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.
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.
- How is mental math important in solving numerical expressions?
- Why is it important to recognize patterns in math?
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
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.
- 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?
- 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
- Wonder by R. J. Palacio
- 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.
- Why does the US Constitution contain a Bill of Rights?
- What is due process?
- 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.
- "Symbols of the United States" (a short play)
- "No Bill of Rights, No Constitution"
- 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.
