HELP NEEDED

Dear Parents,

Many classes at Centennial are proud to be participating in the 9/11 Day “I Will” Project. The purpose of this project is to do a good deed in memory of those lost on 9/11 and in honor of those who serve our country.

We will be packing care boxes for people who are actively serving in the military. Each class will pack a box for one or two soldiers. All students will participate by writing letters and drawing pictures to include in the care boxes.  Many of the boxes will go to soldiers who are in Afghanistan with Miss Dodd’s dad, SFC Michael Dodd. 

If you would like to send in items to pack in our care boxes, feel free to send in one of the items from the list below. *Please do not feel obligated to send in anything. All students will be able to participate without having to donate.

All boxes will be packed on 9/11. Students will be packing boxes and including itemized lists of contents for customs. We are excited about this wonderful opportunity! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you so much!

CAA Teachers

Items Desired:

 Beef jerky

·         Packaged cookies (Oreos, chocolate chip)

·         Individual packs of chips

·         Sunflower seeds

·         Trial sized shampoos, body wash, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, deodorant

·         Sunscreen

Pack of playing cards

Week of 8/25

Dear Families~

The month of August sure is flying by. Last week someone said, "Is it Friday already?" We must be having too much fun.

Scholastic Book Club
Last week in the Tuesday Red Folder you received a Scholastic Book Order form. Please know that there are 2 ways you are able to order from Scholastic. You may send in a personal check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs for the amount of your order, or you may order on-line. If you'd like to order on-line, please go to Scholastic Book Clubs once you are there, please click on the yellow rectangle on the right hand side that says 'First time here. . .PARENTS Connect to your teacher.' After you click there it is going to ask you for a class code. Our class code is F974D. Then you are able to order. Each time someone orders on-line from our class, we receive new books for our classroom library! We love new books.

Agendas
Students write their homework in their agenda on Monday for the entire week. Sometimes during the week the homework might change depending on how much we are getting done in class. Sometimes, students will have different homework from their friends. I base homework on the NEEDS of the STUDENTS. It is your child's responsibility to write down their own homework. As a 5th grade teacher part of my job is to help prepare your child for the middle school. I do not go behind your child and make sure that they have written in their agenda nor do I check it for a parent signature. If you have written me a note, please make sure that your child gives it to me.

What is happening this week:

• Monday, 8/25: Switch for science with Ms. Creel
• Tuesday, 8/26: Tuesday red folder goes home--please be sure to review papers with your child and sign the GREEN sheet.
• Friday, 8/29: Shurley English test chapter 1 (capitalization/punctuation)

Skills Classes
Please remember that our day begins at 7:30! Our students are to be seated in their 1st class at 7:30. Students really do need to be here at school and in my classroom at 7:25 in order to be ready for the 7:30 class. 

Social Studies
A note about tests and grading: This year in social studies and science, your child will be taking tests using a free online assessment program called Socrative. This website allows teachers to input questions and answers so that your child can take the test online. This saves the school paper and also allows the teacher to download the students' grades for multiple-choice tests.

This means you will not see a paper multiple-choice test come home for these subjects this year. Students will write a short-answer paragraph or essay for every social studies and science test, however. Grades will be posted on this paper for you to see when they come home in Tuesday folders.

If your child's test grade matches the essay grade, you will only see one grade on the test. For example, if your child makes a 3 on the essay and a 3 on the multiple-choice Socrative test, you will just see one grade on the test paper. However, if your child makes a 2 on the essay but a 3 on the multiple choice, we will show both grades on the test. We mark Socrative grades with an "SOC" by the grade.

If at any time you have a question about your child's performance on these tests, please contact me for Social Studies or Ms. Creel  for Science. Thanks!

*Please note that I do allow students to retake a test that they did not do well on. It is the students responsibility to let me know that they want to retake a test. Please know that I cannot use regular class time for a retest. 

Science
Students will be with Ms. Creel for the next 2 weeks learning about Plant and Animal Classification.

Mathematics
Standards

• 5.NBT.A.3 Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths. 

Essential Questions

• How do we compare decimals?
• How can a number line help us compare decimals?
• Why is it important to be able to compare decimals?

Activities
Students are working in small groups to complete centers and work with me on math skills. I am able to enrich those who master the material quickly and reteach those who are having a little difficulty. Here are some of the things we'll be doing in class this week:

• Interactive Notebook: how to compare decicmals
• Mrs. Weiser: working on task cards and a performance task (What do you know? How can you use it? Why is that true?)
• Computer: IXL (If you want, your child can work on this at home! They have new login numbers and will write these down in their agendas. The sections of IXL we are working on this week are C.8, C.9, and C.10)
• Partner Work: Play Decimal War with playing cards to make the highest decimal!
• Independent Work: Use baseball card statistics to see which ball players are better than others by using their batting averages.   

Our first math test is projected to be Friday, September 5th. 
 
Reading/ELA
 Standards

• RL.5.1. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• RL.5.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
• L.5.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Essential Questions

• What are the basic parts of literary (fiction) texts?
• How are literary texts set up (plot diagram)?

Activities
We are starting our first novel unit this week! We are reading Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.

• Interactive Notebook: story elements and plot pyramid
• Mrs. Weiser: introduce instructional conversations in reading; discuss exposition and inciting incident in the novel
• ELA/Writing: complete Classroom Practices #2, #3, and #4 in Shurley English, Chapter 1; write opinion about nonfiction article - SHURLEY ENGLISH TEST THIS FRIDAY
• Computer: Take "Star Test" for Accelerated Reader; start Typing Pal
• Lit Circle: assign jobs for literature circles and meet to discuss the book

Homework
Read 30 minutes each night! I'd still love to see thirty minutes of reading over the weekend. It can be done a little each day or all at once. We are also currently doing a 25-Page Club in class. Students who read over 25 pages each night get to sign their names to the club sheet! How can I tell if a child has read enough each night? I do Status of the Class every single day to record what page students are on and to check comprehension. I truly appreciate when students have done the required reading! For students who have not done the reading, we discuss the importance of it and develop a plan for reading. If your child is not reading at least 30 minutes every night, please set aside a quiet space and time for this very important task. I do not require a reading log each night since I check it in class each day.

Week of 8/18

Dear Families~

I'm sorry this is late, I did not have any internet access this weekend! 

I'm sure that this will happen again.  It is just one of the many benefits to living out in the "middle of nowhere." 

Here are some pictures from the past week:

This week in math we were trying to find the better "deal" with sale ads.

Hard at work learning about The Bill of Rights.

We do enjoy our reading time.

Skills Class (7:30 am)
Students who attend MPACT and ESOL classes leave for those teachers during this time period. Other students will be divided up to receive specialized instruction based on their particular strengths and weaknesses. Please email me or call if you have any questions.

Agenda
Please be sure to check your son/daughters agenda. The homework for the week should be written in the agenda on Monday. These are the things you should expect to find:

• 30 minutes of reading each night for homework
• some sort of a math activity (you can ALWAYS practice math facts)
• information about an upcoming social studies/science test-tests are usually every 2 weeks
• any school wide information

We are in need of OLD "CLEAN" socks in our classroom. Please send them in if you can. Thanks.
Reading/ELA
Standards

• RI.5.10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Essential Questions

• What are the features of informational (nonfiction) text?
• How can we use text features to help us read informational text?

Activities

• Text-mapping several informational articles. Last week, we read about people who illegally smuggle exotic animals. The students really enjoyed that topic, so we are continuing the theme of exotic and interesting animals into this week!
• Wednesday: Library Orientation
• Friday: Text-mapping (informational text features) assessment

What We're Reading

• "Hide and Sneak"
• "Deep Sea Monsters"
• "Cougars on the Move"
• "Wild Animal Pets"
• Wonder by  R. J. Palacio

What We're Writing

• Opinions about exotic animal laws in the United States

Mathematics
Standards

• 5.NBT.A.3 Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths. 

Essential Questions

• What is a decimal?
• What are some different ways we can represent decimals? (Base Ten blocks, standard number form, word form, expanded form)
• How are decimals and fractions related?

Activities
Our math class will be very flexible each week. I will watch and listen as students practice math to decide when we need extra practice and who might need to try something harder, and also to determine the pace at which we should move. We may finish all of these activities this week, or we may need to save some of them for next week.

• Place value foldables for interactive notebooks
• Greg Tang math games
• Practice making decimals and the different ways to write them
• Create Decimal Designs to calculate decimals using hundreds charts
• Relating money values to decimals
• Human Decimal game
• High Rollers (competitive game where partners create decimals by rolling dice)

What We're Writing

• What we've learned about decimals and decimal place value

Social Studies
Standards

• SS5E2 The student will describe the functions of four major sectors in the U. S. economy. 
• SS5E3 The student will describe how consumers and businesses interact in the U. S. economy. 
• SS5E4 The student will identify the elements of a personal budget and explain why personal spending and saving decisions are important. 

Essential Questions

• What are the four major sectors in the US economy?
• What is fair trade?
• How does competition work in our economy?
• What is the benefits of saving versus spending?
• How are budgets created? Why are they useful?

Activities

• Play economics games! (Gas Station Game, Fair Trade, A Tale of Two Villages)
• Create a foldable for the four sectors of the US economy
• Create a zoo and discuss how economic principles are at work in running a business
• Watch videos on budgeting, taxation, and supply and demand (www.brainpop.com)
• Analyze banking brochures
• Final assessment on Friday

What We're Writing

• How to create a budget
• How our economic system works

Week of August 11

Dear Families~

Welcome to your first weekly blog post! Typically, I write blog posts for the week on Saturdays or Sundays and will email them out to you as soon as they are finished. I would like to have your email address, if you are able to send me an email please do so. Don't forget to tell me who you are. Each blog post updates you on general information about the week as well as specifics about what your fifth grader will be doing in class.

I will try my very best this year to take pictures of activities we are doing in our classroom. I'm usually having too much fun doing the activity with them that I forget to snap a picture. It is a goal of mine to work on that this year. 

If you haven't already, let me encourage you to please sign up for FREE reminder texts from me. These come through an educational website called remind.com. It's completely safe and secure. This is a great way for me to send out last minute reminders. Look on the right sidebar to find the information to sign up for these free text messages! (Thanks to those of you who have already signed up!)

I also am going to send out requests from a website called threering.com. This is your child's free, secure online work portfolio. I will post examples of work and projects here so you will be able to see them! Some projects can't come home, so this way you can see the things your child creates in class. Please sign up for this once you receive the email.
 
*A special note about our homeroom classes and science/social studies: All of my homeroom students are in my class for Reading/ELA (Literacy), Mathematics, and Social Studies. The only classes students switch for are science and social studies. My homeroom students will visit Ms. Creel's class for science instruction. 

What's Happening This Week:

• Monday, August 11: All academic class begin! (The first class starts at 7:30 am, so please be on time.) Students enter the classroom at 7:25.
• Friday, August 15: My homeroom's social studies class first assessment - The Constitution and Citizenship.

SKILLS CLASSES
 
All students will have a 50 minute skills/focus class at the beginning of the day. This class starts at 7:30, so if your child is not in his or her seat at that time, he or she will miss out on part of that class. If your child attends MPACT or ESOL classes, this is the time for those classes. The students who do not attend MPACT or ESOL will get specialized instruction targeting their specific strengths and weaknesses. This is a very important class, so please be sure your child is on time. Thank you!

Math

Standards

• 5.OA.A Write and interpret numerical expressions.
• 5.OA.B Analyze patterns and relationships.

Essential Questions

• How is mental math important in solving numerical expressions?
• Why is it important to recognize patterns in math?

Activities
We'll be working with number sense this week to help get our minds thinking in a mathematical way before we begin working with place value next week.

• Monday: Set up math notebook; mental math fun; break down numerical expressions, play Kakooma! (super fun math game... find it at www.gregtangmath.com)
• Tuesday: play "Which is the better deal?" and a game called "High Rollers;" work with a variety of place values; play "What's my number"?" and Kakooma again!
• Wednesday: Play "Guess my number"
• Thursday: Word problem solving strategies (6 steps). We'll be using these strategies all year long, so you may want to become familiar with them. 1) Read the whole problem. 2) Figure out who and what the problem is about. 3) Write the question as a statement. 4) Draw your model. 5) Write your equation and solve it. 6) Fill in your answer and see if it makes sense.
• Friday: Play "Rocky Digits" game and a 100s chart game

Reading

Our literacy block consisting of reading/ELA will be at the very end of the day. If your child checks out early, he or she will miss out on reading instruction.

Standards

• RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Essential Questions

• How do I make sure I read a variety of genres?
• How can I tell the genre of a book? 
• How do I read a text closely?
• How can I show description in my writing?

Activities

• Monday: Set up reading notebook; play Library Bingo and make a wish list for books to read this year
• Tuesday: Learn about the 30 book challenge; discuss author's purpose (easy as PIE - persuade, inform, entertain) and put a foldable into our interactive notebooks; play author's purpose scoot game
• Wednesday: genre sort small group activity; discuss the writing strategy of "Show, Don't Tell" which improves descriptive writing
• Thursday: Read Scholastic News article "Hide and Sneak" closely in 3 steps; write your opinion about smuggling in illegal animals
• Friday: Create a "Show, Don't Tell" short story and illustration

What We're Reading 

• Wonder by R. J. Palacio

What We're Writing

• Opinion piece (1-2 well developed paragraphs)
• Short narrative story

 Social Studies

Standards

• SS5CG1  The  student  will  explain  how  a  citizen’s  rights are protected under the
  U.S. Constitution. 
• SS5CG2 The student will explain the process by which amendments to the US Constitution are made.

Essential Questions

• Why does the US Constitution contain a Bill of Rights?
• What is due process?

Activities

• Monday: Introduce the Bill of Rights, the difference in rights and responsibilities of citizens, and explain the amendment process
• Tuesday - Thursday: a variety of centers to explore the Bill of Rights and citizenship (includes short videos, a play, amendment matching, reading nonfiction articles, etc.)
• Friday: First assessment - Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Citizenship. It will consist of matching questions and essay/short answer. 

What We're Reading

• "Symbols of the United States" (a short play)
• "No Bill of Rights, No Constitution"

What We're Writing

• What would life be like without one of the rights listed in the Bill of Rights? Choose a right, then write an opinion piece about which right would be the worst to lose and why.

 

Our first DAYS of 5th Grade!

Today we had a Brown Bag STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Challenge. We had to work together as a group to build the tallest tower. . . .out of spaghetti and a marshmallow! Oh and we only had 20 minutes to do it. We learned that we really did need to READ the directions completely and understand them. We also learned that each person on a team has different ideas and as a team it is our job to try the ideas and make decisions together. 

This year we will do a Brown Bag STEM Challenge each month. If you are willing to help us with materials for each challenge please let me know.

 The team with the TALLEST tower! Way TO GO Boys!

What a SUCCESS!

Thank you to everyone that was able to attend OPEN HOUSE today. I enjoyed meeting each of you. It looks to me like this will be the BEST YEAR YET!

Don't forget that school starts on Thursday, August 7th. I will be in my classroom by 7:00am. Please make sure that your child has either eaten breakfast at home or eats as soon as they arrive at school.

If you need me at any time, please feel free to contact me via email or phone.

WELCOME CLASS OF 2022

Gabriela
Graylon
Luis
Christian
Jerry
Nigel
Laysha
Landon
Suliema
Rodrigo
Eddie
Ian
Da'Niya
Alexander
Santiago
Xochilth
Adriana
Kaylee
Lorali
Camryn
Renee
Tanija