Class Update 1/23/17

Important Reminders:

If you have not yet signed your child's field trip permission slip for Powell Hall, please send it to school at your earliest convenience. If you need another copy, please let me know. There is also a $6.00 cost to cover transportation and admission. Thank you!

The Jump Rope for Heart Fundraiser is currently underway. Look for donation packets to come home in flyer folders tomorrow. Our goal is to raise $12,000 this year! Donation packets are due Monday, February 6th. You can also visit heart.org/jump to make an online donation. Any amount can help save a life! Students will participate in a Jump Rope for Heart Assembly on February 10th where top individual and class fundraisers will be announced.

This Wednesday, January 25th, is an early release day with a 1:40 dismissal time. Please make your child knows how they are going home on that day in case it is different from their normal routine.

Class Updates:

Congratulations to Quinn and Adam who represented our class in the school Spelling Bee last week! I am so proud of them and amazed at their spelling ability!



Our DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) Program starts this week. Officer Olson from the Crestwood Police Department will be teaching DARE lessons to all fifth grade students once per week for ten weeks. The program culminates in a DARE graduation in May.



In math, we are currently working on dividing decimals by whole numbers and other decimals. We are also dividing decimals by powers of ten. We are almost done with Chapter 6 and will begin reviewing at the end of this week to prepare for a test on Tuesday, January 31st. A study guide will be made available to students. As always, if students get their study guides signed by a parent verifying they studied at home they can earn an extra point on the test. Our next big unit will be on fractions.

Students are working in groups in reading to research debatable topics, including whether or not animals should be kept in zoos and whether or not extreme sports are too dangerous among other topics. They have been working hard to read a variety of articles and take notes on both sides of the debate. Coming up, students will learn how to hold a debate and practice debating several times before they hold a final debate. The practice debates will help students learn what reasons and evidence they might be missing, as well as how they can acknowledge counterclaims.

In writing, students are continuing their work on their argumentative essays. All students have been working to fill out outlines with reasons and evidence to support their claims about chocolate milk being served in schools. The children have also been doing a first draft of the body paragraphs of their essays. This week we will focus revising our draft to provide a variety of specific evidence including quotes and expert opinions, adding in thinking and explaining to help elaborate, and learning about counterclaims and rebuttals. Next week, students will add introductions and conclusions to their essays. My goal is always for students to accomplish their writing in class. However, if your child gets behind, is absent, or needs more time to work on their piece, they may need to do some of this work at home.

Children are continuing their work on their explorer projects in social studies. Most students have finished their research and are now working on the four parts of their projects. Students will also be starting a project on animals in science tomorrow. Both of these projects should be wrapping up around February 3rd. Please check the homework tab on the blog daily for updates about due dates.

For STEM Mondays, the children are working in groups to create a prototype for a colony on Mars. This project will span several weeks. Today, the children learned background information on what life would be like for humans on Mars. We brainstormed what types of buildings would be needed and what problems would have to be solved, such as finding a way to produce power. Moving forward, students will make diagrams and sketch their ideas. Then, they will build the models of the colonies using recyclable materials. If you have extra yogurt containers, milk cartons, or plastic food containers that you could donate from our recycle bins, that would help with our projects. Thank you!

Class Update 1/12/17

Important Reminders:

Six Flags Read to Succeed Program: Students received information from the librarian about this program. If a student reads a total of six hours they can qualify for a free ticket to Six Flags. Please note that the six hours of reading does not include the 30 minutes of reading they are required to do for homework. The reading needs to be in addition to those requirements. Students received a yellow reading log sheet for the program to record their time. The deadline to turn in forms is February 22nd, but forms can be turned in early once they are complete.

Sheldon Concert Hall Field Trip: A field trip permission slip came home this week for our field trip to Sheldon Hall on February 7th. Please sign and return the slip with $6.00 to cover the cost of transportation and admission. No parent volunteers are needed for this trip. Thank you!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: School will be closed on the 16th in observance of the holiday.

Class Updates:

To begin the new year, each child made a New Year's Goals Foldable. We are especially focusing on ways we can be kind to each other in the new year.

We have been working on multiplying decimals in math. I have posted links to some helpful videos on the Google Classroom site in case students need extra help with homework on the topics being covered. The videos can also be used to review for our quiz on Wednesday, January 18th. Students also have a study guide.

In reading and writing we have been examining articles that discuss debatable topics. Students have been working with their writing partners to take notes from a series of articles and videos about the debate over whether or not chocolate milk should be served in schools. All students have been investigating both sides of the topic and have chosen which side they want to write about for their argumentative writing paper. Coming up, we will be working on writing claims and determining three reasons with corresponding evidence to support the claims. Students will use an outline to organize their reasons and evidence. The resources are available on the Google Classroom if students want to do further research at home.

The children have also started new book club books. They will continue to meet on Tuesdays and Fridays each week to discuss their books. Students do have some class time to read their book club books, but they may also need to work on their reading at home. Book club reading can count toward the 30 minutes of reading for homework.

Students have been learning about latitude and longitude in social studies. Take a look at some of their world maps where they practiced finding various locations. We have also started our explorer projects. Each student should know who their explorer is that they are researching. A copy of the project guidelines can be found on the Google Classroom.

Welcome Back and Class Updates 1/4/17

                                        

Welcome back and happy new year! I hope everyone was able to enjoy and fun and relaxing break. Below is a recap of some of the highlights of November and December, as well as a look ahead to what's coming up in January. As a reminder, please click on the homework tab of the blog to see daily homework assignments.

Looking Back:

STEM has continued to be a favorite activity for students. The kids worked hard in their groups to complete their Native American houses to look as realistic as possible.

Our next challenge was perfect for our explorer unit, as well as Thanksgiving. The Mayflower Challenge was to build a boat that could float and hold the weight of five pennies in only 25 minutes. The materials were limited to foil, sticky notes, pipe cleaners, beads, and toothpicks. The children worked hard to redesign their boats to make them float for longer lengths of time and to hold additional weight.

We even had some holiday STEM tasks where the kids were tasked with creating a parachute for Santa.

Be thankful and giving back was a big focus for our class over the last several weeks. Here are some of the thankful notes students created for the display in front of the school.

All of fifth grade students and staff worked together to hold a luncheon for Crestwood Fire and Police. The event was a huge success, and our guests really enjoyed eating with the students. Our event even made the local news! I am proud of all of the students, and thankful for all of the parent help and support. Click here to watch the news coverage. Also, here are links to a few pictures:
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Coming Up:

In math, we will be continuing to study decimals. Students will be learning how to multiply and divide decimals, as well as continue to work with estimation skills and representing decimals with models.

For both reading and writing, the class will begin exploring argumentative texts. In reading, students will learn how to read texts that discuss debatable topics. After becoming informed about a variety of topics, students will choose one and gather further evidence to support a side for a class debate. The writing unit coincides with what the students will be learning in reading. The children will learn how to write an argumentative piece that states a claim and provides reasons to support the claim. Examining counterclaims and rebuttals will also be part of the unit.

Our study of the Age of Exploration continues in social studies, as the students will each be researching a specific explorer and creating a project that displays what they found. In addition to including a map of the explorer's voyage and a letter written as the explorer, several options will be given to students for the components of their projects, including creating timelines, trading cards, help wanted posters, and poems.