5th Grade Blog update for 4/26/24

 It's hard to believe, but this week we began our final cycle of the school year! Summer is just around the corner, but we still have lots of learning to do and much to get accomplished! As we progress through the final months of school, we will have many special events and dates that will be important to mark on calendars. Please pay special attention to the dates listed at the bottom of the blog updates so that you can stay informed!

Literacy

This week, we began reading a fun book called Jess and Layla’s Astronomical Adventure. We will be comparing fictional texts of similar content and/or topic. The two main characters of the story travel back in time and meet many of history’s famous philosophers and scientists! As we read, we will continue to practice literacy skills such as comparing and contrasting characters and settings, analyzing themes, and using quoted evidence from a text to support responses. Next week, we will read another science fiction story of the same genre called Mayday on the Moon of Jupiter, so that we can compare and contrast how the two stories approach their respective themes. 

Writing

We wrapped up our Real Life Superhero speeches this week! Students have really enjoyed researching, working on their notecards, and presenting about their real-life superhero to the class. We learned so much about individuals, such as Jackie Robinson, Ada Lovelace, Marie Curie and Mahatma Gandhi, who made a positive impact on our society. Each student was videotaped while they were presenting! This video is on your student's I Pad! Please ask them to share it with you! During the rest of the year, we will continue to work on refining our analytical writing skills.

Math

We are in our last unit of math this year! This unit teaches us multiple strategies for dividing whole numbers. Some strategies for division include: ratio table, area model, partial quotients, and the standard algorithm. Students have been working hard to refine their skills to divide multi-digit numbers using a strategy they feel most comfortable with. Within the unit, we will also be learning more about the powers of ten and multiplying and dividing decimals. 

Science

We have begun our final science unit exploring the concept of conservation of matter. This week, students completed a lab where they tested liquids to see which ones would clean the tarnish off a penny. Then, when one penny changed from dark and dirty to bright and shiny, they had the chance to think about where the tarnish went.Yesterday, we did a fun experiment with glow sticks to discover how the law of the conservation of mass applied to the "before" and after" weight, once we activated the glow! We are looking forward to many more hands-on investigations later in the unit.

Social Studies

Last week, we wrapped up our final inquiry-based social studies unit of the year. We explored the topic of democracy and generated ideas throughout the unit about how citizens can contribute to keeping a democracy healthy. Students worked in groups on an Informed Action Project based on one of the Five Habits of the Heart. They did a great job! Be sure to ask your student which habit they worked on, and what their project consisted of!

Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, April 30th - Twin Groves Musical Presentation (5th grade travels to TG)

• Tuesday, April 30th - Early Release (Dismissal @ 2:05)

• Wednesday, May 1st - MAP Testing (Reading)

• Thursday, May 2nd - MAP Testing (Math)

• Friday, May 3rd - Field Trip to Dunn Museum (a.m. only)

• Wednesday, May 15th - Literacy Placement Test

Friendly Reminders

• Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

• Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12

• Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days of lessons

5th grade Blog update for 4/12

Happy Friday Parents!

 Welcome back! With Spring Break past us, it could only mean one thing...the countdown to summer has officially begun! We are looking forward to all the fun and learning that's ahead of us within the last couple months of school! There are MANY exciting activities planned to help our 5th graders finish their elementary schooling with positive memories!

Literacy

This week, we read and learned about the Navajo code talkers. During World War II, the code talkers played a crucial role in helping the U.S. Marines send coded messages using the complex and unwritten Navajo language. Using texts from RAZ Kids,  Newsela, and Epic, we are practicing our skill of compiling information from multiple sources together in order to demonstrate a deep understanding about a specific topic. Throughout the readings, we are also working on explaining relationships and interactions, such as cause/effect and problem/solution, while using text evidence as support.

In the upcoming weeks, we will be taking the series of literacy assessments used for middle school placement. The writing assessment will take place on Tuesday, April 16th.

 

Writing

Students have begun working on a research project and oral presentation. Piggybacking off the previous reading we did on real life superheroes such as Richard Martin and Raoul Wallenberg, each student will be asked to choose someone they feel embodies the qualities of a real life superhero. They will conduct research about this outstanding individual and give an oral presentation to the class explaining why they are a real-life superhero. This project incorporates many reading and writing targets for students.

Math

We are continuing to practice skills in the area of geometry in Unit 6. We have been exploring the hierarchy of polygons, with an emphasis on triangles and quadrilaterals. Using academic language related to angles and sides, students have been classifying and describing shapes based on their attributes. Next week, we will review and extend our thinking on the concept of volume, which was covered in Unit 1. We will also play some games and complete some review activities for the entire unit. Our Unit 6 Geometry Post Assessment will be next Wednesday, April 17. Our next math placement assessment will be on Wednesday, April 24th. 

Social Studies

We are wrapping up our final unit next week on Rights & Responsibilities. Students have been working to understand how they can be civically engaged with their democracy…even though they can’t vote yet! Students have started working on their final informed action project in groups where they will create an end product focusing on the Five Habits of the Heart.

*Field Trip Reminder*

We are taking our class field trip on 5/3. If you have not filled out your child’s permission slip, please do so now!

Upcoming Events

• Tuesday, April 16th - Literacy Placement Test (Writing)

• Thursday, April 18th - Half Day- Dismissal @ 11:45 (Wear Cat Pack Shirts)

• Friday, April 19th- No School- Institute Day

• Wednesday, April 24th- Math Placement Test

• Friday, May 3rd- Field Trip- Dunn Museum in morning

• Wednesday, May 15th- Literacy Placement Test (Reading)

Friendly Reminders

• Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

• Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12

• Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days of lessons

5th Grade Blog for 3/8/24

 Happy Friday Families!

It's hard to believe that we've officially entered our final trimester and Spring Break is only a couple of weeks away! Today we finished the third day and final day of the Illinois Science Assessment. I am proud of the perseverance shown by the students!

Kindly read below to find out what we're learning in class! 

Literacy

Our students have been reading a variety of non-fiction texts in order to determine the  cause and effect relationships that exist between events and/or people. Some of the topics we have explored have been white-nose bat syndrome and its effect on the bat population,  the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the effects of owning a wild pet, and the positive effects service dogs can have on veterans.. Next week, our students will read about "women of discovery" who accomplished great feats and helped pave the way for many young girls and women today! These magnificent women include Bessie Coleman, Katherine Johnson, Mae Jemison, and Wilma Rudolph! We will read about them utilizing multiple sources of information, and then practice the skill of pulling the most important information from each source.

Writing

Our students are in the early stages of planning their analytical choice essays. Here, students not only have been given the freedom to choose among a list of topics to explore, they also decided their pro/con stance. Topic choices included: whether students should learn foreign languages in school, GMO information on food labels, and cell phones in the classroom, just to name a few. Students have been utilizing multiple resources to research their topic, plan their introductions, body paragraphs, and write conclusions. 

Math

Our students recently started Unit 6, which incorporates skills in the area of geometry. This week, we learned about locating and labeling ordered pairs on a coordinate plane and investigated patterns within a number series. Although our target only requires students to utilize the first quadrant, students were exposed the others and explored the use of negative coordinates as well. Within the coming weeks, our students will start to explore the hierarchy of polygons, which include triangles and quadrilaterals. We will work classifying shapes based on attributes using academic language related to angles and length of sides. 

In number corner our "collection" this month involves pencils! On Tuesday, each student was given a brand new pencil to label and measure to the nearest eighth of an inch. Each week, we will measure our pencils and record the class data on a line plot graph. 

Social Studies

We started our final unit of study in Social Studies- Citizens' Rights & Responsibilities. Our students are learning about the different branches of government, as well as the system of checks and balances that are in place to prevent one branch from having more power than another. In the coming weeks, our students will explore how our country’s founders established a system of federalism within the United States.

Upcoming Events   

• Monday, March 11--Band Concert at Twin Groves (7:00 pm)
• Wednesday, March 13--5th Grade Candor Health presentation in a.m.
• Tuesday, March 19th - No School (Teacher Institute Day
• Wednesday, March 20--PTO Special Lunch

• Thursday, March 21st - Family Educator Conferences (5:00 - 8:30pm)

• Friday, March 22nd - NO SCHOOL: Family Educator Conferences (10:00 AM-1:30 PM)

• Friday, March 25th - SPRING BREAK BEGINS

• Monday, April 1st - SCHOOL RESUMES

Friendly Reminders

• Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

• Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12

• Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days of lessons.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a wonderful weekend!

5th Grade Blog Update for 2/23/24

Happy Friday Families!

Believe it or not, Trimester 2 has come to an end and we are ready to kick off our third and final trimester next week!  Throughout the last few weeks, our students completed several literacy/writing assessments to demonstrate their progress on T2 learning targets.  Students showed perseverance and stamina, and worked incredibly hard! 

Check below to see what we've covered over the last couple of weeks, as well as some of the learning we are looking forward to starting!

Literacy

We just wrapped up our exciting novel, George’s Secret Key to the Universe. The kids enjoyed the plot twists and the character development of George, Eric, and Dr. Reeper all throughout the book! They especially fell in love with George, who discovered the mysteries of the universe while he learned about various aspects such as stars, planets, and moons.  This is the first in a series of books.  Students showed so much interest that they have asked for other books in the series. Unfortunately our library does not have any copies of the other books, but your local library should have a few copies available! I have loaned out several copies of sequels from my personal collection! I'd love for anyone with an interest to read other books in the series, to be able to do so! In fact, for our weekly edition of "First Chapter Friday" I featured the next book in the series, George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt!

Going forward, next week we will begin work on a literacy target which emphasizes finding relationships between concepts and ideas in nonfiction. We will begin by using a non fiction text on black holes, since this is a familiar topic from the George's Secret Key to the Universe book.

Writing

Connecting to the theme of the universe, students finished their own science fiction narratives. They brainstormed characters, events, and others ideas to include within their stories. It was wonderful to see their creative juices flow!  Remember to ask your student all about the sci-fi narrative he/she wrote! We also practiced adding another "chapter" to a given narrative story. Students were asked to re-establish the storyline and characters in their own "chapter 2," and to then add their own unique set of events. Starting next week, we will enter the world of opinion writing! Today we got warmed up to the topic when we read an article about whether students should be allowed to choose their own seats! Both sides were represented in the article, and then we each produced a "quick write" which told our opinion, citing evidence from the text, of course! Many students shared some great responses!

Math

We're currently strengthening our abilities to multiply and divide fractions. Most recently, we have been learning different methods to multiply mixed numbers by a fraction, using both the area model and improper fractions. We've been learning how to solve these problems utilizing models, as well as more traditional strategies.This week we focused on dividing fractions with models. Our Unit 5 assessment will take place early next week. After that, we will begin our next unit on Geometry!

Social Studies

We are wrapping up our second unit in social studies on the Colonial Era. We ended our unit this week by creating a quilt square project. This hands-on activity was designed to demonstrate our understanding of how the complexities of the past can help us meet challenges of the present. Students each chose a topic they felt particularly passionate about. Topics varied from climate change, to animal protection...and many others! Each class will make a class paper quilt comprised of squares made by each student!

Important Dates

Friday, February 23rd- Trimester 2 Ends

Tuesday, February 27th- Early Release

Friday, March 1st--Trimester 2 Report Cards issued

Monday, March 4th- No School--District Holiday

Monday, March 11--Band Concert at Twin Groves 7:00 PM

Friendly Reminders

**Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain better than something healthy!

**Please continue to have your child practice his or her multiplication facts up to 12.

**Band and orchestra students should remember to be prepared with their instruments and music books on the days that lessons take place.

5th Grade Blog Update for 2/9/24

 

Happy Friday!

We have had a busy couple of weeks!  Your children have been working hard to improve their skills and extend their thinking!

Literacy

During Literacy, we have been reading George’s Secret Key to the Universe.  We are really enjoying this science fiction novel!  The students have been showing great stamina in reading this long book both inside and outside of school.  They have been analyzing the main characters by reflecting on the characters’ thoughts, feelings, and actions.  Students continue to use context clues to understand the challenging vocabulary of the text.  Within the story, the authors have included many wonderful examples of figurative language and sensory details.  Your children have read closely to determine the meanings of these well-written phrases. Ask your child to explain what has happened in the story so far and what they predict will happen next. WE have also been enjoying some literacy activities related to the upcoming holiday of Lunar New Year (which begins tomorrow!) In addition, in honor of black history month, we've been learning about some famous black Americans who have made outstanding contributions to our country.

Writing

In writing we are finishing our science fiction narratives!  The students were so creative! We began the writing process by understanding the science fiction genre.  Ask your child to tell you the difference between fantasy and science fiction.  Next, the students planned out their ideas.  We challenged the students to “hook the readers in” with descriptive details about their characters and setting.  We also encouraged the children to add in sensory details and examples of figurative language to make their writing more interesting. After writing, the students had an opportunity to revise and conference with others.  Next week we will be sharing these creative narratives.  Soon, your child should be able to share his/her narrative with you.

Math

In math, the students have been creating and labeling models to demonstrate their understanding of multiplying fractions.  We have also been reading story problems. The children are able to identify the important information and determine the best strategy to solve the problem.  We have learned several ways to model our thinking.  The students have already shown a lot of improvement in their abilities to draw and label models for multiplying fractions. Next up, our focus will be on dividing fractions, as well as fraction word problems.

Social Studies

In social studies, we continue to study the colonial era.  The students have learned about the cultural, geographic, and economic characteristics of the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. Ask your child to explain how the geography of the colonies affected its economy.  We also learned about the impact the slave trade had on the colonies.  Your children did a wonderful job reading and discussing these important topics.  They are really gaining a deep understanding of how history impacts the future.

Upcoming Events

• Wednesday, February 14th - Valentine’s Day Class Party

• Friday, February 16th - Half Day (Dismissal @ 11:45 AM)

• Monday, February 19th - No School (President’s Day)

• Wednesday, February 21st - PTO Special Lunch

• Wednesday, February 21st - Orchestra Concert @ 7:30 PM

• Tuesday, February 27th - Early Release Day

Friendly Reminders

• Since winter weather is here, please make sure your child is properly dressed for recess.

• Please remind your child to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack 

• Please continue to have your child practice their multiplication facts up to 12

• If your child participates in orchestra or band, please remind him/her to bring their instrument on their lesson day

5th Grade Blog Update for 1/26

5th Grade Bog Update for 1/12/24

 It was so nice to see everyone refreshed after coming back from winter break! I hope you all have had a relaxing and enjoyable time with family and friends. Entering into the latter half of the school year, we're looking forward to all of the learning, growth, and fun that comes with it!

Read below to find out what we've been learning!

Literacy

After we returned from break, we continued to practice analyzing multiple perspectives using nonfiction texts. With various reading passages, we compared and contrasted different authors’ points of view regarding topics such as the value of field trips and the history of video games. While we read these texts on author’s point of view, we are continuing to also practice identifying the author’s main point, and the reasons and evidence that the author uses to support it. 

Writing

Within analytical writing, we worked on effectively organizing our paragraphs, crafting engaging hooks and closures, providing accurate supporting details, and elaborating on big ideas with further explanations. As we move into our new unit, we will be shifting our focus from analytic writing to narrative writing with a science fiction-based prompt. This will tie in nicely with our upcoming novel, George's Secret Key to the Universe! This novel is ALWAYS a favorite of 5th graders, and often sparks students to read other titles in the series on their own! I will highly be encouraging students to do so!

Math

This week, we continued our unit on multi-digit multiplication using the standard algorithm. Students are working to successfully solve multiplication problems by following the procedure of the standard algorithm and ensuring they arrive at accurate solutions by attending to precision errors. Next week, we will show how much we’ve learned with our end-of-unit test. Our next unit is multiplying and dividing fractions. Throughout the unit, students will be using equations along with labeled models to multiply and divide fractions. We will start this unit by learning how to multiply whole numbers and fractions. 

Science & Social Studies

We finished our unit this week on daily and seasonal sky changes. We engaged in a variety of fun activities and demonstrations to help us understand constellations, earth’s rotation, as well as shadows. On Thursday, we played a review game in small groups in order to solidify the important concepts. We will be starting our next unit in Social Studies next week, where we are focusing on the Colonial Era. Here, we will discuss the motivations behind why European countries had a strong desire to expand their empires into the "New World" during the age of exploration. We will also analyze the effects and impacts of colonization in North and South America during this time in history. 

Upcoming Events

• Monday, January 15th- No School (MLK Jr. Day)

• Tuesday, January 30 - Early Release (Dismissal @ 2:05 PM)

Friendly Reminders

• Since winter weather is here, please make sure your student is properly dressed for recess.

• Please remind your student to charge his/her iPad and Logitech Crayon every night

• Please remember to send your student with a healthy snack - nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

• Please continue to have your student practice their multiplication facts up to 12

• If your child participates in orchestra or band, please remind him/her to bring their instrument on their lesson day