September 19, 2013
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
I hope you all have a wonderful time at West Fest this weekend! Don’t forget to sell some magazine this weekend.
9/20 – No School Friday
The following is a curriculum update for the week of 9/23-9/27.
Religion
We are currently working on Chapter 1, Longing for God. In this chapter students will examine the importance of material goods vs. things that we need that money can’t buy. Students will be learning that having a relationship with God is the way to true happiness.
The study guide for this chapter has been passed out and we are working on it in class. The test will be on 10/1.
Math
The on-line book is great for a quick review if needed during homework. It also has fun practice games for the extra motivated student! I hope that everyone has logged on by now. If there is a problem logging on please let me know!
9/23 Lesson 7, Compare Decimals
9/24 Lesson 8, Order Whole Numbers and Decimals
9/25 Lesson 9, Problem Solving Use the 4-Step Plan
9/26 Chapter Review
9/27 Chapter 1, Test
Social Studies
The fifth graders have completed their Interactive Notebooks for Lesson 1. We will be having the Lesson 1 test on 9/27. This will give them ample time to review the questions for Maps A-D as well as practice the on-line test at home.
Next week we will begin Chapter 2, Native Americans and Their Land.
Students will be able to:
- Explain how one Native American group believes the world began. (Creation Story of the Hopi)
- Trace Migration Routes of Native Americans into North America
- Describe some natural environments that Native Americans encountered in North America
- Identify some ways the Inuit adapted to the environment in the Arctic
Language Arts
This week students have been busy learning and reviewing verbs, adjectives and nouns. The students will have an exam at the end of the unit to conclude their recent studies. The exam date will be September 26th. A study guide will go home on September 23rd. Meanwhile, students can use their notes in their 5 sub notebook to study for the test, along with any worksheets we have completed. In the following weeks, students will start their descriptive writing unit and complete their first written graded assignment.
Please keep in mind, if your student was absent for Tuesday’s spelling test, they are responsible for making-up their spelling test after school on the following Tuesday.
Reading
5th graders have spent a very productive week in Reading! The students have enjoyed participating in Reader’s Theater, both as performers and as an audience. During these first several weeks we spend a great deal of time teaching and reinforcing good listening skills, study habits and behaviors. Even though there isn’t a lot of written work coming home right now from Reading class, rest assured that there is a lot of reading, thinking and discussion going on! Next week we will begin reading Hatchet as a class.
Science
Students will wrap up their experiments with pendulums with a quiz next Wednesday (9/25).
Students will begin a unit on Earth Science in the text. In this unit, students will explore layers that make up the earth and discover how weathering, erosion and deposition change the earth. The students will learn about the earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere and the layers of the earth-the crust, mantle, and core.