Good afternoon 5th Grade Families,

What a week!  In addition to finalizing our Order of Operations unit, students enjoyed learning about a scientific classification system (Dichotomous Keys) using candy!  Check this week’s update for important dates, reminders & content highlights.

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Hello families,

What a fantastic week!  Thank you for your continued support and for your efforts in picking up student learning packets for your students.  Last week students were able to use the rock and paint supplies after learning about a planted tree dedicated to this year’s 5th grade class.  Please click the link to view the presentation we shared with the students.

Our New Tree!

The 5th Grade team is working hard to provide our students with paper/pencil and hands on activities to supplement virtual learning which necessitates an abundance of digital classwork/homework.  This week we’re excited to apply scientific classification using the candy sent home to learn about dichtomous keys.

Please check out the Weekly Update below:

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Good afternoon 5th Grade Families,

Please read this week’s update.  It includes important dates & reminders along with content information about the upcoming week.

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Hello 5th Grade Families,

I’m so excited to begin our new week of learning…we will be starting new units in all subject areas!  🙂  Mrs. Mayes, Mrs. Grubbs and  I have created what we hope will be engaging and meaningful learning activities.

We’re still working on juggling all of our online learning expectations, but we’re on our way.  I appreciate your support and am so pleased to have 100% attendance most everyday!

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Hello 5th Grade Families,

In an effort to streamline communication and provide a quick reference for your weekly update, I’m trying this new format.  I appreciate any feedback you can provide to help me keep you informed in the best way possible.

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Good afternoon 5th Grade Families,

Last week, I was excited to return to teaching from my classroom.  It felt a little more authentic, and it was great having my student library to grab books to share.  I’m happy to loan my classroom books to students.  Please encourage your child to ask me about books they are interested in reading, and we can work out a pick up system.  Additionally, Mrs. Hart has shared Longan’s modified book circulation system with the students.  You can find more information about it on the Resource hyperdoc in a previous post.

We’re still practicing resilence with technology challenges.  Students are continuously learning how to manage connectivity issues.  On Friday, I demonstrated how to clear the cache and that seemed to eliminate issues a few students were having with access to activities.  This past week our focus was on the word accountability which fits right in with what we emphasize every year to our 5th graders.  More on that later…

Please read below to get a glimpse of our learning targets this week.

Content This Week:

Math – 5.4 Whole Number Problem Solving (single & multi-step) Multiplication & Division

Reading –

• Reading level assessments
• Characterization through various activities and Read Aloud (Because of Mr. Terupt)
• Introduce & Model Reader’s response (Impressions, Connections & Wonderings)

Word Study – 

• Mentor Text Vivid Vocabulary Unit – First Day Jitters quiz Wednesday, 9/30
• Introduce Mentor Text Vivid Vocabulary Unit – Enemy Pie

Writing –

• Begin Writing Seeds

Science – 5.7 Earth’ Changes

• Erosion, Weathering & Deposition
• The Rock Cycle
• Fossils
• Human Impact

Important Dates & Reminders:

• Wednesday, October 7th @ 1:30 – 3:00 – Student Learning packet pick up.  At this time, I will also be sending home information about class routines & grading policies.
• Independent Reading – Please remind your child to read each day for a minimum of 15-20 minutes.  Reading grades will be determined partially by independent reading responses and number of books completed each nine weeks.
• Asychronous Learning – Virtual Sychronous learning (8:00 – 1:05) is an opportunity for us to connect with students, introduce & share content with students, and begin assessments.  This is not the time for students to complete independent work…unfortunately there is not enough time for that.  Please encourage your child to use their time wisely after virtual class has ended each day.
• DreamBox – This is an math conceptual program purchased by the county with a recommendation of a 60 minute minimum use.  Each nine weeks a classwork grade will be determined based on usage.  Time is provided during math stations, but students will need to also use asychronous learning time to meet this time requirement.  So far, most students are doing great!! 🙂
• Questions – I’m typically “plugged in” for hours after class.  Students can reach me via the Schoology message center or request to join a TEAM meeting with me if they have questions.

Have a great week!

We had a wonderful 2nd week of virtual learning, and I’m excited to begin Week 3 with my fabulous 5th graders.  Last week students learned the meaning and importance of resilence (our word of the week).  Mrs. Henderson began morning annoucements and introduced Longan’s new ROAR pledge (below).  

In addition to the content studies we began last week, we spent a great deal of time exploring and discussing the meaning of having a Growth Mindset.  I’m including a video below that I shared with students.

Content This Week:

Math – 5.4 Whole Number Problem Solving (single & multi-step) Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication

Reading –

• Reading level assessments
• Genres
• Content reading in Newsela with emphasis on annotation and “notice & note” reading strategies
• Introduce 5th Grade Read Aloud – Because of Mr. Terupt

Word Study – 

• Mentor Text Vivid Vocabulary Unit – First Day Jitters by

Science – 5.7 Earth’ Changes

• Layers of the Earth
• Plate Boundaries
• Types of Rocks
• Erosion, Weathering & Deposition
• The Rock Cycle

Important Dates:

Tuesday, 9/22 – 5.4 Whole Number Problem Solving Quiz (Addition & Subtraction)

Wednesday, 9/23 – 5.7 Layers of the Earth & Plate Boundaries Quiz

• The 5th grade team is busy preparing learning packets for our students.  They will provide students with hard copies of activities, a copy of our grade level read aloud novel, and  a few “hands on” activities.

Friday, 9/25 – Reading Genres Unit Assessment

Wow!  What a first week!  It was great and exhausting at the same time.  My students are awesome and doing a fantastic job of acclimating to online learning.  We’re continuously adding new tech applications to our toolbags which should continue to keep learning meaningful. To that end, the 5th grade team has made a slight adjustment to our master schedule.  Math will now go until 9:10 rather thann ending at 9:00.  This schedule is also posted in the Homeroom folder within Schoology.

As with any year, the first month of school is a blend of introducing and practicing procedures and routines as we slowly add in our 5th grade content curriculum, and this year is no exception.  I’ll be sharing the information below with the students this week, but thought it would be helpful for families to have access to our expectations.

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Have a great week & thanks for your support!

Mrs. Beam

Welcome 5th Graders!

I’m so excited to meet each of you!  Here’s a schedule for the coming week:

See ya soon,

Mrs. Beam 🙂