5th Grade Weekly Update Week of February 4th
Math: I postponed our chapter six math test to Monday, February 4th. With our absence on Tuesday, I wanted to ensure that all students have an adequate amount of time to prepare and feel confident. Applying our knowledge of multiplying and dividing fractions to word problems is a challenging concept, so we spent an ample amount of time practicing. In our weekly e-mail, I included an electronic copy of a guide that students were given to help them tackle this challenging task. I highly recommend that they use it to prepare this weekend. I would also review the worksheets that we completed over the week related to problem-solving. They came home in Friday Folders.
Our next unit in math is a fun one! Students will explore different types of graphs, such as the box-and-whisker plot, histograms, and line plots. We will conduct probability experiments and learn to analyze data. As a fun way of previewing our new topic, I created a Super Bowl stats bulletin board. It is chock full of interesting tidbits about the Patriots and Rams using graphs that students are familiar with and that we will practice in our new unit. We displayed our class prediction of who will win this Sunday using a pictograph. We are excited to see the results!
Science: Students did an incredible job displaying their knowledge of how to measure force and interpret the results within our performance assessment! This week, we will prepare for the written assessment, which will be on Friday, February 8th. Students will turn in their databooks on this day as well. On Monday, students will complete a study guide in class. We will also play a Jeopardy review game in preparation for the test. As we have played in-class review games, I am so proud of those students who have been consistently reviewing their flashcards! Those students really know their stuff and it shows! Mrs. Hofeler made these wonderful flashcard holders for us as well! It has a pocket where students can divide the cards they know from the cards they need to practice. A big thank you to Cori!
ELA: We will finish up our work on note cards this week and then construct our thesis statements for our research papers. We will choose some action words to use in a thesis and also look at strong and week thesis statement examples. In a fifth grade thesis, you’ll see a claim or argument, as well as, two supporting statements that mirror their major accomplishments chosen earlier in the research process. In Studies Weekly, students will learn about key people, products and technology that helped shape the American West. Students will also learn about the contributions that African Americans played in cattle drives and the rodeo. Our practice with reading comprehension using the Studies Weekly ties into our next unit of study in history. In grammar, we will focus on commas, when to capitalize names of places, quotes, abbreviations, and apostrophes.
History: We will start our next unit of study: Westward Expansion After the Civil War. This unit focuses on the final frontiers gained after the Civil War, boom towns, the transcontinental railroad, the cattle frontier, cowboys, and the Oklahoma Land Rush. This unit mirrors some of the same content as Westward Expansion before the Civil War, so students will be given an independent study packet that they will work on during history and for homework assignments. It will be due February 22nd. In class, we’ll be doing some fun interactive activities that will give them a good idea what life was like in the west during this time period. We’ll have a “Cowboy Day” and share some wild west adventure stories.
Other: Students met with Ms. Steele this week for our first Leadership Lite course. The focus this week was on communication and getting to know our fellow students even better. We look forward to many more lessons and conversations that will help us navigate the months headed into Upper School!
Mrs. Armstrong will offer the after school help again on Thursday. She will contact you if she thinks your student needs to stay after to finish up note cards. The goal is for the group to be completed by Tuesday.