Dear families,
I'm looking forward to another great week with my 5th graders! Luckily the temperatures are up a little this week, so we are hoping for more outdoor recess. We have a lot of learning happening this week, so let's jump right to it.
Upcoming Events
Skills/Focus
We are back in our regular skills/focus classes for the week. All tests have been made up from prior to the break except for a couple of students who need to make up science tests for Mrs. Hawkins. If your child needs to do this, you will see a note on his or her report card.
Reading
We are continuing our work on point of view (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person narrators) as well as viewpoint - how an author feels about a certain topic. Most students at this point are able to correctly identify which type of narrator or the viewpoint of an author. However, many are still struggling with providing evidence from the text. I expect fifth graders, especially at this point in the year, to be able to tell me WHY they believe something. "I believe the speaker of this poem feels that war is dangerous because the poem states in the third line that..." This is the kind of writing/speaking I expect students to have in class. All answers should be followed up with evidence. You can help out at home with this by asking your child "why" whenever he or she states an opinion. They are used to hearing it from me, but hearing it from you will help reinforce the skill.
Writing
This week, we are focusing on adding details to our writing (revising) and checking our punctuation and capitalization (editing). Many students still leave out end punctuation in their essays and forget to capitalize proper nouns as well as the first words of sentences.
Math
In math this week, we are going to start exploring what it means to multiply fractions. When we say 1/3 times 4, what we really mean is "1/3 OF 4." We'll be doing some hands-on work with math manipulatives to start off multipying whole numbers times fractions, and we'll end the week looking at fractions times fractions. There will be a quiz on Friday.
Science
Students are with Mrs. Hawkins again this week to finish their unit on electricity and magnetism. They will have a test on Friday.
I'm looking forward to another great week with my 5th graders! Luckily the temperatures are up a little this week, so we are hoping for more outdoor recess. We have a lot of learning happening this week, so let's jump right to it.
Upcoming Events
- Tues, 1/13: Report cards come home; autobiographies are due
- Fri, 1/16: Math quiz, reading test; science test (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person narrators)
- Mon, 1/19: No school; MLK Day
Skills/Focus
We are back in our regular skills/focus classes for the week. All tests have been made up from prior to the break except for a couple of students who need to make up science tests for Mrs. Hawkins. If your child needs to do this, you will see a note on his or her report card.
Reading
We are continuing our work on point of view (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person narrators) as well as viewpoint - how an author feels about a certain topic. Most students at this point are able to correctly identify which type of narrator or the viewpoint of an author. However, many are still struggling with providing evidence from the text. I expect fifth graders, especially at this point in the year, to be able to tell me WHY they believe something. "I believe the speaker of this poem feels that war is dangerous because the poem states in the third line that..." This is the kind of writing/speaking I expect students to have in class. All answers should be followed up with evidence. You can help out at home with this by asking your child "why" whenever he or she states an opinion. They are used to hearing it from me, but hearing it from you will help reinforce the skill.
Writing
This week, we are focusing on adding details to our writing (revising) and checking our punctuation and capitalization (editing). Many students still leave out end punctuation in their essays and forget to capitalize proper nouns as well as the first words of sentences.
Math
In math this week, we are going to start exploring what it means to multiply fractions. When we say 1/3 times 4, what we really mean is "1/3 OF 4." We'll be doing some hands-on work with math manipulatives to start off multipying whole numbers times fractions, and we'll end the week looking at fractions times fractions. There will be a quiz on Friday.
Science
Students are with Mrs. Hawkins again this week to finish their unit on electricity and magnetism. They will have a test on Friday.