Hello all! We have officially finished our first month of school, and we could not be more excited about this year. After a few hiccups at the beginning of the year, like not having agendas (AHHHHH!) or missing communication folders, we are finally implementing our homework, spelling work, and extra credit opportunities. Looking forward to next week: In Math, we will continue to work with our standard algorithm for multiplication, and we will be beginning our standard for division. For this standard, students should not be using only the standard algorithm (think long division process), but should be working with flexible AND multiple strategies. Please refer to the page on division under AC math for more information and examples. We are almost done with our first unit, which covers whole numbers. Soon, we will begin decimals and their operations, so look for opportunities to use decimal numbers in real life with your students. Some examples might include shopping or sports averages. In Reading, we will continue with our study of Esperanza Rising. Students will be working on identifying "big metaphors" or symbols within the text and how they relate to Esperanza's journey and the theme of the text. Students will also be working on identifying the characters' problems and their responses to them in order to determine themes within the text. In addition, we will continue to focus on quoting accurately from the text to support our inferences and statements. You can support your student in this skill by asking them questions about what they read like, "Which part of the text helped you understand how the character was feeling?" or "How does the author show us that the character is __________________?" In Writing, students have been practicing paragraph writing and summaries. These two skills are the foundational skills for our writing units. You can encourage your student to complete "quick writes" at home. This strategy works best when students have a good basic knowledge of a subject. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and have your student write a summary of a book or chapter they read or have them write an informational paragraph about a topic we're learning about in science and social studies. Encourage students to use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation! We will be moving on to working on narrative and creative writing. This week, we are beginning a narrative writing piece about a cowboy or cowgirl during the Cattle Drives at the turn of the century. Our focus will be on using descriptive details, SHOW don't tell (avoiding summarization), and planning the action. To support your student, you can brainstorm ideas with your child for this writing piece and read books or watch movies about cowboys and life on the plain. In Social Studies, we are studying the cattle drives, industrialization, immigration, and important advancements at the Turn of the Century (around 1900). Students have a weekly reader, like a magazine, and access to the texts online. Some big ideas we will be focusing on are how life changed for the "average" American during this time period, why people move and migrate, as well as examining how racism shaped the United States during this time period. In Science, students have been exploring constructive and destructive forces in nature. A constructive force is anything that builds or creates land mass, while a destructive force breaks down the surface of the Earth. Some topics that we are working on right now are weathering, erosion, deposition, earthquakes, tectonic plates and faults, and volcanoes. Students have access to many resources on this topic including the online textbook, discovery education streaming, national geographic kids, kids infobits, and pebblego science. Tuesday, we will have our first quiz on this topic. Extra credit is available for students to complete over the holiday weekend, but it is not a mandatory assignment. (Science Textbook p.116-120 and 140-142) All pages must be complete and accurate to receive the extra credit. Also, next week will be our first week with spelling words. I encourage you to practice them with your child each evening. You can have them bounce a ball back and forth with you as you each take turns saying a letter of the word or have them jump as they spell out each consonant and squat for every vowel. The list of words for this next week is included below. Spelling Words 1. comic 2. ostrich 3. Connecticut 4. insult 5. grumble 6. gallop 7. hurry 8. distinct 9. contestant 10. defendant 11. assistant 12. brilliant 13. compliant 14. extravagant 15. ignorant 16. consonant 17. applicant 18. migration 19. route 20. trace Important Dates and Upcoming Events:9/2- Labor Day/No School
9/3- Science Quiz (Constructive and Destructive Forces) 9/6- Progress Reports 9/9- Food Bank (2:45-food runs out) 9/13-9/21- IOWA Test of Basic Skills 9/23-9/27- Fall Break 10/11- Esperanza Rising Novel Study Project Due (More Details to Come) If you have any questions, you may send me a message on Class Dojo or email me at [email protected] Happy Friday and have an awesome long weekend! -Miss Dobbins
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Mrs. Barbosa5th Grade AC Teacher Archives
November 2019
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