May 28- June 5

Tuesday: Field Day (in AM) check weather and dress accordingly

Wednesday 6/5: last day of school, regular start time, not a late start Wednesday, dismissal at 10:25


The fifth grade farewell turned out wonderfully today! Thank you so much to all the parents that organized and volunteered their time...it was a lot of work, especially with all the rescheduling.  The kids (and I) had fun and there was something for everyone! 

In these last few days of school, we are wrapping up several things. The kids are finishing up their memoirs, and some have begun writing a memoir from the point of view of their favorite stuffed animal. 

We are done with spelling for the year, so no list or homework this week. 

The kids came up with really great questions for their Civil War inquiries...please ask your child what "big question" they are focusing on. I've put students in groups based mostly on their interest in a particular question. Mrs. May put together a lot of resources and I found lots of great books at the public library to help us as well. The kids just started diving into their question, but we will spend a lot of reading/writing/social studies time learning and discussing their findings. Ultimately, each group will determine a way to share their learning with the rest of the class. I'm hoping for something creative here...we've done a lot of different things throughout the year (posters, prezis, powerpoints, skits) so it will be interesting to see what they come up with!  

Many students should be presenting their research and current events this week as well. 

  

May 20-24

Fifth grade farewell rescheduled for this Thursday 5/23.

Spelling: We've got another list of commonly misspelled words for this week. They are posted in the spelling tab.

Math: This week we will have a quiz over the review standard of multiplication of multidigit whole numbers. The quiz will have some computation problems and some story problems. 

We are learning about volume and we will begin this by thinking about the difference between area and volume and why we need to know about volume (talking about different sized containers, etc.). 

Reading/Writing/Social Studies: Today we looked at some examples of memoirs to help the kids focus their writing. The kids started their memoirs last week and they should be finished up in a couple days after going through the whole writing process. We thought about a happy place and memory in order to inspire our writing. 

Kids are finishing up their pioneer projects, and soon we will watch them in class. 

We are continuing to learn about the Civil War and kids will need to use their nonfiction reading skills for our inquiry work with the Civil War. So far we've learned about some of the causes, important people, and a few events during the war. 

May 14-17

Jump Rope for Heart day has been rescheduled for this Wednesday...make sure kids have PE shoes, water bottles, comfortable clothes for jumping rope!

Spelling: For the remainder of the year we will be working with words off the 100 most commonly misspelled words list. The first 20 are posted in the spelling tab.

5H Math:  Students will get their division quizzes back tomorrow; please remember the points earned from these division questions will replace points from division questions on the test. Let me know if you have any questions.

The kids have been working diligently on their math task of planning their Fantasy Fifth Grade Farewell. We will have in class time tomorrow and we will begin presentations Wednesday. Students are presenting through powerpoints and will be scored on a variety of categories including the accuracy of their calculations. They should have math on each slide of their presentation.
It will probably take two days for presentations and we will begin unit 9 on Friday.

Tuesday night homework will be finishing up math presentations and practicing presentations.


Reading/Writing: Ok, we have almost wrapped up the pioneer project. Most students are reading or close to ready to record. They really are sounding and looking wonderful! I think you'll be impressed!

We will begin writing memoirs this week based on a particularly fond memory.

The end of the year is quickly approaching, and a good number of kids have already met the reading goal of 40 books! It would be great to check with your child to see if they need any help finding a book of a particular genre...expanding horizons :).

I forgot the grammar quiz at home last Friday...argh! So we will be taking the quiz tomorrow, Tuesday. It is over the 8 parts of speech.

Science:

At the end of last week, we started talking about the difference between plant and animal cells. This week we will look at an onion skin and a swab from our own cheek under the microscope. Finally we will look at amoeba!
Social Studies:

We spent a little more time than expected on our social studies presentations than I thought last week, so we are just diving into the Civil War this week.

Next, we will move into the Civil War. I'm going to try something new, and we are going to learn about the Civil War through inquiry. So, we will begin by accessing our prior knowledge as well as building more background knowledge. Throughout this process we will be thinking critically and asking questions. Once we have some "big questions", we will break into groups based on interest to research these "big questions".


Kids need to be watching the news or checking the news web sites in the social studies tab to prepare for a current event presentation. We've had a couple great presentations so far!

May 6-10

Our Hill visit today was wonderful!  The kids got to ask lots of questions and were able to go on a tour guided by current Hill students. It's an exciting time... moving forward to middle school!

Thursday is Jump Rope for Heart day...make sure kids have PE shoes, water bottles, comfortable clothes for jumping rope!

Spelling: The new spelling list and homework are posted in the spelling tab.

5H Math: Last week we began a very timely math task. Students are working with partners to create their "Fantasy Fifth Grade Farewell". There are guidelines, but kids are able to plan the farewell of their dreams. Students will be adding,multiplying and dividing with decimals. Students will also need to draw a map with correct dimensions, and we will continue to work on converting within a measurement system. Kids will spend a few more days researching the costs of the components, and then plan out their map, schedule, and presentation.

During this time, I will also be reviewing division with decimals. The kids will take a quiz on this on Thursday.


Reading/Writing: We are continuing our "firsts/pioneer" project this week. Most students have begun writing their scripts, any students completing research are doing so for homework tonight. We will be uploading pictures into a program called Photo Story, and students will be narrating their chosen photos with the scripts they are writing. Students should be done by Wednesday uploaded photos and playing with the effects on this program. Please check in with your child to see that they are making progress. Thursday and Friday students will be recording their audio.

Please encourage your child to continue reading at home!!

We will have a grammar quiz this Friday over the 8 parts of speech. It will require students to identify the different parts of speech in sentences and describe the job of each part of speech.


Science: This Wednesday there will be a quiz over the parts of a compound microscope. The students have a diagram to study from. We will take part in a few activities this week including looking at a penny and a strand of hair through the microscope.

Social Studies:
So far, we have had one group teach the class about their chosen topic...and it was wonderful! Tomorrow the rest of the groups will teach us about their chosen topics.

Next, we will move into The Civil War. I'm going to try something new, and we are going to learn about The Civil War through inquiry. So, we will begin by accessing our prior knowledge as well as building more background knowledge. Throughout this process we will be thinking critically and asking questions. Once we have some "big questions", we will break into groups based on interest to research these "big questions".


Kids need to be watching the news or checking the news web sites in the social studies tab to prepare for a current event presentation. I've only had 2 students present so far