September 27, 2018

September 27, 2018

 

Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

This is the last Boomerang of the month of September! We are very busy learning great things here in grade 5. The students are very kind and we seem to be building community together!

Reminders:

Sell Magazines!!!

Here is the curriculum update for the week of October 1st – October 5th:

Religion

We have been working on Chapter 1, Caring For God’s Creation. We have completed the study guide and have reviewed it in class. Now students should be making sure they know the information on the study guide for the test on 10/2. *Vocabulary will be matching so they will not have to write out the definition.

Steps To Respect

We have completed Lesson 2, Bystander Power. Next week we will move on to Lesson 3, Bystander Responsibility. I have assigned a worksheet for you to complete with your child, which compliments the Bystander Lesson 2. I will write this on the Homework board tomorrow. It will be due next Wednesday 10/3.

Math – Semandiris

I am so excited about my math class! They have been participating so well and they are especially well behaved in class. We have been making great progress. The login Information for McGraw-Hill textbook called Connect-ed has been given to each student. Please login using the username and password that was given to you in class. Then when prompted, change your password and record it on the “Login” recording sheet that I gave the students in class today. They will now be able to access the student textbook from home as needed for homework. Also, there are great tutorial videos and manipulatives that they can use to assist their learning.

ALEKS is an on-line Math practice program. Each student has his or her login information now. We will begin this using this next week. Please do not use this until we take the placement assessment in class.

9/28 – Ch. 2 L. 4, Multiplication Patterns

10/1 – Ch. 2 L. 1-4 Check My Progress Quiz

10/2 – Ch. 2, Lesson 7, The Distributive Group

10/3 – Ch. 2, Lesson 8, Estimate Products

10/4 – Ch. 2, Lesson 9, Multiply By One- Digit

Math – Mr. Schreck

Chapter 2: Multiply Whole Numbers

Friday: Quiz, Lessons 1,3 & 4

Monday: Lesson 7, The Distributive Property

Tuesday: Lesson 8, Estimate Products

Wednesday: Lesson 9, Multiply by One-Digit Numbers

Thursday: Lesson 10, Multiply by Two-Digit Number

Math -Mrs. Heuer

We have begun our second unit, Multiplication and Division Review & Multiply and Divide Decimals.  In the first several lessons of this unit, we are exploring patterns and estimation.  Next week we will begin multiplying and dividing decimals.  We will also work with multiplying and dividing decimals by powers of 10.  The students are making good progress with their transitions and consistency with homework.

Science

Students have been testing the pH of soil and water from the fictional town of Greentown. They will be investigating possible sources of pollution. Students 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.

Social Studies

Tomorrow (9/28) is the Chapter 1 Social Studies test. Students should be studying for the test by rereading the chapter, making sure they understand the concepts on the study guide, and also know the answers to the handout questions that go with Maps A-D in the Interactive Notebook.

Next week 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!

Reading

Next week we begin Lesson 2 in Journeys. It seems we have most of the kinks worked out of ThinkCentral. I’m encouraging 5th graders to get into the habit of checking their own Power School once a week. It is important that they take the initiative in checking for missing assignments and following up with their teachers. This self-advocacy can be intimidating at first, but is such an important skill as they move through the grades.

Language Arts

We have successfully made it through our first few graded assignments based on Lesson 1 and 2 in our Journeys book. I encourage students to stay current with checking grades on PowerSchool. This upcoming week will be a little out of our routine. There will not be spelling test on Friday October 5th but instead we will be beginning the process of editing our first papers. Next week will be devoted to teaching about the importance of drafts and revisions, with our final draft begin due Oct. 5th.I am exciting to dive into our first larger writing assignment of the year!