September 16, 2009
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
The fifth graders have been doing a wonderful job adjusting to the fifth grade!
All Kinds of Minds: Fifth graders have been learning about SPATIAL ORDERING and how it impacts our learning. In the first weeks of school, the 5th and 6th grade teachers each taught a lesson on materials management to all the students. Students are practicing keeping their lockers, desks and cubbies organized. They use mental imagery and have created maps to help visually connect what an ordered space looks like. Students continue to practice SPATIAL ORDERING as they organize even simple things, like headings on their assignments or notes in their notebooks. Good SPATIAL ORDERING skills help us learn better because not only are materials more organized, but we learn ways to better organize information and thoughts as we are learning. We’ll continue to focus on this AKOM construct throughout September.
Reminders:
Please remember to sign up for powerschool.
Please read sign and return HW policy in Open House packet
Dont forget to visit 5A web-site
No school Friday 9/18
Westfest 9/18-9/19
Monday 9/21 – Picture Day
The following is a brief curriculum update for the following week.
Math
9/21 Test 1
9/22 Investigation Story Problems
9/23 Lesson 11-Story Problems about Combining
9/25 Lesson 12-Lines, Number Lines, Tally Marks
Religion
This week we began Chapter 1, Longing for God. We discussed the question, why are longings so important? We discussed difference between the longing for material goods vs something such as love, support, and compassion. Students will be receiving the study guide for this chapter on Tuesday. It will be due on Thursday. The test for Chapter 1 will be Thursday 9/24.
Social Studies
The fifth graders have been working on Lesson 1, Geography of the United States. In pairs they have completed their Interactive Notebook maps 1A-1D. Each map had a set of questions to answer. We have reviewed the correct answers in class orally as well as visually on the Smart Board. The answers in their Interactive Notebook should be correct. We will be having a test on this lesson on 9/23. The review will be on Monday 9/21 for 5B and Tuesday 9/22 for 5A. Students may access the on-line study tool via my web-age. Just click on History Alive and go to lesson 1. No study guide will be passed out as the on-line tool acts as the study guide!
Language Arts
This week, students review basic parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Spelling homework is due on Monday; our test is also on Monday.
Science
Students are learning how to conduct controlled experiments by experimenting with variables that do and do not affect the behavior of pendulums. They are graphing their results in a variety of ways and using their graphs to predict the behavior of additional pendulums. Students will take a quiz based on the vocabulary they have learned and the results of their experiments next Tuesday (9/22).
Reading: This past week we have been focusing on our first Target Skill of Sequencing. The 5th graders have read the story From the Diary of Leigh Botts from the Scott Foresman text. We have worked with the vocabulary from the story as well as practiced oral reading fluency. They will be completing a short Selections Test today, which tests their recall of the story and their understanding of the selected vocabulary.
Have a great week!
Ms. Semandiris