May 6, 2020
Dear 5th Grade Families,
The news that we’re not returning to school this year has started to sink in, and while we all expected it, we are still very disappointed. Ending a school year after already being out of the building for two and a half months feels...incomplete. There are many end of the year activities we were looking forward to- Poetry Week, our Social Studies performance, our end of the year field trip with Asheville GreenWorks, the students’ first middle school dance, the Star Ceremony, Fun Day...the list goes on, depending on what groups your children were involved with. It all comes down to a whole lot of missed opportunities. However, the health and safety of our students, families, and staff is undeniably the priority, and we know this is the best decision to support that outcome.
Last week, many of you submitted the grade 5 Remote Learning Parent Survey (if you didn’t have the chance but would still like to submit, you can do so here.) The 32 respondents so far shared a wide range of experiences- for some, your children are thriving with remote learning- enjoying the flexibility of working at their own pace without the distractions of the classroom. For others, your children are struggling to stay focused without direct instruction and support. And many of you are experiencing a wide range of “in between”- good days, not so good days, and days when you just throw in the towel and take it to nature, or to a book on the couch! That’s OK. We understand that this is a challenging time, no matter your personal circumstances, and we respect and honor everything that is being taken on right now. We appreciate your feedback, and we will continue to provide remote learning opportunities, adjusting and readjusting what is working, and what is not working, until our official end of school date of May 22nd. Beyond that, our Google Classrooms will be available until June 30th, with resources for taking this year’s learning into the summer, for those who would like that option.
Recently, our state passed the grading policy that, in essence, ended the school year for grading purposes on March 13th. As stated in that document, “no grading policy will solve issues of inequities that typically exist in communities and schools, especially when the school building environment and teacher access are not in place as equalizing and supportive factors.” Per state policy, there will be no grades issued for this 4th quarter for 5th graders. Instead of final grades, we will provide year-end feedback for students regarding learning from the full academic school year. Schools across the state are making plans for how to cover material students may have missed due to school closure.
As we enter the last two full weeks of online learning, we encourage you to continue to do what is working for your family. We hope all of our students will sign into our last few ZOOM lessons/gatherings, so we can “say goodbye” and bring somclosure to this year.
This experience has been challenging for everyone. So much is unknown, it’s hard to know what or who to believe, and people are suffering, for a variety of reasons. We hope that in some way, we've been able to provide a sense of normalcy to our students through this.
In the coming days, you will be receiving more information about school supply pick-up, and drive-thru fun day. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in the survey, and please keep reaching out. If your child is struggling academically or needs more support with online learning, let us know - we’re here and ready to help.
Sincerely,
Ms. Heather & Ms. Dana
P.S. Please continue to visit the 5th Grade News Site as we are continuing to update this site with new links and information.
ACADEMICS
Language Arts: Remote Learning is currently focused around wrapping up our novel unit for My Brother Sam is Dead. Students are creating a final project for this book, and should be recording themselves presenting it. I am so proud of the hard work everyone has been doing!
Math: In math, we continue our remote learning of skills already learned, along with other newer concepts. In the next few weeks look for your students to be looking at graphs, reviewing fraction operations and a review/introduction of geometry topics along with measurement. We may not get through the entirety of the math curriculum by May 22nd, but I will continue to have resource links for anyone who wishes to review the material. Additionally, 6th grade math starts the year with review of 5th grade math concepts for approximately 4-6 weeks.
Science: In science our remote learning unit on Energy and Matter has begun. We will spend the next week or so reviewing terms associated with it. Concepts we will be specifically covering include conservation of matter, physical & chemical changes to matter and the transfer of heat by conduction, convection and radiation. We will likely not make it through the end of our curriculum for science but many of the topics in 5th grade are repeated in 7th and 8th grade with even more specificity. I will also link resources for anything we do not cover should you choose to want to review some subject matter with your child while google classroom is still available.
Social Studies: Remote Learning is currently focused around the US Constitution- the writing of, compromises made, 3 branches, Bill of Right, etc. We have not made it through our entire SS curriculum this year due to the school closure, but I will provide some resources on the classroom page for independent exploration, which will be kept open until the end of June.