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!

Week of January 5-9

Welcome Back! It's 2009 and we're excited to continue our school year now in the fresh calendar year. I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Winter Break.
A few reminders about the next few weeks:
Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 6 and 7 - Practice SOL TESTS
Friday, January 9 - ALL SCHOOL Geography Bee
Friday, January 16 - FIELD TRIP to WILLIAMSBURG!
Monday and Tuesday, January 19 - 20 - NO SCHOOL


This week in Science... we are continuing to explore visible light and how it fits in to the electromagnetic spectrum. This is our shortest unit in science, so you will see a study guide go home Wednesday that students should be working on using information from Science Binders. This study guide will be due Tuesday, Jan. 13 and the Assessment will be Thursday, Jan. 15.

This week in Social Studies... we will continue our Colonization unit by exploring slavery in the Early American Colonies. Our Unit 4 test is now scheduled for Thursday, January 22. It will have been since Wednesday, the 14 that we will meet in class at that point - students should be studying heavily chapters 6-7. Students should know why Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth were started as well as some details about them. Students should also be familiar with the three colonial regions, their characteristics, and which colonies were a part of each region.
Tuesday Night - Students should complete the History Alive Online Tutorial for Chapter 7.

This week in Math.. we are exploring different methods for multiplying. Before break, we practiced the standard algorithm and a "criss-cross" partial product method that is great when you multiply a 2-digit number by another 2-digit number. This week we'll explore more about partial product, a lattice method, and the distributive property.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - WKS: Multiplication Methods practice - Standard Algorithm and Partial Product
Tuesday -WKS: Multiplication Practice - Use ANY strategy and check the solution with a different strategy - Strategies include Standard Algorithm, Partial Product, and Lattice
Wednesday -WKS - Practice solving problems using the distributive property
Thursday - WKS: 3-6 ODD ONLY
Friday - No Homework :)

Week of December 15 - 19

Here we are, in the last week before a long Winter Break. Keep in mind school is in session until 2:30 on Friday, December 19! We'll be busy learning this entire week.

This week in Social Studies... we are taking a closer look at American Colonies and will compare life in three regions: New England Colonies, Middle Colonies, and Southern Colonies. Why was each colony started? How did the geography and natural resources affect how they lived? How did political and social lives evolve in each region?
Wednesday we made billboards to advertise six different colonies. Students came up with slogans and sales gimmicks to encourage new settlers to come to their colony!































This week in Science... we will continue to explore light and how it travels. Last week we learned what light was and how it can act in different environments. When light hits an object it can be absorbed, refracted, or reflected... sometimes a little of all three!! This week we'll explore different wavelengths of light and discover that visible light is only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum!

This week in math... we are beginnig our multiplication unit. We will look for patterns in multiplication and use them to solve problems mentally. We will also explore estimating products, as well as some different strategies for solving multiplication products with two or more factors.
Assignments:
MONDAY - WKS: Problem Solving 2-18 (Subtracting Decimals Review)
TUESDAY - WKS: Practice 3-1
WEDNESDAY -WKS: Practice 3-2
THURSDAY -WKS: Multiplication Practice
FRIDAY -NO HOMEWORK :) HAPPY HOLIDAYS!



Congratulations to our three 5th grade Geography Bee Finalists! They will represent the 5th grade on Friday, January 9th in the school-wide Bee!







Guthrie, Chase, and Brandon

Math @ Home

As we are starting our multiplication and division units, I can't stress enough the importance of students knowing their (0-12) multiplication facts! Knowing means being able to give the product automatically and not having to "figure it out" each time. While we encourage students to have strategies for figuring out problems they do not know, we want 0-12 to be automatic.

Students should be practicing their facts at home especially over the long, 2 week break. Flashcards are great! If you have them, use them! If you don't have any you can pick some up at Staples or even make your own on index cards!

Another fun way to practice facts are with the game "Multiplication Top-it". It's a variation on the classic card-game "War". Take a standard 52-card deck of playing cards and divide them evenly, face-down, between two players. Each player turns over two cards and multiplies the values of those two cards together. The player with the greatest product, takes all 4 cards into a separate pile. When all cards in the deck have been used, each player takes the pile of cards they have won, shuffles them, and uses them as their new deck. The player to win all 52 cards wins the game. If there is a tie (two equal products), leave the four cards on the playing surface and turn over two more. The player to win, wins all 8 cards. Keep in mind, A=1, J=0, Q=11, K=12.

Happy Multiplying!

Week Of Dec. 8-12

CHECK OUT OUR NEW PICS! We explored refraction by putting a colored pencil in a jar of water. Why does it appear bent or enlarged in some cases?







































Reminders for this week -
Wednesday, Dec. 10 - Early Release
Thursday, Dec. 11 - Math Test - Place Value, Decimals, Adding & Subtracting
Friday, Dec. 12 - Progress Reports go home

This week in science... we are beginning our unit on LIGHT! We have learned that light is radiant energy, it travels in a wave, and at speeds of 186,000 miles per SECOND! That's like going around the earth 7 and a half times in one second. We will also look at how acts when it hits something -- it can reflect, refract, or be absorbed... what do those three terms mean?

Check out what we did on Wednesday with a flashlight, some colored film, mirrors, and prisms:

This week in Social Studies... we are beginning our 4th unit -- Colonial America. We will explore Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth, then the 13 original US Colonies. We will spend time comapring and contrasting life in New England colonies, Middle colonies, and Southern colonies. This unit will be wrapped up with a 5th-Grade trip to Colonial Williamsburg on January 16!

This week in Math... we are concluding our unit on Place Value, Decimals, Adding and Subtracting. Students should be working on their study guides which are due Wednesday, Dec. 10. We will have our test on Thursday, Dec. 11.
ASSIGNMENTS
Monday - Continue working on study guide - due Wednesday
Tuesday - Continue working on study guide - due Wednesday
Wednesday - Study Guide Due Today
Thursday - TEST!
Friday - TEST CORRECTIONS DUE TUESDAY, DEC. 16.

Week of December 1 - 5

I hope everyone had a restful and safe Thanksgiving Break! 3 more weeks until Winter Break!
Reminders for next week: Wednesday, Dec. 10 - Early Release
Friday, Dec. 12 - Progress Reports go home


This week in science... students will take a unit assessment on Matter - Tuesday, Dec. 2. Students will get their graded tests back on Thursday. Parents, please sign them and have your student return the test on MONDAY.


This week in Social Studies... we will learn and practice study skills as we prepare for our Explorers Unit assessment that will be given on Friday, Dec. 5. See the Social Studies page on ANGEL for resources and check out the video on: www.vimeo.com/ss5


This week in Math... we will continue exploring place value and decimals by reviewing rounding decimals, estimating sums and differences, as well as determining actual sums and differences of decimals.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Monday - WKS - Rounding Decimals
Tuesday -WKS - 3-6 Rounding and Estimating Data
Wednesday -WKS - 2-17 - Adding Decimals: ODD ONLY!!
Thursday - Students will receive a study guide for our Unit test on Place Value/Decimals/Adding and Subtracting. This study guide will be due on Wednesday, Dec. 10. The test will be on Thursday, December 11.
Friday - Continue working on Study guide. Due Wednesday.