Thursday October 26th

Reminders and Announcements  

• The 5th grade Smore came out today; check it out!
• Halloween is Tuesday; our school schedule is unchanged next week.
• Unit 2 Math Test is Friday, October 27th

Math 

Focus Standards

Wrapping up:

• Add and subtract decimals to hundredths and explain the reasoning used.
• Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths.

Introducing:

• Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8).

Line Plot Using Fractions

Writing 

Focus Standards

• Explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences.
• Use verb tense to convey various times, sequences, states, and conditions.
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

As we continue to add details to our personal narrative, we will be making edits along the way to fix sentence structure, verb tense, and conventions.

Reading 

Focus Standards

• Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
• Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

We will continue to study narrative/literary texts to discuss character actions and motives, as well as compare characters in the same text or between two texts.  When students are discussing a text they should be backing up their opinions or statements with specific events quoted from the text.

Science/Social Studies

Focus Standards

• Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
• Describe the impact of location on the Native American Way of Life.
• Compare ways Native American societies used the natural environment for food, clothing, and shelter.
• Explain how geographic characteristics affect how people live, work, and the population distribution of a place or region
• Describe how native societies expressed their culture through music, oral traditions, art, and dance.

We will be looking at the Native American culture as we continue our studies of the interactions between Earth's spheres in the past and present.  In the week to come we will focus on the atmosphere and geosphere.

Thursday, October 19th

Reminders and Announcements

• No School Tomorrow, October 20th  
• Book Fair is Next Week (online information is in Thursday Folders)
• This week's Leadership Skill:  Put first things first.  Ask your kiddo about it.
• Graded Science Work is coming home in the Thursday Folder today. Check out their terrarium observations and their Exit Ticket for understanding of the Earth's Reservoirs.  If your child's folder is not in their folder, they need to complete the assignment.  Encourage them to get that done.
• Check Newsela and TenMarks for current reading and math grades as well.

Math

Focus Standards

• Compare two decimals to thousandths based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
• Use place value understanding to round decimals to any place.
• Add and subtract decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. 

Video Support for Comparing Decimals

Adding Decimals

Subtracting Decimals

Writing

We are working on revising our beginnings to our personal narratives to grab the reader's attention.  We will also look at bringing forth the story arc.  If you are wondering about story arcs, you can check out this helpful article:  https://blog.reedsy.com/narrative-arc/  .

Reading 

Focus Standards

•  Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
•  Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

We are continuing to work with narrative text and strategies to help with narrative comprehension.  Your child should be reading at least 20 minutes a night.  You can check their understanding by talking to them about their reading.  We are working on summarizing narrative text using the "Somebody Wanted But So" strategy. 

Somebody Wanted But So Reading Strategy

Science/S.S.

We will wrap up our studies of the hydrosphere next week and begin looking at the Atmosphere.

Thursday, October 12th

Reminders and Announcements

• Picture Day is tomorrow.  Our pictures will be taken at 12:20
• Friday, October 20th is a Teacher Development Day.  There is no school for students.
• Remind your student to practice their math facts regularly.  Several students are working on personal goals to master their math facts.  Does your child have their facts memorized?  If not, what are they doing nightly to make progress to memorization?

Math 

Focus Standards:

• Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
• Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths.
• Read and write decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form, e.g., 347.392 = 3 × 100 + 4 × 10 + 7 × 1 + 3 × (1/10) + 9 × (1/100) + 2 × (1/1000).

The link below from Khan Academy has practice and videos for all of the focus standards in our current math unit.  Feel free to explore with your student if he/she is struggling with these concepts.  When you click on a topic you will see practice problems.  In the practice, there is a link for hints or videos very similar to TenMarks.

Khan Academy and Decimals

Writing

We have started our rough draft for the personal narrative that we would like to publish.  I am in the process of meeting with each student to determine the "heart" of their story (the message or theme they want to share with their readers).  Our lessons will focus on how to develop a personal narrative that reads like a story and engages the reader by bringing them into the story.  You can take a look at your student's work by asking them to show you their working document.  At this point, we are NOT deleting anything.  While we may choose to start over, further down the document, as part of the revision process, I want students to keep all writing to refer back to for good parts or essential ideas.

Can your child share the heart of their story with you?

Reading 

Focus Standards:

• Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

We will learn strategies to determine the main idea or message of the text and how to quote specific text to support our conclusions.  

Are you looking to engage your student in discussion about their reading but do not know where to start.  Try some of the questions from the link below.  Remember to ask for specific events/details from the text to check your child's understanding.

Open Ended Literary Questions

Science/S.S.

We will work on and revise our abstract art piece to represent the distribution of water on earth in the beginning of the week.  Later, we will start looking at Native American Culture and what role water played in the lives of different tribes.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Announcements:

• Friday, 10/6 is a 2 hour early dismissal (1:45).
• Please come see us perform The Rainmakers with Synetics Theater Group on Wednesday 10/11 at 2:45.  We will start promptly in the cafeteria.  Our performance will last for about a half hour.
• Picture order forms are coming home today.  Picture day is next week.
• Please note if you checked for your child to be on the Do Not Publish list, then they will not have their picture put in the yearbook.  If you have questions about this contact me or the office.
• Take the time to sit with your student and review their Newsela work, TenMarks work, and Google Classroom Assignments so that you have a clear picture of their progress.

What's Up Next Week?  

Math: 

Focus Standards:

5.NBT.A.1- Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
5.NBT.A.2- Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10.

5.NBT.A.3- Read and write decimals to thousandths.
5.NBT.A.3a- Read and write decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form, e.g., 347.392 = 3 × 100 + 4 × 10 + 7 × 1 + 3 × (1/10) + 9 × (1/100) + 2 × (1/1000).

We will be working with these standards over the next two weeks.  I will also continue to support students who are still working on multiplication and division of multi digit numbers.  You can download and print worksheets for your student if they need practice with the processes.  I would also recommend Khan Academy as a great reference/review.

Multiplication Process

Division by 1 Digit

Division of Multi Digit w/o Remainder

Writing: 

Focus Standards: 

SL.5.1.b - Comprehension and Collaboration: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.

W.5.3.b - Text Types and Purposes: Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

We will get back to our seed ideas and begin to develop them into a piece to be published as we learn narrative techniques and work with our writing partner to improve our use of these techniques.

Reading: 

Focus Standard:
RL.5.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

We will continue to work on strategies to help with literary comprehension next week as we read some new Native American legends and myths.

Science/Social Studies:

Focus Standards:

Provide evidence about the distribution of water on Earth

Describe the hydrosphere and interactions using a variety of models.

We will be using abstract art next week to create a model to represent the distribution of water on Earth.