What a gorgeous weekend!  I hope that everyone enjoyed some time outside this weekend!  Here is a look at our week ahead:

*Important Reminders:

• HCPS Student Intent Survey:  Thank you for completing the survey sent out by Henrico County stating your intent for your child to either return to school in-person or stay virtual.  The deadline to submit the survey is this evening, Nov. 8th, at 11:59 pm.

• Thursday 11/12 will be another asynchronous learning day for students.  Just like last week, students will NOT sign into our Microsoft Teams class meeting that day, but WILL have independent assignments to complete during the school day.  Teachers will be using the day to get our classrooms ready for in-person learning.  It is important to understand that this is still counted as a school day for students, and attendance will be taken for this day.  I will be taking attendance at the end of the day based on students completing their assignments.  If students do not complete these assignments by 5:00 pm, they will be marked absent.  The 3 teachers (myself, Mrs. Blankenship, & Mrs. McGee) will tell the students what their assignments are on Thursday morning, and we will also post them on our assignments pages.  Please make sure you check the assignments pages to know what your assignments are for Thursday 11/12.

• No School for Students on Friday, November 13th in observance of Diwali. To our families celebrating this holiday, I hope your holiday is wonderful!

• The end of the 1st nine week is Friday, November 13th.

Mrs. Jacobsen’s Homeroom

• Morning Meetings (8:00 – 8:15):   We will continue to build our classroom community with activities and questions that will allow us to get to know our classmates better.
• Small Group Reading Block (9:55 – 10:30):  This week we will begin a new text that we will discuss and analyze for the next 2 weeks.  We will be reading a nonfiction text called “Escape From Alcatraz.”  On Monday we will read the text as a whole group and discuss important vocabulary.  On Tuesday and Wednesday I will meet with small groups to begin discussing and analyzing the text with comprehension questions.  While students are not working with me in their group, they will be working on their Reading Menu in the “waiting room.”  As I have discussed with the students, they must click to join our class meeting, but then be in the “Waiting Room” so I can see that they are present in class.   All students in 5th grade will have the same reading menu assignments.  The assignments in this menu will consist of a mix of reading, writing, science, and social studies activities.  Students will have 2 days to complete the “Must-Do’s” in their menu, and they will be due by 8:00 am on the following morning.  This week students will complete a menu on Tuesday and Wednesday, which will be due by 8:00 am on Thursday morning.  Then they will have a menu to complete on Thursday & Monday (no school on Friday), which will be due no later than 8:00 am next Tuesday morning (11/17).
• Wordly Wise:  We will begin Wordly Wise Lesson 4 this week.  On Monday, students will watch the video introducing them to the new words.  Then they will have activities to complete in their reading menus this week.
• Class Read-Aloud:  From 1:00-1:15 each day, I will be reading aloud from our new class novel, Save Me a Seat.  The students voted and chose this novel!

Math This Week:

• Math 5 and Math 5/6:

  • We will continue with our Whole Number Problem Solving Unit this week (SOL 5.4)  Last week we practiced solving long division problems with 2-digit divisors.  This is a challenging skill, and I am very proud of how hard the students have been working on it!  The students will take the 2-Digit Divisors Quiz on Monday 11/9.
  • For the remainder of the week, we will review and practice problem solving with whole numbers by doing a variety of word problems.  As we have discussed, it is very important to read the word problem carefully and to understand what the question is asking.  Students MAY use a calculator to solve these word problems.
  • The students will take the SOL 5.4 Problem Solving TEST on Monday, November 16th.

I appreciate your continued support!  As always, please contact me with any questions.  🙂

-Mrs. Jacobsen