Week of February 23-27

This week in Science... we are beginning a new unit on the classification of living things. This week we'll look at what makes something a living organism and take a look at how scientist classify living things based on their features and characteristics.

First we classified these strange creatures according to their features:

































Then we had the task of classifiying all of this candy!














Check out our work!
































This week in Social Studies...we will take our Unit 5 Assessment on Wednesday, February 25. Students should study their History Alive workbooks and the notes in their Social Studies spirals. Friday we will begin a new unit on the Birth of a Nation - we'll look at the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, explore the Constiution & the three branches of government as well as the Bill of Rights.

This week in Math... we will have our DIVISION test on Tuesday, February 24. Students should be comfortable dividing with single digit divisors, double digit divisors, and dividends with decimals. Students should also know how to find factors of a given number the find the Greatest Common Factor of two numbers. We have also revisted find the mean of a set of data, this time without calculators. Toward the end of the week we will dive right in to our Fractions unit which we will use the Investigations series to explore the meaning of fractions and how decimals, fractions, and percents are all related.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - Double Digit Division WKS
Tuesday -TEST TODAY -- NO HOMEWORK
Wednesday -Finish Test Corrections (started in class) and parent signature on Division Test
Thursday -WKS: Student Sheet 2 - Students should find one example of a fraction, one example of a decimal, and one example of a percentage in newspapers or old magazines. If students cannot find one of these things they may make one up but it must be an example that we did not already list in class.
Friday - NO HOMEWORK

Week of Feb. 16 - 20

Hooray! Atlantic has met their goal today, Friday, Feb. 20. The new goal is 15! Can they do it?

Check out Atlantic's Math Homework Record! Keep up the good work!

I hope everyone had a restful three-day weekend :) I'm looking forward to a great four-day school week filled with learning experiences and fun!

This week in Social Studies... we are exploring key events and leaders in the American Revolution. Tuesday we'll be playing a little game of Tug-of-War.... How does that help us understand the advantages each side had in the war? Our Unit 5 Test on the American Revolution will be on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Students should be reviewing their notes in their Social Studies spirals, History Alive Workbooks, quizzes, and the History Alive Online Tutorials for Chapters 10, 12, and 13.

This week in Science... we are reviewing the parts of the plant and animal cell, comparing the two, and looking at examples of each type of cell in the microscopes. Our CELLS test will be on Friday, Feb. 20.

This week in Math... we are continuing to explore division strategies, Prime factors & GCF, and we will learn how to divide with decimals!
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - No School
Tuesday - WKS: Greatest Common Factor
Wednesday -WKS: Practice 4-12 - Dividing Decimals
Thursday -WKS: Dividing Decimals
Friday - No Homework but... Decimals test will be on Tuesday, February 24. There is no study guide, so be sure you are comfortable with factors/GCF, dividing whole numbers and decimals, and prime vs. composite numbers

Week of Feb. 9-13

So I have a new document camera in my classroom hooked up to the computer and my projector (to be shared with others on my team :))

It has tons of cool features like turning my image negative.... this is using it for instructional purposes isn't it???? How about if it was the kids' idea and they helped me take the picture with the new imager. :) It's great. According to my math class, this picture should be called "Zombie Hand".

Speaking of math classes -- check out Atlantic's HW record! We've been working toward this goal since September and finally reached our goal of 6 in a row! We're working on 10 now. Stayed tuned and find out if we make it.

This week is SCA sponsored SPIRIT WEEK! Students can show school spirit by dressing up each day this week in the following ways:
Monday - Hippie Day
Tuesday - Pajama Day
Wednesday - Crazy Hair Day
Thursday - Husky Spirit Day - wear Husky apparel or dress in green and blue
Friday - Valentine's Colors Day - Wear Red, Pink, and White

This week in Science... we are continuing to explore parts of a cell and their functions. We are also comparing animal cells and plant cells. We will also examine cells through our microscopes. Students will be bringing home a study guide for cells and microscopes on Wednesday. Our Assessment will be Friday, February 20.

This week in Social Studies.. we are continuing to explore key events leading up to and key individuals in the American Revolution. Students have a quiz on Chapter 10 on Tuesday. Notes on Chapter 10 can be found in their SS spirals and students should have completed the History Alive Online Tutorial for Ch. 10. This week we are focusing on key individuals and the writing of the Declaration of Independence. We will discuss and explore ideas and philosophies that are represented in the Declaration.

This week in Math... we will learn and practice several strategies for division! We'll learn the standard algorithm as well as "column division". We will also explore prime and composite numbers and how to find the GCF of two numbers to help carry us in to our fractions unit.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - WKS: Practice 4-5
Tuesday -WKS: Practice 4-8
Wednesday - WKS: Prime and Composite Numbers
Thursday -WKS: 4-14
Friday -No Homework

Week of February 2-6

Welcome to the THIRD Quarter! It's hard to believe we are already kicking off the second half of the school year. Students are well in to the swing of things and ready for a great quarter!

Tuesday, Feb 3 we will have our in-school field trip called Life of a Private - students will experience what life was like for a colonist during the American Revolution.

Report cards will be sent home Friday, Feb. 6.

One new announcement for Fifth Graders - Students will be bringing home a letter to inform families about a Homework Club that will begin today and run through May. In case this letter does not make it home here it is:

Starting Monday, February 2^nd, the 5^th grade teachers will begin hosting a Homework Club which will be held on most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays (late-bus days) from now through May. This club is meant as an opportunity for students to catch up on class work or homework they have missed and requires their teacher’s permission to attend. Teachers may also request that a student attend homework club. Please know that this is intended to be a quiet place for students to complete work and not as an environment for students to receive individual tutoring.

Homework club rotates between different classrooms and the specific location is posted in the fifth grade hallway. HW club meets from 2:30-3:45 PM, which allows students to take the late bus home.

This week in Science...we will continue to explore the parts of the cell and their function. We will also compare basic parts of plants and animal cells.

This week in Social Studies... we will begin (Unit 5) exploring key events that led to the American Revolution. We will be answering the following questions - What steps did England take to increase control over its colonies? Why did many colonists become dissatisfied with England's control? We will be using chapter 10 of our History Alive! text to explore these questions.
Monday - No Homework
Wednesday- Complete Chapter 10 History Alive Online Tutorial

This week in Math...we will be making some math placement switches. Students will be given a notice on Tuesday if their placement has changed for the division and fractions unit. We are working on properties of division, mental math, and determining factors! Next week we will look at different strategies for solving division problems.... long division made easy!
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - No Homework
Tuesday -No Homework
Wednesday -WKS - Practice 4-2
Thursday - WKS - Practice 4-3
Friday - No Homework

Week of January 26 - 30

Reminders this week:
Wednesday, January 28th is the last day of the second quarter. All late/absent work must be turned in by then to be counted on the Quarter 2 report card.
Thursday and Friday, January 29 & 30th: No school for students - Teacher workdays

This week in science... we are continuing to explore plant and animal cells. We are working on naming and describing the function of the major parts. We are also comparing and contrasting plant and animal cells.

This week in Social Studies... we are continuing our studies of the American colonies by exploring different perspectives. How would the life experiences of a large plantation owner and a small farmer affect his or her feelings on colonial issues? We will explore 6 different historical perspectives through primary sources in the Library of Congress.

This week in Math... we will begin to explore division and how we can use our multiplication facts to divide! We will explore properties of division and mental math strategies.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - No Homework
Tuesday - WKS: Practice 4-1
Wednesday -
Thursday -No School
Friday - No School

Week of January 19th - 23

I hope everyone enjoyed the four day weekend and stayed warm while participating in all of the festivities. It is an exciting time to live in the DC Area! It also means this school-week is just three days long. We do have a lot going on in this short amount of time as the end of the quarter draws near. The fifth grade had an exciting experience in Williamsburg last Friday... scroll down to see some pics from the day!

Rememeber:
Wednesday, January 28th - Last day of the second quarter
Thursday and Friday, January 29th and 30th - No School for students
Monday, February 2nd - Beginning of the 3rd quarter

In Science we are... beginning our new unit on cells. We will be comparing and contrasting plant and animal cells. This will lead us into our unit on the Classification of Living things. Students got their LIGHT tests back today. Please sign those and have them back to school by Friday, Jan. 23.

In Social Studies we are... taking our UNIT 4 test on Thursday, Jan 22. Students should be studying their graded quiz from last week, Reading Notes in the History Alive Workbook for Chapters 6-7 mainly, and then 8 and 9 additionally, Notes in their SS Spiral, as well as the History Alive Online Tutorials.

In Math we are... taking our Multiplication Test on Thursday, Jan 22. Students should have completed a short study guide over the long weekend. We went over that in class today. Students can study at home by trying out different multiplication problems and checking them by using a different strategy.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Wednesday - Prepare for test
Thursday - No Homework
Friday -Students worked on their test corrections in class, but if he/she did not finish, it is homework. All corrections and signed tests are due MONDAY, JAN. 26.



COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG - Friday, Jan. 16 - Thank you to all of our parent chaperones who gave up their day and braved the cold to spend it with us! We appreciate it!











The Bus Ride -



















The Morning Tour with the Docent










It may have been cold, but it sure was sunny and bright!










We stopped by the gunsmith and got to see liquid metals, being heated by the fire










Some of us even got to pump the bellows










Lunch @ Sheild's Tavern




















In the afternoon we toured in our small groups -
Where to go first?









A-ha! The jail!










And everyone's favorite... the gift shops!

Week of January 12 - 16

A few reminders for JANUARY:
Wednesday, January 14 - SHORT WEDNESDAY
Friday, January 16 - FIELD TRIP to WILLIAMSBURG! We'll see you at 5:45 Friday morning in the front of the school ready to go! As of today's weather forecast, it is going to be COLD! Dress in layers, we will be outside MOST fo the day. A list of some reminders will be going home on Wednesday, but you can also find helpful hints in ANGEL: Under Social Studies, Units, Colonization, and there you'll find a "Colonial Williamsburg" Folder. If you arrive after 6:00am and have missed the bus, you are still required to attend school that day.
Monday and Tuesday, January 19 - 20 - NO SCHOOL
Thursday and Friday, January 29th and 30 - NO SCHOOL


This week in Social Studies... we are wrapping up our unit on Colonial Williamsburg by taking a virtual tour and learning about life in Williamsburg in the 16-1700's. Friday we will see it all first hand! We will have our Unit four test on THURSDAY, JAN. 22. Students should be reviewing their notes in their History Alive Workbook, Social Studies spiral, Virginia Standards notes on ANGEL, and History Alive Online Tutorial -- mostly chapters 6 and 7. Check out some additional resources and websites on Angel that could help you study.

This week in Science... we are wrapping up our LIGHT UNIT. Students should be completing their study guide which is due on Tuesday, Jan 13. We will review for the test then and then the assessment will be given on Thursday, Jan. 15.

This week in Math.. we are exploring multiplying decimals. We are used to numbers increasing when we multiply. When we multiply with number less than one, why isn't our product greater than our factors?? We will continue to practice several strategies for solving multiplication problems. Students may use which ever strategy they are most successful with to solve decimal multiplication problems. Having trouble understanding some of the alternative strategies? See the multiplication folder in ANGEL for some great websites and power points that explain partial product and lattice methods since they are not the standard algorithm.
DAILY ASSIGNMENTS
MONDAY - No Homework -- Band Concert tonight!
TUESDAY -WKS: LCM and multiplying decimals
WEDNESDAY -No Math
THURSDAY -Multiplication Review Packet
FRIDAY - Colonial Willamsburg!