Another beautiful weekend and another busy week in 5-2 this week!
Important Dates
Smile ~ School Picture Day is this Tuesday, October 22nd! Picture order forms will go home this week. It would be best if you sent in the order form ASAP, but they can be sent in as late as Tuesday. If you do not receive the order form, please let me know. Some students have asked me if they can arrive in their comfortable clothes, then change into their "picture outfits" before pictures are taken. Your child will NOT have time to change before pictures are taken, so please have your child arrive to school in their "picture outfits". If they want to bring a change of clothes for after pictures are taken, they will be allowed to change before they go out to recess.
Field Trip! We will be traveling to the Sci-tech Museum in Aurora on Thursday, September 26th. Sci-tech is an engaging hands-on children's science museum that is always a popular field trip with our 5th graders :) They will have the opportunity to participate in experiments in all of the science topics we study this year - human body, water, and energy; as well as watch entertaining demonstrations specifically designed for our human body unit. It will be an exciting day! If you did not order a sack lunch, please be sure to pack your child a lunch.
Math
Unit 1 Assessments went home this week to be signed and returned, and we started Unit 2 - Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication Algorithms. Many of the students performed exceptionally well on the Unit 2 pre-test, so we've started Math Stations this week to accomodate the large number of kids that need to be enriched. Math Stations are an engaging way to structure the classroom, and they allow me time to differentiate instruction for those learners who need additional time in instruction, as well as those who need an additional challenge. Students have been quite excited about the change of format, and have been begging to keep it that way :) We'll continue with the station format as long as possible since they seem to be enjoying it so much!
Science
We continued our studies of the Human Body this week, as we learned how the skeletal system and muscular system work together to move the body. We spent a few hours in complex text this week on this topic, and students brought home Bones and Muscles to aid them in writing a written response. We also did started experiments in the nervous system in which they tested their reaction time to different senses - sight, hearing, and touch. Ask your child how they discovered which sense has the shortest and longest reaction times. Next week we'll continue to learn about the nervous system as they test different reflexes. Your children are quite engaged in these science lessons! Their enthusiasm is contagious :)
Reading
On the 3rd week of every unit in Treasures we shift our focus to non-fiction text strategies. We learned how to compare and contrast in Time for Kids articles under the theme of forest biomes. Comparing and contrasting can be an easier strategy to master when reading simpler text, but now that your child is in 5th grade, they have been pushed to identify relationships in much more complex text. Many of them struggled to master this strategy, but most of them were able to challenge themselves to find relationships in more difficult text.
Writing
The students continued to work on the skill of focus this week in writing, shifting from focusing on the moment to focusing on an object. They had a chance to really focus in on a small portion of their backpack, and were asked to draw it in great detail. Then they were asked to imagine they were one inch tall and climbing over that portion of their backpack. They had so much fun with this assignment! They were also asked to describe an item that means the most to them - can you guess what they chose?? Ask them!
Visitors
We also had a couple of visitors this week in 5th grade. The first was author Steve Colter, who wrote the Cheesie Mack series. The kids really enjoyed his stories from when he was a camp counselor - ask them to share his stories with you!
We also met a man from Nigeria who is wheel-chair bound as a result of childhood polio. He is visiting the United States and came to our school with Mary Stitt to share his inspirational story. We were so impressed with our well-behaved and engaged students!!
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Enjoy the cooler temperatures this weekend!
While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about. ~ Unknown
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