Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break!
~ This Thursday is Founder's Day Chapel. Students should wear chapel uniforms.
~ Our next 5th grade job is chapel vestry (acolytes, offering, readers). Evey student will have a roll. We would love for you to come an watch your child. However, not all students will participate in every chapel, so please check with your child first to make sure he or she is participating that day.
~ I did not send Friday folders home before the break for fear that they would be lost in the shuffle. Therefore they will be particularly full this Friday. Please make sure the look through the folder and sign and return the Unit 6 Math Test and Mid-Year Assessment.
~ Wednesday is going to be COLD!!! We will be having a cold weather NUD. Students may wear UGGs or other warm weather shoes. We do not have PE that day, so they do not need to bring tennis shoes unless they want to change for recess.
* Don't forget, Wednesday is another late start day. Enjoy your extra sleep!
Reading
This week we will be starting our reading book clubs. This is my favorite reading unit of the year. We will have two different rotations, historical fiction and nonfiction, during which we will be learning the elements of each genre, as well as important skills for discussing books. Our class is starting with historical fiction. We will be learning all the elements of historical fiction; for example, determining which parts of the book are historical, or fact, and which parts are fiction. We will also be discussing the qualities of a productive book club. For example: not speaking when others are speaking, building on the same topic, instead of jumping around, respectfully disagreeing, keeping up with your reading, but not reading ahead of your group, jotting down notes/questions to discuss at the next meeting...
Students will be setting goals with their book clubs this week. It is important students do not read past their assigned pages. For this reason, I recommend that students have an independent book to read as well. It is also important that students take copious amounts of notes, their daily participation in the book clubs depends on it.
Writing
I was incredibly proud of everyone's work on the nonfiction books. I will be putting them on display in the hall for everyone to see, so, if you're in the building, please stop by and learning something new!
Our next two writing units will mirror our reading book clubs. For historical fiction, students will be writing a historical fiction story based in the time period we're studying in Social Studies right now. Fiction is a genre that student have been writing for years. We will be adding on to what they already know and learning specifically how a historical fiction story differs from other fiction. One of the most important elements of historical fiction is the setting. We will be learning all about what life was like at the beginning of our country and using that to place the reading in the 1800's. Writing a good historical fiction story is not easy, but it is fun!
Social Studies
We will be jumping into our unit on the Constitution and the formation of our government. We will be learning about the Articles of Confederation, specifically why they weren't right for our country, and the Constitutional Convention. Considering how heated the convention got, it's amazing that they were able to accomplish anything, much less a document that still guides our country almost 225 years later.
Over the past few months, I have noticed that many students do not have a firm grasp on the geography of the United States. Because of this, I am implementing a study on the states and capitals. I have divided the country into four parts; Southeast, Northeast, Mid-West, and West. I will go over them in class, then send study sheets home. We then have a quiz a few days later. The first sheet, the SouthEast, will be coming home today. The quiz will be on Friday.
Homework
Math: POW
Reading Comp: Miss T.
Writing: "Misery at Valley Forge"
Social Studies: Southeast States and Capitals Quiz Friday
~ This Thursday is Founder's Day Chapel. Students should wear chapel uniforms.
~ Our next 5th grade job is chapel vestry (acolytes, offering, readers). Evey student will have a roll. We would love for you to come an watch your child. However, not all students will participate in every chapel, so please check with your child first to make sure he or she is participating that day.
~ I did not send Friday folders home before the break for fear that they would be lost in the shuffle. Therefore they will be particularly full this Friday. Please make sure the look through the folder and sign and return the Unit 6 Math Test and Mid-Year Assessment.
~ Wednesday is going to be COLD!!! We will be having a cold weather NUD. Students may wear UGGs or other warm weather shoes. We do not have PE that day, so they do not need to bring tennis shoes unless they want to change for recess.
* Don't forget, Wednesday is another late start day. Enjoy your extra sleep!
Reading
This week we will be starting our reading book clubs. This is my favorite reading unit of the year. We will have two different rotations, historical fiction and nonfiction, during which we will be learning the elements of each genre, as well as important skills for discussing books. Our class is starting with historical fiction. We will be learning all the elements of historical fiction; for example, determining which parts of the book are historical, or fact, and which parts are fiction. We will also be discussing the qualities of a productive book club. For example: not speaking when others are speaking, building on the same topic, instead of jumping around, respectfully disagreeing, keeping up with your reading, but not reading ahead of your group, jotting down notes/questions to discuss at the next meeting...
Students will be setting goals with their book clubs this week. It is important students do not read past their assigned pages. For this reason, I recommend that students have an independent book to read as well. It is also important that students take copious amounts of notes, their daily participation in the book clubs depends on it.
Writing
I was incredibly proud of everyone's work on the nonfiction books. I will be putting them on display in the hall for everyone to see, so, if you're in the building, please stop by and learning something new!
Our next two writing units will mirror our reading book clubs. For historical fiction, students will be writing a historical fiction story based in the time period we're studying in Social Studies right now. Fiction is a genre that student have been writing for years. We will be adding on to what they already know and learning specifically how a historical fiction story differs from other fiction. One of the most important elements of historical fiction is the setting. We will be learning all about what life was like at the beginning of our country and using that to place the reading in the 1800's. Writing a good historical fiction story is not easy, but it is fun!
Social Studies
We will be jumping into our unit on the Constitution and the formation of our government. We will be learning about the Articles of Confederation, specifically why they weren't right for our country, and the Constitutional Convention. Considering how heated the convention got, it's amazing that they were able to accomplish anything, much less a document that still guides our country almost 225 years later.
Over the past few months, I have noticed that many students do not have a firm grasp on the geography of the United States. Because of this, I am implementing a study on the states and capitals. I have divided the country into four parts; Southeast, Northeast, Mid-West, and West. I will go over them in class, then send study sheets home. We then have a quiz a few days later. The first sheet, the SouthEast, will be coming home today. The quiz will be on Friday.
Homework
Math: POW
Reading Comp: Miss T.
Writing: "Misery at Valley Forge"
Social Studies: Southeast States and Capitals Quiz Friday