Week of 12/15

Last week we had a great time learning about the assembly line and eating what we created.

We enjoyed visiting GMS and listening to the GMS band.

Dear Families~

Welcome to the last week of school for this year! We have so much to do and several tests this week, so we must keep on going so we can finish things up.

PartyTime!
A special THANK YOU goes to Mrs. Gilmer for organizing our class party for this Friday. Thank you to everyone who has offered to help her with the cost of the party as well. Our party will begin at 1:30 on Friday afternoon.

Coming Up this week
Mon, 12/15: Final copy of information writing due
Tues, 12/16: Service Learning Project-making holiday cards; Tuesday Red Folders go home
Wed, 12/17: Return Tuesday Red Folders; class Spelling Bee
Thurs, 12/18: Social Studies test; Reading test
Fri, 12/19: Math test; Holiday party at 1:30

Students return to school on Tuesday, January 6th! Teachers have a workday on Monday, January 5th.

Social Studies
We are wrapping up our study of the 1920s and 1930s. On Tuesday, we'll watch a History Channel special about the Dust Bowl. On Wednesday, we'll play a review game (on Kahoot!) to get ready for our test. Test on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, students will watch the movie Kit Kittredge - it's a great story about the Great Depression! Students have a study guide they will complete based on the movie that goes along with our study of the 1930s.


Math
This is our last week to work with adding and subtracting fractions. Most of the students are able to find a common denominator for their fractions in order to add or subtract them. The biggest areas of difficulty are converting mixed numbers to improper fractions (and improper fractions to mixed numbers) and more complex subtracting problems. Students took a quiz on Friday to determine their greatest areas of need before the test. Test on Friday morning.

Reading
We are still working with organizational structures this week. Students have done a great job being able to identify a text's organizational structure. Now we are going to compare and contrast two different texts and their structures. Students will have to provide evidence from the texts to support their ideas. Test on Thursday morning.

Week of 12/8

Dear Families~

We had a great week last week. Our class really behaved very well at the ballet on Friday. We have another field trip this Friday. We will be heading over to GMS for a holiday concert. This is ALWAYS a favorite!

We have 2 more weeks filled with learning ahead of us before our WINTER BREAK. Let's keep the learning going.

Here is a look at what will be happening: 
Mon, 12/8 Math homework handed out; new skills rotation starts (for 4 weeks) 
Tues, 12/9 Red folders come home (see permission slip) 
Wed, 12/10  Return Red folders
Thurs, 12/11 Step & Musicals performances (8:25 and 9:20); permission slips due
Fri, 12/12 Math homework due; field trip to GMS for winter concert

What a GREAT opportunity from Amerigroup and Safe Kids

Amerigroup and Safe Kids to host the 2nd Annual Winter Wonderful on Friday, December 12 from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Lakeshore Mall (at the fountain). Safe Kids will be giving away 200 free bike helmets for kids ages 5-10 while supplies last on a first come-first serve basis. The child must be present to receive a helmet.

Amerigroup will be giving away coats, hats and gloves while supplies last on a first come-first serve basis. Each half hour, we will raffle off amazing prizes. Raffle tickets are free. Also, we will have fun holiday activities and crafts for the kids. 

Items Needed for a Project by Wednesday of this week: 
Graham crackers (2 boxes) 
White icing (3 containers) 
Plastic spoons (1 box) 
Skittles or M&Ms 
Starburst (1 bag, at least 25)

This Week in Social Studies 
We will begin studying the 1920s and 1930s this week! This is always a fun unit for the students. We will discover the highs and lows our country faced following WWI. We will also study what led us into WWII. This week, we'll be focusing on Langston Hughes, Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Louis Armstrong, and Henry Ford! On Thursday, we'll be making edible cars in a race to see if students can build the cars faster in an assembly line or in one-on-one production! We will TEST over 1920s and 1930s before WINTER BREAK!
 
This Week in Math
We are still adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. Most of the students can identify a common denominator for two fractions who have different denominators. (For example, they can determine that the common denominator o4 1/4 and 1/6 is 12.) This is a great because they are mastering the first step in the process! Most of them are then able to add or subtract the fractions. We will begin throwing in mixed numerals this week to add and subtract. The work gets a little more difficult this week. We will TEST over adding and subtracting FRACTIONS before WINTER BREAK!

This Week in Reading
We will continue studying organizational structures this week. Students are getting used to identifying the structure of a text and putting it on a graphic organizer. (This is a review from 4th grade.) We will begin comparing the structures of two or more texts in order to write about them. We will TEST over ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES before WINTER BREAK!

As many of you may have already noticed, we will have 3 tests next week before we leave for WINTER BREAK. Please be sure that your child is here at school each day.

Helpful Math videos

Please check out the following videos for some help with adding and subtracting fractions.

Check this out. . . .

What a GREAT opportunity from Amerigroup and Safe Kids

Amerigroup and Safe Kids to host the 2nd Annual Winter Wonderful on Friday, December 12 from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Lakeshore Mall (at the fountain). Safe Kids will be giving away 200 free bike helmets for kids ages 5-10 while supplies last on a first come-first serve basis. The child must be present to receive a helmet.

Amerigroup will be giving away coats, hats and gloves while supplies last on a first come-first serve basis. Each half hour, we will raffle off amazing prizes. Raffle tickets are free. Also, we will have fun holiday activities and crafts for the kids.

Help Needed

Dear Families~

We have almost made it to the half way point in the year! Time sure is really flying by. We are running out of some materials at school. I've updated our Sign-Up Genius (Volunteer Section on the blog). If you are able to send in any of the following items, please let me know.
We need:
scissors
baby wipes
colored pencils
liquid glue


Next week we will be doing a project in social studies and are in need of some food items to complete the project! I just love lessons that involve FOOD.
We need the following items:

Paper plates

Napkins

Graham crackers (3 boxes)

White icing (3 containers)

Plastic spoons (1 box)

Skittles or M&Ms
Starburst (1 bag, at least 25)

Week of 12/1

Dear Families~

WOW! Time is flying by. . . .I can't believe that it is December already. I hope that everyone had a wonderful and RESTFUL Thanksgiving Break! 

November Service Learning
My homeroom partnered with Mrs. Igleheart's first grade class to write encouraging notes to the homeless in Gainesville. (Mrs. Thompson's 5th graders partnered with Mrs. Hicks's first graders as well.)

CAA's Total Donations for November: 213 pairs of socks, 26 coats, 6 sweaters, 2 blankets, and 30 sack lunches. THANK YOU!!!!

Book Fair is this Wednesday - we will visit at 12:30 (as soon as we finish lunch). You can send in cash or a check, or you may plan to visit with us! There are lots of great books on the fair this year. You may want to check out the "Teacher Wish List" board! I've listed some titles the class seemed excited about and would like to have in our classroom library.

Field Trip! We are going on a field trip THIS FRIDAY, 12/5, to see the Nutcracker at Brenau! We have several 5th graders performing this year, so all classes are going to see this production and support our wonderful Gainesville Ballet. Tickets are normally $6, but we have discounted ticket prices of $2!

What's Going on This Week:
Mon, 12/1 Back to school!
Tues, 12/2 Red Folders come home
Wed, 12/3 Return Red Folders; Book fair visit at 12:30 
Thurs, 12/4 Permission slips due; Skate Country 6-8pm
Fri, 12/5 Science test; math homework due; field trip to see the Nutcracker

Upcoming Events:
Sun, 12/7 Family day at the Northeast GA History Center! Victorian Christmas

Math
We start working with fractions this week! This is another three-week unit. We will start by identifying the least common denominator of two fractions (also known as least common multiple), then we'll start adding and subtracting them for these three weeks. In 4th grade, your child added and subtracted fractions with LIKE denominators (the number on the bottom is the same). However, in 5th grade, we are adding and subtracting fractions with UNLIKE denominators (the number on the bottom is different; for example, 1/3 + 2/5). We will also be adding and subtracting whole numbers and fractions, mixed numbers, and improper fractions. Whew! We will also test for this unit the week before we get out for winter break.

Reading
This week, we start a three-week unit on organizational structures. Students will read a text and try to decide how it's organized: description, cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, or chronological-sequence. We will start off by identifying a text's organizational structure, and next week, we'll begin to compare the organizational structures of one text with a different text. We will test the week before we get out for winter break.

November Book It Reading Logs
A special congratulations goes to--Nigel, Iqui, Eddie, Da'Niya, Xochilth, and Adriana. They have completed their required November reading. They have received a FREE Pizza from Pizza Hut! 
We have increased our goal for December. . .our goal is to read 375 minutes this month! That is just over 12 minutes each day! I know you can do it. 
 
Language Arts
We are beginning to work on conjunctions and informational writing. Students will be working on the differences between coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. We will also begin how-to writing. 

Science
Students are finishing a science unit with Ms. Creel. They are studying physical and chemical changes. The science test will be this Friday.