July 23, 2014 Newsletter

5th Grade Track 1

Mrs. Beyer and Mrs. Topoll

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 short – cut method.  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 such as, area model and short-cut method. 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. Next, we will be moving into decimal place value. The test over this material will be on Friday.

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 30^th. The test will be August 1^st.

Social Studies:  Students have been learning how economic decisions affect our lives. They will be taking a test on Tuesday covering vocabulary and several short answer questions discussed in class.  This week they will begin an economic s project in class. Students will research trading partners with the US during their assigned time period, imports and exports, and economic growth.  Projects will be presented in class.

Announcements

**Thank you to Mrs. Merritt for volunteering to be Mrs. Topoll’s head room mom.**

** Thank you to Mrs. Pudelski and Mrs. Miller for volunteering to be grade moms for Mrs. Beyer.**

**If you are interested in volunteering in the classroom, please be sure you register and cleared by Wake County. You must register every school year.