Important Announcements
Math
As I mentioned above, we will be taking our unit 6 math assessment on Thursday and Friday. We will be taking the mid-year assessment next Tuesday. There is no tutorial or extra review for the mid-year because it's supposed to be a cold assessment of what the students have mastered so far this year. This is true across the fifth grade, so no one has an upper hand. I keep telling them, as long as they've been working hard and trying all year, they have nothing to worry about.
Once we finish unit 6 students will be starting their second math journal,... and though they may try to convince you that I told them it's acceptable to burn their first math journal, it's simply not true. They should hang onto it through the end of the year- just in case they need to refer back to it!
Reading
Students will be finishing writing their Narrable scripts this week. Once students has finished writing their scripts, they will begin to record directly onto Narrable. ALL SCRIPTS MUST BE APPROVED BEFORE RECODING CAN BEGIN. Students should be writing their scripts on Drive, so they can just shoot me and email and let me know they're ready for approval.
Writing
We will be working on finalizing our writing books this week. Students should be thinking about including specifics about their topics. ex: Instead of “Things You Needs”, try “Supplies for a Lemonade Stand”. We will be using examples from published nonfiction books as mentor texts. We will also be focusing on organizing the information on a page. Asking ourselves; "How can I present this in a way that is logical and teaches my reader what I want them to learn?"
Social Studies
We have kicked off our study of the Revolutionary War! Over the next two weeks, we will be studying the key battles and events. All the while, asking ourselves, "How did an unorganized, untrained, underfunded army manage to beat the greatest fighting force in the world?"
Homework
~ Reading Comp: "From A Small Beginning to A Great Person"
~ Students should spend at least one hour of their reading time working on their Narrable.
~ Math: No POW, study for test, Hour of Code
~ Writing: work on nonfiction book
~ Current Events on Wednesday
- This week we are switching our chapel days around. We will be having chapel on Friday, not on Wednesday. However, the letter days will not change. Students only need to wear their chapel uniforms on Friday. Because of the switch, we will be having current events on Wednesday.
- Our unit 6 math assessment will be their Thursday and Friday. We will have the open response on Thursday, a review tutorial that afternoon, and the written assessment on Friday.
- On Wednesday, 12/17, we will be having a celebration of our non-fiction reading and writing. We would love to invite parents to join us for the celebration. It will take place at 12:05 and will last around 45 minutes. I will be sending out a separate email to RSVP.
- We will be having our mid-year math assessment next Tuesday. This is to see what the students have retained over the last semester and is very helpful for tailoring our instruction for each individual child. Students should not spend a ton of time studying for this . I will be sending home a list of skills that will be covered on the assessment. The best way from students to study is to review their notes, math journal pages, and old tests. Here is the link to the mid-year skills review. You can also find it at the bottom of the unit 6 math page.
- This week we are celebrating National Computer Science Education Week. This global initiative is designed to inspire and expose students of all ages to computer sciences - the fastest growing field of our time. In honor of this, students may substitute one hour of their math homework for an hour of coding. They have been introduced to how to code at school. Parents can click here to learn more about it. I have linked the website code.org above under "tech resources".
Math
As I mentioned above, we will be taking our unit 6 math assessment on Thursday and Friday. We will be taking the mid-year assessment next Tuesday. There is no tutorial or extra review for the mid-year because it's supposed to be a cold assessment of what the students have mastered so far this year. This is true across the fifth grade, so no one has an upper hand. I keep telling them, as long as they've been working hard and trying all year, they have nothing to worry about.
Once we finish unit 6 students will be starting their second math journal,... and though they may try to convince you that I told them it's acceptable to burn their first math journal, it's simply not true. They should hang onto it through the end of the year- just in case they need to refer back to it!
Reading
Students will be finishing writing their Narrable scripts this week. Once students has finished writing their scripts, they will begin to record directly onto Narrable. ALL SCRIPTS MUST BE APPROVED BEFORE RECODING CAN BEGIN. Students should be writing their scripts on Drive, so they can just shoot me and email and let me know they're ready for approval.
Writing
We will be working on finalizing our writing books this week. Students should be thinking about including specifics about their topics. ex: Instead of “Things You Needs”, try “Supplies for a Lemonade Stand”. We will be using examples from published nonfiction books as mentor texts. We will also be focusing on organizing the information on a page. Asking ourselves; "How can I present this in a way that is logical and teaches my reader what I want them to learn?"
Social Studies
We have kicked off our study of the Revolutionary War! Over the next two weeks, we will be studying the key battles and events. All the while, asking ourselves, "How did an unorganized, untrained, underfunded army manage to beat the greatest fighting force in the world?"
Homework
~ Reading Comp: "From A Small Beginning to A Great Person"
~ Students should spend at least one hour of their reading time working on their Narrable.
~ Math: No POW, study for test, Hour of Code
~ Writing: work on nonfiction book
~ Current Events on Wednesday