September 18, 2019
Dear 5th Grade Families,
Our newsletter has launched! Please be sure to check your email frequently for 5th grade updates, and read to the end, so you don't miss anything important!
On the home page, you will find our 5th Grade Behavior Management Plan, or Homework Policy, and our Year-Long Curriculum Maps. You may refer to these documents at any time, and let us know if you have questions.
Please note that we send home graded/checked work weekly- please be sure to have your child share their homework folder with you on Mondays and Fridays, to obtain any important work that has been passed back, information that has been sent home, and homework sheets explaining the week's homework and upcoming events.
We hope to see you at Open House next Tuesday, 5:30-7:00!
If you have questions or concerns regarding your child, please email us, and we will do our best to get back to you ASAP.
ACADEMICS
Language Arts: In Language Arts we are continuing to read Wonder, and enjoying it immensely! Students have been studying character traits and soon we will look at story structure. We are currently finishing an art project focusing on themselves and the character traits they possess that we started on Grandparent's Day. We are also having very thoughtful discussions using our critical thinking and inference skills in class. Our culmination of this unit will involve our first book project of the year, and a whole-class viewing of the movie Wonder!
Grammar lessons continue weekly- we are currently focusing on verbs and verb tense.
We'll start our first big writing unit of the year next week- personal narrative writing.
**Fifth grade students visit the ArtSpace library bi-weekly. Books are due two weeks after they are checked out!
Math: In math we are reviewing multiplication strategies of 2 & 3 digit numbers. We are working our way to division and using the process of multiplication to aid in solving division problems. Look for your student to be doing homework that asks for multiple ways to solve multiplication problems, and learning long division techniques.
Science: In Science students are learning about the structure and function of both plant and animal cells. We have been studying all the various parts that make a cell "run" and students have been creating visual art drawings with different mediums to display the details. Moving forward, students will look cells under the microscope and write a story that mimic the workings of a cell to other real-world infrastructures.
Social Studies: Students are finishing their first social studies project focusing on the six US regions. They are creating a map of the United States highlighting the six regions of the US and researching different aspects of those regions. This will lead us naturally into our Native American unit, where we start with the four main Native American regions.
The Scholastic Book Fair is coming!
The Scholastic Fall Book Fair arrives next week and is a significant fundraiser for the school library! This is our biggest book fair of the year (including both an elementary and middle school fair) and will take place in the ArtSpace Theatre. If you send money in with your student please keep in mind that sales tax is added to book fair purchases. The book fair will be open during both K-4 and 5-8 Open House nights. Book Fair hours are:
Friday, September 20 8:30 - 5:00
Monday, September 23 8:30 - 7:00 (K-4 Open House)
Tuesday, September 24 8:30 - 7:00 (5-8 Open House)
Wednesday, September 25 8:30 - 5:00
The online book fair will be available September 15-28 and benefits the school library as well. Scholastic provides a way to send money in with students electronically through their eWallet. You can access both the online fair and the eWallet at the following link:
www.scholastic.com/bf/artspacecharterschool1
Fifth Grade field trip information:
We will visit Asheville Community Theatre on Tuesday, October 15th, to see a short, dramatic selection of some of Edgar Allen Poe's most popular short stories and poems. Thanks to all of our drivers! If you have not sent in the $8 for this show, please do so by the end of this week. Edgar Allen Poe field trip info
Information will be sent out soon regarding our second field trip, to the Carl Sandburg Home on Thursday, October 31st (yes, Halloween)! No money will be collected for this trip, but we will need drivers.
Reminders from Ms. Robin:
*3rd Saturday of the month, 9/21, Adopt-A-Street with Mr. Hall!! 9:00 am
*Our first Dine Out at The W.A.L.K. in West Asheville, Mon., 9/23, all day!
*Our Annual Welcome Cook Out!! Tues., Oct. 1st, beginning at 3:30, in the field and outdoor classroom. School will be providing hotdogs with all the fixings! Families are asked to bring a side dish to share, as well as lawn chairs or a blanket. This is purely a social event!
A note from Ms. Beth:
ACT has scholarships available for their fall classes. Please email Ms. Beth Lexa with questions, beth.lexa@artspacecharter.org.
Asheville Community Theatre offers Youth Production Classes for K-12 students interested in learning the ins and outs of participating in a big production and specialized classes like our Teen Production Class, Broadway Bootcamp, Youth Improv, Youth Acting, and Youth Filmmaking. All types of classes offer a performance component for a finale!
ACT offers financial assistance for our Youth Production Classes, and we work hard with each family to make sure that cost is not an abstacle to participation.
5th Grade Classroom Wishlist:
-Scissors
-Water color paint sets