November 10-November 14

Coat and Jacket Support

    As we get into cooler temps, there is always a need for coats and jackets. If your student(s) are in need of a coat or jacket this season, please fill out the google form below! These will be ready for distribution in the second week in December. 

  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_-srxCz2ZziCMHLg-CpFg_PAUUetYV_iHxCkZRtBgtb6e7g/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=103455243273152267787  

We encourage all families to join our 5th Grade Facebook page! While the same information is always sent home through email, our Facebook page is a great place for quick reminders and to see photos of what’s happening in 5th grade. It’s an easy way to stay updated and feel connected to the exciting learning and events happening in our classrooms.

We are so excited to begin this new nine weeks. In reading, the focus of our next unit will be to teach students to understand informational text in order to make inferences and summarize texts. Students will also be working on finding central ideas and making connections across genres.

During Reader’s Workshop, we will read a variety of informational texts. Students will study how they are complex, find main ideas, and summarize while reading nonfiction texts. Students will learn to summarize and make inferences from informational texts. Students will learn to make connections across different genres. 

Mrs. Nagy's reading class will come home with extra summarizing practice on Tuesday, November 11th. For optional homework practice, I would love for students to complete the summary for the passage “Toppling Down.” Please return by Friday, November 14th.

During Writer’s Workshop, the focus will be composing organized informational texts, using text evidence to support our ideas. Students will plan and draft informational essays. They will develop ideas using facts, details, and examples. Students will also be revising and editing their pieces of informational writing as part of the writing process.

Unit 3: Fraction Operations

Our Focus

Our Fraction Unit focuses on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. The student is expected to add and subtract fractions with unequal denominators, multiply whole numbers times fractions that refer to the same whole number, divide whole numbers by a unit fraction and divide a unit fraction by a whole number. 

Instructional Approach

The students will transition from working with fractions with like denominators to working with fractions with unequal denominators. Finding the factors and multiples of numbers is a very important piece of this process.  Therefore we will be spending lengths of time decomposing and building numbers. The students will use fraction models, decimals, and pictorial models to help them understand how converting fractions to equivalent fractions makes adding and subtracting fractions simpler. We will use repeated addition to represent the multiplication of fractions and whole numbers. We will use strip models to help illustrate the division of unit fractions and whole numbers. 

Family Support

• practice multiplication facts

• practicing multiples of numbers

• finding equivalent fractions within the home or real world

• have your kiddo teach you something they have learned about fractions that day

• play online games 

• vocabulary: numerator, denominator, simplify, common denominator, factor, multiple, equivalent

Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators 

• Using models

• Using strip diagrams

• After building the concept, we will show the process of using multiples to find common denominators to add and subtract fractions. 

Multiplying Fractions and Whole Numbers

• Using models

• using repeated addition

Dividing Unit Fractions and Whole Numbers

• using models

We have finished our first unit of Science!  We are now diving into our next unit: Energy.  This unit will consist of three lessons:

1. Energy Transformations - understanding the different types of energy using MELTS (Mechanical, Electrical, Light, Thermal, Sound) and that there can be a transformation from one type of energy to another (i.e. turning on a flashlight causes a transformation from chemical energy (the batteries) to light energy)

2. Electrical Energy in Circuits - learning the parts of a working circuit (battery, wires, lightbulb, switch, etc.) and how they all interact with one another

3. Light - demonstrating how light travels in a straight line and can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed

By the end of this unit, your child will be able to:

• demonstrate how energy is transformed as it moves through a flashlight system

• describe electrical currents moving through circuits

• demonstrate how light travels in a straight line and can be reflected, refracted, or absorbed when it encounters different media

We are now in our last lesson under this Energy Unit--Light!

The American Revolution

Our Focus

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….” 

What motivates an individual to risk everything to stand up against a greater power? How do words impact a revolution?  Is this adage true:  “the pen is mightier than the sword?”  We will explore these ideas in our next unit of study, the American Revolution.  Our fifth graders will analyze the causes and effects of the American Revolution and explore the important ideas and purpose within the Declaration of Independence

Instructional Approach

Your child will develop his or her understanding of the American Revolution by exploring the people and events of that time through an inquiry approach:

• Why did we seek independence from Great Britain after having a mostly positive relationship for 150 years?   Students will gather facts and evidence to find out. 

• Who were the people of the revolution?   Through the use of primary and secondary sources, students will learn about those who risked all for independence.  

• Who were the Sons of Liberty?  What happened to the Loyalists? These were interesting people who lived and made choices that affected their lives and shaped America. 

• Why did Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence have such a powerful impact?  Why didn’t King George and Parliament listen to the colonists’ argument against “taxation without representation”? 

Each 5th grader now has a Student Data Binder, which will be sent home on selected Fridays, usually in the middle and at the end of each 9 weeks. Binders should be returned the following Monday. Please note: papers should remain in the binder at all times. Inside, you will find an acknowledgment form—parents/guardians should sign this form each time the binder comes home.

Parents also have access to their child’s daily work through Google Classroom. If you need help accessing it, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher. At the end of the school year, the binder will be yours to keep as a record of your child’s growth.

This first binder will focus on your child’s Beginning of Year (BOY) assessment information.

✅ Quick Review

📅 Sent home selected Fridays

📖 Return the following Monday

📝 Do not remove papers from the binder

✍️ Sign the acknowledgment form each time

💻 Daily work also available in Google Classroom

🎓 Binder is yours to keep at the end of the year