November 17-November 21

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. 

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 are now in our 3rd unit for Science: Force & Motion!  This unit will consist of two lessons:

1. Forces and Patterns of Motion

2. Effects of Forces on Objects

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

• explain how equal and unequal forces acting on an object cause patterns of motion and transfer of energy

• design a simple experimental investigation that tests the effect of force on an object in a system such as a car on a ramp or a balloon rocket on a string

At-Home Activity:

To prepare your child for TEKS 5.7, try this short activity:

·         Ask them to look around the room and describe the forces acting on different objects.

·         Have them predict if a greater or lesser force would be required to move a certain object as compared to another.

Engage your child by asking these questions:

·         If an object isn’t moving, does that mean there is no force acting on the object?

·         When you push or pull an object, is your push or pull the only force acting on the object?

Science Summary:

Vocabulary for this lesson includes balanced forces, energy transfer, force, motion, and unbalanced forces.

·         Forces that cancel each other out because they are equal in size and opposite in direction are balanced forces. Forces that don't cancel each other out are unbalanced forces. Unbalanced forces cause changes in motion.

·         The greater the force acting on an object, the more the object will move.

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