Happy 11th Birthday, Kelly!!

5-2 Updates ~ 01/04

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

I hope you all enjoyed some relaxing time with your families over Winter Break, and found a way to stay warm in this crazy cold weather!!  Brrrr!!

The new year brings some new expectations for your student as they are in the final stretches of their 5th grade year!  I will no longer be stamping their assignment notebook every afternoon - students are now expected to check the assignment board every afternoon, and copy down the assignments due independently.   Of course, I will be reminding them of their assignments and responsibilities at the end of every day, but I will no longer check in with each individual student.  They are  also expected to turn in assigned homework in the morning of it's due date - this includes re-do assignments.  While they will still be receiving reminders to turn the assignments in, I will not check in with them individually to turn their work in.  If the work is not turned in at the expected time, it will be marked late.  We are working to transition them to more independence and ownership of their learning as they begin to prepare for middle school.  Encourage them to maintain organization and listen for those reminders!  As always, if you see your child struggling with this transition, please let me know.

Important Dates

MAP Testing:

Monday, January 5th - 2:15pm - Reading

Tuesday, January 6th - 9:10pm - Math

Tuesday, January 13th - 2:15pm - Language Arts

MLK Day ~ Monday, January 19th - No School
SIP Day ~ Tuesday, January 20th - No School

Math

My math class wrapped up Unit 5 before break with a Unit Assessment.  Look for these graded to tests to come home on the first day back for a sign and return.  We will begin Unit 6 when we return with a pre-test on our first day back.  In Unit 6, students investigate data displays and sample size.  They learn how to match "mystery plots" with data, and they learn how to read and use contour maps to display certain kinds of data.  Also in Unit 6, students add and subtract fractions and relate finding common denominators to the idea that every fraction has many equivalent names.  

Social Studies

We finished up our study of the Revolutionary War before break with our Revolutionary War Presentation by Mr. Quick.  The students were quite engaged in this in-house field trip as they were able to re-enact the Battle of Cowpens.  Look for pictures of the field trip below this post.  This unit ends our Social Studies instruction for the next 6 weeks - we will return to study the Constitution at the end of February.

Science

When we return to school, we will begin our Watery Earth unit in science.  During this unit, your child will think about global and local water resources.  Students will learn about the water cycle and how Earth’s water is distributed.  They’ll learn that water on Earth is abundant, but realize that there is a limited amount of fresh, clean water available for people to use and that we must protect the water on Earth from pollution and overuse.  The most important goal of the Watery Earth unit is to encourage students to use what they learn about water to make choices and take actions in their own life that have a positive impact on water resources.

During the Water Earth Unit, your child will participate in the following classroom activities:

·      ~ Discover that Earth’s water exists in large and small bodies of water on Earth’s surface, in aquifers underground, in frozen glaciers and ice caps, and as vapor in the air.

·      ~ Build models of the water cycle to demonstrate evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and percolation.

·      ~ Learn about where their tap water comes from, how it is made drinkable, and where it goes after use.

·      ~ Discuss the essential and non-essential ways their family uses water and explore water conservation strategies.

·     ~ Learn about different types of water pollutants and various treatment methods.

·     ~ Investigate an issue pertaining to protecting water resources, take action to positively impact that issue, and communicate their accomplishment.

Your child will need one clean 2-liter bottle, cut in half separating the top from the bottom.  We will also need a number of 1 gallon milk jugs.  If you have either of those, please send them in by Monday, 1/12.  Thank you!

Reading

Before break, students turned in their Conflict Scrapbooks on My Brother Sam is Dead.  I was so impressed with the effort the students put into completing these projects!  Please look for the graded rubrics to come home for a sign and return.  

Our reading unit will focus on voting rights and allow the students more practice on integrating multiple texts to come to a new understanding.  With all the interruptions to our reading schedule over the next three weeks (MAPS testing and holidays), we will be stretching two weeks worth of instruction over the three weeks.  This means that packets and assessments will not be on Fridays, but on different days each of the second two weeks.  Students will be reminded of the different schedule daily, and it will be written on the assignment board.

Writing

When we return to school, your child will be participating in a reading and writing unit Writing in Response to Fiction. During this unit, students will gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between reading and writing and will learn essential reading and writing strategies that they will need in order to respond to fiction throughout their educational careers. The students will be reading the book, The Liberation of Gabriel King, by K.L Going.

The Liberation of Gabriel King is a well written and highly engaging historical fiction novel about a friendship between two fifth grade students, Gabriel King, a Caucasian boy, and his friend Frita, an African-American girl. The setting of the story is rural Georgia in 1976, the year of the bicentennial, and Jimmy Carter is President. The author writes about racial prejudice and the presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Frita’s goal is to liberate Gabe from his fears. Together they list their fears and pledge to conquer them one by one during the summer between fourth and fifth grade. 

In order to prepare them for this novel, we will spend some time reading and discussing Freedom Walkers and Rosa Parks to give our students context as to the setting and the civil rights struggles that were present at that time in our history.

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”         

Stay Warm!

Theresa Fowler

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Nick!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Nathan!!

Happy 11th Birthday, John!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Maddie!!

5-2 Updates - 12/07

Hello 5-2 Parents ~

It was so nice to see all of you last week for conferences and discuss your child's progress during the first trimester!  Know that I am available to you at any time throughout the school year should we need to continue conversations or discuss any new issues.  I've grown so fond of all of your children, and consider it a great privilege to teach them every day...and I so appreciate all the support I receive from each of you at home!  Thank you!

Important Dates

Band Concert ~ Monday, December 8th ~ 7:00pm

See Mrs. Kuzmanoff's email for details about the concert.  Please have them here for band rehearsal at 8:10am, and back at school before 7:00pm for the concert wearing black bottoms (pants/skirt) and shoes with a white shirt.

Robert Crown Michael - Puberty Education for Boys ~ Tuesday, December 9th ~ 7:00pm ~ Please remember to send in the permission slip and $8 if you have not done so already.

This program is for boys and an adult family member.  The identical program will be presented to our students during the day in the spring with the girls' Linda program.  This offering is made by the PTA to allow parents to participate in the program with their child.

The Michael Program allows pre-adolescent boys to learn about changes they will experience during puberty. The “boys-only” format encourages open discussion about questions that arise during the onset of puberty. We discuss the physical and emotional changes that occur during puberty and also compare the female and male reproductive anatomy.  Robert Crown educators address secondary physical changes such as voice change, increased production of sweat and oil, acne, and the growth of body hair, as well nocturnal emissions and spontaneous erections.

Each participant takes home a comprehensive booklet as a resource. Booklets are available in English and Spanish.

Program Goals:
Students will…

1. Increase knowledge about human anatomy, the changes which occur during puberty, and the reasons for these changes.
2. Understand that the changes of puberty are a normal part of human development and will increase their comfort for discussing this topic with trusted adults.
3. Learn skills to take care of their bodies as they experience the changes of puberty.

Science Behind Drugs ~Thursday, December 11th ~ Please remember to send in the permission slip if you have not done so already.

Kids face tough decisions, especially regarding the issue of drug use. RCC’s “Science Behind Drugs and Prevention” program helps kids make healthy choices and lead a drug-free life. The program uses research-proven effective, interactive teaching methods. The neurological effects of drug addiction are demonstrated using the “Reward Pathway” display in the transparent brain model. Addiction is defined and the underlying neurological response to drugs that leads to addiction. This class also includes information about prevention addiction to prescription pain medications and heroin.

Program Goals:
Students will…

1. Increase knowledge about drugs and their effects on total wellness (physical, mental social, emotional) with intense focus on neuroscience.
2. Feel empowered to take personal responsibility for increasing their total wellness and increase disapproval of alcohol and other drug use.
3. Develop strategies/tools to make healthy decisions and explore alternatives to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use/abuse.

Revolutionary War Presentation ~ Monday, December 15th ~ Please remember to send in the permission slip and $5 if you have not done so already.

This is an interactive presentation about the Battle of Cowpens.  Students will learn the different war strategies used by the British and Continental army, then have a chance to participate in a re-enactment of the battle.  Please have your child wear BLUE to school that day, as our class will be representing the Continental Army.

What's Happening in the Classroom

Math

We've been working in Unit 5 with our focus on fractions, decimals, and percents.  This is a longer unit that will take us all the way until break.  We will be taking the Unit 5 Assessment on Friday, December 19th.  Please encourage your child to be practicing their skills on Khan Academy at home.  They are assigned appropriate "recommendations" that align to our unit.  Your child works on these recommendations each day during our math hour so they should be able to access the appropriate skills at home.  Typically, students have time to master these skills during the math hour, but if a student is struggling to understand the concept, they may need more time to practice their skills at home.  Their current Common Core Packet will be due the first day back from winter break, Monday, January 5th.

Social Studies

We began the Revolutionary War unit this week with an exciting tug-of-war game in our room!  They had such a great time with this activity - it was hard to contain their excitement when I told them we were going to have a tug-of-war game!!  We used this simulation to draw some comparisons to the strategies used in the Revolutionary War by both the British and the Continental Army.  The game started with all the larger students on the red side, representing the large and well-trained British Army; and some of the smaller students on the blue side, representing the smaller and untrained Continental Army.  It looked as if the red team was going to crush the blue team.  However, after several rule changes, the Continental Army ended up defeated the British army, much to the surprise of the larger red team!  Ask your child to explain the rule changes, and the correlation to the war strategies - this will help to prepare them for the unit assessment, scheduled for Friday, December 12th.  They should also prepare for this assessment by re-reading the chapter, reviewing the unit organizer, and taking the online History Alive assessment.

Reading

This week we studied point of view in literature as we read about cowboys and cowgirls in the American West.  Since this week ended our 2nd unit in Treasures, we would typically be taking a break from Treasures this week to prepare for our Unit Assessment; however, we will be moving on to Unit 3 Week 1 next week as it ties in nicely with our Revolutionary War unit.  We will continue our literature study on point of view and perspective as they read a number of realisic fiction stories about the Revolutionary War.  They will also read 3 different accounts of Paul Revere's ride and compare information across genres - one will be a reader's theater written by a British author, Paul Revere's Midnight Ride, the second will be the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, and the third will be a non-fiction re-telling of the events, A Shot Heard Around the World.  Students typically really enjoying reading about the same event across different genres of text, so I expect them to be quite engaged in this unit.  Finally, students will read 3 non-fiction books about different battles from the Revolutionary War and compare and contrast the events of the battles while focusing on sequence as a non-fiction internal text structure.

On Monday, students were assigned a Conflict Scrapbook - due Friday, 12/19 based on their recent novel reading of My Brother Sam is Dead.  You can find all the details about this project on Edmodo.  Students will be creating a scrapbook with 4 different entries that address the four major types of conflict found in literature:  a letter from one character to another (character vs character conflict); a diary entry (character vs self conflict), a newspaper article (character vs society conflict); and an illustration (character vs nature conflict).  They will be given some time to work on this project in class, but it is primarily to be completed at home.  We have discussed planning for a larger project and how to schedule their time wisely, and I do continue to check in on with them, giving them guidelines for where they should be in their project.  Please take some time to check in with your child's progress on this project.  You can support them by setting up a calendar with deadlines for different pieces of the project.

Writing

We have been working on research and content area during our writing time using the text George vs George, a great resource for looking at the different perspectives of George Washington and King George during the Revolutionary War.  We have focused on guided note-taking strategies for the past two weeks.  Our focus in the upcoming week will be to have students come up with a research question they have around the topic of the Revolutionary War and allow them some independent time to research the answer to their questions.  During the final week before break, all of the research and work they have done during the Revolutionary War will culminate into an editorial.  Students will choose an issue, take a position, and write an editorial that might have appeared in a newspaper in one of the colonies at the time of the war.  While the editorial will primarily be written in class, you may see them working on it at home if they have band or they fall behind in the writing.  Final editorials are due on Friday, December 19th.

Have you had enough of the Revolutionary War yet??  While the students have been HIGHLY engaged in this unit (I will admit that I just love it as well!), we will be saying goodbye to the Revolutionary War as we leave for Winter Break.  

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.  ~ Ronald Reagan

Cheers, 

Theresa Fowler