July 22, 2015 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning so far in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE:

This week students will have completed their first Daily 5 Menu. The first story entitled, “The Grizzly Bear Family Book which relates to our Ecosystems science unit. They are also learning how to work on menu items and budget their time to complete assignments on time. Students will be meeting with their teacher in a strategy group throughout the week to work on selected story skills and comprehension tasks. Students will pose questions and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion in a mini lesson. They will also practice summary writing in this menu using a graphic organizer.

Writing:

Students will practice writing their first Personal Narrative based on topics they have generated in the Writer’s Workshop.

Math:  The students have been discussing place value and powers of 10. They also have been multiplying multi-digit whole numbers using a variety of strategies such as, the rectangular sections and rows methods, and the standard algorithm.  In addition, we recently started division and finding quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors. We have done this by using a variety of strategies as well,such as, area model and  expanded notation and the standard algorithm methods. They have been discussing the relationship between multiplication and division and continuing to review all the different problem solving strategies using real world multiplication and division word problems. The test over this material will be on early next week.

Science: We are working on our Ecosystems unit. We discussed living and non- living things. We also discussed how living and non-living things depend on one another in an environment. The students put together their eco-columns and discussed the roles of the organisms that are living in the eco-column. The students are researching land and water biomes and creating a flip book with this information. They were given a review sheet for the test that will be due next Wed. the 29^th. The classroom test will be July 31^st.

Welcome to Fifth Grade!

                             July 7, 2015

Dear Families,

Welcome to 5^th grade at Brassfield Elementary School!  We are so excited to be a part of your child’s education this year.  Fifth grade is filled with many new learning experiences, opportunities, and responsibilities.  We are here to help your child reach for the stars and grow both academically and socially during their last year at Brassfield.

We believe that maintaining open communication with home is one of the best ways to help your child have a successful year!  You will be receiving class newsletters twice a month filled with information about what’s happening in the classroom, including what we are studying and important dates.  This will be posted on our class blogs that can be found at http://brassfield.wcpss.net/pages/Brassfield_Elementary. You will also find great websites to match our curriculum, important announcements, notices, and forms. In addition, feel free to personally contact us!  E-mail is the best way to communicate, as we check e-mail daily.  Please allow 24 hours for a response.  We can be reached at Kelly Topoll: ktopoll@wcpss.net and Ellen Beyer: ebeyer@wcpss.net Also, please feel free to write a note. 

Thanks so much for your support!  Here’s to a fantastic fifth grade year!

                                                                                         Sincerely,

                                                                                                                    

                                                                                         Kelly Topoll and Ellen BeyerJ