Curriculum Update 4/16-4/20

HEY 5V Families, 


Here is what we have been up to and are up to this week: 

Reading: 

1. The kids have learned their new challenge word: fastidious. Go ahead, ask them what it means! Tell them to give you an example. 
2. We are reading a photo essay called Seeing Earth from Space and we are practicing non fiction reading strategies. As always, I will model these prior to the reading and we have already practiced good pre-reading strategies today. 
3. Toward the end of the week, the kids and I will study a debate topic from our Time for Kids magazines and ask ourselves if K-12 schools should ban vending machines that sell sugary snacks. 
4. With the aforementioned note, we are going to practice research strategies and persuasive writing skills to take a position, write our opinion, support our thoughts, and cite our work. 
5. OMG-We are loving our new read aloud Because of Mr. Terrupt. The kids are studying foreshadowing, symbolism, and character traits each day with the story. 
6. In social studies, we are looking at and creating our own political cartoons to reinforce ideas about symbolism, inferring, and main ideas. This is very meaningful and deep work which will challenge students to think outside the box. You should see some of them already! 

Writing: 

1. We are going to practice good persuasive writing skills with the Time for Kids articles about sugary snacks and vending machines that we're reading. 
2. In social studies, we are writing political cartoons based on current events and issues that we've discussed in and around the world and culture. The writing include some dialogue, maybe a caption, and of course our artist signatures! 
3. With our read aloud Because of Mr. Terrupt, the kids are going to reflect on each character's personality, attitude, and background to create 6 word memoirs that speak to who the character is in a reflection sort of way. Then, the kids themselves are going to write their own 6 word memoirs about their own lives after reflecting on the 10 or 11 years they've been alive. This is also a very deep thinking/reflective project. 
4. We are finishing up our songs. The kids formed bands. We have: The Tigers, The Island Girls, U4, AMA, Black Bulls, and Mascara Maddar. You really ought to have your child sing the melodies they've come up with at home. WOW! Bringing their instruments in, writing poetry, lyrics, and coming up with melodies...It's like music class! 

Science: 

1. We finish up studying the life cycle of a star this week by studying supernovas and black holes this week. We'll also review the birth process with the nebula and the life of a main sequence star. 
2. We will use our sky maps again this week and will study constellations, their cultural relevance, and specific stars within the pattern. 
3. Next Friday we take our field trip to the WVHS Planetarium!!
4. We'll finish off by reviewing the 4 different types of galaxies. 

Social Studies: 

1. The kids will take the Unit 10 Test on the U.S Constitution and Government this Wednesday. 
2. They will write essays summarizing and reflecting upon government and its role in our society. They'll have the opportunity to side with the Federalists and Anti-Federalists and clarify their positions. 
3. We'll also put government into the context of our school and study the analogy by asking who the governing body or bodies of our school are. 

Citizenship: 

1. The kids in 5V know not to make things personal and use "you statements". You didn't give me a paper Mr. Vaid...You forgot to turn off the monitor...We do sometimes slip up, so a kind reminder to make I statements is always in store when need be! I think the monitor should be turned off! 

1. Math: Please see the 5V Math Blog! It's link in the Links for Learning Section :) 

Proofs of Residency!

Hello 5V Families!

How are you? Mrs. Keene and the office would like all students to bring in at least 3 proofs of residency if they have not already. You can tell your students to drop this directly off at the office.

Thank you!

Mr. Vaid

Curricular Update (Week of 4/2-4/6 and important reminders

Welcome Back! Here's the update for the first week of post spring break!

Reading:

The children will be interpreting poetry and using a lot of inferential skills. In addition, we're going to study quite a bit of challenging vocabulary words. We are starting a new read aloud called Because of Mr. Terrupt. The kids will also study non-fiction texts and reading strategies as we normally do.

Writing:

Well, we are reading poetry in reading class, so it only makes sense that we write poetry in writing class. Who will be our inspirations? Poe? Dickens? Angelou? Mr. Vaid? Yes, he is a writer himself. At the same time, we'll continue blogging, writing OUR OWN STUDENT CREATED stories and writing pieces. We might continue some research skills and practices as well.

Math:

Please see the 5V Math Blog :)

Social Studies:

We begin our adventures in studying about the U.S's first Government and Constitution. We'll study the Articles of Confederation and its shortcomings as well as potential benefits. The kids did quite well on their Unit 8 and Unit 9 social studies tests! They should be so proud :)

Current Events and Real Life MATH:

Thanks to Jimmy, our stock market game is in full swing with students buying shares in different companies. He's organized it quite well. We're going to study the markets once or twice a week in the morning before we leave for specials. Kids can buy shares in Apple, Google, Ford, Groupon, Target, and even our local "companies" within the classroom. There is a LOT of math with this game and I'm excited for our kids to apply math in this context.

Science:

After we finish social studies, we begin my favorite science unit-astronomy! We'll study the stars, constellations, galaxies, and our universe. More to come on that later!

Citizenship:

We're going to emphasize playground safety and expectations.

Important Reminders:

Monday 4/2: Vaid Helpers in the AM and Bike Show Assembly @ 10:30

Tuesday 4/3: Vaid Helpers in the AM

Wednesday 4/4: Late start Wednesday @ 9:05 am

Thursday 4/5: Vaid Helpers in the PM

Friday 4/6: No School, Good Friday

Debate/Argument: Should Schools Ban Dodge Ball?

The students were asked whether schools should ban the play of dodge ball. In this case we referred to the standard game with either playground balls or hard ones, and with no option to return to the game after getting out. The kids read up on the well debated topic and did quite a bit of research visiting news sites, health sites, and other reference sites to help support their argument. They even got a chance to play a modified version of the game.

Here's what they think along with comments:

YES: 35%

NO: 65%

Arguments:

YES:

"It gives kids who aren't athletic lower confidence. The athletic kids always try to get the children who are the easiest to get, out first."

"According to reporter Shelley Frost, even when rules are established, kids can get hit in the face with the ball."

"Dodge ball is dangerous, especially with playground balls."

"Not everyone listens to the modified rules. Playing dodge ball can be dangerous with misbehaving kids and hard balls."

NO:

"I think dodge ball is a fun game full of strategy."

"The game is great exercise. If you stop in the game you get hit with a ball so the game forces you to keep on doing something active."

"Scott Amato says that dodge ball develops arm strength, speed, and flexibility."

"Why aren't other sports like soccer and football being banned? If they don't like the weaker kids being out and getting hurt then dodge ball should be an after school enrichment."

Friday is Post ISAT Movie Showing

This information is contained in an email I sent earlier.

The 5th grade classrooms are showing a post ISAT movie this Friday. The ratings are as follows:

Open Season: PG

Incredibles: PG

The Chronicles of Narnia: PG

America: The Story of Us: No Rating: It has no rating and is a complimentary education edition made by the History Channel and our textbook Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. There are however recreated scenes of historical war and battle.

Curricular Update (Week of 3/5-3/9 and important reminders

Hey 5V Families! Just because there's ISAT testing this week, doesn't mean we won't be learning or engaged with our studies. Here's what our 5th graders will be up to:

Reading:

• We're going to practice our vocabulary skits and use words in context.
• The kids will also learn several high level words and add them to their word list.
• We'll have some short discussions about the ideas for our literature writing project-an extension of our traditional literature genre project.

Writing:

• I'll be meeting with the reporters for the 5V news as well as our website managers to get this operation going!
• The kids will get some time to share some of their workshop writing. We have another student created 23 publications to show off! (Make sure to save your old ones. Toward the end of the year we'll put them all together for some type of writing convention.)
• I'll be previewing two or three mini writing projects, some involving research, to the the kids and setting them up for that.
• The kids may find some time to blog this week. Check out your child's blog and become a follower! The posts are truly awesome.
• With the blogs and our other research we becoming pretty good at citing sources.

Math:

• Please see the math blog! It will be updated later this afternoon.

Social Studies:

• If I told you the kids were enjoying social studies, that'd be an understatement. They are so engaged in our lessons.
• We will continue with opinion/argument writing pieces as they related to the study of the American Revolution.
• Kids will get a chance to protest their grievances with the King and get a lesson about protesting at the same time.
• We're going to read about the different battles, turning points, and important Revolutionaries of the War in lessons 9-2 and 9-3 this week.

Citizenship:

• We are practicing our personal best this week as we do every week!
• No guessing on multiple choice tests unless absolutely necessary-only strong inferences!

5th GRADE ISAT Reminders Week of 3/5-3-9

Hi Everyone! The ISAT testing is this week. Here are some friendly reminders regarding that:

Testing Schedule: Tuesday through Thursday (the 6th through the 8th)

Testing Times: Reading is 10:25am to 11:35am AND Math is 12pm to 12:55pm

What to bring: Kids should have two #2 pencils. Please see if you can bring some!

Friday, March 9th: Celebration with different movies in different classrooms: More to come on that later! That will be from 10:30am to 12pm.