Week of 3/21-3/25

Hello Family and Friends of 5D,

We've had another busy week!  Here's a few things we did.

Charlie and Ryan played guitar and drums for all of us in 5D and 5H.  They were amazing and we all thoroughly enjoyed the treat!  Fantastic job, boys!

We played "Trashketball" to review for our unit 6 assessment.

The students worked tirelessly on leads, body paragraphs and powerful conclusions.  Wow, these argument writers are growing daily.  They also learned to become a "Critical Editor" to help a peer raise the level of their writing.

In social studies the students experienced texts and podcasts about women, children, African Americans and others from the Revolutionary War.  We've put many other events and perspective onto our class timeline.

Some important news...

Today you will get a PTO newsletter which states our final day is on 6/15.  It's really Friday 6/17!

Soon students will get a username and password for Pictavo.  This will be for the memory book. More information will come from 5th grade parents.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Shannon

Week of March 14-17

The students must be enjoying the half day today as well as the DAY OFF tomorrow! Here's a glimpse into our week.

• On Monday we read a book in honor of Pi Day, 3.14. The book was Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. 

• In math we learned how to divide decimals by whole numbers first. We then moved onto decimals as divisors. We are finishing up this unit so we can get to another unit on Geometry before Smarter Balanced testing begins. 

• In social studies the students have been busy adding to the class timeline of the Revolutionary War. They worked on four text sets to look at different identities and perspectives of certain battles and journeys; Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, Battle of Lexington and Concord and Paul Revere's Ride.

• In literacy our groups worked hard to mine for stronger evidence to support their side. Ms. Hodgdon and I modeled looking at research and then asking questions of each other to find stronger evidence. Another day we modeled using expert's quotes to strengthen the argument. On Wednesday, each individual started organizing their body paragraphs with their three most important claims. It was an extremely busy week in literacy!

As a class we voted on a new read aloud. Maze Runner by James Dashner was almost unanimous! So far it's hooked us! 

Important dates to remember...

April 6th: Parent Conferences

April 7-20: Smarter Balanced (students can bring in headphones from home)

April 13th: Early Release

Just a note of a "Social Hour" 5H and 5D will have on Monday...

Ms. H and I plan on talking to all our students about texting/social media and how this can impact individuals.  As a parent myself, I try to be vigilant with my children about what they are writing on their ipods.  Feel free to start a discussion with your child about this.  Any support at home would be greatly appreciated!

Enjoy your LONG weekends!

Shannon

Week of March 7-11

What great weather we had to enjoy our week!  We ended up with a few extra treks outside to enjoy it!  Spring is almost here!

Here's a glimpse into our week...

• In math, we are half-way through unit 6.  The students worked diligently to multiply decimals. They discovered the placement of the decimal point through a reasonable estimate.  On Friday we enjoyed math game centers with 5H.  They played Prism Pile Up (volume), Power Up and Exponent Ball (powers of 10) as well as What's My Number and 24 (problem solving and order of operations).

• In literacy we have officially begun our Argument and Advocacy unit as all students chose an issue to research and debate.  In class, focus lessons involved finding actual evidence that will support claims.  Some of the issues students have chosen involve underwater exploration versus space exploration, should people be able to climb mount Everest, banning plastic bottles, having recess in 6th grade as well as not assigning children homework.

• We finished The Watsons Go to Birmingham.  We'll be voting on our next read aloud early next week.
• In social studies we have learned about the Boston Tea Party as well as the Boston Massacre. The students are focusing on the perspectives of the Loyalists and Patriots.  We'll be looking at specific groups within the Revolutionary War next week.

Some important information...

• Thursday 3/17 : Early Release, students dismissed at 12:50
• Friday 3/18:  No school for students
• April 6th: Early Release for conferences Conference Sign Up Link
• April 13th:  Early Release 
• Smarter Balanced Testing for 5th Graders: April 7-20th 
• Field Trip to Boston: Tuesday, May 24th

Memory Book

Each student will be able to create a 1/2 page for themselves in the memory book.  This year's book will be in color!  Soon students will get information about how to access the online component so they can start creating.  I plan on giving them some morning work time to do this.  

Snacks

I spoke to the class this week about bringing in protein filled, hearty snacks.  I have snacks in the classroom for students who are unable to bring in snacks.  I'm noticing students will buy snack from the cafe and then go to the cabinet and take more.  Please encourage your child to bring in enough snack each and every day.

I hope you all enjoy family time this weekend!  Don't forget to turn your clocks back.  I'll leave you with a video montage of the 5th Grade versus Faculty Basketball Game!  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN8rf-KVODw&feature=youtu.be

Shannon

Week of 2/29-3/4

Hello Families and Friends of 5D,

We are back from vacation and back into the swing of things!

Here's a glimpse into our week...

• In math, we began Unit 6.  This unit is all about decimal multiplication and division as well as volume and metric conversions.  Students are working hard at converting metric measurements through multiplication and division of powers of ten.

• In Literacy, we've begun our unit on Argument and Advocacy. Through researching different issues all students found claims with reasons and evidence to support.  Students are working hard to put their own opinions to the side to delve deeply into an issue.  The pictures below show students performing a pre-assessment where they needed to identify the different sides to an issue and show understanding with evidence across three different texts.

• In Social Studies, we have begun to Revolutionary War with 5H.  We began with a pre-assessment of all important vocabulary terms then quickly moved onto the comical read aloud King George: What Was His Problem?  Students are working to understand this epic event through many different perspectives.  Next week we will build our classroom timeline. 

Everyone got a sign up sheet for a Math League Competition.  This event is done online.  It consists of 30 math questions to be completed in 30 minutes.  I encouraged all interested to try it out.  There are practice tests done right online.  If your child is interested, they need to send the form back to me.

Important Dates Coming up

• Early Release March 17th
• No School March 18th  Teacher in Service

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend!  Until Monday....

Shannon