Week of January 27-31

Here is some important news from Mrs. Whitley's room for this week!

 

 

Upcoming Test

Capitalization Quiz on Friday

 

 

Homework
Please remind your child to record their book title and pages read in their agenda every night. This is taking the place of reading logs this month due to the summaries they must write for literature circles.

Please have your child do XtraMath each night. If they have already finished XtraMath, I've moved them to a faster program. Please have them do this at least 2-3 times a week.

 

 

Field Trip Form

There will be a field trip permission slip in the Wednesday folder this week for an Orchestra field trip coming up in March. Please return your child's field trip form and money at your earliest convenience. I will also need to chaperones. If you would like to chaperone, please check the box at the bottom of the field trip form and return it to school as I select chaperones based on first come/first served.

 

 

Classroom Guidance

This Friday Mrs. Hammons and Mrs. Clark will be coming to our classroom to do a lesson on Cyberbullying. This lesson is so valuable as our children are gaining more and more access to technology. Please ask your child about the lesson Friday afternoon so they can share their new knowledge with you.

**This week's learning plan is similar to last week's since we missed much of last week due to snow.

Math-Fractions
We are starting a new study of fractions with a focus on fraction computation beginning with adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers this week and next.

Social Studies-Declaring Independence
This week we will learn about the Declaration of Independence and we will begin studying the Revolutionary War.

English Language Arts
We will continue reading about slavery and segue into learning about the Civil War. This ELA unit is called America in Conflict. The kids will learn a great deal about the Civil War through reading and writing, beginning this week with researching a person or a battle from the Civil War for an essay.

Word Study-Capitalization

I've noticed that a lot of the kids are struggling with the capitalization rules, so this week we will have a few lessons on capitalization rules the class is making mistakes on followed by a quiz on Friday.

Reading-Literature Circles
Literature Circles will coninue throughout this week and next. Please discuss your child's book with him/her at home to help with comprehension of the story.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. Have nice week!!

Week of January 20-24

Good afternoon and happy MLK Day!  Here's what's happening this week in 5th grade!

Math Test!!  
There will be a test over fraction concepts on Wednesday.  A study guide was sent home Friday to be completed over the weekend.  Please remind your child to bring their completed study guide to school tomorrow so we can review and I can better address any areas of confusion.

Homework
Please remind your child to record their book title and pages read in their agenda every night.  This is taking the place of reading logs this month due to the summaries they must write for literature circles.  If your child has passed XtraMath, I have told the kids they no longer have to do the program.  However, I am going to encourage that kids begin practicing again a few times a week.  I have moved all that have passed onto a slightly more challenging program where they have to answer each fact in 2 seconds rather than 3.  If your child has not passed XtraMath, please encourage them to do it every night.  Learning math facts is so important in 5th grade!  As always, there will still be other homework such as a math or language arts sheet a couple of nights a week.  Please support your child throughout the winter by checking their agenda each night and reminding them to do their assignments.  Your support makes such a huge difference!

This Week's Learning Plan (...assuming there are no snow days!  Fingers crossed!  I'm ready for spring!)

Math-Fractions
We will review fractions and test on Wednesday.  Then we will begin a new unit on fraction computation beginning with adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers this Thursday and Friday.

Social Studies-Declaring Independence
This week we will be examining reasons the colonists declared independence and we will begin learning about the Revolutionary War.

English Language Arts
We will continue reading about slavery and segue into learning about the Civil War.  This ELA unit is called America in Conflict.  The kids will learn a great deal about the Civil War through reading and writing, beginning this week with researching a conflict or person involved in a conflict relative to the Civil War for a short essay.

During word study, we will also learn important terms related to slavery and the Civil War to deepen the kids' understanding.

Reading-Literature Circles
I have been very pleased with the kids' work on literature circles thus far!  So far, everyone is keeping up with their reading, their literature circle job, and their summaries!  Please feel free to discuss your child's lit. circle book with him/her at home as this well help with comprehension.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.  Have fabulous week!!

Week of January 6-10

Welcome back and Happy New Year!!  This week's update is short and sweet, but if you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email.  I hope you had a nice Winter Break!!

BOB Books

Please have your child bring back the BOB book he/she has checked out tomorrow.  Everyone has one checked out and we will be using many of these books for literature circles starting this week.

Upcoming Test

We will have a test over the tensions leading to the Revolutionary War (chapter 10) this Friday.  Your child may begin studying using the History Alive tutorial as early as he/she likes.  However, it will be homework on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here's what we'll be learning about this week!

Math:  We will continue studying fractions as the kids will learn different strategies for renaming fractions as decimals and percents.  They will also learn to find the fractional part of a whole.

Social Studies:  We will continue the study we began before break about colonial tensions and acts imposed upon the colonists by the British government.  These acts eventually lead to the Revolutionary War.

Writing:    We are beginning a new ELA unit entitled Conflict in America.  During this unit, the kids will read and write about the Civil War.  To segue into this, we will begin studying slavery this week.  The kids will learn about the different writing perspectives and verb tenses as they begin writing slave journals during their study.

Reading:  In support of the Battle of the Books competition and numerous 5th grade reading goals, we will also kick off literature circles this week.  The kids will be reading BOB books in groups and completing various activities including book discussions to demonstrate their comprehension of their assigned novel.