April 17, 2008

April 17, 2008

Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

Next week we will be taking the ITBS test 1st and 2nd periods as well as periodically in the early afternoon. Please make sure that your child gets much rest over the weekend. The following is a brief curriculum overview for next week.

Math-ITBS Testing all week during 1st period.

Language Arts: Students continue to work on their comic books. We complete much of the drafting in class. Students will be breaking down the plot elements panel by panel, indicating the characters, captions, actions and pictures needed for each panel. These rough drafts will help facilitate a more efficient use of the laptops when we transfer the stories on to Comic Life.

Homework over the next week: I am asking that students create or collect all the artwork needed to illustrate their comic books. They can draw original pictures, take digital pictures, use clip art, art from the internet or a combination of any of those options. Students need to save this artwork on to a CD that can be brought to school. We’ll then drag and drop the pictures into the comic book templates. If students need to scan original illustrations, I’d like them to bring them to school by Tuesday 4/22. Some students may be able to scan original art at home. I appreciate any assistance you give your child at home in making sure this artwork is saved properly and brought to school. Students have until next Friday, April 25th to have all the artwork completed.

Due to ITBS TESTING: There will be no spelling assignment or test.

Reading
The students have received their 3rd Trimester Book Report Guidelines. 5th graders are to choose a book that fits into a genre from which they have not read. They are to have their book choice approved by a parent for appropriateness of content and difficulty. In addition, students will be creating their own ‘mini due dates’ in order to break down the whole project into smaller, more manageable chunks. This is a step toward more independent study skills. Book Report is due: May 15th.

This week we started reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It is a historical fiction story, which takes place in Denmark during World War II. We will continue to work on the Scott Foresman Target Skills while reading this book. Again, with a focus on increased independence, we will be doing less “whole class” reading and more independent reading, while discussing each chapter thoroughly in class.

Social Studies
This week we will be moving on to Lesson 11, To Declare Independence or Not. In this lesson the students will learn about 6 prominent Loyalists and Patriots and record these leaders’ viewpoints on whether or not the American colonies should declare independence. We will have mock debates and the students will have to work in small groups to prepare for the debates.

Science
Students will make a model of the respiratory system to demonstrate what happens to the lungs when the diaphragm contracts and expands.

Religion
Next Wednesday (4/23) we will have our Chapter 18 test. It will be open book! The study guide for this chapter as well as the Dream Meal collage (rubric attached) is also due on 4/23. We will review for the religion test on Friday. This Monday the students will be reciting the Prayer for the Faithful Departed, which is one of the Fifth Grade prayers for the Archdiocese.

Ms. Semandiris