Happy February Break!

What an amazing end to the week. The students did a phenomenal job on their Shark Tank presentations! All should be incredibly proud of themselves! 

I hope you all have a fantastic week of rest and relaxation!  Here's a quick update about our week.

• The students completed unit 5 in math.  They now know all the operations of fractions.  We only have three more units!
• All week the Shark Tank groups worked diligently to write their script while also thinking like a design engineer.  In their scripts, the students needed to include a design specification as well as a PMI scale for their object.  (P= plusses, M = minuses and I = improvements).
• We read from The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. 
• We had a whole school morning meeting to kick off Read Across America week!
• The Museum of Science presented to the whole fifth grade all about the states of matter!

We have a contest going on for the cover of the Grade 5 Memory Book!  Any 5th grader interested can design a cover on 8 1/2 by 11 paper.  It must include the following.

1. Has to have the wolf
2. SMS
3. The Final Howl
4. 2015-2016
5. Must be neat
6. Put your name on back (to keep the judging fair)

These cover illustrations are due on or before March 4th.

If your child wants to bring in headphones for the Smarter Balanced Assessment, he/she is welcome to.  We are noticing the school headphones are starting to break due to three years of use.  We also want your child to be comfortable during testing!  

See you on Leap Day, 2/29!  

Shannon

Week of 2/8-2/12

5D Families and Friends,

We got right back into the swing of things after our two snow days!  Here are some things we did this week...

• In math, we continued multiplying fractions through area models as well as the standard algorithm.  Students attempted cross reducing to get their products into simplest form even faster.  We did a Kahoot this week on this concept.  Next week we will be dividing fractions. We'll take the unit 5 assessment at the end of next week.  We also had three teachers from Exeter come visit to see our Math Workshop in action.
• In our literacy block, we've done a little prep for our Smarter Balanced testing coming up in mid-April.  Together we read a poem and then paired up to answer questions about the poem where some really great conversations happened.  We then read a literary essay and as partners highlighted similarities and differences between the two.  Next week the students will continue with this.
• In Science, the students experienced what it is like to be a Design Engineer through four stations. They sketched, marked/cut, joined and reinforced all kinds of recyclable materials.  In their groups, they have started a design specification for their Shark Tank idea.
• Next Friday the Museum of Science will be presenting to the 5th graders on the states of matter!

A few nuts and bolts...

Next week we celebrate Read Across America week.  We have themes for each day.

Monday- Fox in Socks Day (wear crazy socks)

Tuesday- Cat in the Hat Day (wear a favorite hat)

Wednesday- Wacky Wednesday (mismatch clothing)

Thursday- Favorite Book Character Day

Friday- Curl up and Read Day (Bring a pillow/stuffed animal to curl up and read)

We, along with 5H will have a "Shark Tank" competition on Friday 2/19 in the afternoon from about 1:20-2:45. We will be on the stage in the cafeteria.  Ten teams will present their redesign/engineered product in a presentation much like the show.  More details to come as we iron out the details. All parents are welcome to attend!

Students need snow pants, boots etc next Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Can you believe we only have five school days until February vacation?  Wow!  I hope you all enjoy your weekends.  To those of you who are going to their final "Father-Daughter Dance" (sniff, sniff) ... I hope you treasure every memory. :)

Until Monday...

Shannon

Engineers at Work!

Here's the marking and cutting station...

Here's the joining station...

Some sketching....

Here's the strengthening station...

A "Shark Tank" group at work on their redesign!

Week of February 1-5

Hello Families and Friends of 5D,

HAPPY SNOW DAY TO ALL!  Wow, I cannot believe we are almost 100 days into our school year! Time truly flies!  Here's a glimpse into our week packed full of learning.

• In math we raced through the first four lessons of unit 5 as students already knew how to add and subtract with different denominators.  We should complete this unit before February vacation!
• In reading, we explored some new non-fiction science books.  To see the excitement in the students' eyes when they explored the new books filled the air with some great energy.  After reading, each table group shared their learning with one another.
• We put a lot of effort into our research presentations through MixBooks, iMovies, brochures as well as interactive books.  The students can't wait to showcase their work to all of you next Friday, 2/12!
• The students started the week as scientists performing their own experiments and then writing up a lab report.  I've attached some great pics.  We then switched gears to a quick unit on Design Engineering.  This unit was created by the Dyson Foundation in hopes of sparking students' creativity and curiosity to RE-DESIGN something.  Ask your child all about our very own Shark Tank we will have on the 19th!
• Spelling City and KidBlog are helping students to practice spelling, learn new vocabulary and write in a variety of ways.  Please make sure your child is logging on throughout the week.  I do let them log on for morning work.

Thanks to everyone who offered to contribute to our Valentine Party on 2/12 from 1:30-2:30.  We are all set now!  Remember, if your child would like to do cards, he/she must include all 22 students.  A list went home on Monday. 

Questions to Promote School Talk...

1. What is a design engineer?
2. Who is in your Shark Tank group and what are some ideas you've thought about?
3. How do you regroup when subtracting mixed numbers?
4. What was a non-fiction book you read?

I hope you all have a relaxing 3 day weekend filled with lots of family time!  Until Monday...

Shannon

What MATTERS! Scientists at Work

5D and 5H created their own experiments around questions we brainstormed as a class about matter. As a group, they created a lab report that included an introduction, hypothesis, materials list and procedure.   On Monday all groups set up experiments in the morning to be ready for the afternoon. As a team they worked together to observe, display/organize data, draw pictures and takes notes as scientists.  Individually they will complete the lab report with a conclusion.