5th Grade Blog Post 12-21-17

Dear Families,

As we embark on our winter break and prepare for a few weeks off, we hope all of you have the opportunity to spend some wonderful family time together! Enjoy this time to “recharge” and cherish time with your students! We look forward to seeing students back in 2018 with a renewed energy to learn and grow!

We had a great winter party today thanks to all of our great parent volunteers! It was a wonderful way to kick off our time off!

Here is what we’ve been working on in each of our content areas:

Reading: This week we finished our first module of books under the theme of “finding courage”. Recently, we read two shorter stories during shared reading. The first, called Operation Clean Sweep, was a historical fiction short story that took place during women’s suffrage. The other, a nonfiction short story, detailed the life of Cesar Chavez and his life-long fight for the rights of workers. Both stories prompted some great discussions focused on the issues of injustice and inequality.

**Please remind your student that the bookmarks for the December reading log projects are due right after break,

Writing: Students recently produced a written opinion response based on the following prompt: Should NFL and other sport teams use the names/images of Native American tribes? After reading several articles which presented support for both sides, students had to support their own opinion with text evidence in a well-written, cohesive response.

Math: Our work in unit 4 and its focus on multi-digit multiplication has continued. Students should now feel confident in utilizing a variety of strategies to multiply. They are getting quite proficient in being able to decide which strategy is most efficient based on the content of the particular problem. Yesterday we even had a snowball fight—with crumpled up multiplication problems instead of the icy, cold stuff! The kids had a blast while practicing their strategies! They seemed to take the most pleasure in throwing “snowballs” at me! :)

Social Studies: We have continued to learn about the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, as well as how patriotism is shown in our country. After winter break, we will learn about the particular liberties we are fortunate to enjoy in the United States, and contrast these liberties with countries such as North Korea, whose citizens suffer without such rights. 

Current Events will resume the week of January 15. New calendars will be sent home when the kids resume from winter break.

Science: Our recent learning in science has focused on what people can do to protect the Earth’s systems. We have been studying the different ways individuals, engineers, communities, and governments can protect Earth's systems. In fact, last week we had a fun science investigation where we “mined” for chocolate chips in cookies! The chips represented coal and the cookies represented land in the geosphere that was being damaged by mining. Be sure to ask your student about this fun activity!

Today the kids really enjoyed a special STEM project! In groups, they were given a pack of index cards and a foot of tape. Their challenge was to design and build the tallest free-standing structure that would hold a small stuffed animal for at least 10 seconds! It was wonderful to see the cooperation and critical thinking skills that took place! 

Important upcoming dates to remember:

Thursday, Dec. 21: Last day of school before winter break, winter parties @ 2:00

Monday, Jan. 8: School resumes

Monday, Jan.15: No School, Martin Luther King Day

Happy Friday Families!

I hope you and your family enjoyed the Thanksgiving break and the time off together!  Nothing recharges those batteries like spending quality time with family and friends!  It's hard to believe that today is already the first day of December!

MAP Testing information: We will be taking the Winter MAP tests on Monday and Wednesday next week. Students are excited, as they have been working hard on making progress towards the goals they set for themselves! We will taking the reading test on Monday, and the math test on Wednesday. Please be sure that your student has a good night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast! 

Here are the targets we will focus on as we work through the beginning of the second grading period:

Literacy

* Our students recently wrapped up reading our classroom read-aloud text, The Road to Freedom. The story was narrated from the point of view of a young girl who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom. Our students were highly engaged throughout text and had many great discussions related to topics raised within the story. Today we also read a reader's theater about Harriet Tubman and the important role she played in the Underground Railroad. 

Students received their December reading log projects today. They will be making a bookmark that highlights pertinent information about the book they are currently reading. Students were given an informational sheet today with the requirements. This sheet will also be posted on schoology in the literacy course. Bookmarks are due on January 8.

Writing

* We are currently using The Road to Freedom as a springboard for various writing samples.  We have practiced writing short-constructed responses and we are currently planning and writing an opinion paper based on topics/issues related to slavery from the book. Most of the students have completed their planning sheets and are in the process of composing their opinion essay. We are learning how to begin our papers with an effective "hook" that will grab the attention of the reader. We are also focusing on providing ample detail about our "big ideas" through our own thoughts and text evidence.

Spelling

* Our students are currently working through their Words Their Way spelling program. Most weeks, your child will bring home a new set of words to sort and use for homework tasks. Students complete homework assignments on Spelling City that contain the words to their current sort.

Math

* We are currently working on multiplying two-digit numbers by three-digit numbers using various strategies.  We will have a check-in next week to assess what we've learned.  Our students will start division at the end of next week and emphasize the partial quotients and long division algorithms to solve these problems.

Social Studies

* Last week we wrapped up our learning about slavery and how it affected the growth of Colonial America.  We will be diving into Government/Civics in the coming weeks and our students will start to discuss the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance and learn about other aspects of patriotism.

**Please note: We will not be having current event presentations next week. 

Science

* Our students recently learned information about the four main systems of Earth: the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.  We’ve also been learning about the attributes and characteristics of each, as well as how they interact with one another. Yesterday we played "catch" with a blow-up version of the earth. We marked whether our thumbs were touching water or land each time we caught it! This helped students get a concrete understanding about how much of the earth is taken up by water versus land.

Upcoming dates to remember:

Monday, Dec. 4--MAP test--Reading
Tuesday, Dec. 5--Early Release @ 2:00
Wednesday, Dec. 6--MAP test--Math
Thursday, Dec. 7--Belmont Village after school trip (registered participants only)
Tuesday, Dec. 12--PTO Special Lunch-Urban BBQ

Hello Families!

The November temperatures are creeping in! Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be upon us! It’s hard to believe that we are wrapping up our first trimester!

Literacy

Our students have spent the past week taking an End of the Unit Assessment which covered the main literacy targets of the past trimester’s instruction. Next week we will return to our regular literacy routine and begin reading a realistic fiction book entitled The Road to Freedom. The reading of this story will coincide nicely with the learning we are doing in social studies related to slavery. It will also help us delve deeper into an upcoming target that relates to analyzing the author’s point of view.

Also, please note that students have been given their November home reading book projects. This month they are making an I-movie trailer for the book they are reading. The assignment is posted in the literacy course on schoology and students were also given a hard copy. Please periodically check in with your student throughout the month to make sure they are progressing on this project. It is due Friday, December 1.

Writing

Students have been finishing up their expository brochures on an endangered animal. They are excited to share them with their peers! During our upcoming unit we will be starting opinion writing. This is a genre the students really enjoy!

Math

The focus of our learning has been on decimals for the past few weeks. We have been practicing the skills of comparing, rounding, adding and subtracting decimals, as well as expressing decimals in expanded notation. This week we started working with measurement as it relates to the metric system and converting between units.

Social Studies

Our  learning in social studies has focused on the shift that occurred in the colonies from indentured servitude to slavery. We have been learning about how slavery influenced the early economy of the colonies—both the positive and negative impact it had. 

Science

We have been learning about the four Earth systems: the Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, and Geosphere. Students have been learning about the characteristics of each Earth system and how they interact with each other. 

Reminders

**Ivy Hall is currently hosting a fundraiser to benefit cancer research. Please consider purchasing a great winter hat to support a cause that affected a former Ivy Hall student. Here is the link for information! Thank you!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgVufY-IzDXqEP1TtrOCc4rqSIGnhljy9lB7iOVLpkzcjG7w/viewform

**Parent teacher conferences are taking place next Monday and Tuesday, the 20th and 21st. You should be getting a reminder email from sign-up genius. Please remember that Monday, November 20th is an early release day @ 2:00.

**Tues., Nov. 14th—Ivy Hall Special Lunch (Papa John’s Pizza)

**Thurs., Nov.16th—Ivy Hall Family Reading Night

**Monday, Nov. 20th—Early Release @ 2:00

Hello Families!

Fall is in the air and Halloween is just around the corner!  Our students continue to work extremely hard to learn our target concepts and are picking up and practicing strong study skills they have learned in the classroom!  Thank you for your continued support at home.

Here are the targets / concepts we are tirelessly working to master:

Literacy

Our students are currently working on finding the theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in our classroom texts, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic. We finished our current “module” by comparing and contrasting ideas from the last three books we read.  All three had themes dealing with nature and conservation. In the coming weeks, we will start our new story, The Road to Freedom.  It is narrated from the point of view of a young girl who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom. We look forward to having many valuable discussions related to topics raised within the story.

Writing

Our students are currently conducting research on an endangered animal, and creating a brochure or Google Slide show discussing why they are endangered, and what the world can do to save them from becoming extinct. Have your child tell you some fun facts about their endangered animal! Since this is our second nonfiction, research-based project, students will be expected to complete this one with a higher degree of independence. 

Math

Our students are currently working through recognizing, that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents ten times as much as it represents in the place to its right and one-tenth of what it represents in the place to its left using whole numbers AND decimals. 

Please view the parent letter at the end of this blog for more detail!

Social Studies

Our discussions continue to revolve around how indentured servitude affected the growth of the early American colonies.  Today we read a story written from the perspective of an indentured servant named John Halfhead. The students were intrigued by the Old English he used! We played a game of Kahoot right after reading in order to review the main concepts. 

Science

We are continuing to learn more about various ecosystems. We are exploring what makes an ecosystem healthy or unhealthy, how ecosystems change, and how humans change ecosystems. We took our unit test yesterday.

Reminders

**Completed October reading logs are due Wednesday, November 1st. . October book in a bag projects are due Friday, Nov. 3.

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

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

HALLOWEEN PARADE AND CLASSROOM PARTY INFORMATION

Please be sure to read the Principal's Message for school guidelines around appropriate costume attire for our Halloween festivities.  If you are unsure about whether or not something in your child's costume is appropriate, please contact me.  Also included in Mr Hanrahan's blog are the guidelines around students going home for lunch on Halloween.  If you plan on bringing your child home for a costume change, please be sure to review the procedures.

Parade

Our Parade Route begins at 1:20pm outside of our southeast doors (near our gymnasium and the buffalo). The students will continue north on the sidewalk and then head west past the district office around the building, past the playground and end back at the southeast, Buffalo door. Please keep your fingers crossed that we have great weather! In case of inclement weather, we will have an indoor parade for teachers and students only.

Parties

• Parties will begin at approximately 2:00pm and end at 2:45pm

• Only PTO approved parent party volunteers may attend classroom parties. No siblings are able to attend.

• If you are a volunteer, it is recommended that you have your driver's license scanned into our security system prior to party day so that your badge can be ready for you upon arrival.  

• All party treats must come from the Approved Snack List (see page 3) and brought in to be checked by the nurse. These need to be at school by 9:00am on October 31st. They can be brought in prior to that and will be kept safely in the office.

Halloween Costumes

As October is here, please help us with the following costume procedures and guidelines....

• Students will change into their costumes after the lunch period.

• Costumes must be appropriate for school.

• Please no masks, blood, super scary stuff, general ickiness, or weapons

• Please no cigars or cigarette items

• Please no bare tummies

• Please keep hair coloring and make-up simple

Can students go home for lunch to get into costumes?

• Students are able to be picked up to go home during their own grade level lunch period. See below for specific times and details.

• Students will meet their parent/grandparent/family member in the foyer of the school.

• Please write a note stating that students will be going home for lunch. Students will give their “going home for lunch” note to the staff members who are supervising pick-up.

• Students need to return to school by the end of their lunch/recess period.

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

We are already halfway through October, and the year feels as if it's flying by! Please read below to learn all about the exciting happenings in 5th grade! Next 

Next week I will begin meeting with students individually to set some personal literacy and math goals based on MAP data. Research shows that when students set intentional goals and are assisted in developing an action plan to meet such goals, success is improved! 

Literacy

*We are reading our second shared reading book of the year - Washed Up by Paval Kapadia. Also, we are continuing to work on our reading learning targets - finding theme, summarizing, and comparing/contrasting characters and settings (LIT.5.1-3) Today we also met in groups to share our book slide projects. We were able to get many great book recommendations from our peers! There will be a reading log check-in on Monday. Please make sure that your child has started his/her book in a bag October reading project. It has now been assigned for two weeks. The instructions for the project are in Schoology under the literacy course. All students were given an over-sized brown lunch bag for this project. 

Writing

*Students are in the process of planning and drafting their informative/expository essays. Connecting to ecosystems, students picked an environment to focus on. After utilizing graphic organizers to plan and researching information, they are writing and editing their rough drafts. Be sure to ask your student what he/she learned about while researching their chosen environment!

Math

*We are continuing to focus on fractions during our second unit in math. The students have been learning how to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators by finding common denominators and equivalent fractions (5.NF.1). Also, they've been applying and stretching their knowledge to solve fractions story problems (5.NF.2). There is a Unit 2 Post-Assessment on Monday (10/16). Please, review the learning targets at home with your child in preparation. Practicing problems that are similar to the ones that were on last night's homework review would be a great idea!

Social Studies

*We have started Social Studies this week, and our first unit includes indentured servitude and slavery. Students will be learning about the differences between the two and how indentured servitude eventually lead up to slavery during the colonial era. 

Science

*We are continuing our focus on understanding the characteristics of  various ecosystems around the world. 

Upcoming Events

Oct. 16: Math Unit 2 Post-Assessment
Oct. 16: Picture Re-Take (If your child is taking a re-take, please bring the photo package)

Oct. 24: EARLY RELEASE DAY (Dismissal @ 2PM)

Oct. 31: Halloween Parties

Friendly Reminders

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

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

** The weather is starting to get cooler. Please send your child to school with layers, jackets, sweaters, etc. to stay warm. 

Hi Parents! Happy Fall! We've ben quite busy in 5th grade! Please read below to find out some of what we've been up to!

Literacy

*We are preparing for our first unit assessments next week. We have been practicing the skill of summarizing and determining the theme of a story. We’ve read some great folktales from around the world that have taught us some great lessons. We have also been practicing using context clues to identify difficult or unknown words within a text.

On Monday, reading logs will be collected and the month long reading log project is due. Please check in with your child to be sure his/her slide presentation is complete. We will begin sharing them with each other on Monday. I’m hopeful that the kids will get some great ideas of books to read from one another!

Students were introduced to October’s book project today. It is called “Book in a Bag” and is posted in schoology. The assignment and due date for completion can be found on schoology in the literacy course.

Next week we will begin the implementation of our Words Their Way word study program. During most weeks, students will meet in small groups with Mr. Halstead and myself on Mondays for an introduction to  the the week’s focus list. Most work in this area will be completed at school, however students will have 2-3 assignments with their word sort for the week using the Spelling City site on their I-Pads. I have a personal subscription to this site and I feel it gives the students valuable practice in focusing on word meanings and usage. Nest week I will  review with students how to access their personal lists on the site. More details will be forthcoming next week.

Writing

*Students continue to work on narrative writing.  After utilizing graphic organizers to plan, students developed their stories through the use of a detailed sequence of events and effective character development. Encouraging students to infuse dialogue into their writing was also an emphasis.  We are working on elevating their writing by adding higher level transitional words and figurative language. 

Math

* We have begun our second unit in math. In Unit 2 we are working on 5.nf.1., ( add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators). and 

5.nf.2, ( Solve story problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions). We have been using money and time as models for their target practice. 

Today in math we had the opportunity to apply some of the knowledge we’ve gained about fractions by creating a map in partners of a hiking trail. Students were given certain specifications on what needed to be included on their map in terms of fractions!

Social Studies

*Students were given a new paper copy of the October current events schedule last week. They can also find the schedule posted in schoology under the social studies course. Please be sure that your child is aware of his/her assigned date(s)!

* We plan on starting geography in the coming days.  We will start with locating states and countries based on relative location.

Science

*This week in science our focus on ecosystems continued. In particular, we learned about the role that producers play in our environment. Today we participated in a very exciting investigation with owl pellets! After dissecting the pellets, we found the remains of they prey that the owl had regurgitated! This year’s owl pellets revealed some great bones! Be sure to ask you student  about the details! Would you care to see an owl engaged in this fascinating process? Simply click the link below and enjoy! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PfjN2ZSmdA

Upcoming Events

Book fair Monday Oct. 2 to Wednesday Oct. 4th. 

4-Ice Cream Social from 6-8

9 – NO SCHOOL – Columbus Day 

24 – EARLY RELEASE DAY  dismiss @ 2 PM

Mrs. Holzhauer's 5th Grade Blog 9/8/17

Happy Friday!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been back in school for several weeks! Please read below to find out about all of the wonderful learning that is going on in 5th grade at Ivy Hall!

Today your child (if he/she attended Ivy Hall last year) should have brought home an envelope with his/her PARCC scores from fourth grade. Also, girls brought home a note about the 5th grade group for girls which will be starting next week. All 5th grade girls will be participating. The groups for boys will start in the winter. 

Literacy

*Today we finished up our first shared reading book of the year—Night of the Spadefoot Toads by Bill Harley. As a culminating activity, we had a discussion board on schoolboy where students told what they liked about the book and responded to comments made by their peers. We’ve used this text as a springboard for many reading and writing learning targets thus far.  This book has also connected nicely to our study of ecosystems in science. Be sure to ask your student about what he/she has learned about vernal pools and spade foot toads!

Reading Logs

*As you know, students began using home reading logs for the month of September. Each night after reading, your child should simply fill in the number of minutes read next to the corresponding date. Each Monday, we have a reading log check-in, where students are expected to have their weekly minutes updated and signed by a parent. I will not be giving weekly assignments to go along with the reading, as I feel this may hamper/detract from the pleasure that students derive from their independent reading. There will be, however, a book project due at the end of the month. Students will be creating a slide presentation on a book they have read throughout the month. They have been shared on a template and I have explained the procedure to them. This project is due on Monday, October 2. We will be sharing these projects in class with each other. My hope is that students will get some great ideas from their peers about good books to read! 

Writing

*Students are in the process of finishing their first narrative stories of the year! After utilizing graphic organizers to plan, students developed their stories through the use of a detailed sequence of events and effective character development. Encouraging students to infuse dialogue into their writing was also an emphasis.  We will be writing yet another narrative in order to apply what we’ve learned and produce an even higher quality sample.

Math

* Our students are continuing their work with writing and evaluating numerical expressions with parentheses as well as demonstrating their understanding of how find the volume of rectangular prisms. We also began our “Number Corner” routine which takes place each day for about 20 minutes outside of our regular math block. Here, students practice skills in such areas as computational fluency and problem solving (in addition to several others) on a daily basis. 

Social Studies

* We plan on starting geography in the coming days.  We will start with locating states and countries based on relative location. We began our current events presentations this week. All presenters did a great job! We took our first current events quiz today!

Science

* We are continuing our focus on understanding the characteristics of  various ecosystems around the world. Our first science investigation involved “traveling” to virtual ecosystems and studying the interactions between living and nonliving organisms.

Upcoming Events

Sept. 12- PTO Special Lunch

Sept. 15- Ivy Hall Fun Run

Sept. 21 & 22-No School/District Holiday

Friendly Reminders

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

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

Have a great weekend!

Julie Holzhauer