Blog Update for 5/20/22

 Happy Friday families!

Now that the weather is finally cooperating, it actually feels like Spring, almost Summer! It’s hard to believe that we are in our final two weeks of school! Although we will be engaged in academics  until the last day of school, we will also have many fun class-building activities as well! As the end of the year approaches, I want all of the students to feel that they've had ample time to reflect and process their elementary school experience. Big changes are ahead for these wonderful 5th graders, and I want them to leave 5th grade feeling excited and confident!

Here’s what our students working on over the last two weeks of school:

Literacy:

Our students are currently reading short, fictional stories from various genres, ranging from realistic fiction to science fiction.  Based on stories from the day's genre, students are continuing their work on comparing and contrasting how each author approached the shared theme.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will discuss the requirements for 6th grade summer reading. The project that accompanies the reading will be due during the first week your child returns to middle school in the Fall. There are a variety of great titles to choose from on the provided list, and students should have no trouble finding a book that matches their interests!

Writing:

Our students just wrapped up their informative choice essays. They chose from the following topics: a special holiday, preparing for a marathon, preparing for a new pet, and preparing for middle school. Students utilized multiple resources to research their topic, planned their introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions. The end result of their hard work was excellent written pieces!

Math

We are very close to wrapping up Unit 7 in Math, which focused on division and decimals. During this unit we worked with powers of ten and then moved into the multiplication and division of decimals.  Our students will take the Unit 7 post assessment next week.  

We are continuing to work hard to make sure that all students are able to solve long division problems using the traditional method. Students who just recently learned this method will need to practice periodically over the summer to ensure retention heading into 6th grade.  

Social Studies

As we start to wrap up our economics unit, our students are learning about how to critique news articles. As they learn what a critique entails, they are gaining a stronger understanding of what makes a strong and effective news article.

Important Dates and Friendly Reminders:

Friday, May 27th - Half Day (Teacher Inservice)

Monday, May 30th - No School (Memorial Day)

Thursday, June 2nd- 1/2 day (Last Day of School)

Thank you for your continued partnership and have a wonderful weekend

 Happy Friday!

It is crazy to think we have already reached our last month of the school year! Students have worked hard this week and finished our last round of MAP tests for the year! We are looking forward to many fun activities in the final weeks of school to make sure that our 5th graders leave with fond memories of Ivy Hall! We will be busy, busy, busy!!!

Read below to see what we have been working on!

Literacy

We finished reading our shared text, Jess and Layla’s Astronomical Assignment. It is a science fiction book about two girls who get a homework assignment by their teacher and they end up going back in time to understand more about astronomy and famous astronomers. We started reading another story, Mayday on the Moon of Jupiter, another science fiction story. Next week, we will compare and contrast how the authors of each approached the shared theme that they have.

Writing

We began work on our next informative writing assignment. Students had their choice from a list of topics this time: preparing for a marathon, a special holiday, a new pet, etc. Students started by using multiple resources to research their topic. They have now moved on to planning out their introductions and conclusions, and finally their body paragraphs. They are enjoying getting to pick a topic and doing their own research for it! Students have become quite self-sufficient as they engage in the planning and writing process!

Math

We are in our last unit, Unit 7, already! This unit teaches us multiple strategies for dividing whole numbers and fractions. We will be learning more about how the powers of ten affect place value in numbers. Finally, we will be learning multiplication and division of decimals. Although it is not a requirement to be able to solve division problems using the traditional method, I am doing my best to meet with small groups and individual students who are not confident with the process. It is my goal to have everyone in the class familiar with the process before leaving 5th grade.

Social Studies

We have begun our final unit of study in social studies- analyzing why and how individuals, businesses, and nations around the world specialize in trade. We will be diving into why and how countries need each other for certain goods or services.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, May 11th- 5th Grade Music Show (starts at 6:30--students arrive at 6:15)

Thursday, May 12th- 5th graders visit Twin Groves for tours and transition presentation during the school day

Friday, May 13th- 5th Grade Spring Fling- 6:30-8:30 (car parade starts earlier--see flyer)

Tuesday, May 17th- Early Release