying physical and chemical changes. The science test will be this Friday. 

My homeroom partnered with Mrs. Hicks's first grade class to write encouraging notes to the homeless in Gainesville as we prepared lunches and collected winter gear. (Mrs. Weiser's 5th graders partnered with Mrs. Igleheart's first graders as well.)

CAA's Total Donations for November: 213 pairs of socks, 26 coats, 6 sweaters, 2 blankets, and 30 sack lunches. THANK YOU!!!!

Dear families,

Welcome back to your weekly blog posts. I hope you are finding these updates to be helpful and informative about what your child is doing in class.

Before we get to the academic portion of this week's update, I'd like to share with you some general behavioral concerns in our class. As you can tell, there is a lot of work to be done each week in class. Several students are finding themselves off task by talking instead of working with others. In order to curb this behavior, I have set up some strictly no-talking time so that they can get their work finished. However, many of the students are still talking during this time. I am also at times disappointed by the amount of effort put into student work. We have talked about how to complete work at a satisfactory level, but some are still finishing quickly instead of putting thought and time into their answers. I would like to ask that you have a talk at home about putting forth the best effort possible. I am trying to change things around in order for students to be more productive. 

You'll see Class Dojo reports come home in Tuesday folders. These are behavior reports that show how your child did in class for the week (last week). It comes with a code so you can sign up and see your child's daily behavior. Please review these and sign and return them to school on Wednesday. As always, feel free to contact me at any time with any questions or concerns.

Also, we have had a problem with math homework being completed but not turned in. The last couple of weeks, we've only had 6 or 7 turn in their homework. Thank you for reminding your students to turn their work in - all students turned it in on Friday! Woohoo!

Now, let's take a look at the work for the week. We were blessed to have a no-test week last week, but that is not the case for this week! We are looking at three tests this week. Next week, students will have a reading test on figurative language. 

This Week

• Mon, 11/10: Math homework given out (due on Friday); ELA homework (due tomorrow)
• Wed, 11/12: Shurley English Chapter 4 Test
• Thurs, 11/13: Social Studies WWI Test
• Fri, 11/14: Math homework due; Math Test (multiplying and dividing decimals)

Reading/ELA
Standards

• RL.5.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

Activities

• Figurative Language Warm-Up Page 1 Read the paragraphs and answer the questions.
  
• Simile & Metaphor Packet Read each sentence. Identify the figurative phrase and its meaning.
  
• “Grandma’s Garden” Figurative Language Puzzle Read Grandma’s Garden. Using the puzzle sheet that goes with it, go back and find each example of figurative language in the story. In the top puzzle piece, write the type of figurative language. In the puzzle piece on the right, explain the actual (literal) meaning of the figurative phrase.  

What We're Reading

• "Grandma's Garden"
  
• One for the Murphy's

What We're Writing

• Stories with figurative language (primarily similes and metaphors)

English

• Starting Shurley English Chapter 4 
• Grammar: compound subjects, compound verbs, and compound objects of prepositions
• Skills: Types of sentences - simple, fragment, simple with a compound subject, simple with a compound verb
• Test: Wednesday

Mathematics 
Standards
NBT.7 Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.  

The test for this standard is THIS FRIDAY. We will be practicing multiplying and dividing decimals daily to prepare for our assessment. 
Activities

• NBT.7 Choice Board Students will be able to choose from a variety of activities to complete from this standard. 
• Decimal Practice Packet Students have two pages of review for multiplying and dividing with decimals.
• Workbook pages/Performance Tasks Some students will be working out of their enVision workbooks, and others will be completing practice performance tasks for the test on Friday.
• IXL – Dividing Decimals Please master all of these: H.13, I.3, I.5

Homework
This week, we have some 4th grade and 5th grade review on the front of the homework. On the back, students will be able to practice dividing decimals. 

Social Studies
My homeroom is back with me for the one more week to wrap up our WWI unit!
Standards
SS5H4 The student will describe U.S. involvement in World War I and post-World War I America. 

1. Explain how German attacks on U.S. shipping during the war in Europe (1914- 1917) ultimately led the U.S. to join the fight against Germany; include the sinking of the Lusitania and concerns over safety of U.S. ships, U.S. contributions to the war, and the impact of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. 

Activities

• Read about military families and the tradition of honoring our veterans (for Veterans Day)
• Read about and discuss the end of the war
• Complete a study guide and review activity

Test: This Thursday

Dear families,

Can you BELIEVE it is November already? I'm just in awe of how quickly this year is passing by! It's also hard to believe that we only have three weeks of school until Thanksgiving Break. (Then three weeks after that until Christmas... it really just blows my mind!)

Be sure you flip through the slideshow above with all the pictures from our Pumpkin Day last Friday! Thanks to all the moms who brought us lunch and helped roast pumpkin seeds. And also a big thank you to all the parents and grandparents who delivered pumpkins! We couldn't have had such a fun day without the support of our wonderful families!

Another big THANKS to everyone who sent in coats for our coat drive in October. We, along with Mrs. Weiser's class, delivered 38 coats (and 30 lunches made by Mrs. Hawkins's students) to New Walk Ministry last week. They operate the Facebook page "Homeless in Gainesville, Ga." Here's a picture they posted of a man who received one of our coats. My students (along with Mrs. Weiser's students) wrote notes to go on the coats - notes with encouraging words. I loved receiving this picture; look at him reading the note of encouragement while wearing a coat he'd been given - it really filled my bucket!