Hello 5-2 Families :)
We have been having a great time in 5-2 continuing to learn routines and participated in several team building activities. Hopefully, your child has come home and shared some of these fun activities with you! Not only have they enjoyed the activities, but they have spurred some excellent reflection on how to work in cooperative groups throughout the year. Our discussions have included insights on the importance of asking clarifying questions and including everyone's ideas in the process.
Important Dates and Information:
Morning Announcements - Permissions slips should be coming home this week. If your child is interested in being on our Morning Announcements team, please read the information carefully, and send in the permission slip. They will be put on a rotating schedule to serve in one week intervals. You will be notified when your child is on the Morning Announcement schedule - they are expected to be here at 8:45am during that entire week.
Band ~ Band lesson will begin next week. If your child signed up for band in the spring, they received information from Mrs. Kuzmanoff last week to bring home to you and you should have received an email with the schedule. If you have your child's instrument at home, please have them bring it to school on their lesson day. If you rented an instrument, Mrs. Kuzmanoff will have the instruments for them. Lessons are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesday, and Thursdays, with the whole band lesson at 8:10 on Wednesday mornings. Your child will be pulled for 30 minute lessons on a rotating schedule so they are not always pulled from the same subject. It is important that your child understands they are responsible for making up the work they miss while they are at their band lesson at home. In other words, on band days, they may have additional homework.
Maps Testing ~ The district has changed our assessment schedule this year. We will not be taking Fall Maps this year, but 5th grade students will be taking MAPS in January for middle school placement purposes.
Bike Rodeo (re-scheduled) ~ Wednesday, 9/14 ~ 3:35-4:45pm. Please note the Bike Rodeo is mandatory if your child would like to ride their bike to school. If they have attended the Bike Rodeo in previous years, they do not need to attend it this year.
Room Rep Meeting ~ Thursday, 9/15 ~ 2-4pm ~ I will be discussing the need for regular copy moms to help us out with the 5th grade copying. Please let me know if you're interested!
Olive PTA Spirit Wear Sale - continues and runs through 09/16. To place your order, visit the online store at Heads Up Apparel. Orders will be taken online only and your items will be delivered to your child's classroom early-mid October. Samples are on display in the Commons.
School Pictures ~ Monday, 9/19 ~ Say Cheeeeese! Picture order forms will be coming home tomorrow. Please return them to school before picture day!
What's Happening in the Classroom
Math ~ We started Unit 1 this week in math! We will cover Number Theory concepts in this unit, including factors and products, squaring and un-squaring numbers, prime and composite numbers, and prime factorization.
As I shared with you on Parent Night, I pre-test the students for every unit. This allows me to differentiate instruction for each lesson based on the results of the pre-test. I teach math in a workshop model, so students rotate stations. In the rotation, they will meet with me for instruction, spend time in their journals, and practice skills on Khan Academy or Everyday Math Online. If they demonstrate mastery on the pre-test, they will work on enrichment and advanced content; if they demonstrate a need for additional support, I will spend more time in instruction with them.
I also shared that homework is not graded because it is practice, but it is checked every day. If students do not demonstrate an understanding of the skills covered on their homework, they will be asked to re-do the assignment. Encourage your child to work through their homework each night - even if it is a struggle, they should do their best to complete as much of the homework as they can, but not to worry if they cannot finish it. We do review the homework every morning, so if they do not understand a concept, they will have a chance to discuss it with me.
Most nights, they will have a study link and math boxes for homework - this should take them approximately 20-30 minutes of their nightly 60 minutes of homework. If you find that your child consistently takes longer than 30 minutes to complete their math homework, please let me know!
Social Studies - We began our unit on the Rising Tensions in the Colonies this week with a "letter" from the PTA limiting all classroom celebrations for the students. They were angered and immediately began to organize protests and petitions. Students were writing speeches to present to the PTA Board, and they created signs to protest the restrictions. Their reactions were priceless! I almost didn't want to tell them I had tricked them for fear they would revolt on me! In the end, it was an excellent introduction to the tensions between Britain and the colonies prior to the Revolutionary War as we made connections between the colonists and the students, and the PTA and Britain. We will continue to study 6 of the major events that led to the Revolutionary War this week as students create posters about the events.
Reading - We learned about 6 different Notice & Note Signposts in reading this week. A signpost alerts readers to significant moments in a story, encouraging students to read closely at that point. Learning to spot these signposts and then to question their thinking enables readers to explore the text, finding evidence to support their interpretations. In short, these close reading strategies will help your children to become more careful readers. We will use them every time we read in 5th grade. Next week, we will begin our Schoolwide curriculum, and begin to establish routines and procedures.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns at all.
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