January 20, 2016 Newsletter

Here is what we have been 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 introduction and opening paragraph of their fantasy story.  They will use dialogue, description, and pacing to show the responses of their characters to situations.

Math: 

We are continuing to work on our fractions unit. Students are 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: We are starting our Human Body webquest this week. Students are becoming an expert on a body system and finding out 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. Students will be presenting their finish products of this information later this week.

January 6, 2016 Newsletter

Here is what we have been learning in fifth grade:

Daily 5/CAFE: This week students will complete the menu entitled: “The Case of the Runaway Appetite” which is a fantasy and a play.  Students will explain how scenes from the play fit together to provide the overall structure of this particular play. We will spend time reviewing the characteristics of a fantasy from different texts and video clips.

Writing: This week students are composing a  New Year’s Resolutions essay and goal setting for Quarter 3.  Next week students will generate ideas for conflicts or themes in fantasy stories.  They will also begin to plan a fantasy story using a graphic organizer.

Math: 

We are finishing up our evaluating expressions and numerical patterns unit. We will soon be starting our fractions unit and will be covering fractions for most of third quarter. Students will learn to interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator (a/b = a ÷ b) also solve 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 will also be  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.)

Science: We have started our human body unit. We have been discussing genetics and inherited traits and how traits are passed from parents to offspring and that siblings may or may not receive the same traits from their parents. Later this week, students will create and decode a "DNA recipe" for a dog to observe how variations in DNA lead to the inheritance of different traits. They will also be comparing and contrasting plant and animal cells and learning the organs and functions of the human body systems.