October 12, 2017
Dear Fifth Grade Parent,
We will be using the Second Step program to help your child learn skills on how to get along with others. A letter explaining the program has been included in your child’s boomerang envelope.
Holy Rosary will present a sexual abuse prevention program, the Touching Safety program, to your child later this month. This program is provided to us by the Archdiocese of Seattle. Parents have the opportunity to opt their child out of this program (see below).
Reminders:
October 23 (Monday) – Mid-Trimester Reports will be sent home.
Please complete the Parent Homework Form by October 19th!)
Religion
We just finished Chapter 2 in our Religion text. Tomorrow we will have our first lesson in our new Second Step program. Lesson 1, teaches the students about empathy.
*Next week we will be making Cinquain Poems with a watercolor Art activity to express our caring for God’s creation.
Math
Ms. Semandiris
Students are participating very well in class. It is very important that students put their names on their work so that I can put them properly in Powerschool. Also, it is important to bring homework to school every day. I have reminded the students this and if you could remind them I would be very grateful.
10/16 – Ch. 3 Lesson 1, Relate Division to Multiplication
10/17 – Ch. 3 Lesson 2, Hands On, Division Problems
10/18 – Ch. 3 Lesson 4, Division Patterns
10/19 – Check My Progress
10/20 – Ch. 3 Lessons 1-4 Quiz
Mr. Schreck
Chapter 3, Divide by a One-Digit Divisor
Friday: Lesson 4, division Patterns
Monday: Review Lessons 2-4
Tuesday: Quiz Lessons 2-4; ALEKS
Wednesday: Lesson 4, Division Patterns
Thursday: Lesson 5, Estimate Quotients
Mrs. Heuer
Next week we will conclude our study of multiplication and division of decimals with our Unit 2 Test. Before each test, we will take 1-2 days of review in class. In our next unit, we will begin exploring fractions with a specific focus on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers.
Reading
5th graders have finished reading Hatchet. For those who enjoyed reading about Brian’s adventures and Gary Paulsen’s unique writing style, I strongly recommend Brian’s Winter – the story of what may have happened had Brian not been rescued as he headed into winter. Next week we will jump into our Houghton Mifflin reading text: Journeys. This is a collection of short stories allowing us to focus on specific target skills to enhance comprehension and vocabulary, using both fiction and informational text. Your children have made great strides in respectful listening, active participation and study skills. They are a delight to teach!
Language Arts
This week in 5th Grade Language Arts, students have been preparing to work on an autumnal-themed descriptive essay. They are still in the dark about the specific prompt, though. To assist in their readiness, I have been asking students to complete quite a few descriptive writing worksheets. Earlier this week, students were shown a bug, beautiful Cinderella pumpkin that was brought into class and asked to describe it using words other than “orange” or “round”—they can come up with some wonderful adjectives! By performing these exercises, students are getting on the right track to be able to successfully complete their first five-paragraph essay of the year.
Social Studies
We are currently working on Chapter 4, Why Europeans Left for the New World. Our classroom has become the ocean at the site of a sunken explorer ship. Students will become Research Scientists and Deep Sea Divers to retrieve sunken clues/Artifacts from the past. Then they will look to identify these Artifacts. (If your child has swim goggles they can bring them in for our simulation!)
Students will be able to
- Explain several factors that led to European exploration of the Americas in the 15th and 16th
- Categorize eight artifacts of exploration in one of three ways: as motives for exploration, as new technology that encouraged exploration, or as “new” products from the Americas
* Looking ahead the test will be on October 27th. (Study guide will be pushed out on SS Google Classroom on October 20th.
Science:
Students have been working in small groups to design a process for cleaning up an oil spill. They will test their process and evaluate the results of their clean-up using an established criteria. They will record their results and evaluation in a lab booklet.