February 25, 2010

February 25, 2010

Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

Camp Seymour: May 3-5
Next Tuesday, (March 2nd) we will be having an informational parent camp meeting. (6pm: HRS Library) Please make sure to attend to learn about the details of Camp Seymour.

Math
Friday: Test #11
Monday: Investigation 6 Performing Probability Experiments
Tuesday: Lesson 61, Using Letters to Identify Geometric Figures
Wednesday: Lesson 62, Estimating Arithmetic Answers
Friday: Subtracting a Fraction from a whole Number Greater than 1.

Religion
Students have been working on Ch.17 & 18 during class. Both study guides have been completed. We will be creative our own “Dream Meals” as we learn about the greatest meal of all, Eucharist. The test for this these two chapters will be on Thursday 3/11.

Science
Students begin Chapter 4, Ecology. Students will explore the components of soil by classifying the parts into living, once-living and nonliving. Student will learn about the parts of an ecosystem. They will also discover how habitats and niches are related.

Social Studies
The fifth graders will begin Chapter 10, Growing Tensions Between the Colonies and Britain. We will be using the metaphor of a parent/child relationship to understand the relationship that the colonies had with Britain. We will learn about the French and Indian War and then the Proclamation of 1763, The Quartering Act, The Stamp Act, The Boston Tea Party, and The Intolerable Acts. This is usually a very high interest lesson with the fifth graders so engage them in conversation about it over the dinner table!!

Reading
5th graders have been enjoying hearing the 2nd Trimester book report presentations. The students are keeping notes so that they will end up with a really nice booklist as they go into the 3rd Trimester. These oral presentations will go into next week. We also finished reading Number the Stars this week. I think the students really enjoyed reading this together and discussing the events of that time period in history. There will be a book test tomorrow covering the important events in the story.

Language Arts
Students work with action and helping verbs. We identify main verbs, helping verbs, linking verbs and state of being verbs. Students also work on developing writing by using strong verbs. We will be taking a verb quiz on Monday, March 8th. Students will receive a study guide next week. Spelling homework is due on Monday; we will also have a spelling test this Monday.

Have a great week!

Ms. Semandiris