We will be heading to the Sheldon, October 24th to see the Jazz Story. We will leave at 9:00 and return by 11:45. There will be a paper copy going home today. Please return the form and payment by this Friday, October 20th. The Jazz Story field trip form
Science-We are continuing our unit on Earth's systems (focus on weather and Earth's place in space). We will be working towards being able todescribe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact.
Writing- We are working hard on our research reports on our Westward Expansion event. We will be working on taking notes, organizing the notes, drafting their paper, and paying attention to the geography where our events take place and it's impact.
Reading- We are beginning a new unit on reading nonfiction and tackling increasingly complex texts with a focus on determining main ideas. Each student is encouraged to keep reading their choice book, but also to try a nonfiction text, article, magazine, or book too:) We are learning how nonfiction texts are getting more complex as we are moving up in reading levels- the main ideas are implicit and the vocabulary is more difficult. We are learning strategies to overcome these challenges!
Math-We are wrapping up our unit on division. Our ch. 3/4 test will be on Thursday. Please see email for more study resources. Students will work on a study guide in class Tuesday and Wednesday.
Monday, October 9, 2017
We are in our last week of the first quarter!! Reminder, Friday is a half day. There will be no lunch served and students will get out at 11:50. Please have your child wear their grey Concord Shirt for Friday. If you have not signed up for a fall conference, please use this link to set up a time. Here is what is happening this week in room 34.....
Science: We are starting a new unit on Earth's systems (focus on weather and Earth's place in space). We will be working towards being able todescribe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact. Writing: We are beginning our new unit on informational writing. Our first research topic will be on an event from the US Westward Expansion. Each student will pick a topic and be placed into research teams to start gathering information about their event . We will be working on taking notes, organizing the notes, and then drafting their paper next week. Reading: We are beginning a new unit on reading nonfiction and tackling increasingly complex texts with a focus on determining main ideas. Each student is encouraged to keep reading their choice book, but also to try a nonfiction text, article, magazine, or book too:) Math: We are interpreting the remainder , determining extra or missing information within problem solving, estimating the quotients with 2 digit divisor, and dividing by 2 digit divisors.
Social Studies- We are continuing our study of the Constitution and will wrap up a group project later this week. We will also be integrating Westward Expansion into our Reading and Writing.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
I hope you all enjoyed this past weekend's gorgeous weather!! I can not believe October is here, time flies when you are having fun! As we are getting more in depth with our curriculum, this is a reminder if at any time homework is overwhelming or your child needs extra support on a topic, please email me and let me know. Also, your child should never do more than an hour of homework, if this occurs please stop your child, and email me what they did not finish, and we will work on it at school. I completely understand the busy life of a 5th grader! This is what is happening this week in room 34....
Science:We are continuing the engineering design process as groups construct, present, give/receive feedback and revise their prototypes (an arm for the character Ganwar from our read aloud Home of the Brave).
Math: We are continuing our unit on division as we divide using patterns, estimate quotients, show our complete understanding of the process through models, distributive property, partial quotients, and the standard long division algorithm.
Writing: We are completing our narrative unit this week. Students are publishing using Google docs and Google classroom. We are focusing on looking at our Narrative Checklist, in particular the craft and elaboration of their piece. We will celebrate our finished pieces this Thursday, with "Pajama Day for Personal Narratives. "
Reading: We are wrapping up our unit on interpreting books clubs by analyzing and comparing characters' connections to a theme, study theme across texts, as well as comparing authors craft. We will celebrate on Friday with sharing their thoughts and recommendations on both of their book clubs books!
Social Studies: We are studying the drafting of the Constitution. We will focus on the Articles of Confederation and it's weaknesses. We will begin to focus the opening on the Constitutional Convention and it's importance to our country today.
Check out the above video we have watched in class called the "Power of Yet". As we focus on a growth mindset, it is important to remember that the only way we achieve our goals is through hard work and perseverance! We can do it!
Reminder:This Wed. is Picture Day & Be There Day!
***At Concord's PTG meeting this week, there were 2 presentations. Here are the links to both:
Bullying Presentation-This is the link to the bullying presentation by Ms. Gina Poeppel.
Concord Parent Resource Guide- Save this link as we will continually update it with important tools and resources for Concord parents.
This week in 5th grade...
Science- Scientific Investigations tests will go home on Monday! I could not be prouder of our scientists! This week we are diving into the world of STEM and the design process. We will explore a problem based on our read aloud Home of the Brave. I can't wait for students to experience the design process firsthand!
Writing-Thank you for taking the time to celebrate your 5th grader's 1st personal narrative in their writing portfolios and supporting them as they evaluated their work using the checklist! Portfolios are due back byWednesday. As we draft and revise our narratives this week we will focus on stretching out the tension, catching the action or the image that produced emotion, adding figurative language, noticing how each character has an important role in our stories, and editing with a focus on the power of commas. We are learning that we become better writers by working hard to apply what we learn in mini-lessons to our own writing!
Reading- This week we will compare characters' connections to a theme, study the choices an author did not make to better understand the ones they did, and delve deeper into literary analysis. Book clubs will work hard to complete their 1st book club book this week and work on reading a 2nd book. By reading more than one book within our clubs, our discussions will have endless possibilities! I cannot wait to hear more of their connections across texts- we have some hard working readers and thinkers!
Math- Our chapter 2 test is on Tuesday. We will complete study guides on Monday. Students and parents received an email with other study resources last week. Later this week we will begin our study on division! We will relate division to multiplication through fact families, divide with and without remainders, and notice division patterns with powers of 10. Keep practicing those math facts at home- it makes a WORLD of a difference when students know their facts quickly!
Social Studies- We are wrapping up our study on the Declaration of Independence with a readers' theater! Next up- the Constitution! Check out our new online textbook- Social Studies Book (TCI)
One theme this year that we are focusing on is having a growth mindset!The above image is an example of how to change our thinking from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. You may have heard some quotes from your students that we use in class--- "When you're done, you've only just begun!" or "We learn from our mistakes!" and "It's okay to fail- that's how we get better!" There is ALWAYS room to grow and room for improvement- this is just another reason why we always set goals and WORK to achieve them! Here is what is happening in room 34...... Science- We are wrapping up our unit on scientific investigations with a test on Thursday! Students should study their science notebooks and study guides, coming home today (we will go over these in class on Wednesday). Students can also use this link to study the vocabulary words---Scientific Investigations Quizlet
Test Information: Please use the study guide, science notebook,
and Ch.1 in the science book to review. We did not cover all of Ch. 1 in the book though so I strongly advise you to stick with the notebooks and study guide for review. The test covers the following topics:
science tools
types of observations
testable questions
hypothesis
variables
how to perform a fair test
steps of an investigation (scientific method) in order
Writing- This week we are completing our 1st personal narrative and celebrating them on Tuesday.After we celebrate our writing in school, students will bring their piece home to celebrate with you! Students will bring home their writing portfolio (binder). Inside their writing portfolio will be their piece and a checklist to fill out and get signed by you. Please help them celebrate their accomplishments, but also look for & encourage setting new goals for their next piece that we will start on Wednesday! These writers know that "when they are done, they've only just begun!" :)
Reading- This week we are continuing to work on having meaningful and thoughtful discussions within our book clubs. All of our book clubs will have finished their first book by this Thursday. Students are expected to be reading up to their group's stopping point each day so they are prepared to be an important contributor within their book club discussions. This week we are:
debating to promote rich book club discussions
reflecting on ourselves as books clubs
comparing more than one text
Math- We are wrapping up our study of Ch. 2 this week as we learn partial products & the distributive property, estimating products using rounding & compatible numbers, and multiplying 3-digit numbers by 1-digit and 2-digit numbers. We will review on Thursday and Monday with a test on Tuesday, Sept. 26. It is SO IMPORTANT that your student knows their basic multiplication facts. Please quiz your child and have them practice in ALEKS (Quick Tables) or try this site---MATH MAGICIAN
Thank you for all your hard work at home- it REALLY pays off!
Social Studies- We are continuing our study of the Declaration of Independence.
