This Week in Room 34! Jan. 4-8

This Week in Room 34! Jan. 4-8

Welcome back! Thank you SO much for a fantastic winter party and for all the sweet and thoughtful gifts. I felt so spoiled and appreciated! I hope everyone enjoyed their winter break and that you are all relaxed and ready for the 2nd half of 5th grade!

Here's what is going on this week-

Science- We are starting a new unit on Earth and Space (chapter 9)! Our first lesson focuses on how Earth moves.

Writing- We are beginning an exciting and challenging unit on memoirs! A memoir is a hybrid kind of writing, including elements of both personal narrative and personal essay. We are raising the level of our craft by adding in more reflection, opinions, and thoughts. We will then be supporting our thoughts with evidence in the form of personal stories!

As a reminder, students should be spending 20 minutes each week (10 min. Tue, 10 min. Thurs.) writing- they can write in their writer's notebook or they can write an email to me or on their Google drive!

Math- We are now in Volume 2 of our math series and starting chapter 8 on fractions and decimals. This week our focus is on relating fractions and division, greatest common factor, and simplest form. Please practice those basic multiplication and division facts with your student- it is SO important to know them quickly in order to efficiently perform these new skills. Thank you for all your hard work at home!

Reading- We are excited to start a new unit on social issues within book clubs! We will be reading through the lens of identifying and interpreting the author's and our own views on social issues. We will learn that reading for social issues can help you better understand and empathize with people in books, movies, and the world!

Social Studies- We are beginning a new chapter on European settlements.

Reminders/Upcoming Dates:
Wed. 1/13- Early Release
Mon. 1/18 No School

Parents,

I just wanted to send a quick update about PRISM. It is NOT mandatory for 5th graders to complete the PRISM project but highly suggested and encouraged!

IF students choose to complete a project at home, there is a suggested timeline, a sheet with possible investigation ideas/websites, and a proposal sheet. I would highly encourage your student to use these tools (located in the science tab of this blog!) if they would like to participate.

The first step is choosing a testable question that they want to investigate (it must be measurable!) If your student is interested, I would encourage them to complete the proposal sheet and turn in to me, so I can go over it with them and make sure they are on the right track.

Thank you for all your help and encouragement at home. I highly suggest participating because it is a FANTASTIC way to get hands-on practice with the scientific method and performing investigations (a BIG part of the 5th grade curriculum and state-wide testing). If you have any questions, please let me know!

Here is a link to the suggested timeline, it is also posted in the Science tab- PRISM 5th Grade Suggested Timeline