Good afternoon! Wow, we completed our first week of school! I am really proud of how quickly the kids have learned the routines of our virtual schedule and became focused on our lessons. It’s been amazing! Please congratulate them on a successful first week of school!
I am so excited to be working with you and your child this year. Thank you so much for all of your support as we navigate this new virtual learning together. This blog is a fantastic resource full of dates, details, and links that I will update each week.
Just a friendly reminder that the extended learning time from 1:05-1:35 pm each day is still part of our instructional day. Some students are pulled into other Teams meetings with support services teachers during this time, but the rest of the class is able to ask questions, complete classroom assignments, and/or start on homework. This is also time for me to meet with small groups of students as well.
9/17 Science quiz (layers of the earth, plate tectonics)
9/18 Vocabulary & Spelling Quizzes on Word List #1
9/22 Math quiz (prime/composite; odd/even; computation review)
9/28 Student and staff holiday
Academics
We are so thrilled to offer this great collection of sites for extra practice! Please bookmark the portaportal and use this in conjunction with your child’s notebook and Schoology files to help your child feel prepared. Thanks for your support! (This is linked in our Bitmoji Classroom and Family Resources folder and Student Resources folder in Schoology as well). https://guest.portaportal.com/gaes5thgrade
We will be ramping up to our more traditional homework load this week. Your child will have nightly word study and math homework Monday-Thursday. We also ask that students read for 20 minutes a night OR complete a lesson in Lexia. We looked at digital book options in class, so your child can access e-reading material in Epic or Sola through Clever if they do not have hard copy books available at home.
Resources:
Mrs. Siler has asked that students have an art supply box ready to go on Tuesdays. This can be a shoe box or other container you have handy at home. Please ensure your child has blank paper, sharpened pencils, and crayons/markers/colored pencils. Scissors and glue would also be helpful.
Mrs. Lucas will be using Welnet on Clever. Please help your child locate this icon and favorite it (click the heart when you mouse over it) so it will move to the top of their Clever page. She also asks that students have room to move when they see her on Mondays.
Math: This coming week we will work on prime and composite numbers and divisibility rules. Please make sure your child refers to the Math Study Guide from their Learning Kit, and the materials posted in the Student Resources folder in Schoology to reinforce these concepts. We will also review working through multi-step word problems.
Writing: In class, we are learning to do Seed Writing, where students respond to a picture or video clip. The goal is to get any thoughts/feelings/reactions down on paper, then go back and think about how that “seed” could be expanded into a larger piece of writing. With each writing assignment we do, we remind ourselves to use proper punctuation, capitalization, specific details, and developing a stronger voice in our writing. We will also be having students practice cursive writing during small group stations. Your child can refer to their cursive guide sheet from their learning kit as they refresh themself on the letters.
Reading: Students will begin to work on reading and understanding multisyllabic words in word study. Each Friday students will have a quiz on the meaning and the application of the ten vocabulary words that will be introduced each Monday, as well as a second quiz in which they have to select the correct spelling of the word. Both of these will be done in Schoology and scores will be entered into the gradebook. Students will practice the words during stations in class and will have a daily homework assignment to practice learning the vocabulary.
We will also be reviewing genres this coming week and aspects of poetry. Students will even get to write their own poem! At the end of the week, we will read an incredible story called “Sees Behind Trees” about a Native American boy with a remarkable gift.
I am also going to continue reading aloud “Because of Mr. Terupt.” The students are already hooked on this book about a new 5th grade teacher, his students, and the unexpected year they have together.
Science: We are starting the year with our rock unit. We will be concentrating on the layers of the earth, weathering, erosion, and plate tectonics. Please encourage your student to be reviewing nightly by using the study guide in the Schoology – Student Resources folder, the portaportal (Rocks section), and their notebooks. We will have a quiz Thursday on the layers of the Earth and plate tectonics.
Social Studies: We will continue with our study of Henrico County in Social 
Studies. This coming week we will focus on the geography of Henrico. We will also be doing a hands on project, so please gather any materials you have around your house this weekend (paper towel roll, scrap paper, foil, etc). Ask your students about the Henricus settlement video we watch in class on Wednesday! It really got them fired up about learning the history of the county they live in.
Have a wonderful weekend!