Welcome back!!!  I hope you all had a restful and relaxing time with your family. We are super excited about our field trip, this Thursday, to see Wonder!! If you have not yet returned permission slip, please do so by Wednesday.

Thank you everyone who has already contributed to our Helping Hands. This will be the last week to bring in items for Helping Hands! This Friday will be all things wacky and all money will go to Helping Hands.

Cookie Dough pickup is tomorrow, Tuesday, from 3-6 in the Concord gym.

This week is the book fair. We will go twice, Wednesday and Friday.

Science: We are continuing studying why the stars change with the seasons?

Math: We are estimating quotients, dividing decimals by whole numbers and decimals, and dividing by powers of 10. We will be reviewing chapter 6 on Friday and Monday. Our ch. 6 test will be next Tuesday, December 5th. We will work on a study guide in class later this week.

Writing: We are publishing our final historical nonfiction writing piece and will celebrate this Friday. We will then move onto our unit on Memoirs.

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 view 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 to study the Civil War, and which events of the mid-1800's kept the nation together and which events pulled it apart?

I hope everyone enjoys their time off with family and friends! I am so very thankful for my job and getting to spend every day teaching and learning from your children! Thank YOU for all your time and support at home!

Here's what to expect this SHORT 2-day week in 5th grade:

Science- We are studying why the stars change with the seasons?

Writing- We are continuing to draft our historical research reports with a focus on adding meaningful text features. We will continue drafting/publishing after Thanksgiving break. Completed research reports are due for our celebration on Friday, Dec. 1st!

Math- We are multiplying decimals with a focus on multiplication properties and will begin dividing decimals by estimating quotients.

Reading- We are working on comparing nonfiction texts by using newsela.com. Ask your child to show you this awesome website filled with nonfiction articles! We will also begin our new unit on social issues. Book clubs will be assigned after Thanksgiving break. 

Social Studies-  We are busy reviewing cases as lawyers, we must be well versed in the Bill of Rights in order to help decide what is right and what is wrong!

Dear Families,

     It is a great time of year to reflect on how lucky we are and think about what we are thankful for. Today, your child has brought home strips of construction paper for members of your family to fill out. We are creating a chain of thankfulness for our classroom and we would love for you to join us!

      Please write one thing you are thankful for on the strip of paper with your name on the back. This is not a required assignment, but more so a fun way to involve you in our classroom.

If I don’t see you before the break, I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday with friends and family! I personally am extremely thankful for the amazing class I have this year. Your kids make me smile every day. It truly is a joy teaching them. Thank you for your time and hope to see some links come back soon!

Mrs. Turek

This week in 5th grade...

This week I will be out of town for a Professional Development event on Tuesday and Wednesday. I will still have asses to my email, so please contact me if needed. However, if you need immediate assistance, please call or email the office.

We have reached our first and second goal of 200 plus items with our Helping Hands for Concord!! Thank you for your donations. The students had an extra recess last Thursday, and this Thursday they earned a visit to our Creation Station. We are so close to our third goal of 300, a device time. I am feeling like Wednesday we will hit that goal. This week is paper products.

Science: We will be spending time this week engaging in a "Mystery Science" activity with a focus on ecosystems and deepening our understanding of organisms' interrelationships.

Math: This week we are multiplying decimals with whole numbers, multiplying decimals with and without models, multiplying decimals by powers of ten, and problem solving by looking for patterns.

Writing: This week we are drafting our historical research reports by organizing our research into sections, focusing on our structure, considering multiple points of view/perspectives, and creating cohesion among each part.

Reading:  We are continuing to focus on reading complex nonfiction with lessons on writing about reading in nonfiction, lifting the level of questions to drive research forward, and synthesizing across subtopics. Students are encouraged to read nonfiction in addition to their fiction books. Check out the awesome websites in the reading tab!

Social Studies: I am so proud of the hard work our class put forward on their law exam. Every student passes their test, and are now lawyers. This week they will be debating the Bill of Rights and looking at various cases to see if they have the right.

What's happening this week in room 34....

A few reminders:

• This week kicks off our Helping Hands campaign--please send in non perishable "protein" (food) items to help our very own Concord families
• Tuesday is also Jingles 4 jammies--bring in spare change for Helping Hands and wear your jammies!
• Wear gray Concord tee on Wednesday for early release (@1:40) Buddy Day... 
• Wear red, white, and blue Friday for our Veteran's Day assembly

We will be honoring all of our veterans this Friday at our assembly, and then a reception immediately following. 

Science:  We will be presenting our Biosphere projects, and then representing data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day/night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.

Reading:  We are continuing to focus on reading complex nonfiction with lessons on approaching texts as experts, conducting primary research to learn about a topic to discovers patterns, and determine the main idea, writing about reading in nonfiction,  and lifting the level of questions to drive research forward. Students are reading both nonfiction and fiction during independent reading time. Many of them are spending the time researching more our their research reports. They are becoming quite the expert on their topics!

Writing: We will celebrate our first informational wiring tomorrow. We will start on Wednesday our second nonfiction piece. Each student will pick an event in history to research and study, and write a nonfiction informative paper. We will begin looking at primary sources and learning the appropriate way to take notes from various resources.

Math: Our chapter 5 test on adding and subtracting decimals will be on Tuesday.  Check out the study guide here. Next up, multiplying and dividing decimals!

Social Studies: Students are finishing  their Constitution Law Exam. Next we will focus on the Bill of Rights.