October 20, 2011
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
We have had a very busy week in 5A. Conferences are next week and I look forward to meeting with all of you! We have been working hard to prepare for conferences. Please turn in your Parent Questionnaire. Thank-you if you already have turned it in!
Religion
The week after conferences we will continue working on Ch. 2, Worshiping God. We will be learning about Chico Mendes and the work he did to save the Rain Forest in Brazil. Students should be memorizing the Joyful Mysteries for 11/2.
Math
10/24, Lesson 28, Measuring Time
10/25, Lesson 29, Multiplying by Multiples of 10 & 100
10/31, Lesson 30, Interpreting Pictures of Fractions and Percents
11/1 Mass
11/2, Test 5
11/3, Investigation 3, Fractions: Thirds, Fifths, and Eighths.
Social Studies
The fifth graders are working on the Lesson 3, Native Americans and Their Cultural Regions. They are completing the Interactive Notebook pages in class. We will have our Lesson 3 test on November 3rd. (11/3)
Language Arts: Wow! This week I’ve had great pleasure in reading your student’s descriptive letters to Farmer Cantu. Students have gained an immense amount of knowledge on using word choices and sensory details to improve their sentence structure. Please be sure to have your student share their descriptive letter with you and your family. Many of them are quite humorous and a joy to read!
These up and coming weeks, students will begin to explore persuasion. Students will gain techniques to use in their writing and will be able to successfully attempt to persuade a reader to adopt a certain point of view or to take a particular action. Please be advised, as we get further into the year, spelling and new vocabulary words will become more challenging. Students should be spending time studying the weekly spelling and vocabulary words as it is a part of their homework.
Science
Students begin Chapter 2, The Earth’s Resources. Students will explore where resources come from. They will be able to identify and distinguish renewable and nonrenewable resources.
Reading
5th Graders are really enjoying reading Hatchet. This week we have discussed how Gary Paulsen’s unique writing style creates intense drama and suspense. They are working on a watercolor visualization of one of the vivid scenes in Ch. 4. There will be a quiz on Ch. 1-6 next week: 5A – Tuesday. 5B – Monday Students will want to study their vocabulary sheet and possibly re-read parts of the first 6 chapters.
Have a great week!
Ms. Semandiris