5th Grade Weekly Update for Week of September 9th
Photo Highlight of the Week: We had fun reviewing our knowledge of decimal place value with fun partner games including Place Value Yahtzee, Decimal Tic-Tac-Toe, and Estimating Extravaganza dice game!
Math: Our first unit test is on Monday! Remember, the best way to prepare for a math test is with practice, practice, practice! To help students practice in a fun way, I emailed parents a Jeopardy review game they can play at home this weekend, as well as a study guide detailing all of the topics covered on the test. On Tuesday, we will kick off our multiplication unit! Our focus within this unit will be improving mental math skills by focusing on multiplication patterns with zeros and practicing finding larger products with 3 digit multiplicands and multipliers!
Science: In lab this week, we enjoyed examining our own cheek cells under the microscope! What a fun learning experience! In Investigation Three and Four, students learn about the similarities and differences of plant and animal cells. On Monday, I will introduce our cell model project! This is a fun enrichment project that former students love! Students will create an edible or non-edible 3-D model of a plant or animal cell to share with others on Monday, October 14th. This project really helps students understand the similarities and differences of the organelles present in the plant and animal cells and their functions! Please look for resources that will come home in Friday Folders that will help students with their projects. I will attach a note to them, so you know which references to keep!
In Friday Folders, you also should have found an optional enrichment activity that supports what we learned in lab within Investigation Two Students enjoyed examining their fingerprints in lab, so I thought it would be fun to let them explore the world of dactyloscopy at home! The packet includes interesting background information about the field of dactyloscopy and fun experiments they can try at home to lift and examine fingerprints at home! If students decide to complete one of the experiments, they can bring it in class to share and earn 5 bonus test points on a future test or project! If they decide to participate, they must bring it in to share by September 20th.
ELA: Students are loving our Tuck Everlasting novel! On Friday, we discovered that the Tuck’s horse has been stolen, and we have our suspicions of who it may be! This week, we will find out for sure! Last week, students were introduced to new vocabulary words for chapters 9-14. The test will be on Wednesday, September 11th. This list of vocabulary terms does not have words with similar meanings like our last list; therefore, the format will be different. The test will still consist of a matching section where students are expected to match terms with definitions and a complete the sentence section. However, the choices will not be limited like the last test. They will be given a word bank that includes all the terms to select from. In grammar, we will learn how to identify direct and indirect objects and learn how to diagram them!
History: Our first group of current event presentations took place this week. I was very impressed with the preparedness of the presenters and thoughtful questions from the audience! I always look forward to hearing which topics interest our fifth graders and usually learn something new myself! In Daily Geography this week, we will focus on the hemispheres of Earth. We’ll compare the views of Earth, look at the lines of latitude and longitude, equator, and prime meridian. We will finish up our last region, Alaska and Hawaii on Monday. Last Friday, students researched Alaska and Hawaii and picked out the 10 most important facts about each unique states, we’ll share those facts on Monday. Students will also receive a study guide to narrow down the topics found within this unit in preparation for our test on Friday. We’ll play a review game to help prepare as well!
Other: Don’t forget to join us for our big 50th celebration here on campus on Sunday, September 15th from 2:00-4:00 p.m.! We would also love the extra love and support at the East Cobber Parade on Saturday, September 14th from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.!
Week at a Glance:
Monday: Ch 1 Math Test
Wednesday: Tuck Ch 9-14 Vocab Test
Friday: History Test
Saturday: (Sept 14th)- East Cobber Parade 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sunday: (Sept 15th)- Constitution Day/WA 50th Anniversary Celebration 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.
