November 8, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will complete the menu entitled: Katie's Trunk.  Students have been working to compare and contrast two stories considering the author’s point of view using evidence from the text. Next week they will begin a menu about James Forten focusing on point of view.

Writing: This week we will continue to work on their opinion piece on a topic supporting a point of view with reasons and information. They will strive to provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

Math:  Students have finished their multiplying decimals unit and are starting  dividing decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies. They also will be relating the strategy to a written method and explaining the reason it was used.

Social Studies: The students have started their study of the Revolutionary War with Mrs. Beyer.  They will learn: how independence is gained; how European settlements changed the land and people of North America; the causes of the Revolutionary War and the aftermath of the American Revolution.

October 18, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will complete the menu entitled: Toliver’s Secret.  Students have been working to compare and contrast two stories considering the author’s point of view using evidence from the text. 

Writing: This week we will continue to work on their opinion piece on a topic supporting a point of view with reasons and information. They will strive to provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

Math:  Students will complete the coordinate grid unit on Wednesday and then begin multiplying and dividing decimals. They will be multiplying and dividing decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. 

Science: Students are continuing to work on their Motion and Design unit. The students are beginning to understand the concepts of force and motion and the relationship between them. They are also inferring the motion of objects in terms of how far they travel in a certain amount of time and the direction in which they travel. 

October 4, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will complete their Daily 5 Menu entitled: “And then What Happened, Paul Revere?:”  a biography.  We will be concentrating on nonfiction this quarter. Students will spend time learning to compare and contrast the text structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.  Examples of text structure we will cover include: chronology, comparison, cause/effect, and problem/solution.

Writing: In Quarter 2, students will write an opinion piece on a topic supporting a point of view with reasons and information. They will strive to provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.

Math:  Students are finishing up their geometry unit, where they have been working on understanding that attributes belonging to a category of two dimensional figures also belong to all subcategories of that category. For example, all rectangles have four right angles and squares are rectangles, so all squares have four right angles. They have also been learning to classify two-dimensional figures in a hierarchy based on properties. Next, we will be moving into using and understanding coordinate grids. They will be representing real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.

Science: We have started our Motion and Design unit. The students are beginning to understand the concepts of force and motion and the relationship between them. They are also inferring the motion of objects in terms of how far they travel in a certain amount of time and the direction in which they travel.

August 30, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will complete their Daily 5 Menu entitled: “The Golden Lion Tamarin”.  Students are working to identify text features used in this story and write a brief description of what they learned from each feature.  They will also determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text.

Writing:

 Students will continue to work to complete their Memoir writing and share stories.

Math: Students are learning to add, and subtract decimals to hundredths place. They have been doing this using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. Then the students have been relating the strategy to a written method and explaining their reasoning used.


Social Studies:  This Wednesday students will take a vocabulary and short answer test. Afterwards, they will begin a research project based on our present day economy. They will research trading partners with the US, imports and exports, and economic growth of present day.  If time allows students will present projects in class when they are competed.

August 16, 2017 Newsletter

Reading: 

This week students will begin a new menu entitled, “Elena” and “Journey to Nowhere”. Students will work on making character inferences and practice summarizing the text. (RL5.2) They will also create a Double Bubble thinking map to compare and contrast one character from each story.

Writing:

Students just finished publishing their personal narratives. This week they will explore mentor texts that discuss features of a memoir and begin to think like a writer as they prepare to write their own memoir. Students should begin writing their memoirs by midweek.

Math:
We have been reading, writing, and comparing decimals to thousandths place. We will be moving into rounding decimals and powers of 10. The students will be recognizing that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.

Social Studies:

The students have begun the unit on Economics in social studies. We will soon be answering the question, “How do economic decisions affect our lives?” They will begin by learning the importance of developing a budget for savings and spending. We will also spend time discussing the role of international trade between the US and other countries.  We will work on unit vocabulary and practice taking notes.

August 2, 2017 Newsletter

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

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will begin their Daily 5 Menu entitled: A Boy Called Slow. They will be working on this over the next two weeks.  They have been working to determine the theme of the story and how characters respond to challenges. They have also worked on story vocabulary and comprehension skills. Students will learn how to “Track” articles and reading passages in small group.

Writing:

This week students will continue working on their narrative writing. They are working on revising, editing and publishing their essays. 

Math:  We just finished our multiplying and dividing multi-digit whole number unit. We took an assessment over this on Monday.  Please look for this in Wed. folders. We started our decimals unit Tues. We will be reading, writing, and comparing decimals to thousandths place. We will be moving into rounding decimals and powers of 10. The students will be recognizing that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.

Science: The students have been working hard on researching terrestrial and aquatic biomes. They will be putting all this information into a flip book that they can use as a tool for review.  This will complete the Ecosystems Unit this week. The students were given a study guide last week and 17 questions are due Wed. Aug. 2nd. Their test will be Friday, Aug. 4th. 

Welcome Letter

                                                      July 10, 2017

       

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

                              First Quarter Curriculum

Reading	Independent Reading Goals Elements of Narrative and Expository Texts, Different Types of Genres,
Math	Multiplication, Division Decimal Place Value Adding/Subtracting and Rounding Decimals
Writing	Writing Journal Set-up Introduction to Writing Workshop Descriptive Writing
Science	Ecosystems
Social Studies	Economics

Daily/Weekly Homework:

• Math – Students will complete a nightly homework problem of the day. Additional homework will be given as needed.
• Reading – Students will alternate between the following reading activities:

1.      “What in the World?” article review based on a current event

2.     “Reader Response Activity” using a just right book with a skill specific

       activity.

        

    

May 3, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Reading: This week students will finish their biographical menu entitled, Mae Jemison.  Students will have completed a Flow Map and compared and contrasted two articles on the Space Station. Next week, students will be working on a menu entitled, Volcanos. They will be reading non-fiction articles and using their critical thinking skills to answer comprehension questions. Students will also be creating a travel brochure about a volcano of their choice.

Writing: Students are finishing up their severe weather essays. They are working on revisions, editing and publishing their pieces. They will begin researching a famous volcano next week.

Math:. We have concluded our last unit of customary and metric units of measurement and line plots. The students will beginning a daily review of the math standards covered this year in preparation for the EOGs.

Social Studies:  Students are finishing up learning about the causes of the Civil War and are moving into reconstruction and conducting research of a battle.

April 19, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will begin a new biographical menu entitled, Mae Jemison.  Students will complete a Flow Map and compare and contrast two articles on the Space Station.

Writing: Students will work on research assignments related to severe  weather topics.

Math:. Students finished up their volume unit  and are now moving into our last unit of customary and metric units of measurement. The students will need to be able to convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.

Science: Students are finishing up their last science unit of weather. Their study guide for this unit is due, Wed. April 19th. We will go over it in class and their test will be this Friday, April 21st. They should study their study guide and notes to prepare for this test. Starting next Monday, they will be switching classes and learning about the Civil War with Mrs. Beyer.

April 5, 2017 Newsletter

April 5, 2017 Newsletter

This is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students are finishing their "Tall Tale" menu. Next week will begin a new menu entitled: “Eye of the Storm”, which incorporates science/ weather vocabulary.  Students will begin to analyze information gathered from several texts about the weather and write knowledgeably about this topic and answer critical thinking questions.

Writing: Students have been learning about Research Writing.  They have been identifyng characteristics and the purpose of writing in content areas.  They will practice observational writing, sketching with labels and captions, and how to take notes using boxes. The students then will research and write an essay on a severe weather event. They will also be creating a digital presentation to share with the class.

Math: Students finished up their fractions unit and are now starting our unit on volume. Students will be learning to recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement.

a) A cube with side length 1 unit, called a "unit cube," is said to have "one cubic unit" of volume, and can be used to measure volume.

b) A solid figure which can be packed without gaps or overlaps using n unit cubes is said to have a volume of n cubic units. Students will also be measuring volumes by counting unit cubes, using cubic cm, cubic in, cubic ft, and improvised units.

Science: We have started our last science unit for the year. It is our weather unit. Students will be expected to understand weather patterns and phenomena,  making connections to the weather in a particular place and time. Students will also need to be able to compare daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions (including wind speed and direction, precipitation, and temperature) and patterns. They will also need to be able to predict upcoming weather events from weather data collected through observation and measurements.

February 8, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will be finishing their" Pioneer Girl"menu and will be starting a “Poetry” menu next week. They will interpret figurative language in context and compare two poems to determine the theme. They will also read about African American poet Nikki Giovanni, who is an inspiration to young writers.  She has encouraged students to express their feelings, create vivid images and spend time reading poetry aloud. 

Writing: This week students are working to finish the rough drafts of their “Fantasy”stories. Students will begin revising, editing and writing their final draft next week. Our next unit in writing will be Interpretive Writing. They will be asked to write their opinions supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Math: We are continuing to work on our fractions unit. The students will be have to multiple fractions by whole numbers and fractions by fractions. They will also be solving real world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem.  Lastly, the students will be multiplying fractional side lengths to find areas of rectangles.

Social Studies:  With Ms. Beyer the students have started studying the topics of Government and Westward Expansion.  They will spend time answering the essential question – What influenced the development of US government ? Later, they will summarize the organizational structures and powers of the US government. (legislative, judicial and executive branches of government.)

January 18, 2017 Newsletter

Here is what we are learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will complete the menu entitled: “Fantasy Texts”. Students will analyze chapters and add a new chapter to their fantasy text.  They will also read a poem and determine the theme of the poem and how the speaker reflects upon the topic.

Writing: Students will work on the brainstorming and introduction paragraph of their fantasy story.  They will use dialogue, description, and pacing to show the responses of their characters to situations in their stories.

Math: We are starting our fractions unit this week. Students will be learning to interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator (a/b = a ÷ b) also solving word problems involving division of whole numbers leading to answers in the form of fractions or mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem. The students are also adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators (including mixed numbers) by replacing given fractions with equivalent fractions in such a way as to produce an equivalent sum or difference of fractions with like denominators. For example, 2/3 + 5/4 = 8/12 15/12 = 23/12. (In general, a/b c/d = (ad bc)/bd.) Next week we will be moving into multiplying fractions by whole numbers and fractions by fractions.

Science:  Students are learning about 7 body systems over the next week. They will also be starting our Human Body webquest. Students are becoming an expert on a body system and finding out the important organs and functions of the system, how it works with other systems and what steps they can take to keep their system healthy. 

*Information about the Human Growth and Development part of this unit will be going home via email, next week.