5-2 Updates ~ 12/11/16

Hello 5-2 Families ~

Well, it's been another snowy weekend here in the Midwest!  They said it would be a snowier winter than we've had in the past few years - they were right!  Hopefully, you were prepared, and enjoyed some fun with your family in the snow doing something other than shoveling ;) and you were able to spend some time inside doing all those winter activities I enjoy - snuggling under a blanket on the couch, playing board games, and watching football :)  It looks like we have some colder temperatures coming this week - the predicted lows and windchills are right around the temperatures the district has defined as too cold for school (natural temps lower than -15, windchills lower than -30).  Keep your eyes open for school closings!

Important Dates

Revolutionary War In-house Field Trip - Tuesday, 12/13  (9:15-11:30) ~ your children will have the opportunity to learn about life as a soldier in the Revolutionary War with authentic artifacts, uniforms, and even weapons; and then they re-enact the Battle of Cowpens.  

5-2 students should wear red that day as we will represent the British army in the battle.

Science Behind Drugs In-house Field Trip - Wednesday, 12/14 (9:15-11:30)~ Robert Crown will present Science Behind Drugs.  Please read their description of the program below:

Using interactive, proven methods and visual tools, this program teaches skills for living substance-free in the face of an ever changing range of mental, physical and social pressures. Educators demonstrate the neurological cause and effects of addiction and use role play to practice their resistance skills.

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.

** Both of these in-house field trips will take place in the morning, so we will not have math instruction on either day.

Winter Read Aloud with the Principals - As has become tradition at Olive, our merry principals will be reading aloud a story with your students on Friday and having them participate in a fun winter activity.  In keeping with the new food policies from district, they will not be serving a snack this year, but I know they have some fun stuff planned for the kiddos in place of a snack.

What's Going on in the Classroom?

Math
We will begin our review for the Unit 5 Assessment on Monday this week.  Then we will be taking a break from math on Tuesday and Wednesday for our in-house field trips.  Our final day of review will be on Thursday.  Our Unit 5 Assessment is scheduled for Friday, December 16th.  You can help your child prepare for the assessment by having them work on the following fraction and decimal lessons on Khan Academy:
- Understanding Fractions as Division 
- Comparing & Ordering decimals
- Adding & Subtracting fractions - both like and unlike denominators

Social Studies
Students read about the Revolutionary War in chapter 13 and completed the organizer this week in social studies.  In this chapter, students were exposed to the different war strategies used by the Continental Army and the British Army, and learned how those strategies impacted the war.  Due to the math and reading test both scheduled for Friday, I moved the Unit 13 Assessment to Wednesday, December 14th.  Your children should have spent the weekend reviewing for the assessment.  I posted the completed organizer on Edmodo on Friday as a resource to begin studying.  They should also re-read the chapter and create vocabulary flash cards to help prepare them for the test.

We will be looking at specific battles in partners this week in social studies, and determine how the Continental Army and British Army's war strategies were used in specific battles.  Students will be given an option for how to present their specific battles to the class - they can choose to create a news or radio broadcast, create a drama to re-enact the battle, or create a poster with important information about the battle.

Reading
We continued to look at different nonfiction text structures this week, and continued our work on finding context clues for content-specific words.  We will wrap up our Nonfiction unit this week by discussing strategies for dealing with difficulties we encounter when comprehending nonfiction text, then we will learn how to synthesize information from two different, but related, nonfiction texts.  We will spend 2 days reviewing for the assessment, then we will take our Nonfiction Unit Assessment on Friday, December 16th.  I realize this is the same day as our Math Assessment, but students do not need to do anything to prepare for the Nonfiction Unit Assessment.  This is an assessment of their comprehension of nonfiction text.  They have practiced using a variety of strategies for the last 7 weeks, and should be ready to take the test on Friday. 

Writing
Students chose their topics for the editorial on Friday, and will be ready to write their opinion piece this week in writing.  They will take the perspective of a colonist or British citizen, and write the editorial as if it would appear in a newspaper at the time of the war.  They were so thoughtful as they chose their topics to share their opinions - I was so impressed with the maturity they demonstrated as they reflected on the events and people of the war and decided on their topics - they did not choose surface level topics, but deeper ideas that demonstrate their insights into decisions made during the war.  I'm looking forward to reading some of their writing!

** Because we are wrapping up so many units this week, and the students will be working hard to prepare for multiple assessments and write an essay, I have decided to eliminate their spelling, grammar, and vocabulary work for the week. **

Every child deserves a champion: 
an adult who will never give up on them,who understands the power of connection 
and insists they become the best they can possibly be.  
— Rita Pierson, educator

Cheers ~
Theresa Fowler

5-2 Updates ~ 12/05/16

Hello 5-2 Families ~

Welcome winter!  Wow!  I'm not sure if that snow caught the rest of you as off guard as it did my family, but we were quite surprised by the fact that we needed to clear off cars and shovel today!  Great day for a pot of soup on the stove, football on the TV, and blankets on the couch :)  

Important Dates

Revolutionary War In-house Field Trip - Tuesday, 12/13  (9:15-11:30) ~ your children will have the opportunity to learn about life as a soldier in the Revolutionary War with authentic artifacts, uniforms, and even weapons; and then they re-enact the Battle of Cowpens.  
5-2 students should wear red that day as we will represent the British army in the battle.

Science Behind Drugs In-house Field Trip - Wednesday, 12/14 (9:15-11:30)~ Robert Crown will present Science Behind Drugs.  Please read their description of the program below:

Using interactive, proven methods and visual tools, this program teaches skills for living substance-free in the face of an ever changing range of mental, physical and social pressures. Educators demonstrate the neurological cause and effects of addiction and use role play to practice their resistance skills.

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.

** Both of these in-house field trips will take place in the morning, so we will not have math instruction on either day.
What's Going on in the Classroom?

Math
We have been working on fractions and decimals in unit 5 since we returned from Thanksgiving Break.  This unit is a little longer than other units, so we will be working on it until we leave for Winter Break.  Our Unit 5 Assessment is scheduled for Friday, December 16th.  You can help your child prepare for the assessment by having them work on the following fraction and decimal lessons on Khan Academy:
- Understanding Fractions as Division 
- Comparing & Ordering decimals
- Adding & Subtracting decimals - both like and unlike denominators

Social Studies
We began our unit on the Revolutionary War with a tug-of-war game in the classroom this week.  What fun the kids had re-enacting the battle with an actual game of tug-of-war!! The red team represented the British, and the blue team represented the Continental Army - ask your child how unfair the game seemed at first with the largest students on the British side.  There were several rule changes to the game that represented the actual events, and the Continental Army was actually able to win the game - ask them how the blue team won!

We also spent time this week looking at several paintings from the war to see if we could determine what the war strategies were for each army.  Your students sharpened their observations skills, and used some excellent logic as they discussed what they noticed about each army in the paintings.  This week we will read the chapter and complete an organizers, with the final assessment scheduled for Friday, December 16th

Reading
We continue to focus on non-fiction text in the second Schoolwide Unit, this week focusing on determining the main idea and supporting details, then using those to write a summary.  This skill is a little more challenging to master, so we spent some additional time practicing before we moved on.  To help your child practice at home, have your child read a non-fiction article, then ask them to tell you the main idea and supporting details.

We will be finishing our Nonfiction Unit before Winter Break, but I have not yet scheduled the final assessment.  I would like to see how the students continue to progress through this unit and perform on the review before I schedule the assessment.  

Writing
We have been collecting facts about the Revolutionary War through research both in the classroom and in the LMC to prepare for an editorial we will be writing next week.  We will begin discussing the elements of persuasive writing this week, and begin writing our editorials next week.

Children close their ears to advice, but open their eyes to example

  — unknown

Cheers ~
Theresa Fowler