Wow, it’s hard to believe that October is already here!  We had a great week of learning! It was so exciting discovering what house all of the 5th graders were in last Monday and then finding out all the houses of all of the lower grades in the days that followed. 

If you haven’t sent in an index card with an inspirational message for your student on it, please do so Monday.  I will wait until Tuesday to had them out so that all students have one.  Thanks so much!

We have a fun science activity planned to review the phases of the moon.  Please be sure to let me know if you DO NOT want your child to eat the Oreos.  Feel free to send in an alternative, if you’d like. 

Next week we will have our Virginia Growth Assessments in reading and math.  The reading assessment will be on Thursday, 10/7 and the math assessment will be on Friday, 10/8.  There is nothing students need to study in preparation for these assessments.  The assessments will be utilized as a means for recognizing areas of strengths and weaknesses that will help to guide our instruction.

Homework:  We believe homework is essential for long term success with our 5th grade students.  The independent practice is so important to develop their understanding of the concepts.  Students are held accountable for completing homework assignments.  All students start with a perfect score of 100 in the homework assignment category.  Each missing assignment results in a deduction of 10 points for that subject’s overall homework grade.  Parents, thank you for all the support.  It makes a big difference, and we appreciate you!

IMPORTANT DATES

10/5 – Earth, Moon, Sun Quiz

10/6 – Integers Quiz

10/7 – VA Reading Growth Assessment

10/8 –  GAES Spirit Night at Chipotle

10/8 – VA Math Growth Assessment

10/8 – Word Trek Quizzes List #3

10/11 – Student Holiday/Staff Development (No School for Students)

10/13 – Math Order of Operations Test

10/14 – School Picture Day

MATH

We will continue working with the order of operations this week.  Your student has notes in their notebook to help with homework.  Please continue to work with your child to master their multiplication and division facts as this is essential to the 5th grade math curriculum.  They should be able to recall their facts quickly.  The Portaportal site is an excellent resource for this.  

LANGUAGE ARTS

We will continue to read aloud Because of Mr. Terupt and focus on the plot this coming week.  We will develop an understanding of contrasts and contradictions with characters, as well as conflicts and resolutions in the plot.  The students will also look at literary devices such as flashbacks, foreshadowing, and cliff hangers.  We will also continue our novel study, Running Out of Time.  This novel is quite exciting with lots of twists and turns.  

Our end goal for fifth grade is writing a five paragraph essay.  This week we will focus on solid leads and conclusions for paragraphs.  The students will also be editing sentences for correct use of CUPS.

SCIENCE

In science we will wrap up our Earth, Moon, and Sun Unit with a fun activity with Oreo cookies on Monday and a quiz on Tuesday!  Be sure to let me know if you DO NOT want your student to eat the Oreos.  Feel free to send in an alternative if you’d like.  On Wednesday we will move into our matter unit. We will be focusing on making observations to identify materials based on their properties. We will also observe the differences between mixtures and solutions. 

SOCIAL STUDIES 

In our Henrico unit we are wrapping up the history of Henrico.  The students created very cool postcards last week on a historical location in Henrico.  🙂  Next, we will explore Henrico’s economy.

We had our first full five day week of school since 2019!!!  It was awesome!!  I am super proud of all of us for making it through, smiling!  🙂

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend Back to School Night this past Thursday.  It was great seeing everyone!  Please let me know if you have questions or suggestions at any time.

IMPORTANT DATES

October 1 – Vocabulary and Spelling Quiz for Lesson 2

October 5 – Earth, Moon, and Sun Quiz

October 11 – Student Holiday

MATH

This week we continue with integers.  The students will begin placing integers on a number line, ordering and comparing, as well as explore absolute value.  Then we will start learning how to do order of operations.   Your student will have notes on all of these topics in their notebook.  There are also lots of resources in the Student Resources folder.   Another great place to practice skills is the portaportal.  All students could benefit from practicing their multiplication facts.  Knowing these quickly will definitely help them when learning new skills or practicing old ones.  Weekly Math (green logic puzzle) is due on Wednesday, September 29th.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Word Trek homework is due on Thursday, September 30th.  Lesson 2 quizzes will be given on Friday, October 1st.   In Language, the students will work with comma usage and homophones such as its and it’s, your and you’re, and there, their, and they’re.  The students will also write on a chosen prompt in their writing journals.

We will continue reading Running Out of Time.  The students will begin exploring different types of characters along wit character traits this week.   We will also look at finding the theme of fictional texts.  The students will work together to discover the big message or lesson of familiar works.

SCIENCE

The students will present their planet commercials this Monday.  Earth, Sun, and Moon is the review unit for this week.  The students will be reviewing the movements of these bodies as well as the phases of the moon.  There will be a quiz on this unit on Tuesday, October 5th.  Next, is our Matter Unit.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We will continue with Henrico history this week.  The students will create a postcard highlighting an event from Henrico history.   We will move into the Reconstruction and Post World War II Era.  Students will see how Henrico was affected and discuss population changes over time.  We will also look at the differences of urban and rural living.

What a great week!  We are having fun learning more and more about each other, and the students are settling into the routine.  🙂

I am so excited to connect with you virtually for back to school night.  You will receive an email from me with a Teams link later this week.  Please login, and make sure you are muted.  There are three times to choose from.  Each session will discuss the same information.

Here is a link with information, dates, and frequently asked questions regarding the gifted program.  Please let me know if you have questions.  Gifted Programs Parent FAQs

IMPORTANT DATES

9/21  Science Quiz on Planet Unit

9/22  Prime and Composite Numbers Quiz

9/23 Virtual Back to School Night for Adults (look for a link coming soon)

9/24  Vocabulary & Spelling Quizzes on Word Trek Lesson #1

MATH

We will continue working with prime and composite numbers.  Your student has notes in their notebook to help them with homework and preparation for the quiz.  We will start exploring integers on Friday.  The students will learn about positive and negative integers, how to compare them using a number line, and how to determine absolute value in this unit.

The class has been assigned their first Weekly Math (white colored logic puzzle) assignment.  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 reading Running Out of Time this week.  The focus skill this week is the elements of plot.  We will work with these elements to map the plot of our novel.  The students will also apply the story elements we talked about last week using other texts.

Our first Word Trek quizzes are this Friday.  Your student needs to complete the homework and be ready to check it on Thursday.  I have been giving them time in class to work on it and ask questions.  They will need to possibly do some research on other words that have the word parts for the week included.  The end goal is for the students to be able to discover meaning of unknown words based on word parts that they know.  Word Trek can seem overwhelming at first, but the students will get the hang of it.  They will be successful with it!

SCIENCE

We will wind up our review of the Solar System and Planets Unit this week.  The students will create a commercial persuading people to come to their chosen planet this week.  These projects will be amazing!   There is a quiz on this unit on Tuesday, September 21st.  Your student has notes in their notebook to help prepare for this quiz.  Our next unit is Earth, Sun, and Moon.

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week’s focus is the history of Henrico.  The students will create a postcard that discussing an event in Henrico’s history.  They will also  compare and contrast living in a rural or urban area.  We are learning so much about the county we live in!

Wow, we completed our first week of school!  I am really proud of how quickly the kids have learned the routines.  We had a lot of fun learning about one another through various games and even completed a fun Spaghetti Tower Challenge.  It’s been amazing!  Please congratulate your student 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 school year together.  This newsletter/blog  is a fantastic resource full of dates, details, and links that I will update each week.  It’s important that you and your child review it each week so that you “stay in the know” of all the happenings in fifth grade.

IMPORTANT DATES

9/15  Social Studies Quiz on the surrounding counties

9/16  Student Holiday/Staff Development- Yom Kippur

9/21  Science Quiz on Planets 

9/22  Prime and Composite Numbers Quiz

9/23 Virtual Back to School Night for Adults (look for a link coming soon)

9/24  Vocabulary & Spelling Quizzes on Word Trek Lesson #1

Notes from Resources:

Art: Please have your child bring in an art shirt (large T shirt) labeled with his/her name for art this week.

Academics

https://guest.portaportal.com/gaes5thgrade

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! 

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.  Your child can access e-reading material in Epic through Clever if they do not have hard copy books available at home.

Math: This coming week we will work on prime and composite numbers as well as review divisibility rules. Your student will have notes on these topics in their Math notebook.  They should be using their notes when completing homework.  There will be a quiz on prime and composite numbers on Wednesday, September 22nd.  

Language Arts: Students will begin Word Trek this week.  Word Trek is a program that teaches Greek and Latin word parts in order to understand and apply new words.  Each Friday students will have a quiz on the meaning and the application of the ten vocabulary words, as well as a second quiz on the spelling of the word.  Students will receive homework for this on Monday that is to be turned in on Thursday.  Lesson 1 words and definitions will be passed out on Monday, September 13th.  However, the quizzes will not be given until Friday, September 24th.  This will give the students some extra time to adjust to the homework and expectations for the quizzes.  

We will begin our first novel study, Running Out of Time.  This is a great novel with lots of intrigue.  The students will be looking for character traits early on as well as themes for the first three chapters.  The students will also be working with homophones, synonyms and antonyms, and journal writing in small groups this week.

Science:  We are starting the year with a review unit on planets.  Students will learn about the nine planets that make up the two groups of planets (inner planets and outer planets).  We will also be discussing revolution, rotation, as well as the order of the planets and their relative size.  There will be a quiz on this information Tuesday, September 21st.  Your student will have notes and a study guide to help prepare them for this quiz.

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 have a quiz on Henrico and the surrounding counties along with the regions that are located in Henrico on Wednesday, September 15th.  Your student has notes and maps in their Social Studies notebook.   

Welcome to 5th grade!  It is going to be an amazing year!  Here is a very quick video from the 5^th grade team.  This week we will be getting to know each other and the new routines.  Your student will bring their computer and charger home every afternoon and then back to school each morning.  The computers need to be fully charged each morning so I recommend plugging them in overnight.   Please take a moment and fill out the parent survey found here.

Our daily schedule looks like this:

8:00-9:00 – Math

9:00-11:00 – Literacy

11:00-11:40 – Resources

11:40-12:10 – Recess

12:10-12:55 – Science

12:55-1:20 – Lunch

1:20-1:50 – Social Studies

Please send in a snack and a water bottle each day for your student.   Feel free to reach out with questions or suggestions at any time!  I am super excited about this year!

5th grade celebration announcement.png

COMPUTER CLOSE OUT:

In person student devices will be collected on THURSDAY, June 17 from the classroom teacher.  Please bring the POWER CORD and COMPUTER to school that day to be collected.

Virtual students will drop off their computers and power cords to any MIDDLE SCHOOL the week after school lets out (June 21 – 24)).  

If you are enrolled in the Summer Academy – you will keep your computer until that concludes.  You will receive more information from HCPS or the summer academy if this applies to you.

For PE next week:

Please remind  students they will need the following items to participate in a few challenges next week/last week of school:

1 hardback book

1 solo cup

1 regular 16.9 oz water bottle unopened

1 plastic spoon

1 paper ball

Wow, it’s hard to believe it is the final week of 5th grade!  In such an unprecedented year in education, we send our heartfelt thanks to our parents, our students, and all who have been so supportive of our learning.  We certainly could not have done it without you!  While we are sad to see our 5th graders leave GAES, we are confident that they are ready to take on their next educational journey –  middle school!  As we wrap up the year we have some fun activities planned for our wonderful 5th grade students’ final week at Glen Allen!

 Dates to Remember:

6/14 – Mathematician Research Presentations Begin

6/15 – West Region State Project Presentations

6/16 – 5th Grade Virtual Awards Ceremony –  8:15

6/16 – 5th Grade Car Parade Celebration – 6:00 – 7:00 at GAES (see 5th grade celebration announcement.png for details)

6/17 Last day of school (full day of school)

COMPUTER CLOSE OUT:

In person student devices will be collected on THURSDAY, June 17 from the classroom teacher.  Please bring the POWER CORD and COMPUTER to school that day to be collected.

Virtual students will drop off their computers and power cords to any MIDDLE SCHOOL the week after school lets out (June 21 – 24)).  

If you are enrolled in the Summer Academy – you will keep your computer until that concludes.  You will receive more information from HCPS or the summer academy if this applies to you.

For PE next week:

Students will need 1 piece of paper and crayons, colored pencils or markers for next week’s PE lesson. 

It’s hard to believe but we are in the final days of 5th grade!  While we have some fun activities planned for the next couple weeks, we also have important content to review to ensure that students are prepared for their move into middle school.  Thank you for continuing to emphasize the importance of being engaged and attentive during class each day.

Please encourage your student to check their grades for any missing assignments.  These are entered as 50s in the gradebook.  I will not be checking and changing grades after Wednesday, June 9th.  All 50s will remain after June 9th.  I remind the students regularly to check their grades so there are no surprises.

Reminder:  Please send  me two recent pictures of your student to include in the End of the Year slideshow and two baby pictures to include in our Who is that Baby? Kahoot.  Thanks so much!

 Dates to Remember:

6/8 – Primary Election Day – Virtual Learning for all students 8:00 – 1:00

6/11 – Social Studies quiz on the 50 states and capitals

6/16 – 5th Grade Virtual Awards Ceremony –  8:15

6/16 – 5th Grade Car Parade Celebration – 6:00 – 7:00 at GAES (see 5th grade celebration announcement.pngfor details)

6/17 –  Last day of school!

MATH

We will continue to have review math homework each night.  Please be sure your student is not missing homework assignments.  Each time homework isn’t completed, they lose 10 points from their homework grade.  Thanks for your help with this.  The students are working on a mathematician project with a partner that they will present on Monday, June 14th.  We will also continue to review and prepare for middle school this week.

LANGUAGE ARTS

This will be our last week of Word Trek.  We are almost finished with The Phantom Tollbooth.  Please remind your student to use their books when completing quizzes on this novel.  The students will be working on word puzzles and review skills in small groups.

SCIENCE

The students will be finishing up their Review Placemats this week.  They will present their best slide on Thursday, June 10th.  They will also begin a periodic table license plate this week.  They will present these on Friday, June 10th.

SOCIAL STUDIES

The students are working on a west state project with a partner this week.  We will also be practicing all fifty states and capitals for the big quiz on Friday, June 11th.  ‘Tour of the States” is an awesome song for this!

Thank you for all of your support during SOL testing, as well as, with the asynchronous review over the past few weeks.  We are so proud of all of our 5th graders!  During the next three weeks we will continue to review topics in all subject areas in order to prepare the students for their move into middle school next year.  Assessments and projects will continue to take place during this time.  Please continue to emphasize with your child the importance of being engaged and attentive each day.

Don’t forget Monday is Memorial Day and a holiday!  I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend!

Congratulations, Samantha!  Samantha finished her Lexia program for the year!  I am super proud of her!!   🙂

COMPUTER CLOSE OUT:

In person student devices will be collected on THURSDAY, June 17 from the classroom teacher.  Please bring CORD and COMPUTER to school that day to be collected.

Virtual students will drop off their computers to any MIDDLE SCHOOL the week after school lets out (21 – 24^th of June).  Computer and cord!

 If you are enrolled in the Summer Academy – you will keep your computer until that concludes.  You will receive more information from HCPS or the summer academy if this applies to you.

 Dates to Remember:

5/31 – Memorial Day (student/staff holiday)

6/3 –  West Study Guide due 

6/3 – End of the Year Math Assessment

6/4 – West Region Unit Test

6/4 – Word Trek Tests Lesson 28

6/8 – Primary Election Day – Virtual Learning for all students 8:00 – 1:00

6/16 – 5th Grade Virtual Awards Ceremony 8:15

6/16 – 5th Grade Celebration Car Parade 6:00 – 7:00 at GAES 

6/17 – Last day of school!

MATH

In math we will continue to review previously learned concepts focusing on specific areas of difficulty.  It will be important for students to complete the homework practice each day and to review the notes in the math student resource folder.  We will have an end of year math assessment on Thursday, June 3rd.

LANGUAGE ARTS

We will continue reading The Phantom Tollbooth this week and may even finish it!  We will also review comma rules and continue identifying prepositions and prepositional phrases.  Your student can find resources in the Student Resources Folder to review these topics.  We will have Word Trek for the next two lists.  Your student knows that the list for next week can be found on the Friday slideshow if they would like to get started early.

SCIENCE
The students will finish their Science Review “Placemat” Project with their partner this week.  Then we will review atoms, molecules, and compounds with another fun project.  The students will make a license plate using the periodic table.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We are finishing up our exploration of the West Region.  The students were assigned a study guide to complete to help them prepare for the test on Friday, June 4th.  Completion of the study guide will count towards their Social Studies grade.  The students will also be introduced to partner project on one of the West Region states.

Virtual Field Day is happening on Wednesday, May 26th!  Stay tuned for more details!

From Mrs. Harris – The author, Ginjer Clark will be visiting Glen Allen on Wednesday, May 26th.  The fifth grade session is at noon.  Many of the students have read a lot of her books!  They will be able to ask questions about the many subjects she writes about as well as about the writing process.  You can also order Ms. Clark’s books by going to ww.bbgbbooks.com.  They start at $3.99, and she will personalize them for you!  Such a cool opportunity!

SOL SCHEDULE: 

In Person: Virtual:

The students continue to work hard demonstrating what they know through both testing and completion of asynchronous review assignments.  Just a reminder that next week we will continue with SOL test administration on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Any student that is not participating in the SOL will be assigned asynchronous work for both Tuesday and Wednesday.  Students will be expected to complete the asynchronous work by 1:00 each day in order to be marked as “present.”  There will not be a class Teams meeting on either day as we administer the state tests to our in person and virtual students.  Students will log into their resource on Tuesday at 12:00. 

Reminders for students participating in SOL testing at School:

• Arrive on time – school begins at 8:00
• Students will need their fully charged laptop during testing
• It would also be beneficial to have a couple of pencils
• Scratch paper will be provided
• Please bring a book or two from home for after testing
• Lunch: Students will eat lunch in the classroom each day of testing

Please remind your student to bring in two or three rocks to paint on the day that they are taking the Science SOL test.  We will add our creations to the rock garden at the entrance of the school.

Pictures needed!  I need two pictures of your student for our end of the year slideshow.  I also need a couple of baby pictures for a fun  Who is That Baby?  Kahoot.  Thanks so much!  🙂

 Dates to Remember:

5/25 – Science SOL (in-person students)

5/26 – Science SOL (virtual students)

5/31 – Memorial Day (student/staff holiday)

6/3 – West Study Guide due

6/3 –  Math end of year assessment

6/4 – West Region Unit Test

MATH
Students will complete activities to review and practice the various skills concepts that we have covered in math this year.  We have learned so much!  We will also complete logic puzzles and number brain teasers.  There will be an end of the year math test on June 3rd.

LANGUAGE ARTS

We are loving The Phantom Tollbooth!  Please remind your student to use the book when they are completing the Quizizz assignments in order to get the best possible grade.  We will pick our seed writing back up this coming week.  Students will use an image to inspire them to write something creative.  Then we will share.  I love to hear how differently they use the image in their writing!  We will do one last Word Trek lesson the week of June 1st.  In English we will look at prepositional phrases and how to use them correctly in our writing.  We will also review comma usage rules and edit sentences for correct comma punctuation.

SCIENCE

The students are working with a partner to create a digital slideshow of all the 4th and 5th grade concepts we need to know for the SOL tests.  They are doing a fabulous job!  I can’t wait to see the finished products!

SOCIAL STUDIES

We will take a virtual field trip to the Western Region!  We will also be looking at some of the unique landmarks that make up this region as we explore from LegoLand to the volcanoes of Hawaii.  🙂