04/29 to 05/10
ELA:
There will not be a Spelling pre-test or Spelling Test during the week of April 15th as it is a short week.
The date for Spelling Pre-Test # 17 has been changed and it will now be on Monday May 6th. Please use the Spelling City link to study for this test. The final Spelling test will be on Friday, April 26th.
We are on Chapter 9 of The Phantom Tollbooth and will continue to read the book.
Social Studies:
Students have completed the lesson Cooperation and Conflict in North America. The lesson ended with a focus on one of the many clashes in which the English pushed the Native American people off of their lands.
Students will have an open-book lesson test on Wednesday, May 8th. Students can also use the Blooket review links that have been provided on the SS Google Classroom.
04/15 to 04/26
ELA:
There will not be a Spelling pre-test or Spelling Test during the week of April 15th as it is a short week.
Spelling Pre-Test # 17 will be on April 22nd. Please use the Spelling City link to study for this test. The final Spelling test will be on Friday, April 26th.
We have started reading the novel The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. This is a classic novel about a bored boy named Milo, whose boredom is largely the result of his inability to appreciate the world around him. His bedroom is the perfect example of this: it is practically overflowing with toys, all of which Milo finds tedious. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in Milo’s bedroom he gets into his electric car and drives through it, discovering a whole new world. Milo explores new cities like the city of Dictionopolis where synonyms and figurative language are used in abundance. Fifth-grade students are thoroughly enjoying the novel, and they will continue to complete the spelling, grammar, and vocabulary lessons that come with the curriculum.
Social Studies:
Students are beginning the lesson Cooperation and Conflict in North America, with a focus on the Early English Settlements that were created during this time.
03/04 to 03/15
ELA:
There will not be a Spelling pre-test or Spelling Test during the week of March 4th as it is a short week.
Spelling Pre-Test # 15 will be on March 11th. Please use the Spelling City link to study for this test. The final Spelling test will be on Friday, March 1st.
During the week of March 4th, we will be reading the biographies of Joseph Plumb Martin and Sybil Ludington. These are excerpts from the book We Were There Too and focus on two children who made a difference during the time of the Revolutionary War.
The following week we will be reading the realistic fiction "Lunch Money" , about a boy who creates and sells a miniature comic book.
Students will review the target skills of compare and contrast, the author's purpose, text structure, and text and graphic features.
Students will begin to write their personal essay for the AAA Safety Patroller of the Year Awards. Those students who do not participate in Safety Patrol will also write an essay based on what they have observed of Safety Patrol.
Social Studies:
Students are completing the lesson "Routes of Exploration to the New World" with a news report on an incident that occurred between the French and the Spanish in Florida during the Age of Exploration.
Students have been introduced to an online history simulation game called Mission US. They have created an account and will be able to play this game during any free time that they might have in ELA or Social Studies. You can find out more about Mission US on their website.
02/20 to 03/01
ELA:
There will not be a Spelling pre-test or Spelling Test during the week of February 20th.
Spelling Pre-Test # 13 will be on February 26th. Please use the Spelling City link to study for this test. The final Spelling test will be on Friday, March 1st.
During the week of February 20th, we will be reading the narrative nonfiction "They Called Her Molly Pitcher" which is a story that focuses on the topic of the female experience of life on the battlefield during the Revolutionary War.
The following week we will be reading an excerpt of the biography of "James Forten" which speaks to the African American experience during the Revolutionary War.
Students will be focussing on the target skills of the sequence of events, main idea, and supporting details, drawing conclusions and generalizations, as well as analyzing illustrations in a text in order to add to their comprehension of that story.
Students will begin to write their personal essay for the AAA Safety Patroller of the Year Awards. Those students who do not participate in Safety Patrol will also write the essay based on what they have observed of Safety Patrol.
Social Studies:
We will begin the lesson "Routes of Exploration to the New World" with an investigation into certain European explorers who claimed land in The Americas for the country that they were representing. Many of these explorers pushed out and in many cases massacred the indigenous people who lived on the land before they arrived.
02/05 to 02/16
ELA:
.Spelling pre-test # 12 will be on Monday, February 12th. If your child would like to study for this test they can use the Spelling City Link. The actual test for this lesson will be on Friday, February 16th.
We will begin to read the historical fiction story "Dangerous Crossing" and focus on the target skill of cause and effect. We will also be exploring and answering the question "What can individuals do to help shape a new government?"
During the week of February 12th, we will be reading the narrative nonfiction "Can't You Make Them Behave King George?" which is a story that focuses on the many factors that led to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.
Social Studies:
We will complete the lesson "How and Why the Europeans Came to the New World" with an investigation into the different changes that occurred in Europe before the European colonization of North and South America.
The lesson test will be on February 16th. Students can use the Blooket game review link
(1/22 to 02/02)
ELA:
.Spelling pre-test # 10 will be on Monday, January 22nd. If your child would like to study for this test they can use the Spelling City Link. The actual test for this lesson will be on Friday, January 26th.
.Spelling pre-test #11 will be on Monday, January 29th. If your child would like to study for this test they can use the Spelling City Link. The actual test for this lesson will be on Friday, February 2nd.
We will begin to read the informational text "Cougars" in the Journeys textbook.
Students will continue to work on their endangered species research essay. The majority of the class has completed the research and note-taking portion of the process and will begin the first draft of their essay on Monday insha'Allah.
Social Studies:
As we continue learning the reasons why the Europeans decided to come to what was known as "The New World", we will also be discussing beyond the textbook which often represents only one point of view of historical events.
We will watch snippets of the documentary "America Before Columbus" which will give the students a view of what America was like before Columbus "discovered" it.
(1/08 to 1/19)
ELA:
The school-wide spelling bee will be on Wednesday, January 18th at 8:15 am. Good luck to our fifth-grade finalists Tasneem Ismaili and Izaan Ahmed.
Students read the story "Everglades Forever" and learned about the author's purpose in an informational text.
We will begin writing a research essay on an endangered animal of the student's choice during the week of January 15th. This assignment will be worked on in class.
We will begin to have spelling pre-tests every Monday starting January 22nd.
Social Studies:
The students are currently learning about the reasons why the Europeans explored and later inhabited the Americas.
During this lesson, the students will simulate the role of an underwater archaeologist and explore the artifacts that they have found in a ship. They will have to determine the location of the artifact as well as its purpose.
Weeks 13 to 14 (12/04 to 12/18)
ELA:
It is officially Spelling Bee season. The students were given the 5th-grade Spelling Bee list on Tuesday, November 20th. Students will have the written Spelling Bee test on Monday, December 4th. This test is not graded. Any student who receives 18, 19, or 20 out of 20 will move on to the next round, the in-class oral Spelling Bee which will be held in class on December 18th.
For those students who are interested in the Spelling Bee they can study using the paper list, the Spelling City link, or the Blooket link.
Students will be beginning to work in their Journeys textbooks, with a focus on informational texts.
We will be abstaining from Spelling Tests for the next few weeks to give the students time to focus on the Spelling Bee.
Social Studies:
The students will complete lesson 3 American Indian Cultural Regions during the week of December 4th inshallah. The test for lesson 3 will be on December 20th. Students may use the Blooket review link to study for this test (there are more game mode options available on the SS Google Classroom)
Weeks 8 to 10 (10/23 to 11/10)
ELA:
Spelling Pre-test # 9 is postponed until next week. Students will instead have the pretest on Monday, November 6th. The final spelling test for lesson 9 will be on Friday, November 10th. Here is the Spelling City link for lesson 9.
The final The Indian in the Cupboard test will be on Wednesday, November 1st. This will be an open-book comprehension test.
Compare and contrast essays for The Indian in the Cupboard will be due on Monday, November 6th. Students will only be working on these essays in class.
Social Studies:
The students have completed lesson 2 of the TCI curriculum. The lesson 2 test will be on Tuesday, November 7th.
Students will begin to present their Winter Counts, done in the style of the Lakota people on Tuesday, October 31st. The Lakota tribe was known to record their history through the drawing of pictographs on bison hide. In this assignment, the students were asked to recall 5 to 7 important points of their own history and draw a pictograph to represent each of these points.
We will begin lesson 3 American Indian Cultural Regions
Weeks 6 and 7 (10/02 to 10/20)
ELA:
Spelling Pre-test # 6 is canceled for this week. Students will instead have the pretest on Monday, October 9th. The final spelling test for lesson 6 will be on Thursday, October 12th as there is no school on Friday. Here is the Spelling City link for lesson 6.
Spelling Pre-Test # 7 is set for Monday, 10/16. If students would like to study ahead of time they can click on the Spelling City Lesson 7 link. The final test for lesson 7 will be on 10/20.
We are close to completing The Indian in the Cupboard. I will update you on the final test date once I have more information.
Social Studies:
The students are currently working in partners on their Native American Origin stories and are almost done with their final drafts.
Students will present their origin story to the class on Friday, October 6th.
We will be reading about how Native Americans adapted to the different environments they lived in.
Weeks 4 and 5 (09/18 to 09/29)
ELA:
Spelling Pre-test # 4 is set for tomorrow, Monday 09/18. Here is the Spelling City link for lesson 4. The final test for lesson 4 will be on 9/22.
Spelling Pre-Test # 5 is set for Monday, 09/25. If students would like to study ahead of time they can click on the Spelling City Lesson 5 link. The final test for lesson 5 will be on 9/29.
We will continue reading through The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks and will also begin writing our personal narrative.
Social Studies:
We will begin Lesson 2 "American Indians and their Land". The main question that we will be exploring during this lesson is "How did American Indians adapt to different environments in North America?" The students will be exploring the migration routes of the Native Americans when they first settled in the Americas as well as the reasons that they migrated.
Week 3 (09/05 to 09/08)
ELA:
This week's spelling pre-test will be on Tuesday, September 5th due to the long weekend. Here is the Spelling City link for lesson 2.
We will continue our work with The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks.
Social Studies:
We will complete Lesson 1 "Geography of the United States". The fifth graders will have their lesson 1 test on Thursday, September 14th inshaAllah. Students can use this Blooket Review Link to review for the test. Students do not have to create accounts in order to review.
Week 2 (08/28 to 09/01)
ELA:
Starting Monday, the fifth graders will begin having weekly Spelling Tests. The Spelling pre-test is ungraded and will be administered every Monday as a practice. The graded spelling test will be held every Friday. The students can practice the spelling words by clicking on this Spelling City link.
The students will continue to write daily in their Writer's notebook. They will be exposed to different topics which will allow them to explore their creative side.
This week in language arts the students will begin to read the novel, The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. This novel is filled with excitement and also speaks to the importance of friendship and how it evolves and changes over time. While reading this novel students will be exploring new vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and target skills such as point of view, story structure, cause and effect, and making inferences to name a few.
Social Studies:
We will continue Lesson 1 "Geography of the United States". The fifth graders are currently working on various "Geography Challenges" in order to refamiliarize themselves with their map skills.
The First Few days of school (08/16 to 08/18)
Assalamu Alaikum Dear Fifth Grade Parents,
I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer break. The first few days of school have been eventful and exciting. It has been wonderful to get to know each child and I am excited to become better acquainted with them as the year progresses inshaAllah. Here are a few updates on what will be happening in the next two weeks of school.
ELA:
Students will be completing their "This is Us-A Fifth Grade Slideshow" assignment during class time only. When it is completed each student will have their own individual slide to present to the class. (this slide will look like the one I have provided about myself).
As writing is often a difficult task for fifth graders, I will be encouraging their love of writing through daily fun and creative writing tasks.
To start off the school year, students will be reviewing different grammar skills each day.
We will continue to do activities that will encourage a stronger classroom community
Social Studies:
We will begin Lesson 1 "Geography of the United States". We will review how to find coordinates on a map using lines of latitude and longitude.
Safety Patrol:
The fifth-grade students will meet Officer Taylor Carpenter of the Santa Clara Police Department on Wednesday, August 23rd at 8:45 a.m. It is at this time that Officer Taylor will train the students on what it means to be a safety patroller. The fifth graders will be given the Safety Patrol permission slips on Wednesday. Please look over this form with your child and decide which days and times will work best for you and your family.
You are all invited to join us for the Safety Patroller Installation Ceremony on Tuesday, August 29th at 8:45 in the Khadijah Banquet Hall. During this ceremony, the fifth graders will take the Safety Patrol Oath and become official members of the Granada Islamic School Safety Patrol Team. We look forward to seeing you there inshaAllah.
