Week of February 3, 2014

Math: Students will be continuing to build onto their Hands-On equations lessons. If your child forgets a lesson, here is a link to tutorials. Hands-On Equations

Writing:  We will be doing prompts 6, 7, 8, &9. Students will continue to read "The Liberation of Gabriel King". 

Reading/Novels:  Students will be finishing up their novels and will write their final extended response to them. 

Our February Genre is... NON-FICTION! Start looking for non-fiction books that interest you, challenge you, and are grade-level appropriate. 

Science:  Students will be learning about groundwater (aquifers, percolation) and water found in glaciers/polar ice caps. They will be reading and taking notes on Chapter 5 &6, in addition to doing some fun experiments. 
Ch 5/6 Flashcards

OLYMPIC PLANNING: Here

Special Events:

Monday 10:15- Close Reading lesson with Mrs. Polito

Tuesday 9:15 (NO MATH)

Tuesday 11:15- Oriental Institute Follow-up Project with Mrs. Fajks. 

Thusday 1:30- Coding Lesson 2 make-up 

PARCC Assessment

The PARCC assessment will be replacing the ISATs next year. Here is a link to what that may look like/what the test is.

According to their website:

"PARCC’s next-generation assessment system will provide students, educators, policymakers and the public with the tools needed to identify whether students — from grade 3 through high school — are on track for postsecondary success and, critically, where gaps may exist and how they can be addressed well before students enter college or the workforce."

Sample Questions/Test

The Week of January 27, 2014

Math: Student's data projects will be due on Tuesday the 28th. We have spent several days working on it in class, and probably only have coloring and decorating left to do. On Monday we will introduce Hands-On Algebra, which is a 5th grade favorite! Students will be given a "balance" and pawns/cubes to act as manipulatives for solving algebraic problems. Homework will not consist of the usual study link, but instead problems from Hands-On Equations. Ask your child to show you how to do it! It is quite impressive. 

Writing:  We will be writing journal prompts 4,5, &6 the rest of the week. Grammar will consist of learning about pronouns and antecedents. 

Reading/Novels:  We will continue to use non-fiction to encourage good reading habits and strategies. During novels time, each group will have a selected set of chapters to read and will be guided through their second extended response to their novel. I provided each student with feedback on their first response last week in their reader response journals- they all did a great job! 

LETTERS ARE DUE!! 

January Template  (This is due January 29th!)

Science:  Students will explore bodies of water and if they are salt/fresh. I am pushing back the Ch 4. quiz to Tuesday. Be sure students study using their outline/notes. We will learn about groundwater (aquifers, percolation, etc) this week. 
Flash Cards for Vocabulary

Special Events:

-Art make-up class will be on Friday the 31st from 1:15-2:00 as we missed our scheduled time last week due to the field trip. 

-Tuesday the 28th we will have our 2nd lesson on computer coding in the LMC. 

Week of January 20th, 2014

NO SCHOOL MONDAY/TUESDAY (20th/21st) for students!

Here are some photos from last week's field trip to the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago

Math: Wednesday/Thursday students will work on their data projects in class. Friday we will have a end-of-the-unit quiz on the concepts covered. There will also be a problem solving portion relating to fractions/percentages. Continue to encourage your students to practice math facts independently and IXL skills(especially with 2 days off of school!) 

Writing:  We will be writing journal prompts 1, 2, 3 the rest of the week. Grammar will consist of a review of irregular verbs. 

Reading/Novels:  During whole group instruction, we will be working on Comprehension Toolkit lesson on Asking Questions: Read to Discover Answers. We will discuss different strategies to help us as we read. We will be using non-fiction articles to assist us. During novels time, each group will have a selected set of chapters to read and will be guided through their first extended response to their novel. 

Students are expected to read a Fantasy novel this month independently. Here is the letter template: Be sure to go to FILE, MAKE A COPY, and add your name to the title too. 
January Template  (This is due January 29th!)

Science:  We will learn about various bodies of water/where they can be found locally/nationally. Students will be allowed to use iPads/computers to find estuaries, lakes, rivers, bays, etc. We will also do a skill building activity discussing why we use models in science. Students can expect a quiz on Chapter 4 Monday, Jan. 27th. They have notes/their book to review. 

Special Events: None this week! 

Week of January 13, 2014

Math: We will finish Chapter 5. Encourage your child to get additional practice on IXL with the skills I recommended in class. We will begin a project that requires students to gather data from their classmates. They will work with a partner, but create their own final project. 

Writing:  Students will continue to work with Bloom's Taxonomy questioning and research questions they have from Freedom Riders.  We will begin WEX Book 2, which is our Response to Literature unit. 

Bloom's Research

Reading/Novels:  We will finish up our questioning lessons, continue to practice with extended responses, and begin novels. Each week students will write an extended response that corresponds with the novel they are reading. 

Students are expected to read a Fantasy novel this month independently. Here is the letter template: Be sure to go to FILE, MAKE A COPY, and add your name to the title too. 
January Template

Science:  We will read through Chapter 4 (and practice note taking). 

Special Events:

• Field Trip to Oriental Institute on Thursday the 16th. Please be at school by 8:50!! We will leave promptly at 9am. 
• MAP TESTING! 

Week of January 6th, 2014

Happy New Year! 

Math: Remind your child to turn in their extra credit packet from break!(Extra credit will be awarded for completion). We will work on finishing Unit 5 (part 2), regarding data, pie charts, bar graphs, data collection. We will introduce a project on Friday regarding a survey your child will create. 

Writing:  On Monday-Wednesday we will introduce Bloom's Taxonomy levels of questioning. We will also use the text "Freedom Walkers" to accompany this lesson. We will begin WEX Book 2 (Response to Literature) on Thursday. Students will be taught to use text clues to support conclusions they make. 

Reading/Novels:  We will begin Comprehension Toolkit Lessons on asking questions to aid our comprehension this week. I will use a read aloud to demonstrate how to use this skill. During our novels time this week, we will introduce the ISAT extended response format for writing. Next week we will begin novels and students will be expected to write 1 extended response for their novel a week. 

Science:  We will begin the Watery Earth unit on Monday. Look for a family letter in students' backpack mail. In addition, if you have any gallon bottles (milk/water), please rinse them out, and send them in! I would really appreciate it! 

Special Events:

• School is cancelled on Monday, January 6th!
• Stars Lunch for December on Tuesday the 7th
• The Geography Bee Round 2 will be at 2PM on Friday
• Field Trip is planned for Thursday, January 16th to the Oriental Institute