October 5, 2017
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
We are working very hard in Grade 5! The students are doing much better regarding their walking/whispering in the hallway while in transition! The following is a curriculum update for the week of 10/9- 10/13:
Religion
We are currently working on Chapter 2, Made to Be with God. The Key Concept in this chapter is the true happiness can come only through communion with God. Religion expresses our relationship with God through beliefs, prayers and practices. Students received the study guide and are working on it during class. We will have the test for this Chapter on 10/12.
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.
10/9 – Lesson 10, Multiply by Two-Digit Numbers
10/10 – Fluency Practice – Two Worksheets
10/11 – Chapter Review/Pre-Test
10/12 – Chapter 2 Test
10/13 – Test Corrections/ALEKS
Math
Mr. Schreck
The Chapter 2 test has been moved to next Tuesday. Students will review for the test on Monday
Chapter 2, Multiply Whole Numbers
Monday: Review
Tuesday: Chapter 2 Test
Chapter 3, Divide by a One-Digit Divisor
Wednesday: Lesson 2, Division Models
Thursday: Lesson 3, Two Digit Dividends
Math (Mrs. Heuer):
Next week we will complete our second unit. In this unit, we built on and extended our knowledge of division by looking at division patterns and also by writing our quotients as decimals. Next week we will complete our study of multiplication and division of decimals. The students are also working with multiplying and dividing decimals by powers of 10. Before every unit test, we will spend 1-2 days reviewing the concepts we learned.
Science
Students will use the Engineering Design Process to design, implement, evaluate, and improve a process for cleaning an oil spill so that the oil has the least impact on the surrounding ecosystem.
Language Arts
This week in 5th grade LA, students have been practicing how to identify complete topics and complete predicates. Students have been building these skills by working in their Readers Notebooks. I also frequently use the online interactive Readers Notebook to prep students for what we are about to learn. Both 5th grade classes have been excelling on their spelling tests and I am so proud of them! We have also been working diligently on expected behaviors in 5th grade and it is definitely paying off. Students are learning how to transition from one class to another without too much set back, which is wonderful to see! Next week, we will begin pre-writing for a fun fall essay.
Reading
As we continue reading Hatchet, it has led to some interesting discussions about survival, conflict and character traits. We’ll shoot to finish the book early next week with an end of book test scheduled for Wed. 10/11. I will monitor that test date closely. If we need more time to process the book prior to testing, we may end up postponing the test date by a few days. Stay tuned. For now, Oct. 11 should be marked in your child’s planner as the date for the end of book test.
Social Studies
Next week we are beginning Chapter 4, Why Europeans Left for the New World. Our classroom will 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
The test for this Chapter is on 10/27.