Week of 9/29

Dear Families~

WOW! Our time is really flying by. . . .it is almost OCTOBER. Fall is here and this is my favorite time of the year. I love watching the seasons change. We will stay very busy this week. 

Here is a look at what is HAPPENING:
Mon, 9/29: FAL-CAN food drive continues. Thank you to everyone who has brought in cans already. We still need MORE. Our class goal is to have 60 cans. Keep them coming. 
Tues, 9/30: The SANDWICH PROJECT--We really need supplies to help those in need. Tuesday Red Folders come home. Please be sure to review the papers with your child. By signing the green sheet of paper that lets me know you have looked over the papers with your child. 
Wed, 10/1: Return Tuesday Red Folder
Thurs, 10/2: CAA Skate Night 6-8pm; Social Studies test (Creel's homeroom) 
GHS homecoming parade
Fri, 10/3: Math homework due; Math test; Science test; GHS homecoming game

COMING SOON:
10/8: Scholastic Book Club order due
10/10: End of 1st quarter
10/13: No school for students! Parent conferences during the day--please call the school office (770-287-2044)  to schedule one.
10/21: Report Cards go home

The Sandwich Project
*We will be making sack lunches for those in need on this day. We will need the following items:

1. 5 jars of peanut butter 
2. 5 jars of jelly
3. 5 loaves of bread
4. 1 box of X-large ziplock sandwich bags
5. apples
6. oranges
7. sweet treat (individually wrapped)
8. 2 cases of water 
9. brown lunch bags
10. latex or plastic gloves for students to wear

Our class goal is to have 50 packed sack lunches. Please begin to send in the non perishable items (peanut butter, jelly, ziplock bags, etc.) as soon as possible. If you'd like, please use the volunteer SIGN UP NOW button on the right hand side of the blog to sign up to bring something for this project. Thank you in advance for your help!


Scholastic Book Club--Book order
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. When our class orders books from Scholastic, our class receives FREE BOOKS for our CLASSROOM LIBRARY! Over the years books get loved quite a bit. I'd like to be able to replace some deeply loved books with some new ones, as well as get some new TITLES that the students are interested in. If you plan on ordering on-line, please use our class code: F974D. CLICK HERE to visit the Scholastic Book Club web-site. Once there. . . .go to the YELLOW section on the right that says "First time Here? PARENTS" All Scholastic Book Club orders are due to me by Wednesday, October 8th. I will place the order that night. Thank you in advance for ordering and helping our class find the LOVE of READING.

Parent/Teacher/Student CONFERENCES
If you'd like to schedule a parent conference with me, please call our school office at 770-287-2044. I am available to meet with you on Monday/Tuesday/Friday during my planning time 8:30-9:00. If this time does not work for you, we could meet on Monday, October 13th (Teacher work day).   

SCIENCE
Students will be working with Ms. Creel for the next week in science. They will continue to learn about how to classify plants and animals. Please feel free to visit the 5th grade science website. 

Mathematics

Standards

• NBT.7 Add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.

Activities

• Buddy Work: Decimal Addition/Subtraction games
• Exercise Your Brain: Working with Mrs. Weiser on items most frequently missed
• All By Myself: Addition/Subtraction activites
• Math On-line: IXL Decimals E.1, E.2, E.3, E.4, E.5, E.6 (Students should be working toward earning a Ribbon in each section). Be sure to allow them time at home to work. 

Check out this YouTube video I found:

Remember to LINE UP the DECIMALS!

ASSESSMENT: This FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3rd-- multiple choice, short answer (write the answer), and performance task.

READING

STANDARDS

• ELACC5RI2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

ACTIVITIES

•  Ice cream cone-main idea activity
• learning how to write a summary or a "jist" in 10 words or less
• Task cards
• table method of main idea/main idea house

Check out these main idea videos:

 What We're Reading

• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• several short stories
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio 

 What We're Writing

•  OREO method of writing OPINION essays

 

Week of 9/22

Dear Families~

We had a great week last week. A special thank you goes to everyone who sent in snacks for us to celebrate International Pirate Day on Friday. We sang a pirate song with the help of Mrs. Thompson's class, read a story about pirates, learned about sunken treasure, and even told some pirate riddles all while eating our piratey snack.

Last week we also started a new behavior system in our classroom. We have set daily, weekly, and monthly goals as a class. We are using Class DoJo and it is going very well. You may find that your child comes home with a "good note" in their agenda. This means that they earned 5 or more positive points during the day. Please be sure to ask them about it.

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

• Mon, 9/22: FalCan Food Drive continues

*Please take some time to go through your can foods and send in any that you can. Our class has set a goal of bringing in 60 cans. We can do this. Please send them to our classroom. Thank you for your help with this.

• Tues, 9/23: Tuesday Red Folders come home. Please review the papers inside and sign the GREEN sheet stating you have seen the papers.

•  Wed, 9/24: Stuffed Animals Caps for the CURE $1
• Thurs, 9/25: Shurley English chapter 2 test; Boy Scout Sign up
• Fri, 9/26: Reading Test (RL.1 and RL.2); Math homework due

COMING UP VERY SOON:

• Tues, 9/30: Service Project Day--Please HELP with this wonderful PROJECT!

*We will be making sack lunches for those in need on this day. We will need the following items:

1. 5 jars of peanut butter 
2. 5 jars of jelly
3. 5 loaves of bread
4. 1 box of X-large ziplock sandwich bags
5. apples
6. oranges
7. sweet treat (individually wrapped)
8. 2 cases of water 
9. brown lunch bags
10. latex or plastic gloves for students to wear

Our class goal is to have 50 packed sack lunches. Please begin to send in the non perishable items (peanut butter, jelly, ziplock bags, etc.) as soon as possible. If you'd like, please use the volunteer SIGN UP NOW button on the right hand side of the blog to sign up to bring something for this project. Thank you in advance for your help!

Parent/Teacher/Student CONFERENCES
If you'd like to schedule a parent conference with me, please call our school office at 770-287-2044. I am available to meet with you on Monday/Tuesday/Friday during my planning time 8:30-9:00. If this time does not work for you, we could meet on Monday, October 13th (Teacher work day). 

Science

Students will be working with Ms. Creel for the next 2 weeks in science. They will be learning about how to classify plants and animals. Please feel free to visit the 5th grade science website. Click here for more information 5thscience.weebly.com

Mathematics
Standards

• NBT.7 Add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.  

Activities

• Watch videos from LearnZillion (visit www.learnzillion.com)
• Complete practice pages for our interactive math folders
• Add decimals, subtract decimals, and do both operations with decimals and whole numbers
• Write about our strategies. You may notice that the standard is asking students to WRITE in math - we will be working on that a lot this year! 

Take a look at this youtube.com video that can be very helpful to what we are doing this week. 

Here is our rotation work!
1. Buddy Work

• Adding and subtracting decimal art

2. Exercise Your Brain (Mrs. Weiser)

• Practice performance tasks for NBT.7

3. All By Myself

• Math choice boards (based on NBT.1 - rounding decimals, from last unit)

4. Math Online

• IXL: E.1, E.2, and E.3 (students can work on this at home as well)

Assessment

• Next Friday: multiple choice, short answer (write the answer), and performance task

Reading/ELA
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.
• 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 a speaker in a poem reflects upon a text; summarize the text.

This Week's Focus
Theme - it's the author's message in a story. It's not specific to the characters, but a more generally applicable life lesson. For example, the theme in "Little Red Riding Hood" might be "Don't talk to strangers."
Activities (Test this Friday!)
Here's what we're doing in rotations for the week:
1. Buddy Work

• Theme task cards - read short stories, find the theme

2. Exercise Your Brain (Mrs. Weiser)

• Theme cupcakes story board (discuss that theme is like the filling in a cupcake - it's hidden on the inside, but it's the best part!)

3. All by Myself

• Pausing Points - think about our book, Maniac Magee, and determine some themes from the story (most novels have more than one theme)

4. Reading Online

• Typing Pal

What We're Reading

• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• several short stories
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio 

What We're Writing

• Opinion about whether or not homework is beneficial
•  Opinion about if cell phones should be allowed in schools

English/Language Arts (Chapter 2 Test on Thursday!)

• Commas (always, all year long!)
• Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs

Week of 9/15

Centennial made the NEWS! Thank you so much for sending in donations for our 9/11 care packages! Here are a few pictures from this past week.

Our filled box! It was shipped to Afghanistan on 9/11!

We had a BLAST learning about the Civil War this past week. Everyone was able to try on period clothing.

There is a very important event coming up this Thursday at 6 pm - CAA is hosting a curriculum night to inform parents about what's going on in each grade level. K-2 teachers will present from 5:30 - 6:00. 3-5 teachers will present from 6:00 - 6:30. Many parents have asked for such information, so we hope this will be a well-attended program. If you are interested in the Title I meeting for parents, that will begin at 5:00. There will be a presentation in English in one room a presentation in Spanish in another.

Coming Up This Week:

• Mon, 9/15: FALCAN Food Drive Starts
• Tues, 9/16: Tuesday Red Folders come home--please sign and return
• Wed, 9/17: Silly Socks for CURE ($1)
• Thurs, 9/18: Curriculum Night (K-2nd 5:30-6; 3rd-5th 6-6:30) I will NOT be there due to GMS Volleyball, but please come. The information presented will be informative and is grade level specific.
• Fri, 9/19: Talk Like a Pirate Day; Math Test; Civil War Test; Chick-Fil-A ($2.50)

Social StudiesStandards

SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the
Civil War. 

1. Identify  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  and  John  Brown’s  raid  on  Harper’s  Ferry, and explain how each of these events was related to the Civil War. 
2. Discuss  how  the  issues  of  states’  rights  and  slavery  increased  tensions  between the North and South. 
3. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, the Atlanta Campaign,  Sherman’s  March  to  the  Sea,  and  Appomattox  Court  House. 
4. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson  Davis,  and  Thomas  “Stonewall”  Jackson. 
5. Describe the effects of war on the North and South. 

SS5H2 The student will analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life. 

1. Describe the purpose of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. 
2. Explain  the  work  of  the  Freedmen’s  Bureau. 
3. Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping and how African-Americans
   were prevented from exercising their newly won rights; include a discussion of Jim Crow laws and customs.

Essential Questions
 
Who were the leaders of the Civil War, and how did they affect its outcome?
How did the 5 battles we study shape the war?
How were the North and South affected by the war?
 
Activities

• Watch history.com videos about Civil War leaders and battles
• Complete a 5Ws chart for leaders and battles
• Create a Civil War map detailing free states and slave states
• Create a Reconstruction foldable about the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments (this is very difficult for students)
13th Amendment = Abolished slavery / 14th Amendment = Gave newly freed slaves citizenship / 15th Amendment = Gave all men the right to vote 

What We're Reading

• Excerpts from the social studies textbook

Assessment

• THIS Friday: multiple choice questions online (Socrative) and 2 essay questions

Mathematics

Standards

• NBT.1 Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
• NBT.2 Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole number exponents to denote powers of 10. 

Activities
We are doing similar rotations in math that we are doing in reading. It's called Be Excited About Math! Each day, before we start rotations, we'll have a short whole-group lesson. Then, at the end of each math class, we'll have a quick formative assessment (quiz) or recap what we've learned. Here are our whole group lessons for the week:

• Watch videos from Khan Academy (click HERE to watch the series of videos we'll watch in class)
• Read an article about the Seattle Seahawks NFL stadium and why it's the loudest stadium in the nation; use the decibal scale (which is based on Powers of 10) to answer math questions on NBT.2 
• Comparing the digits in a number based on place value
• Multiplying and dividing by Powers of 10

Here is our rotation work!
Be = Buddy Work

• Major League Batting Average

Excited = Exercise Your Brain (Mrs. Weiser)

• Practice word problems & performance tasks for NBT.1 and NBT.2

About = All By Myself

• Math choice boards (based on NBT.4 - rounding decimals, from last unit)

Math = Math Online

• IXL: F.3 (students can work on this at home as well)

Assessment

• THIS Friday: multiple choice, short answer (write the answer), and performance task

Reading/ELA
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.
• 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 a speaker in a poem reflects upon a text; summarize the text.

Activities
We are starting a new "title" for our rotations called Be Excited About Reading! Our rotations will be:
1. Be = Buddy Work 

• Buddy discussions on how characters respond to challenges in the text
• Summarizing a text task cards

2. Excited = Exercise Your Brain (Mrs. Weiser)

• Plot the events in a story

3. About = All by Myself

• Reading choice boards (based on RL.2)

4. Reading = Reading Online

• IXL Language Arts - 4th Grade HH.1 (commas in a series) and HH.4 (commas in direct addresses and after introductory words)

What We're Reading

• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• "Homework Hubbub"
• "News Debate: Tough Cell"
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio

What We're Writing

• Opinion about whether or not homework is beneficial
• Opinion about if cell phones should be allowed in schools

English/Language Arts

• Commas (always, all year long!)
• Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs

Week of 9/8

Outside FUN!

Hard at work on IXL

Working on reading the text carefully

Dear Families~

We have so much going on this week and for the rest of the month.









What's Happening This Week:

• Mon, 9/8: Back to homeroom for social studies - starting Civil War; Civil War trunk day
• Tues, 9/9: Adrian Peterson (NFL) will visit; Red folders come home (Progress Reports will be in folders)
• Wed, 9/10: PJs for CURE ($1 donation)
• Thurs, 9/11: Soldier Care Package 9/11 Project (please send in supplies)
• Fri, 9/12: Mrs. Weiser will be attending a math conference; Mrs. Girardeau will be the substitute. 

• Mon, 9/15: FALCAN Food Drive Starts
• Wed, 9/17: Silly Socks for CURE ($1)
• Thurs, 9/18: Curriculum Night (K-2nd 5:30-6; 3rd-5th 6-6:30)
• Fri, 9/19: Talk Like a Pirate Day; Math Test; Chick-Fil-A ($2.50)
• Wed, 9/24: Stuffed Animals/Caps for CURE ($1)
• Thurs, 9/25: Boy Scouts Sign Up
• Tues, 9/30: The Sandwich Project--see below for more information

Scholastic Book Order
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. When our class orders books from Scholastic, our class receives FREE BOOKS for our CLASSROOM LIBRARY! Over the years books get loved quite a bit. I'd like to be able to replace some deeply loved books with some new ones, as well as get some new TITLES that the students are interested in. If you plan on ordering on-line, please use our class code: F974D. All Scholastic Book Club orders are due to me by Wednesday, Sept. 10th. I will place the order that night. Thank you in advance for ordering and helping our class find the LOVE of READING.

9/11 Day Project
We'll be participating in our annual 9/11 Day Project. Each homeroom will pack a care package for someone serving in the military overseas. We have names of soldiers recently deployed to Afghanistan from North Georgia.  
Please consider sending in some of the following items. for our care packages:

• turkey jerky
• packaged cookies
• sunflower seeds
• trial sized shampoos, body wash, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, bars of soap, etc.
• sunscreen
• packs of playing cards
• magazines
• baby wipes

We will box these items up next Thursday (on 9/11) and ship them out to soldiers. If you would like to help cover the cost of shipping, we are looking at approximately $12. Thank you!

9/19 International Talk Like a Pirate Day
A special THANK YOU goes to Mrs. Thompson for helping me LOVE this day! I LOVE, love, love TLAP (Talk Like a Pirate) Day! Each year, I read pirate stories to the students, we eat piratey snacks, and talk in a pirate voice using pirate words! This year it falls on a Friday (perfect), so we are gearing up to learn more about pirates by watching videos, reading articles, and writing about life as a pirate. I encourage students to wear stripes and any pirate gear they might have. If you'd like to send in some pirate "booty" for us, here's what we like to have:

• Pirate Booty, a white cheddar cheese puff (these often will come in individual bags at Target in those first few aisles, getting ready for Halloween)
• M&Ms (represents jewels found in treasure chests)

This is not a PARTY day! This is still a day of work! We just plan on doing our work in FUN way (pirate style).

9/30 The Sandwich Project
Please be thinking ahead about this activity. Each month a 5th grade class will head up the service learning project for the month. September is our month. We will be making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for those in need in our area. To learn more about this project, please visit the tab called Service Learning. The following items will be needed:
5 loaves of bread
3 large jars of peanut butter
3 large jars of jelly
apples
oranges
zip-lock bags (X-large sandwich sized)
brown paper bags
sweet treat individually wrapped

Here is what we will be working on this week:
Social Studies
Standards
SS5H1 The student will explain the causes, major events, and consequences of the
Civil War. 

1. Identify  Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  and  John  Brown’s  raid  on  Harper’s  Ferry, and explain how each of these events was related to the Civil War. 
2. Discuss  how  the  issues  of  states’  rights  and  slavery  increased  tensions  between the North and South. 
3. Identify major battles and campaigns: Fort Sumter, Gettysburg, the Atlanta Campaign,  Sherman’s  March  to  the  Sea,  and  Appomattox  Court  House. 
4. Describe the roles of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson  Davis,  and  Thomas  “Stonewall”  Jackson. 
5. Describe the effects of war on the North and South. 

Essential Questions

What events led to the start of the Civil War?
How did the issue of states' rights affect Northerners and Southerners?

Activities

• One of my favorite events of the year is happening this week! The Civil War trunk from the North Georgia History Museum will be at school, and on Tuesday, my students will be able to try on REAL Confederate and Union uniforms, touch Civil War artifacts, and learn facts hands-on from this trunk. 
• Students will watch History.com videos and BrainPop videos to learn about important people and facts from this time period.
• On Friday, students will watch the documentary from History Channel, America: Story of Us.
• We will also take lots of notes!

What We're Reading

• Excerpts from Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Excerpts from Ellen Craft: Ride to Freedom

Please be sure to visit our 5th Grade Social Studies website. Mrs. Thompson has created this website, it has all of the notes on the site already. If your child happens to forget something, information is not LOST, you can find it here. For information on this unit, click the "Civil War" tab at the top. 

Mathematics
Standards

• NBT.1 Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
• NBT.2 Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole number exponents to denote powers of 10. 

Essential Questions

• How can I determine the value of a digit in a large number?
• How can recognizing patterns help me multiply or divide by powers of 10?

Activities

•  Watch videos from Khan Academy (click HERE to watch the series of videos we will watch in class.
• Interactive Notebook activities for NBT.1 and NBT.2
• Roll dice to create powers and work with place value and exponents
• Complete task cards
• IXL: F.3 (students can work on this at home as well)
• I Feel Like A Big Fat Zero tasks
• Math Journal Tasks
• Patterns-R-Us

Assessment

• Next Friday, 9/19

Reading/ELA
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.
• RL.5.5. Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

Essential Questions

• How can we closely read a text to better understand it?
• How can annotating a text help us understand it better?
• How is plot organized in a typical literary text?

Activities

• Practice close-reading an informational article and a literary story
• Chart the plot of a literary text
• Create comic strips about books we've read
• Typing Pal
• EasyCBM start-of-year reading assessment
• IXL--Language Arts (nouns-E.1, E.2) (adjectives-T.1, T.2) STUDENTS may Work on this at home as well!
• Shurley English-Classroom Practice sheets

What We're Reading

• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• "A Good Night"
• "Welcome Home"
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio

What We're Writing

• Create a brochure with tips for people who have difficulty sleeping
• Explaining how a family is affected when a loved one goes off to fight in a war
• Letters to soldiers for our 9/11 care packages
• Class Journal activity (topics will vary)

Week of 9/2

Dear Families~

September is here. . . .we have a very busy 4 day week ahead of us. I need your help with several different things. If you are able to help with any of the following, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your willingness to assist.

9/11 Day Project
Next week, we'll be participating in our annual 9/11 Day Project. Each homeroom will pack a care package for someone serving in the military overseas. We have names of soldiers recently deployed to Afghanistan from North Georgia. You received a newsletter about this project in last week's red folders.  
Please consider sending in some of the following items. for our care packages:

• turkey jerky
• packaged cookies
• sunflower seeds
• trial sized shampoos, body wash, hand sanitizer, toothpaste, bars of soap, etc.
• sunscreen
• packs of playing cards
• magazines
• baby wipes

We will box these items up next Thursday (on 9/11) and ship them out to soldiers. If you would like to help cover the cost of shipping, we are looking at approximately $12. Thank you!

9/19 International Talk Like a Pirate Day
A special THANK YOU goes to Mrs. Thompson for helping me LOVE this day! I LOVE, love, love TLAP (Talk Like a Pirate) Day! Each year, I read pirate stories to the students, we eat piratey snacks, and talk in a pirate voice using pirate words! This year it falls on a Friday (perfect), so we are gearing up to learn more about pirates by watching videos, reading articles, and writing about life as a pirate. I encourage students to wear stripes and any pirate gear they might have. If you'd like to send in some pirate "booty" for us, here's what we like to have:

• Pirate Booty, a white cheddar cheese puff (these often will come in individual bags at Target in those first few aisles, getting ready for Halloween)
• M&Ms (represents jewels found in treasure chests)
• Juice boxes or water bottles (can't think of anything really *creative* for this, but it's nice to have something to wash down our snacks, argh!)

If you have any other ideas, please let me know. I have fun party decorations for a pirate party for this day :)

September STEM Project
A special THANK YOU goes to Ian's family for sending in Styrofoam cups for our STEM project.
We are still in need of 8 (12 inch balloons) and 8 sets of (3 different sized POM POMS). If you can help with either of these, please let me know.

Scholastic Book Order
Two weeks ago 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. Our book order is due on September 10th.


Homework
Each night your child has homework. Students should be reading in a quiet place for at least 30 minutes. They will also have a math homework sheet. Students should complete the 6 questions per night Monday-Wednesday and then on Thursday they have a word problem. We have taught them the Greg Tang method of solving word problems. Students may have science or social studies homework from time to time.

If you are able to have your child spend some time on the computer while at home, please allow them to go to IXL. Students have a log-in number in their agenda. They may complete math and or language arts activities. Please remind your child not to go too fast. They need to be sure to pay attention to what they are doing. If they miss the question, there is information for them to read and it will reteach a skill to them. The activities we are working on this week are. . . .
        math: C.6 then C.5
        language arts: E.1, T.1, W.1, and K.1


What is GOING on THIS WEEK
Tuesday, 9/2: Tuesday Red Folders go home---please review all papers with your child
Wednesday, 9/3: Library (whole class check out)
Thursday, 9/4: Study for math test, Study for science test
Friday, 9/5: math test NBT.3 and 4-reading, writing, comparing, and rounding decimals. Science test with Ms. Creel


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.


Social Studies (Ms. Creel's Homeroom)
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 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

Science
Students are with Ms. Creel for science again this week - test on Friday! They are back with me next week for Social Studies. We'll begin studying the Civil War!


MathematicsDon't forget - our first math test is this Friday!
Standards

• 5.NBT.A.4 Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place.

Essential Questions

• What is rounding?
• How can a number line help us round decimals?
• Why is it important to be able to round decimals?

Activities
Students are loving small groups in math! Here's what we'll be doing this week:

• Interactive Notebook: how to round decicmals
• Mrs. Weiser: rounding decimals using a number line and benchmarks
• 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.6 and C.5 - work on C.6 first)
• Partner Work: read "Are We Alone" from DynaMath. Students solve the problems together.
• Independent Work: Practice ordering and rounding decimals  

What we are Reading

• "Are We Alone" 

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.
• RI.5.1. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• L.5.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Essential Questions

• How can I make an informational text easier to read?
• How does an author help us understand his or her characters?

Activities
We have started our first novel unit! We are reading Maniac Magee in small groups. Students will be covering language arts standards in small groups as well.

• Interactive Notebook: characterization foldable
• Mrs. Weiser: introduce how to closely read an informational article; discuss inferencing based on characters' thoughts, actions, words, choices, and feelings
• ELA/Writing: complete Classroom Practices #5-#7 in Shurley English, Chapter 2 (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and sentence end marks)
• Computer: Typing Pal/ Continue IXL Language Arts trial--nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
• Independent Reading: Read chapters 4-7 in the book this week
• Skills/Practice Center: Work on "drawing conclusions" task cards; watch a BrainPop video about pirates

What We're Reading

• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• "Go Outside and Play!" (nonfiction article)
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio

What We're Writing

• Opinions about the benefits of playing outside