September 22, 2016
Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
We are very busy learning in 5A! The students have been doing an excellent job learning the procedures of switching classes as well as competing their assignments. We also offer Study Hall during our teacher lunch period every Tuesday and Thursday.
Reminders:
Sell Magazines!!!
Curriculum Update for the week of 9/26 – 9/30:
Religion
We have been working on the Chapter 1, Longing for God. Students have been working on the study guide in class. The test for this Chapter is on Friday 9/30. Students will need to spend some time studying for this test a bit each night! Don’t wait until the last minute!
Math
9/26 – Ch. 2 L. 1-4 Check My Progress
9/27 – Check My Progress Quiz Chapter 2 L. 1-4
9/28 – Ch. 2 L. 6, Hands On: Partial Products/Distributive Property
9/29 – Ch. 2 L. 7 The Distributive Property
Social Studies
*Chapter 1, Geography of the United States Test is tomorrow 9/23!!!
On Monday we will begin Chapter 4, Why Europeans left for the New World. In this lesson, students learn about European exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries by “excavating” and examining objects from “sunken ship”. In a Social Studies skill builder, pairs take on the role of underwater archeologists to investigate eight placards, each of which contains an image of an artifact from an explorer’s sunken ship. After analyzing and reading about the artifacts, students will categorize them into 3 different categories: as motives for exploration, as new technology that encouraged exploration, or as “new” products from the Americas. * Students may bring in their swim goggles for our deep-sea diving adventure!
Language Arts
This week in Language Arts students’ spelling focused on the long a and the long e sound. In grammar students learned about the four types of sentences and worked to identify these and create examples of their own. Students continued to work with narratives in writing and focused on the voice trait this week. Students worked to use vivid details and descriptions to bring out their character’s personality and voice in their writing. Students’ next narrative piece will be about a time and place that presents a challenge.
Science
Students will test the pH of soil and water from the fictional town of Greentown to locate possible sources of pollution. They will discuss how changes in soil and water pH can affect the health of an ecosystem. They will then compare historical soil and water data to current data to build a case for sources of pollution in Greentown.
Reading
Hatchet is such a great story! The 5th graders are really enjoying seeing the events of the story through Brian’s point of view and learning more about Brian’s character through his thoughts and actions in each chapter. We will continue next week to discuss character and begin to outline the events that make up the plot of the story. Gary Paulsen makes great use of figurative language, which we will be talking about as well.