Dear families,
Welcome to your first weekly blog post! Typically, I write blog posts for the week on Saturdays or Sundays and will email them out to you as soon as they are finished. Each blog post updates you on general information about the week as well as specifics about what your fifth grader will be doing in class.
This week's blog post is especially long because I am explaining the details behind lots of our classes. Please do not let the length discourage you from reading these blog posts :) They are usually shorter than this, but they are all full of important information about your child's academics.
Let me also officially welcome you to what I hope will be a very open and communicative parent-teacher partnership! I hope to always be able to share with you ahead of time information about what we are doing in class. If, however, you ever have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. You may find my contact information on the "Contact Me" page at the top.
I love to take pictures in class, so there should be at LEAST one new picture to accompany each blog post! For weeks when there are several photos, I will set up a slideshow and send it to you. This post's picture is of about half the class working on our first STEM project. We'll be doing these projects monthly. STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering, and math." For our first project, students had to work in groups to create marshmallow towers, and the tallest tower won! (Congrats to Millie and Yuliana on their 24" winning tower!) After completing the project, students learned about the principles of engineering and design. We will use these 6 principles on each month's STEM challenge! (If you are interested in helping out with our next challenge, please let me know. It's a fun one!)
If you haven't already, let me encourage you to please sign up for FREE reminder texts from me. These come through an educational website called remind.com. It's completely safe and secure. This is a great way for me to send out last minute reminders. Look on the right sidebar to find the information to sign up for these free text messages! (Thanks to those of you who have already signed up! We have almost half the class!)
I also am going to send out requests from a website called threering.com. This is your child's free, secure online work portfolio. I will post examples of work and projects here so you will be able to see them! Some projects can't come home, so this way you can see the things your child creates in class. Please sign up for this once you receive the email.
Now that we've gotten all of this introductory information out of the way, let me fill you in on some of the specifics for our first full week of school!
*A special note about our homeroom classes and science/social studies: All of my homeroom students are in my class for Reading/ELA, Mathematics, and Social Studies. The only classes students switch for are science and social studies. My homeroom students will visit Mrs. Hawkins's class for science instruction.
What's Happening This Week:
Skills Class
All students will have a 50 minute skills/focus class at the beginning of the day. This class starts at 7:30, so if your child is not in his or her seat at that time, he or she will miss out on part of that class. If your child attends MPACT or ESOL classes, this is the time for those classes. The students who do not attend MPACT or ESOL will get specialized instruction targeting their specific strengths and weaknesses. This is a very important class, so please be sure your child is on time. Thank you!
Mathematics
Standards
We'll be working with number sense this week to help get our minds thinking in a mathematical way before we begin working with place value next week.
Reading/ELA
Our literacy block consisting of reading/ela will be at the very end of the day. If your child checks out early, he or she will miss out on reading instruction.
Standards
Social Studies
Standards
Welcome to your first weekly blog post! Typically, I write blog posts for the week on Saturdays or Sundays and will email them out to you as soon as they are finished. Each blog post updates you on general information about the week as well as specifics about what your fifth grader will be doing in class.
This week's blog post is especially long because I am explaining the details behind lots of our classes. Please do not let the length discourage you from reading these blog posts :) They are usually shorter than this, but they are all full of important information about your child's academics.
Let me also officially welcome you to what I hope will be a very open and communicative parent-teacher partnership! I hope to always be able to share with you ahead of time information about what we are doing in class. If, however, you ever have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. You may find my contact information on the "Contact Me" page at the top.
I love to take pictures in class, so there should be at LEAST one new picture to accompany each blog post! For weeks when there are several photos, I will set up a slideshow and send it to you. This post's picture is of about half the class working on our first STEM project. We'll be doing these projects monthly. STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering, and math." For our first project, students had to work in groups to create marshmallow towers, and the tallest tower won! (Congrats to Millie and Yuliana on their 24" winning tower!) After completing the project, students learned about the principles of engineering and design. We will use these 6 principles on each month's STEM challenge! (If you are interested in helping out with our next challenge, please let me know. It's a fun one!)
If you haven't already, let me encourage you to please sign up for FREE reminder texts from me. These come through an educational website called remind.com. It's completely safe and secure. This is a great way for me to send out last minute reminders. Look on the right sidebar to find the information to sign up for these free text messages! (Thanks to those of you who have already signed up! We have almost half the class!)
I also am going to send out requests from a website called threering.com. This is your child's free, secure online work portfolio. I will post examples of work and projects here so you will be able to see them! Some projects can't come home, so this way you can see the things your child creates in class. Please sign up for this once you receive the email.
Now that we've gotten all of this introductory information out of the way, let me fill you in on some of the specifics for our first full week of school!
*A special note about our homeroom classes and science/social studies: All of my homeroom students are in my class for Reading/ELA, Mathematics, and Social Studies. The only classes students switch for are science and social studies. My homeroom students will visit Mrs. Hawkins's class for science instruction.
What's Happening This Week:
- Monday, August 11: All academic class begin! (The first class starts at 7:30 am, so please be on time.)
- Friday, August 15: My homeroom's social studies class first assessment - The Constitution and Citizenship
Skills Class
All students will have a 50 minute skills/focus class at the beginning of the day. This class starts at 7:30, so if your child is not in his or her seat at that time, he or she will miss out on part of that class. If your child attends MPACT or ESOL classes, this is the time for those classes. The students who do not attend MPACT or ESOL will get specialized instruction targeting their specific strengths and weaknesses. This is a very important class, so please be sure your child is on time. Thank you!
Mathematics
Standards
- 5.OA.A Write and interpret numerical expressions.
- 5.OA.B Analyze patterns and relationships.
- How is mental math important in solving numerical expressions?
- Why is it important to recognize patterns in math?
We'll be working with number sense this week to help get our minds thinking in a mathematical way before we begin working with place value next week.
- Monday: Set up math notebook; mental math fun; break down numerical expressions, play Kakooma! (super fun math game... find it at www.gregtangmath.com)
- Tuesday: play "Which is the better deal?" and a game called "High Rollers;" work with a variety of place values; play "What's my number?" and Kakooma again!
- Wednesday: Play "Guess my number"
- Thursday: Word problem solving strategies (6 steps). We'll be using these strategies all year long, so you may want to become familiar with them. 1) Read the whole problem. 2) Figure out who and what the problem is about. 3) Write the question as a statement. 4) Draw your model. 5) Write your equation and solve it. 6) Fill in your answer and see if it makes sense.
- Friday: Play "Rocky Digits" game and a 100s chart game
Reading/ELA
Our literacy block consisting of reading/ela will be at the very end of the day. If your child checks out early, he or she will miss out on reading instruction.
Standards
- RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- How do I make sure I read a variety of genres?
- How can I tell the genre of a book?
- How do I read a text closely?
- How can I show description in my writing?
- Monday: Set up reading notebook; play Library Bingo and make a wish list for books to read this year
- Tuesday: Learn about the 30 book challenge; discuss author's purpose (easy as PIE - persuade, inform, entertain) and put a foldable into our interactive notebooks; play author's purpose scoot game
- Wednesday: genre sort small group activity; discuss the writing strategy of "Show, Don't Tell" which improves descriptive writing
- Thursday: Read Scholastic News article "Hide and Sneak" closely in 3 steps; write your opinion about smuggling in illegal animals
- Friday: Create a "Show, Don't Tell" short story and illustration
- Skinnybones by Barbara Park
- Opinion piece (1-2 well developed paragraphs)
- Short narrative story
Social Studies
Standards
- SS5CG1 The student will explain how a citizen’s rights are protected under the
U.S. Constitution. - SS5CG2 The student will explain the process by which amendments to the US Constitution are made.
- Why does the US Constitution contain a Bill of Rights?
- What is due process?
- Monday: Introduce the Bill of Rights, the difference in rights and responsibilities of citizens, and explain the amendment process
- Tuesday - Thursday: a variety of centers to explore the Bill of Rights and citizenship (includes short videos, a play, amendment matching, reading nonfiction articles, etc.)
- Friday: First assessment - Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Citizenship. It will consist of matching questions and essay/short answer.
- "Symbols of the United States" (a short play)
- "No Bill of Rights, No Constitution"
- What would life be like without one of the rights listed in the Bill of Rights? Choose a right, then write an opinion piece about which right would be the worst to lose and why.
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