Science Update

 Throughout the next two weeks, we will be wrapping up our Life Science unit, “Matter and Energy in an Ecosystem”. The “final assessment” will be a week-long project titled “Biomes Around the World”. Students will be “traveling” to different biomes and investigating/researching the living and nonliving things found in the ecosystems of these biomes. This will take place in the learning commons with many different research materials to help students complete their traveling journals. Students will also have a passport to indicate to which biomes they have traveled, and they will be expected to travel to at least two different biomes throughout the week. This project will take the place of a traditional science “test”, as it shows what students have learned throughout the unit in a variety of ways. 

Stay tuned for news of our upcoming new Physical Science unit: Structures and Properties of Matter!

Math Chapter 1

Today the students received their first checked math test back.  In class, the students looked over their test and reflected on how they performed on this test.  They are bringing it home tonight to show you and get a signature.  In addition to the test, your child’s math assignment sheet is attached.  This sheet is always kept in your child’s math folder.  If you are ever wondering how they are doing throughout a unit, you can always refer to their math assignment sheet to see their grades on their daily work.  The students will start a new math assignment sheet for the second part of chapter one.  I have reminded the students each day that they are always welcomed to redo a daily assignment if they want to improve their understanding and grade.  They just need to redo the problems that they had incorrect on a separate sheet of paper and bring them to me.  I will then re-grade their assignment and change the grade on their math assignment sheet.  However, all redone assignments need to be completed before our test review.  We will continue to work on multiplying whole numbers as well as writing numerical expressions and evaluating numerical expressions following the order of operations in the rest of chapter one.   

Language Lessons

Each week, the fifth graders will be engaged in grammar instruction.  During these language lessons, the students will learn the essential grammar and conventions that readers and writers require to make meaning.  We are just finishing up our first set of lessons where we focused on capitalization.  Throughout the year, these lessons will be taught with authentic texts that the students study and recognize the patterns.   The students have a packet that we fill out to record our class conversations about what they notice in a mentor sentence.  As we go through the process of learning the grammar focus lesson, the students then will be able to recognize errors in sentences and will be able to explain the effect of the error.  Each focus lesson will consist of 6-7 days of mini-lessons.  At the conclusion of the focus lesson, the students will complete a short Language Lesson Quiz to show what they know.  These quizzes help us to evaluate if the daily mini-lessons are transferring from practice to their everyday writing.  Overall, this instruction will help the students gain a better understanding of how language works for readers and writers.  

Canvas Accounts

 

Below are a few helpful steps that our district technology department provided so that you can create a parent/observer account in Canvas or to pair your account with another student account in Canvas.

 

To create a Parent/Observer account in Canvas:

1.     Have your student login to their Canvas account first.

2.     Go to account, then settings.

3.     On the right, click on the button to “Pair with observer.”

4.     Write down the six character pairing code.

5.     Go to https://egrps.instructure.com/login/canvas

6.     Create a parent/observer account, and when prompted, type in the pairing code.

 

To pair your account with another student in Canvas:

1.     Login to the parent portal at https://egrps.instructure.com/login/canvas

2.     Click on the Account link on the upper left.

3.     Select “Observing”.

4.     Type in the Student Pairing Code for the next student.

5.     Click on the +Student link.

6.     Below, you will see a list of “Students Being Observed”.

Fifth Grade Daily Activities & Assignments

We wanted to make you aware that you can find our daily activities and any possible homework on our Canvas sites by clicking on the different days of the week (see picture below).  If your child is ever absent, this will be a wonderful resource for them to see what we have done that day.  It is also a great resource for parents if you ever want to check what your child has for possible homework.  

Writing

The fifth graders are going to begin writing their first creative piece, "Autumn Senses". They will work on the skills of descriptive writing by using strong word choice, using figurative language such as similes and metaphors to create vivid images and incorporating transition words. Students will brainstorm what they experience in autumn with each of the five senses. The students will utilize the writing rubric that we will provide for this writing piece, and the final will be displayed for you to see in the hallway at conferences. The writing craft techniques that the students will learn and practice in this piece of writing will then be intentionally used in their personal writing piece to create details and imagery.  

Chapter 1 Math Test

We just finished learning the first part of chapter 1 in our math book.  We are splitting this long chapter into two parts.  Therefore, the students are currently working on a review over lessons 1-5.  We will check over this review in math class on Thursday.  The students can then use the review as a study guide to prepare for the test since the review looks just like the test.  We will then be taking the first math test on Wednesday, September 23rd. 

Math and Word Study Resources

 

We introduced a few different helpful resources to the fifth graders today that we also wanted to make the parents aware of.  If students go onto our Canvas page and click on the Math Link, it will take them to a page where they can access a video for each math lesson in our first chapter.  These lessons are very in depth and the teacher that presents the information does it in the same fashion that I present it in the classroom.  These videos will be helpful if students are absent and need to learn the lessons that they missed or if students want to re-watch a lesson for deeper understanding on a concept. 

 

In addition, there is an IXL link on that page that the students can click on.  This will take them to the Clever login page where they sign in with their EGR Google account.  I have “starred” 10 lessons in 5^th grade IXL.  This is a new feature in IXL where I can suggest lessons to students.  The ten lessons I starred would give the fifth graders extra practice on math lessons 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4.  We will be working on lesson 1.4 tomorrow in class.  I will continue to star different lessons for each chapter throughout the year and students can always go on there and do extra practice if they would like. 

 

The fifth graders were also introduced to a few resources on the fifth grade Canvas page when they click on Word Study.  Throughout the year we will post our spelling lists on there.  Currently list #1 is posted.  We analyzed the prefixes, root words, and suffixes for different words during a lesson in class.  The students then created as many words as they could with the different prefixes, root words, and suffixes.  The list of multisyllabic words that they could have created is also linked to the Word Study page.  One way that the fifth graders could practice their spelling and the word study patterns is by using Arcademics that is linked on the Word Study page.  The spelling and word study games will only use their specific spelling words that we are focusing on at that time. 

 

We hope that these resources are useful to all of the fifth graders throughout the year. 

 

5th Grade MAP Testing

The fifth grade students will be taking the MAP: Math assessment on Tuesday, September 14th. In addition, on  September 17th, they will be taking the MAP Reading assessment. We look forward to using this data to guide our instruction for the first semester.

Writing

 We have started out our year in writing by first focusing on the writing conventions and word study.  We will soon begin our first unit on narrative writing.  Students will be writing narratives where they establish a situation and introduce a narrator or characters and unfold the event sequence naturally.  We will work on including details such as dialogue, descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings, and use transition words.  The goal of this unit is for students to write a published personal narrative story that focuses on an important message or heart of the story.  This is always a fun writing unit where the students get to share some wonderful personal stories. 

 

Reading

 We have been spending time in class focusing on choosing "just right" books for independent reading.  Students should be bringing their books home each day and then back to school the following day.  This way, the students can accomplish a book more quickly and they won’t be trying to balance multiple stories at one time.  In addition, we have discussed with the students how to record the pages they read at home each week on their reading log that is glued into their planner.  Each fifth grader is expected to read at least 150 pages at home each week.  Our goal is for each fifth grader to read 30 books this school year.  We discussed with the students how one book is about 200 pages.  Therefore, if they are reading a 500 page book, this counts for two books.  The students have had a great start to reading this school year!  

We will be starting our first reading unit on Interpretation Book Clubs very soon.  The students will be reading a variety of fiction books and focusing on analyzing the themes.  

Science Update

My goal for fifth graders in science this year is to look at the world around them in a different way, realizing that “science is everywhere”. I hope they develop a love for science and gain confidence in what they already know about how science works and all of the new, fascinating things they learn.

We spent the first two weeks of science discussing and practicing “What it takes to be a Scientist” with a variety of different investigations, such as looking at fun-sized bags of Skittles, practicing following a “did you pay attention to the details?” procedure and observing how many drops of water can fit on the heads-side of a penny. 

On Tuesday, we started our first unit: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems. Throughout this unit, we will be growing and observing plants, investigating the relationships between animals and non-living things in ecosystems, learning about the sun’s important role in our survival, how food webs work and why, as well as researching and sharing different topics revolving around these important components of life science. For the final assessment, students will “travel around the world” to different biomes and learn about animal relationships in the unique areas on Earth and why ecosystems in these biomes interact the way they do.

Every step of every day can be found on Canvas under "Science" and clicking on the "Life Science" button. This gives students the resources needed to participate every day, whether in person or online. Here is a quick shortcut for your convenience:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14m1m6CdZxEW5bKolVW121vloARc2O3juy0gYl26UALc/edit?usp=sharing

Contact me anytime at kbenham@egrps.org

I look forward to a rewarding year with your scientist!

Word Study

 All students are receiving word study instruction in the classroom designed to help them become fluent decoders and spellers.  Students are engaged in a variety of activities each week that focus on three main goals.  The first goal is to teach students how to decode and spell one- and two-syllable words based on words they already know.   The second goal is to help students develop a visual checking system when spelling rhyming words with two or more patterns.  The last goal will be to teach students key words containing the major prefixes, suffixes and spelling changes and how to use these to decode, spell, and build meaning for many multisyllabic words.

 

Research shows that in order to be a proficient speller you must have basic knowledge of word structure.  The purpose for learning to decode and spell words is to transfer this knowledge to everyday reading and writing.  Weekly word study activities will stress the transfer to reading and writing and create automaticity, which is spelling words without thinking about the spelling of the word.

 

Every other week the students will be given a word study test.  Tests will consist of about twenty words from the lessons presented during class.  In addition, there will be transfer words, which are combinations of the prefixes, suffixes, and root words taught during the weekly lessons.

 

Social Studies

Five Themes of Geography

 

Students in 5th grade are off to a great start in Social Studies this year.  Our focus for the first few days of class was “The Power of One.”  We looked at some fine examples of how individuals could positively impact the lives of others.  This week, we are working together on a “Penny Harvest” to help support a local charity, Kids Food Basket.  Also this week the students will  be learning about the Five Themes of Geography.  This unit will last until the middle of September.  These Five Themes stress location, place, human/environmental interaction, movement, and regions.  Daily lessons will include activities dealing with these themes.  The 5th graders will begin to understand how the themes affect their personal wants and needs.  Daily news events in the United States will be a springboard to our current study. Within this unit, the students will be learning more about the geographical concepts of latitude and longitude, as well as the movement of human populations, goods and services.  After the assessment of the material covered in our geography unit, the fifth graders will be learning about the first inhabitants of North America.

5th Grade Economic System

 

In math class, we started out the year learning about our fifth grade economic system.  Each student is earning Fifth Grade Super Bucks.  They will soon be opening up a checking account with our Lecours Bank.  The students will receive a checkbook and register.  We will then make bank deposits every couple of weeks.  The fifth graders will learn how and when you can write a check once they make their first deposit.  We even will discuss what a bounced check is and how to prevent that from happening.  In addition, the students will receive a Lecours Bank credit card.  We will discuss the positives and negatives of using a credit card.

  

In each homeroom, the students will be applying for classroom jobs by writing a resume.  Once they get hired for a job with a job contract, they will receive a paycheck every other week.  Income taxes will be deducted from their paychecks.  We will be learning about how this tax money is used in the real world.  By the beginning of October, the students will also be receiving their first property tax bill.  We will be learning about the meaning of an assessed value on property (desk & locker) as well as where the tax money goes.  We are having a lot of fun learning about our classroom economic system!

Math

The students took a pretest on our first unit, Place Value, Multiplication, and Expressions. After assessing what they already knew in this area, I created an individual learning contract for each student based on their pretest results. If a student demonstrates mastery for a particular concept on the pretest, they will be excused from the regular lesson and will be given other alternative activities to work on. This unit will focus on the following concepts: place value and patterns, place value of whole numbers, properties of operation, powers of 10 and exponents, and multiplication patterns. Throughout this unit you can check your child’s daily progress and grades by looking at their math assignment sheet which will be located in their math folder once we get started on the lessons.

I continue to stress to the students that they need to learn all of their multiplication facts so that they can recall them quickly and automatically. This will help the students succeed in math throughout the year. We have now taken three multiplication tests. We will continue to take six tests with the same fifteen problems. Out of the six tests, the students are striving to achieve three tests with 100%. However, I have talked to the students extensively about setting personal goals for themselves and how improving and learning is the main goal. You can check your child’s progress by looking at their multiplication test sheet located in their math folder. ~Mrs. Lecours

Welcome

 Hello 5th Grade Families,

Welcome to our Fifth Grade News blog! Throughout the school year we will be posting on our news blog. This will update you on upcoming events, school and district news, and keeping you posted on what's going on in the classroom. 

To start the year off, we will send you e-mail reminders to check the news blog when any important information is posted. You may also subscribe to the blog so that you receive an update to your e-mail whenever new information is submitted. A link to the Fifth Grade News is also available on our 5th Grade website homepage.

We are excited about the opportunities that this year will bring!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Benham, Mrs. Lecours, and Mr. Scheidel