5-2 Updates ~ 11/15

Hello 5-2 Families ~

Well, it certainly didn't feel like fall out there today!  What a beautiful gift a 65 degree day is in mid-November!!  Hope you all got outside to enjoy the sunny day :)

Important Dates

5th Grade Musical ~ Wednesday, November 18th ~ 7pm - The students have done an amazing job preparing for their performance!  Our final dress rehearsal will be a school assembly on Monday, then they should be ready to perform for you :)  Please plan to have your child in the classroom by 6:50pm.  See you all on Wednesday night!

Progress Reports Issued ~ Friday, November 20th - Please remind your children that they can check on their grades at any time by asking for a mid-term progress report.  They should be encouraged to own their grades this year, and understand the impact of daily work has on their final grades.  I've been impressed by the number of students who have asked me for their mid-term reports, and questioning how to improve their grades.  What a group of dedicated students!


What's Happening in the Classroom

Math

My math class started Unit 4 Division this week.  I was impressed with how well your students did on the pre-test for this unit!  We were able to move through the first two lessons very quickly on Friday, and will be through the rest of the unit by Friday, November 20th.  When we return, we will have one day of review, then our Unit 4 Assessment scheduled for Tuesday, December 1st.  Students can practice for this assessment by logging on to Khan Academy and practicing any of the division recommendations I have made to their accounts.  I continue to encourage the students to practice their mulitplication and division facts at home on a daily basis.  Many of the students do not have automaticity with their math facts yet, and this is impacting their ability to accurately complete the division algorithm. 

Social Studies

We're moving rather quickly through our Social Studies units as well!  We've spent the past two weeks looking at the arguments between Patriots and Loyalists in Unit 11.  The Unit 11 Assessments were sent home for a sign and return this weekend.  In this unit, they studied 6 specific historical figures and their arguments for and against independence.  Students enjoyed using Google Drawing to create Debate Cards illustrating the arguments between these two parties to help prepare them for the test.  These Debate Cards will be on display when you visit our classroom for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Please look for the graded rubrics to come home for a sign and return by the end of the week.  Our class will also take the role of a colonist this week, and they will have the opportunity to engage in a debate:  Should we declare independence from the British??  We will also start and finish Unit 12:  Declaring Independence.  After discussing the events that led up to the colonists' decision to declare independence from the British, they will read the Declaration of Independence and then re-write it in 5th grade language.

Reading

Students have worked hard learning about the structure and reading nonfiction text.  Last week, they practiced finding context clues for vocabulary in nonfiction, as well as the main idea and supporting details.

Students will read a non-fiction graphic novel about an important person or event from the Revolutionary War period this week, and will be working on an Explain Everything (an iPad app) project using the novel.  Our new Common Core Standards have our students analyzing how illustrations and text contribute to the overall meaning, tone, and beauty in a graphic novel.  5th graders typically enjoy reading these novels, and are quite engaged as they learn to closely read a different type of text.

They will also have the opportunity to choose a historical fiction novel about the Revolutionary War.  Most of the novels give our students an accurate depiction of the war from a child's perspective. They will have 2 weeks to read these novels, then we will use them to take a closer look at the types of conflict in literature.  The content of these novels may be more mature than other novels they have been read because it deals with the topic of war, but they are completely appropriate for their grade level.  We find most students are quite engaged in these novels, and it provides an additional perspective to their study of the war.  The students and I will discuss the content of these book at length  when I assign them, but I wanted to give you all a heads up just in case they had any questions or wanted to discuss the book with you.  If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Writing

Students turned in their polished personal narratives on a memory with a special person last Friday.  I was so touched by so many of the stories!  Ask them to share their story with you, then perhaps ask them to share their story with the person they wrote about - in person, over the phone, or in an email.  Far too often we neglect to tell people the impact they have on our lives, and these essays are excellent ways to share those feelings.  We discussed their scores on the rubric, and we looked for specific ways to improve their scores.  This week, they planned and wrote two more personal narrative in 60 minutes.  Practicing the writing cycle - from planning to finished piece - within a time frame is an important skill for students to master.  I was impressed with their results.  These rubrics will be coming home for a sign and return this week.

Character Education
Since we have both Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving in November, I thought it would be an excellent month to focus on the character trait of Gratitude!  We started with a read aloud of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, a poem many of the students were familiar with from earlier years.  As 5th graders, their response was mature and different from previous reads.  I was so impressed with the emotional reaction to the poem, and how they focused on the importance of having a heart of gratitude.  We discussed how focusing on all of the things we have in life to be thankful for creates a positive attitude in life.  They created a Gratitude Journal to begin recording all of the things they are thankful for in life.  They say that 21 days makes a habit, so for 21 days we are writing in our journals.  The journal will come home for Thanksgiving Break - the 21st day is on Thanksgiving.  I suggested to the students that they share their journals with their families for Thanksgiving.  We also created our own version of a Giving Tree in our classroom, and they filled the tree with leaves of gratitude.  I was so impressed with how many leaves they put on that tree!!  I am SO THANKFUL for everyone of your children, and the way they share their beautiful hearts every Friday as we have our character education discussions.

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, 
and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Cheers ~

Theresa Fowler