Our second week of fifth grade was very successful!  We are flowing with the schedule and the students are adjusting to the expectations.  We are definitely having fun!  🙂

The Reading MAPS test will be given on Thursday, September 19th.   Please make sure your student has a good night’s sleep, a nutritious breakfast, and a stress-free morning.

Back to School Night is Thursday, September 19th.  The first session starts at 6:30.  Hope to see you there! 🙂

 

MATH

We will begin whole number computation (5.4) this week.  The students will need to recall computation skills developed last year as well as learn double digit divisor division.  Whole number computation will be primarily assessed through word problems on the fifth grade SOL test so our practice will be focused on word problems as well.  There will be a test on integers on Tuesday, Sept. 24th.  There are notes for this test in the students’ math notebooks and websites to review on the Math page of this blog.  Please encourage your student to use these resources to prepare for this assessment.

The class has been assigned their first Weekly Math (white colored logic puzzle).  We are working together, as well as independently, to complete this assignment.  Throughout the year the students will be given a Weekly Math assignment on Wednesdays that is due the following Wednesday.  In fifth grade this assignment is graded and expected to be completed at school.  The students are given a significant amount of time to work on it and ask questions in class throughout the week.  If the assignment is not complete on Tuesday evening they are expected to complete it at home.  Parental assistance is permitted in the form of clarifying what the question is asking along with talking through strategies that your child suggests.  Please do not give them the answers or cue them to make corrections if they don’t see the mistake.  The students should be working independently with fifth grade problem-solving ideas and should be showing all of their work on the assignment or a separate sheet of paper.  The goal of Weekly Math is to develop the students’ individual approaches to solving problems using critical thinking skills that are age appropriate.  I will often be grading their processes rather than correct answers.  Please let me know if you have questions regarding this assignment. 🙂

LANGUAGE ARTS

We will continue working with nouns this week for our grammar skill.  We will also work with the spelling of singular and plural nouns.  The students will also begin pre-planning using graphic organizers.  The Henrico County focus for the first nine weeks is pre-planning with graphic organizers so we will be practicing this skill for mastery.  We will also begin developing the Glen Allen newsblog in the next couple of weeks.  The students will come up with the name and pick jobs first.  This is such a fun activity!  🙂

READING

This week the students will continue reading Running Out of Time.  We will also work with summarizing skills using Uncle Jed’s Barber Shop and Running Out of Time.  The students will use stickie notes to come up with main details and then compose a summary with a small group.  Book report information will come home this week.  The genre for this book report is mystery.  It should be at least fifth grade reading level and at least 100 pages long.  I need to approve the books for this book report.  The first book report is due on Thursday, October 31st.  Please let me know if you have questions.

SCIENCE

We will continue with the Rocks Unit this week. We talked about weathering, erosion, and deposition at the end of last week.  Next, we will begin exploring the rock cycle.  We will begin with the three types of rocks and how they are formed.   There will be a quiz on Tuesday, September 17th on the layers of Earth, plate tectonics, and weathering and erosion.   Your student has notes in their Science notebook to review for this quiz.  There are also lots of resources on the Science page of this blog to use as well.  The students will be assigned a Rock Cycle Poster this week.  It is due on Friday, September 27th.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We will continue exploring Henrico County this week.  The students started working on their Henrico County history projects last week.  They will develop a poster or project that they will then use to teach their assigned content to the group.  This is called a Jigsaw activity.  These are going to be awesome!

IMPORTANT DATES

9/17 – Layers of the Earth and Plate Tectonics Quiz

9/ 19 – Back to School Night at 6:30 (parents only)

9/19 – Reading MAPS test

9/24 – Integers Test

9/26 – Math MAPS test

9/27 – Rock Cycle Poster due

9/30 – Student half day

10/5 – Glen Allen Day

10/31 Mystery Book Report due