Important Dates and Reminders 4/18-4/22

Monday 4/18:

• Wear nature shirts to school for Ecology Club's Earth Week.


• Try to bring books from public library to supplement research on impact person, event, or idea.


• Math Pre-test in 5V (Pre-algebra)


• Please turn in 5th grade party lunch permission form.


• Begin new spelling unit.

Tuesday 4/19:

• Research continues in the lab.


• Trash clean up in the back of the school as part of Earth week.


• Continue research.


• Quiz in social studies


• Invention models are due for 5V students who chose to make a model.


• Please turn in 5th grade party lunch permission form.

Wednesday 4/20:

• Assembly in the gym at 2:45 for Earth Week.


• Quiz in social studies.


• Please turn in 5th grade party lunch permission form.

Thursday 4/21:

• Wear white t-shirts as part of Earth Week.


• Thursday math quiz potentially.


• Study over the weekend for spelling test.

Friday 4/22:

• No school today.

Curricular Update 4/18-4/22

Hi 5V Families-Here is a curricular update for next week: Citizenship: We are going to continue to study conflict resolution. I want students to practice making "I" statements with each other to share their feelings in a safe, tactful, and non-threatening manner. Reading: The students will read World of William Joyce Scrapbook in their reading anthology books. We will primarily focus on vocabulary skills-an assortment of using synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning words, and more. We will also continue to read, have reading conferences, and read for purpose in our history books. Writing: During writing students will continue their research on a person, event, or idea that has had an impact on America. They are practicing technology skills, research skills, and comprehension skills. I am trying to teach them as many research and computer skill tips as I can. Math 5V: We begin a unit on pre-algebra on Tuesday. On Monday we will have a pre-test. Our format of instruction has shifted. I am meeting with more small groups than ever while I have students practice particular skills via computer games and other alternatives like math boxes. We will have a Friday quiz. Social Studies: We are in the midst of studying the post war affects of the American Revolution and the country of America as an infant. Currently we are on chapter 10 and are assessing listening comprehension as well as reading comprehension almost daily. We are studying very broad concepts and reading to form opinions. The kids love to share their opinions and they can understand multiple perspectives and in turn their interest and passion for history has increased!!

Curricular Update for 3/21-3/25

Hi 5V Fams! Here is what we will be studying next week, prior to spring break:



Reading:

• Inferring the reasons for why the 13 colonies and their delegates declared independence from Britain.
• Learning and reviewing note taking strategies to take effective notes in order to prep for exams.
• Studying the difference between important vs. just interesting details in a SS text.
• We're also going to study and share a variety of texts through book shares and reading conferences.

Writing:

• Students are continuing to work on their research persusasive papers. They are researching information and taking surveys for data collection.
• We've written the introduction. Next week we finish with the body paragaphs and the conclusion.
• Students will also continue writing their own student made stories in writer's workshop.
• After break we are doing a fun 6 word memoir activity. You can win a prize if you participate. More details later!

Math:

• We continue to study fractions and review fractions.
• We've studied how to add and subtract mixed numbers and multiply fractions.
• We will continue studying adding and subtracting mixed numbers and multipying them.
• In addition we are going to study division of fractions and strategies for comparing fraction values, converting them to decimals and more. It's a lot with fractions! A test may be given on Thursday or Friday of next week.

Social Studies:

• We are loving social studies. We are studying about how the 13 colonies declared independece from Britain and we're going to study our country's first government, the Articles of Confederation.
• The kids will be examining perspectives of different Revolutionary groups such as the Colonists, African American soldiers, the British, and the important women who helped win the war!

Citizenship:
We will have an in-class bully discussion next week in a positive and structured setting so that students can focus on ideas and behaviors that can prevent bullying. I also want to give students who could not attend the bully meeting after school an opportunity to share their thoughts on what problems they see with bullying and how they feel about the behaviors, as well as how to prevent bullying and what kids can do to stick up for one another.

May Watts Fun Fair 3/19 11am-3pm

The May Watts Fun Fair is this Saturday, March 19th between 11am and 3pm. Please come for games, food, prizes, and a silent auction!

Curricular Update 3/1-3/11

This curricular update will include math and science from this week. Because of ISAT testing, reading, flex groups, and writing classes have been minimized.

Reading:

• Kids are giving meaning to words in context by using context clue strategies. We are performing skits to demonstrate the meanings of words like: swoon, pugnacious, distinguish, lethargic, pungent, despair, and undeniable.


• The kids are reading their traditional literature stories with two specific purposes: 1.) To analyze character personalities based on evidence and 2.) To recall important scenes from the text that are important to the goal/conflict of the characters and story.


• We'll probably start some type of reading in our reading anthology book-maybe a fictional story and we'll practice comprehension skills or strategies.


• We'll practice our fluency through 6 minute solution fluency practice, reading silently, and the read aloud.


• At some point we will also analyze non-fiction as we cross this with our current events subject and articles.

Writing:

• Next week we will be in the computer lab researching information about homework and trying to find data and sources to support our viewpoints about the amount of HW children receive.


• As we research, we are studying how to report our arguments in a persuasive manner as we study how to write and organize a persuasive essay.


• Kids will also have time to work on, as always, their student composed, self driven created work.

Math:

• This week and next week we are studying how to measure area for rectangles, triangles, and paralellograms.


• Towards the end of this week and early next week we will study how to measure volume for 3 dimensional objects and how to measure surface area.


• Finally, we will study how to measure area for a circle.


• We are going to study how to use formulas to measure area and volume for our objects and surfaces.


• There will be no math quiz this Friday, but one the following on the 11th.

Science:

• Our astronomy unit has been great. The kids are really enjoying it.


• This week we are studying different constellations, their stars, and the colors/temperatures, and how bright their stars are on the spectral classification scale.


• Kids have been also studying the life cycle of a star as we study constellations.


• Next week we'll finish up our unit with a study of galaxies and take a test, probably on Wednesday or Thursday.


• Be sure to study using the study sheets that are handed out in class.

ISAT Testing Week

HI 5V Families! This week is ISAT testing for 3rd through 5th grades.

Our schedule looks like this each day, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

10:30-11:30 Reading ISAT

12:00-1:00 Math ISAT

On Friday, March 4th between 1:45pm and 3:15pm, we will having our gold ticket celebration party because the kids made their goal of 1300 tickets in our recent counting period.

Children will have the choice between 2 movies (TBD) and can go to a 5th grade classroom to watch the movies. There will be no math class on Friday.

Debate Topic: Too Much Homework

Last week the kids and I studied an article from the Chicago Tribune about a school district in Illinois that is doing away with homework. The report questioned whether students in America are receiving too much homework and if there is any benefit to the homework.

I asked the kids what they thought prior to reading the article and to make their decisions based on their personal experiences as well as experiences with siblings and older friends.

This is what they had to say:

20% We receive too LITTLE HW.

45% We receive just the RIGHT amount of HW.

35% We receive too MUCH HW.

Opinions from kids:

Argument Too Little:

"Places like China and my cousins go to school year round and they get a lot and our scores are worse than theirs."

"We have to compete for jobs with others in America so we need more practice."

Argument Just Right:

"It's not a big deal. My brother in middle school is fine. He doesn't complain."

"Some nights we get a lot, sometimes not very much, so it balances out."

Argument Too Much:

"My sister is up till 1am sometimes. Once I went down into the basement and saw her working like at 1am."

"We're just kids and if we go to school that should be good enough, we don't need to do extra stuff after. My brother has SO much homework in high school."