January 12th, 2018
Good Evening parents/guardians!
It has been a great week at “The Creek” and we have started to fall back into our normal routine. We have a couple of busy 4-day weeks ahead of us! Next week, starting on Wednesday, scholars will be taking the CMS Common Assessments for Reading, Math, and Science. These assessments do not count towards your scholars overall grade, but instead are a tool to measure their growth so far this year. It also a way for us to determine weaknesses and areas for growth. Please make sure your scholar is getting adequate sleep at night and eating breakfast. This assessments are made to resemble to EOGs and require your scholars to be focused and prepared.
With the end of the 2nd quarter approaching, please make sure you are checking your scholar’s grades and progress. If they have any missing assignments they are noted on PowerSchool and are due by Wednesday, January 17th, in order to receive partial credit. To log into PowerSchool, you can use your scholar’s login information or get a parent login from the school office.
Important Dates:
January 15th: MLK Jr. Holiday – No School
January 16th: 3rd Washington DC Payment Due ($100)
January 17th: Deadline for Test Corrections and Late Work for Quarter 2
January 19th: End of Quarter 2
January 22nd: Teacher Workday – No School
January 31st: Orchestra Concert Permission Slip and Money Due
February 2nd: Report Cards Go Home
February 7th: Early Release at 12:00pm
Here is a recap of what we engaged in this past week of school, as well as what we will be starting to learn next week!
Math:
This week we focused on reviewing multiplying fractions. We also worked on breaking apart EOG-like, multi-step word problems containing fractions to look for those key words that tell us we should multiply. We practiced this through math stations and 5 question quick checks on Pearson. If your scholar did not perform at a mastery level, they were automatically assigned tasks to give them extra practice that they may complete at any time. We took a Multiplying Fractions Formal Assessment on Thursday and your scholar’s score has been stapled in their agenda.
Next week we will start by reviewing our year in math as a whole. We will participate in a review game of Bingo based on all of the math standards we have covered so far. With the CFAs, we will spend what time we can on using line plots to multiply and add fractions.
Science:
This week we worked hard on reviewing all things Weather. We looked back at everything we have learned so far and used reading passages, Discovery Education, and educational review games. We took our Weather End of Unit formal assessment today and your scholar’s score has been stapled in their agenda. Their Weather Vocabulary Books were also due today that are a formal grade.
Next week we will start our unit of study on Ecosystems. We will cover multiple ecosystems, their environments, inhabitants, and how they all work together. This unit will last approximately 3 weeks and the scholars will have a vocabulary book that will be due the same day as the end of unit assessment.
Reading:
Since we’ve been back from break, we have worked to build our background knowledge so we are better able to understand the historical fiction books we are reading. Our class book is Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen and is set during the American Revolution, therefore, we spent time reading articles about that time period.
Scholars were able to choose a novel to read in a literature circle. The groups met and assigned roles, discussed expectations and rules for their group, and decided upon consequences for group members who do not complete the agreed upon assignments. Scholars will be meeting in their literature circles to discuss these books and will also use these books to complete our lessons during Reader’s Workshop.
In Block 1, we’ve also continued our The Giver discussion groups with Mr. Felker. Scholars should have finished reading the book this week and will begin working on a culminating project next week.
We will be taking our Common Formal Assessments (CFA) in Reading, Math, and Science next week. These will provide us with valuable information on what your child has learned so far in fifth grade. We will also be using these to determine areas we need to focus our instruction on going forward.
As time allows, scholars will continue working in their historical fiction literature circles, reading and discussing the books as a group. We will discuss the structure of historical fiction books, paying especially close attention when the book jumps in time, pulling in events that have already occured.
Reading homework: Please have your child read 30 minutes (or more) each night and log the title of the book read and number of pages read into his/her agenda daily. This provides us with a record of your scholar’s reading so we can ensure he/she is reading “just right” books at an appropriate speed. Looking for ways to help your child with his/her reading homework? Please click here to view questions you can be asking your child about his/her book to check for understanding.
Social Studies:
We learned about three of the Early English Settlements by reading and taking notes. Scholars then shared out their notes with their classmates to teach their classmates about Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth.
Writing:
We will each be writing a Historical Fiction story of our own. We began by creating a timeline with major historical events listed. Scholars chose a time period that most interested them and began to research that time period. We began to look at the major issues, important people, and daily life during our time period. This research will help us to write historically accurate stories.
Again, as time allows, scholars will continue their planning and research for their historical fiction stories. They will focus this week on determining a theme and planning the characters they would like to include.
I hope you all enjoy your weekend and MLK Jr. Holiday!
It has been a great week at “The Creek” and we have started to fall back into our normal routine. We have a couple of busy 4-day weeks ahead of us! Next week, starting on Wednesday, scholars will be taking the CMS Common Assessments for Reading, Math, and Science. These assessments do not count towards your scholars overall grade, but instead are a tool to measure their growth so far this year. It also a way for us to determine weaknesses and areas for growth. Please make sure your scholar is getting adequate sleep at night and eating breakfast. This assessments are made to resemble to EOGs and require your scholars to be focused and prepared.
With the end of the 2nd quarter approaching, please make sure you are checking your scholar’s grades and progress. If they have any missing assignments they are noted on PowerSchool and are due by Wednesday, January 17th, in order to receive partial credit. To log into PowerSchool, you can use your scholar’s login information or get a parent login from the school office.
Important Dates:
January 15th: MLK Jr. Holiday – No School
January 16th: 3rd Washington DC Payment Due ($100)
January 17th: Deadline for Test Corrections and Late Work for Quarter 2
January 19th: End of Quarter 2
January 22nd: Teacher Workday – No School
January 31st: Orchestra Concert Permission Slip and Money Due
February 2nd: Report Cards Go Home
February 7th: Early Release at 12:00pm
Here is a recap of what we engaged in this past week of school, as well as what we will be starting to learn next week!
Math:
This week we focused on reviewing multiplying fractions. We also worked on breaking apart EOG-like, multi-step word problems containing fractions to look for those key words that tell us we should multiply. We practiced this through math stations and 5 question quick checks on Pearson. If your scholar did not perform at a mastery level, they were automatically assigned tasks to give them extra practice that they may complete at any time. We took a Multiplying Fractions Formal Assessment on Thursday and your scholar’s score has been stapled in their agenda.
Next week we will start by reviewing our year in math as a whole. We will participate in a review game of Bingo based on all of the math standards we have covered so far. With the CFAs, we will spend what time we can on using line plots to multiply and add fractions.
Science:
This week we worked hard on reviewing all things Weather. We looked back at everything we have learned so far and used reading passages, Discovery Education, and educational review games. We took our Weather End of Unit formal assessment today and your scholar’s score has been stapled in their agenda. Their Weather Vocabulary Books were also due today that are a formal grade.
Next week we will start our unit of study on Ecosystems. We will cover multiple ecosystems, their environments, inhabitants, and how they all work together. This unit will last approximately 3 weeks and the scholars will have a vocabulary book that will be due the same day as the end of unit assessment.
Reading:
Since we’ve been back from break, we have worked to build our background knowledge so we are better able to understand the historical fiction books we are reading. Our class book is Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen and is set during the American Revolution, therefore, we spent time reading articles about that time period.
Scholars were able to choose a novel to read in a literature circle. The groups met and assigned roles, discussed expectations and rules for their group, and decided upon consequences for group members who do not complete the agreed upon assignments. Scholars will be meeting in their literature circles to discuss these books and will also use these books to complete our lessons during Reader’s Workshop.
In Block 1, we’ve also continued our The Giver discussion groups with Mr. Felker. Scholars should have finished reading the book this week and will begin working on a culminating project next week.
We will be taking our Common Formal Assessments (CFA) in Reading, Math, and Science next week. These will provide us with valuable information on what your child has learned so far in fifth grade. We will also be using these to determine areas we need to focus our instruction on going forward.
As time allows, scholars will continue working in their historical fiction literature circles, reading and discussing the books as a group. We will discuss the structure of historical fiction books, paying especially close attention when the book jumps in time, pulling in events that have already occured.
Reading homework: Please have your child read 30 minutes (or more) each night and log the title of the book read and number of pages read into his/her agenda daily. This provides us with a record of your scholar’s reading so we can ensure he/she is reading “just right” books at an appropriate speed. Looking for ways to help your child with his/her reading homework? Please click here to view questions you can be asking your child about his/her book to check for understanding.
Social Studies:
We learned about three of the Early English Settlements by reading and taking notes. Scholars then shared out their notes with their classmates to teach their classmates about Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth.
Writing:
We will each be writing a Historical Fiction story of our own. We began by creating a timeline with major historical events listed. Scholars chose a time period that most interested them and began to research that time period. We began to look at the major issues, important people, and daily life during our time period. This research will help us to write historically accurate stories.
Again, as time allows, scholars will continue their planning and research for their historical fiction stories. They will focus this week on determining a theme and planning the characters they would like to include.
I hope you all enjoy your weekend and MLK Jr. Holiday!