Week of 9/29

Dear families,

I can't believe that October will be here this week! I love the cooler weather and this time of year. October is also the time for parent-teacher conferences. I have only heard from two parents about signing up for a conference, but I need to meet with everyone. Please click THIS LINK to sign up for a conference.  

Students have gotten a flyer for another Scholastic book order. These will come home monthly. Feel free to participate as you like - you are not required to purchase! This month, students have received coupons; if they purchase $10 or more in books, they receive a free $5 book. See the coupon for details. These orders are due on October 10th. You can go to scholastic.com/readingclub to order online. Our class code is J39FV. 

This Tuesday is our service learning day for September. We'll be researching a little bit about childhood cancer and how laughter can help take away pain. I have a friend whose infant son, Asher, has cancer, so we are going to do an activity for him on Tuesday. If students want to send in any donation towards childhood cancer, I will take those. Students are not required to send in money to participate. CAA parents have already done a lot for childhood cancer this month - and we thank you! :) In addition to learning about childchood cancer, we are doing the #whippingchildhoodcancer challenge - putting whip cream "pies" in each other's faces to raise awareness for these terrible diseases. Students who wish to participate should bring an extra shirt on Tuesday just in case they get a little messy!

We are using a behavior support system in our class called Class Dojo. It enables me to reward positive points for positive behavior and to take away points for negative behavior. At the end of each day, it calculates the percentage of positive points a student has earned for the day. The kids are responding really well to this program! I personally like this much better than a regular clip chart. On Mondays, students who have high percentages of positive points from the previous week earn lunch in the classroom and/or extra recess.

I am really looking forward to this week! I finished my lesson plans and was just so excited about all we're doing and learning in class! I know it's going to be a fantastic week. Let's check it out. 

Coming Up This Week:

• Mon, 9/29: Class Dojo Reward Day
• Tues, 9/30: Service Project Day
  
• Fri, 10/3: Math test (adding and subtracting decimals); science test (classifying plants and animals); math homework due

Reading/ELA
Standards

• RI.5.2. Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
• W.5.1. Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Activities

• Learn about the terms used when determining main idea (main idea, topic, topic sentence, supporting details)
• Read a variety of texts to determine main idea
• Learn how to chart a main idea on a table organizer
• Find (and write) the main idea of short passages using main idea task cards
• Continue to practice theme and conflict from last unit using Bridge to Terabithia
• Learn how to write an opinion paper (and eat Oreos while we learn how to do it!)
• Discuss the difference between fact and opinion - create a T-chart after watching video on cancer (left side fact, right side opinion)

What We're Reading

• "It Feels Good to Laugh"
• "Christopher Columbus"
• various articles on classification of animals (mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians)
• various articles on Martin Luther King, Jr.
• One for the Murphy's

What We're Writing

• Opinion writing based on our text, "It Feels Good to Laugh"

*Students will be having lunch in the classroom this week as we watch the movie, Bridge to Terabithia - it is based on the book we just finished!

Mathematics
Standards

• NBT.7 Add, subtract...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. 

We are only working with adding and subtracting decimals for this unit. The test is this Friday. Students will have to add and subtract decimals to/from other decimals and to/from whole numbers. After a quiz last week, the most difficult problems for students are the ones that involve a whole number. We are working with problems like that that this week as we prepare for the assessment.
Activities

• Buddy games: Ten is the Winner and Rolling Around with Decimals (using dice to create decimals to add and subtract)
• Subtracting decimals practice with self-checking kaleidoscope pictures
• IXL: E.8 (smart estimates) and E.4 (adding and subtracting decimals - word problems). If your child is having any difficulty with adding and subtracting decimals, he or she can continue to work on E.3.
• With me, students will be working on practicing whatever skills they still struggle with. Math groups are based on which students need review on which skills.

Science
Students will be finishing up a unit with Mrs. Hawkins this week in science. They will be learning about how to classify plants and animals. To visit the 5th grade science website, please click here:
http://5thscience.weebly.com/