4th: We focused on cause and effect this week! We learned about how one cause can have many effects, and one effect can come from many causes! We focused on this by reading some articles. One article was about the titanic sinking and how many people think it was just of the iceberg, but in reality, there were many small things that contributed to the bigger problem. This also opened up our conversation about the many causes that led to the Civil War!

5th: We are learning about MEDIA MESSAGES! Today, we get information through many different sources of media. Over the next few weeks we will discuss the different types of media (auditory, visual, and written) as well as how to access, analyze, and create media. It is important students know how to evaluate the messages they receive from all the different types of media they access as well as determine if sources are trustworthy and reliable!

We wrapped up our choose your own adventure stories. Students worked hard to create these digital stories where students got to choose their own endings! Students had to include facts about their topic from our research, include the plot points of a narrative, and have at least 4 endings! Ask students to pull up their stories on schoology to show you. 🙂 I love how these turned out.

In VA Studies we are introducing our VS7 Civil War Unit! We will kick this off with a STEAM project on Monday’s half day where students will build an Iron Clad ship like the ones used in the Battle of the Ironsides! This historic sea battle was one of the first of it’s time because iron ships had just been developed. The USS Monitor and USS Merrimack battled to a draw. Students will design, build, test, and adjust their iron clad ships within certain parameters.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the support with the African American Living History Museum! We are so proud of how well this event turned out, and the kids were so proud of their work.

In fifth grade, we are working on the Northeast states! Students are doing collage projects to research and show off what they know. We are also working on learning the states and capitals. We will test on these the week after next.

• Monday Feb 17th
  • President’s Day
  • 1/2 Day & STEAM DAY!
• Monday Feb 19th
  • Fire Safety Lesson # 3 with Henrico Fire Department
• Friday Feb 21st
  • Fire Safety Trailer Simulation with Henrico Fire Department
• Thursday March 5th  
  • Virginia Historical Society field trip to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (permission slips for this will come home later in February)