5-2 Updates ~ 11/10

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

Happy Veteran's Day!  Tomorrow is a day we should all pause and think about those men and women serving in our armed forces.  With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we have much to be thankful for when remembering our military.  Looking for a way to celebrate?  Think about having your child write a letter to a soldier thanking them for their service.  Here is a sample letter from a 5th grader:

Dear Serviceman or Servicewoman,
Thanksgiving reminds us of all we have to be thankful for.  We want to thank you for our freedom. First, we want to thank you for fighting the many battles that you have fought! Next, we know you are very brave! Last, thank you for the protection you provide for our country, cities, families and everything you protect. We appreciate you and all the sacrifices you make so that we can enjoy the many freedoms we have in the United States! We want to say we are very proud of you and all the men and women who serve our country!
Your friend always,

Please send in your child's letter if they choose to write one.  We will be collecting these letters, and sending them off to our soldiers overseas so they will receive them in time for Thanksgiving.  We will be working on writing as many of these as we can in our spare time over the next week.  Thank you!

Important Dates

Bob Jones University's Wind Ensemble ~ Wednesday, November 12th ~ 1:45-3:00pm - We will walk to Thomas Middle School on Wednesday afternoon to enjoy a concert.  Permission slips went home last week.  If you have not returned the permission slip, please be sure you do so by tomorrow.  Thank you!

Progress Reports Issued ~ Friday, November 22nd - Please remind your children that they can check on their grades at any time by asking for a mid-term progress report.  They should be encouraged to own their grades this year, and understand the impact of daily work has on their final grades.  I've been impressed by the number of students who have asked me for their mid-term reports, and questioning how to improve their grades.  What a group of dedicated students!


What's Happening in the Classroom

Math

Unit 3 Assessments came home today for a sign and return.  Please be sure to review the test with your student, and have them return it to me tomorrow.  My math class started Unit 4 Division this week.  This is only a 2-week unit, with our Unit 4 Assessment scheduled for next Friday, November 21st.  Students can practice for this assessment by logging on to Khan Academy and practicing any of the division recommendations I have made to their accounts.  I continue to encourage the students to practice their mulitplication and division facts at home on a daily basis.  Many of the students do not have automaticity with their math facts yet, and this is impacting their ability to accurately complete the division algorithm. 

Social Studies

We've spent the past week looking at the arguments between Patriots and Loyalists in Unit 11.  They studied 6 specific historical figures, and their arguments for and against independence.  Students enjoyed using Google Drawing to create Debate Cards illustrating the arguments between these two parties to help prepare them for the test.  These Debate Cards will be on display when you visit our classroom for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Please look for the graded rubrics to come home for a sign and return by the end of the week.  Students will also be able to participate in a debate tomorrow during our social studies block.  They were asked to choose one perspective - the British or the Colonists - and defend who they believe was right as the tensions began to rise in our country at the time of the Revolutionary War.  The Unit 11 Assessment is scheduled for Friday, November 14th.  Please have your student prepare for the test by logging onto the History Alive site (link on the right hand side of this page) and taking the practice test.  They should also re-read the chapter, and memorize the arguments and actions of the 6 people we studied in this chapter.  They will be given a Unit 11 Review to help them prepare for the test - please be sure they are using the text to work on this review!

Reading

We continued our study of identifying main idea and supporting details in non-fiction text this week as we read Maya Lin:  Architect of Memory.  Students became better equipped to identify the organizational structure authors use when writing non-fiction text by comparing the list structure of Rattlers to the web structure of Maya Lin.  These are challenging comprehension strategies, but with additional practice and review, students are making excellent progress in their ability to comprehend complex text.  Next week, we will return to fictional text and look again at the theme of a story.

Students read a non-fiction graphic novel about an important person from the Revolutionary War period last week, and have been working on an Explain Everything (an iPad app) project using the novel.  Our new Common Core Standards have our students analyzing how illustrations and text contribute to the overall meaning, tone, and beauty in a graphic novel.  They thoroughly enjoyed reading these novels, and are quite engaged as they learn to closely read a different type of text.

They were also given My Brother Sam is Dead, a novel about a boy living through the conflict of the Revolutionary War.  This novel is due after Thanksgiving Break, when we will use it to take a closer look at the types of conflict in literature.  The content of this novel may be more mature than other novels they have been read because it deals with the topic of war, but it is not graphic at all and completely appropriate for their grade level.  Many of our 5th grade classes read it across the district because it is an accurate depiction of the war from a young boy's perspective.  We find most students are quite engaged in this novel, and it provides an additional perspective to their study of the war.  The students and I did discuss the content of the book at length last week when I assigned it, but I wanted to give you all a heads up just in case they had any questions or wanted to discuss the book with you.  If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Writing

Students turned in their polished personal narratives on a memory with a special person last Friday.  I was so touched by so many of the stories!  Ask them to share their story with you, then perhaps ask them to share their story with the person they wrote about.  Far too often we neglect to tell people the impact they have on our lives, and these essays are excellent ways to share those feelings.  Look for their graded rubrics to be signed and returned to come home today.  We discussed their scores on the rubric, and looked for specific ways to improve their scores.  Today, they planned their second personal narrative, and tomorrow they will write and submit their second polished piece.  Finally, at the end of the week, they will write a 3rd personal narrative in 60 minutes.  Practicing the writing cycle - from planning to finished piece - within a time frame is an important skill for students to be successful on the upcoming PARCC assessment.

Book Buddies

Our 5th graders were SO excited to get started with their Kindergarten Book Buddies this week!  Many of them fondly remember their 5th grade Book Buddies when they were Kindergarteners themselves, and were excited to give the same experience to a little kindergartener.  We met this week and just spent time on an activity that helped them get to know each other a little better.  We will be meeting with them every other Friday afternoon for the remainder of the year, working with the little ones on important literacy skills.  I've included pictures of our first meeting below:

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, 
and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry