Ahhh....fall temperatures make me smile. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to see those leaves changing colors :) Maybe it's because I'm a teacher, but fall is definitely my favorite time of year!
We jumped into curriculum with both feet this week in all content areas, so have a seat - this is a long blog. You may have noticed the increase in homework expectations. If you are noticing more than an hour of homework, your child is probably not using their classroom time wisely. This is a learned skill, and something we talk about often. If they're struggling at home with the amount of homework, you may want to reinforce using their independent time in the classroom to complete homework. If they seem overwhelmed, please include me in the conversation as your child may need some additional support with organization and making choices during work times.
Important Dates and Information:
Bike Rodeo ~ Wednesday, 9/12 ~ 3:35-4:45pm. Please note the Bike Rodeo is mandatory if your child would like to ride their bike to school. If they have attended the Bike Rodeo in previous years, they do not need to attend it this year.
School Pictures ~ Friday, 9/21 ~ Say Cheeeeese! Look for information to come home next week.
Benchmarking (09-09/28)~ The beginning of the school year means we are spending some time collecting data about your child's abilities in math and reading. I have already assessment reading fluency and math computation skills (AimsWeb), next week, I will focus on reading comprehension (Fountas & Pinnell).
Though it may seem like a lot of assessment so early in the year, the data is valuable to me as it drives instruction for the year. I will have the data from all the assessments available and ready to discuss with at our conferences in October.
What's Happening in the Classroom
Math
We will be wrapping up Unit 1 this week. This unit focuses on place value to the millions place, comparing large numbers, as well as rounding and estimating. We began review for the test on Friday and will continue on Monday, then we plan to take the Unit 1 Assessment on Tuesday, 9/11. You can help your child study for the test by reviewing lessons 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, and completing the chapter review. They can also practice skills learned in this unit on Freckle and Khan.
Your child will also bring home a Unit 1 Self Assessment Monday as an additional point of review prior to taking the test. We are trying to cultivate an ownership of learning in 5th grade, and the Self Assessment encourages reflection on the skills learned in this unit. Please take a moment and review the Self Assessment with your child on Monday and help them determine if they have mastered the Unit 1 skills necessary for the assessment. If not, they should practice on Freckle or Khan Academy.
Social StudiesWe spent the week diving deeper into the events that led up to the Revolutionary War, and grew in our understanding of the opposing perspectives of the colonists and the British. Your children debated who was at fault, and arrived at the decision that they were both right and both wrong. I was impressed with their connections to conflicts in their own lives - there are two perspectives to every disagreement.
The standards assessed in this unit include: 1) understanding the causes and effects of events in US history and 2) understanding how nations trade goods (Stamp Act, Tea Act, etc.). Your child will create a poster this week about one specific event that led to the Revolutionary War as a assessment of those standards. They will identify the cause and effect of the event, as well as how trade between Britain and the colonies was involved in the event. This poster will be done primarily in class on Google Draw, but they may need to finish it at home if they missed class time. The poster is due by Friday and is considered an assessment grade - look for an assessment sheet to come home next week for a sign and return. Again, if they did not demonstrate mastery, they will continue to work on the concepts until they can demonstrate mastery.
Students will NOT be taking the traditional History Alive assessment at this time since it does not accurately measure the reporting standards on our progress report. Students will be given opportunities to demonstrate understanding of standards with a variety of projects.
ReadingWe continue to practice routines in our Schoolwide curriculum, and we are growing in our ability to have a conversation about what we read. I continue to be impressed at the depth with which your students discuss characters and events in the stories we read aloud, as well as the engagement in their small group work. We reflected on our reading conversations, discussing the difference between loud and softer voices in conversations and how they can be sure all voices are heard in these conversations. Ask your child who they consider themselves to be - a louder voice or a quieter voice. Either way, your children are working hard to be sure everyone has input into the conversation! They continue to be expected to read 20 minutes per night and record their thinking. Please be sure your child allows time in their schedule to read! This week, we will add a Reading Log to the expectation, where they will record the number of pages and minutes they record every night.
Writing
We began our writing curriculum this week - our first unit is Personal Narrative. We learned how to be focused writers, and discovered how it impacts our readers. Focusing on a moment object creates rich, engaging text for our readers because it forces the writer to spend more time developing thoughts and feelings, sensory details, and dialogue. Next week, we will take a mini field trip as we learn to focus on setting and sound in our writing.
Word Work - Spelling & Vocab
We began our Word Work groups this week - students were divided into groups based on an initial spelling inventory. Your child is in one of four spelling groups: Within Word Spelling Patterns, Syllables & Affixes - beginning, Syllables & Affixes - middle, Derivational Relations. Within Word Spelling Patterns is below grade level and focuses on spelling patterns within a word; Syllables & Affixes is at grade level and focuses on prefixes, suffixes, and root words; and Derivational Relations is above grade level and focuses of Greek and Latin root words. If you have any questions about where your child placed, please don't hesitate to ask me.
Different groups have varied schedules each day so that I have an opportunity to meet with every group each week. They will have a Word Work sort assignment every day on Google Classroom - these are primarily completed in the classroom, but are homework if they miss class for some reason. They generally work in partners or small groups on these word sorts. The Google Classroom assignments are not graded assignments, but rather serve as just practice.
In addition to the sorts on Google Classroom, your child will also have 8 Spelling City assignments (4 spelling and 4 vocabulary) each week. Each group has a different due date for their Spelling City assignments, but they are given an entire week to complete these assignments. Some choose to do them all in the first night, some choose to do them over the weekend, some choose to complete them throughout the week. Ask your child which group they are in, and for their weekly due date. Assignments are expected to be completed by their weekly test date. Each week they will take a spelling test and a vocabulary test. I will not send home information on these assessments, but rather ask you to log into your child's account periodically and monitor their scores by clicking on "My Records." If your child does not demonstrate mastery on an assessment, they will be asked to complete additional assignments over the weekend, and re-take the assessment on Mondays.
Your child should have their Spelling City password written in the front of their assignment notebook - if they do not, please encourage them to see me and I'll make sure they write it down.
Grammar
As mentioned on Curriculum Night, No Red Ink is our grammar program this year. On Mondays, students will take a pre-test on the grammar concepts to determine their understanding prior to instruction. If they can demonstrate an understanding, they will not need to complete the assignments for the week After instruction on Monday, students are given assignments to practice the skill throughout the week. They are expected to master every skill by Friday - they know they have mastered the skill because the circle indicating the standard has turned green.
On Fridays, they will take a post-test on the grammar skill. Again, I will not send home information on these assessments, but rather ask you to log into your child's account periodically and monitor their scores by clicking on "Results." Assessments are marked "Quiz." If your child does not demonstrate mastery on an assessment, they will be asked to complete additional assignments over the weekend, and re-take the assessment on Mondays.
Your child should have their No Red Ink password written in the front of their assignment notebook - if they do not, please encourage them to see me and I'll make sure they write it down.
Character EdWord Work - Spelling & Vocab
We began our Word Work groups this week - students were divided into groups based on an initial spelling inventory. Your child is in one of four spelling groups: Within Word Spelling Patterns, Syllables & Affixes - beginning, Syllables & Affixes - middle, Derivational Relations. Within Word Spelling Patterns is below grade level and focuses on spelling patterns within a word; Syllables & Affixes is at grade level and focuses on prefixes, suffixes, and root words; and Derivational Relations is above grade level and focuses of Greek and Latin root words. If you have any questions about where your child placed, please don't hesitate to ask me.
Different groups have varied schedules each day so that I have an opportunity to meet with every group each week. They will have a Word Work sort assignment every day on Google Classroom - these are primarily completed in the classroom, but are homework if they miss class for some reason. They generally work in partners or small groups on these word sorts. The Google Classroom assignments are not graded assignments, but rather serve as just practice.
In addition to the sorts on Google Classroom, your child will also have 8 Spelling City assignments (4 spelling and 4 vocabulary) each week. Each group has a different due date for their Spelling City assignments, but they are given an entire week to complete these assignments. Some choose to do them all in the first night, some choose to do them over the weekend, some choose to complete them throughout the week. Ask your child which group they are in, and for their weekly due date. Assignments are expected to be completed by their weekly test date. Each week they will take a spelling test and a vocabulary test. I will not send home information on these assessments, but rather ask you to log into your child's account periodically and monitor their scores by clicking on "My Records." If your child does not demonstrate mastery on an assessment, they will be asked to complete additional assignments over the weekend, and re-take the assessment on Mondays.
Your child should have their Spelling City password written in the front of their assignment notebook - if they do not, please encourage them to see me and I'll make sure they write it down.
Grammar
As mentioned on Curriculum Night, No Red Ink is our grammar program this year. On Mondays, students will take a pre-test on the grammar concepts to determine their understanding prior to instruction. If they can demonstrate an understanding, they will not need to complete the assignments for the week After instruction on Monday, students are given assignments to practice the skill throughout the week. They are expected to master every skill by Friday - they know they have mastered the skill because the circle indicating the standard has turned green.
On Fridays, they will take a post-test on the grammar skill. Again, I will not send home information on these assessments, but rather ask you to log into your child's account periodically and monitor their scores by clicking on "Results." Assessments are marked "Quiz." If your child does not demonstrate mastery on an assessment, they will be asked to complete additional assignments over the weekend, and re-take the assessment on Mondays.
Your child should have their No Red Ink password written in the front of their assignment notebook - if they do not, please encourage them to see me and I'll make sure they write it down.
Every week, we come together in "Trust Circle" to discuss our character, focusing on one character trait per month. We call it the "Trust Circle" because it's a safe place for students to honestly evaluate their character and reflect on areas of improvement. We can all grow in our character, right?
For the past two weeks, we've been discussing and creating Responsibility collages. Responsibility is doing what needs to be done without being asked. Hopefully, you've seen an increase in responsibility from your 5th grader as I've challenged them to choose one area to increase their responsibility. They were asked to choose something that they are regularly asked to do at home, but don't often do well, and complete it without being asked. This week, they reported back to the circle if they were able to meet the challenge, as well as how their parents responded. The conversations have been rich with reflection of triumphs and failures of the past week, but they left the conversation resolved to improve this week! Many shared your great responses when they stepped up and did something without being asked. Thank you for being parents that naturally reward responsibility :)
This coming week, we will begin discussions and activities on a character trait closely related to Responsibility: Self Discipline.
Whew! Overwhelmed yet?? I hope not...but if you are, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any clarifying questions. Your children are doing an excellent job adjusting to the increased expectations in 5th grade, and should be managing all of what I just shared independently!
“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” – Pablo Casals
Cheers ~
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