Our first week of 2020 was successful!

On Tuesday, administrators from Hungary Creek Middle School visited our 5th grade classes and talked about the transition to middle school. A lot of information was shared, and students were able to ask questions. Your child brought home a packet from this meeting and a Planning Guide booklet. Please take time to sit with your child and discuss middle school class options. 5th grade teachers are currently inputting our recommendations for what classes would best suit each child based on guidelines we have to follow. You will be able to access the Parent Portal to confirm class selections and enter electives for your child starting January 21st.

We encourage our families to attend the HCMS Curriculum Fair on January 16th! It will be from 6:00-7:30 pm and provides an opportunity to talk to counselors, meet teachers, and explore options for academics and extra curricular activities. Plus, you can walk around the building and get the feel of being a middle schooler!

****Please note that the Glen Allen Science Fair has been rescheduled for Thursday, January 23 due to the conflict with the Hungary Creek Curriculum Fair. The Science Fair will take place from 6:30 – 7:30. All Cubs are invited to attend!

PE: Mrs. Lucas has started the aquatic safety unit with all 5th grade students. This unit culminates with a short field trip to the YMCA where students put their safety knowledge to the test in the pool. Permission forms will be sent home Monday. Please read carefully and ensure you have signed all pages.  Students have their safety workbook in their purple take home folders if you want to help them prepare!  Students will need to have their PE homework, pages 1-4 and page 15 #1-11, complete this week on the day that they have PE.

MATH

This week we will continue analyzing data using mean, median, mode, and range (5.16 & 6.15).  In class we will generate data using a variety of activities.  In stations the students will practice solving a tangram puzzle and review previously taught skills.  Weekly Math (blue logic puzzle) is due on Wednesday, January 15th. There will be a test on graphs, stem and leaf plots, tree diagrams, and mean, median, mode, and range on Tuesday, January 28th.  Your student has lots of notes in their math notebook and two study guides to help prepare for this assessment.

LANGUAGE ARTS

The students will bring home paperwork for their fantasy book report this week.  This book report is due on Tuesday, February 25h.  All books must be approved by me prior to Friday, January 25th.  The students need to have their book report book approved by Friday, January 24th.  Students also need a book to read each day at school.  They will be reading the book of their choice and completing a reading response in their Reading Response Journal (RRJ).

We also use our RRJs for our Book Buddy meetings.  We have been meeting with Mrs. Loftis’s class since the beginning of the year.  Our fifth graders put the skill that the second graders are using their RRJs and use it to teach, model, and practice with their buddies.  The skills the second graders are using are also skills that the fifth graders use, sometimes in a different format.  It has been a huge success!  You would be so impressed watching our students be teachers to the younger kids!  They are amazing!  🙂

SCIENCE

The students will work on finishing their wildflower stem activity.  There will be a quiz on Plants (4.4) on Wednesday, January 15th.  We will then work on reviewing the scientific method.  The students will design an experiment to prove or disprove an Old Wives’ Tale.  They will work in groups to design and perform an experiment.  Then they will make conclusions and display their data on a chart.  This is always a fun activity!  Don’t be surprised if your student brings home a permission slip to eat carrots or asked to bring in something from home.  🙂  We will have a quiz on scientific method on Thursday, January 23rd.

SOCIAL STUDIES

The students will continue working on their Pack Your Bags projects this week.  They will have Chapter 7 vocabulary in their notebooks on Monday.  The quiz on these words will be given on Thursday, January 16th.  Students will also get a study guide for the Southeast Region test this week.  It is a fill-in the blank study guide and will be graded.  The Southeast Region Test will be given on Wednesday, January 22nd.  Your student has many notes in their Social Studies notebook.

IMPORTANT DATES

1/15 – Plants Quiz 4.4

1/16 – Chapter 7 Vocabulary Quiz

1/16 – Hungary Creek Curriculum Fair

1/20 – School Holiday – school closed for MLK Day

1/22 – Southeast Region Test

1/23 – Scientific Method Quiz

1/23-24 –  Reading Benchmark

1/23 – Science Fair – THIS IS A CHANGE

1/24 – End of Marking Period 2

1/28 – Statistics Math Test

1/30-31 – Math Benchmark

2/25 – Fantasy Book Report due