February 3-6

Thank you so much for coming in for Open House if you were able. It was great to see you all! 

Reminders:

Service Club Members- we pack food at Feed My Starving Children this Wednesday from 6:00-7:30. 

The Talent Show is this Friday evening! 

If anyone hasn't turned in their Hill Middle School form, it is past due. 

Also Robert Crown permission slips are due as soon as possible- we go next week (2/10)! Parents, I know some (maybe most?) of the kids are nervous about going...I keep telling them it is not as bad as they may think :). I will be talking with the kids before we go, and I would really appreciate if you could also do this...about appropriate behavior (we must be mature!) and about what they'll be learning. Thanks so much! 

5H Math: 

Kids will get several graded papers back on Tuesday (both quizzes from last week and some in-class assignments). We start unit 5 which has some review skills and some new skills:  

• 5.NBT.A.3a. Read and write decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form, e.g., 347.392 = 3 × 100 + 4 × 10 + 7 × 1 + 3 × (1/10) + 9 × (1/100) + 2 × (1/1000).
• 5.NBT.A.3b. Compare two decimals to thousandths based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
• 5.NBT.A.4. Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place.
• 5.NF.A.1. Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators (including mixed numbers) by replacing given fractions with equivalent fractions in such a way as to produce an equivalent sum or difference of fractions with like denominators. NEW
• 5.NF.A.2. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole, including cases of unlike denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem. Use benchmark fractions and number sense of fractions to estimate mentally and assess the reasonableness of answers. NEW
• 5.NF.B.3. Interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator (a/b = a ÷ b). Solve word problems involving division of whole numbers leading to answers in the form of fractions or mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem. 

We will start with the new skills. We began talking about equivalent fractions last week and will continue this week before moving on to comparing fractions. Kids need to have a good understanding of this so they can determine if their answers are reasonable when we move on to adding and subtracting fractions. We will also work on using equivalent fractions to find common denominators, and by the end of the week we will be adding fractions with common denominators. 

Language Arts:

For the first couple days this week we will work on an opinion piece which will require kids to make an opinion about the text we just finished, "The Liberation of Gabriel King" and whether or not the book was an appropriate choice for the theme of courage. Based on their past opinion writings, we will work this week on summarizing our thoughts and restating our opinion in a conclusion as well as including transition words throughout.

We begin our third unit of the year: At a Crossroads: Challenges, Choices, Consequences. We will take a look at our different texts for the unit and talk about the task of decision making and the effects of decisions. We open the unit by listening to the song, "Man in the Mirror" sung by Michael Jackson, that I hope the kids have heard before! We will relate this to our theme and talk about changes we think need to happen in our world today. Next we'll take several days to analyze the classic by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken". 

Word Study- this week we will study common prefixes. This week we will be working on understanding the meaning of the prefix as well as collecting words that include the given prefix. Prefixes include: sub, post, semi, multi, ultra, non, over, inter, extra, anti, counter. No quiz this week- the quiz will be on words including these prefixes next week. 

Social Studies: 

We've finished up our colonization unit and the test is Thursday. Kids have notes and know what to study!

Science: 

We started our Digestion unit last week! This week we will read about the performance of oral health as well as begin to learn about the parts of the digestion system and their functions. Kids will learn the different types of teeth and their functions as well as the importance of saliva- the first digestive enzyme. 

Citizenship: 

This week we will be talking about manners. A great thing to carryover into home conversations :). In particular, I want to start by connecting this to respectful behavior while at our specials classes. Recently I've gotten some less than positive feedback from specials teachers about appropriate behavior.