Friday, October 23rd, 2015

Hello Familes!

Fall is in the air and the fifth graders have been working hard in all subject areas!  Please read about all of our hard work below:

Literacy

For our daily shared lessons we've been reading a story called The Road to Freedom. It is narrated from the point of view of a young girl who is traveling on the Underground Railroad with her mother in hopes of making it North to freedom. The kids have been highly engaged with the text and we’ve had many great discussions related to topics raised within the story.

Writing

We have been using The Road to Freedom as a springboard for various writing samples. We have practiced short, constructed responses with prompts, and we are currently preparing to write a longer opinion paper based on topics/issues related to slavery from the book.

Math

Yesterday we finished the target that deals with dividing with a larger dividend and divisor. We emphasized the partial quotients algorithm to solve these problems. Students were given a CFA in order to monitor their progress on this skill. Those who did not meet will be given further remediation.Today we started on the next target of adding and subtracting decimals.

Social Studies

We’ve been engaged in lots of learning about trade. Most recently we’ve started to learn about the trade that took place early on in our World’s history.

Science

This week we continued on with our weather unit, focusing on the greenhouse effect. We even conducted an experiment to show how it works! Be sure to a ask your child about it!

Reminders/Upcoming Events

** Please be sure that your child is doing the minimum of 30 minutes per week of practice!

** Completed October reading logs will be due Monday, November 2.

** Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

** Please continue to have your child practice their multiplication facts up to 12.

Halloween Parade and Parties

Please see Mrs. Gluck’s blog posts for the details. The kids will need to have the signed permission slip back at school by next Friday in order to be able to go home for lunch and change into their costumes. Everyone else should bring their costumes to school to change into after lunch. The parties will immediately follow the parade. Thank you in advance to all the parents who are sending items and/or helping at the parties! The kids are really looking forward to it! 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you and have a fantastic weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Friday, October 9th, 2015

Hello Parents,

We've been busy learning and working on projects in all of the subject areas.  Please read below to see what our students have been tirelessly working on:

Literacy
We are finishing up Unit 1 in our new reading series. All of the novels we've read have shared the theme of "Depending on Each Other.  At this point, we are synthesizing the texts by comparing and contrasting their overall content and structure.  In Unit  2, we will focus on the theme of "Finding Courage".  We will look at how characters respond to challenges and events.

Writing
We are finishing up our natural disasters brochure projects and presenting them to the class.  Next week, we will begin opinion writing.  We will focus on organizing ideas, gathering evidence to support these ideas, and developing a strong conclusion. 

Math
We are continuing to work on multiplying larger numbers. We will start division at the end of next week and then move on to decimals.

At your convenience, please take a moment to read the parent letter for Unit 2.  Click on the entry below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gs3mqBamC6wZ0HgHDtDFxtyB18XzfGPkvDQxH
MK1dmE/edit?usp=sharing

Social Studies
We are wrapping up our Supply and Demand target.  We will begin discussing trade within the next couple of weeks.

Science
We are concluding our discussions and studies of natural disasters.  Our weather unit will continue with observing weather systems and causes of weather patterns.  This is a good topic to discuss with your child at home.  

Friendly Reminders

** Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack.  Nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!  

** Please continue to have your child practice their multiplication facts up to 12.

Room Parent News

Please take a moment to read a message from our room parents, Kim Iannuzzi and Lisa Dluger:

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Thank you and have a fantastic weekend!

Enzie Pangilinan

Have a great weekend!