5-2 Updates ~ 09/15/18

Hello 5-2 Families :)

If felt a bit more like summer out there today - hope you were able to get out and enjoy all that sunshine!

Important Dates and Information:

Band Parent Night ~ Wednesday, 9/19 ~ 7:00pm in the Commons

School Pictures ~ Friday, 9/21 ~ Say Cheeeeese!  You should have seen a flyer come home with your child this past week about picture day. Follow this link to online ordering information:  Picture Day

Benchmarking (09/06-09/28)~ 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.  

SIP Day ~ Friday, 10/05 ~ No School

Columbus Day ~ Monday, 10/08 ~ No School

What's Happening in the Classroom

Math

We finished Chapter 1: Place Value this week and you should have seen the "Owl" Standards Scorecard come home indicating your child's understanding.  If your child received a 3, they have met standards; if they received a 2, they are approaching standards.  If they receive a 2, we continue to work on the skill individually, and then they are re-assessed - you will see Standards Scorecards come home for those re-assessments as well indicating their progress. If your child receives a 2 on the re-assessment, we will continue to work on the skill, and they will be given additional opportunities to demonstrate understanding.

We began working on Chapter 2:  Multiplying and Dividing Whole Numbers.  This chapter is significantly longer than chapter 1, so we won't be taking an assessment for a couple of weeks. It is important that your child has automaticity with his multiplication facts at this point in 5th grade. If they do not have quick recall, please encourage your child to spend at least 10 minutes a night reviewing their facts.  There are many online games that will help them practice these skills - please let me know if you would like some suggestions.

Social Studies
We spent the majority of the week discussing the cause and effect of events that led to the Revolutionary War, as well as how trade was involved in each of these events. Then the students created posters to represent the information learned as a performance assessment.  The posters were due by Friday.  Several students were not able to meet standards with the information they presented, so we met in small groups to discuss the information - these students have an opportunity to redo their posters over the weekend.  Look for the "Owl" Standards Scorecard to come home for the poster some time next week for a sign and return.

We also began to read about the Loyalists and Patriots in chapter 11 this week. An organizer for this chapter is due on Monday.  Once we review it, students will be given an opportunity to take the role of a Loyalist or a Patriot in a debate they will create.  They will work in teams to develop a script, and act it out on video.  These videos should be posted by Friday.

Reading
We've continued to work on how to participate in an effective reading conversation this week. Good readers collect their ideas and questions, then use those thoughts to start and engage in conversations about what they are reading.  They have been practicing this skill with assigned text, as well as in their book clubs. Please be sure your child is reading for 20 minutes every night - the best way to increase their reading comprehension is to have them reading often.

Writing

In writing, we continue to develop the skills necessary for writing engaging personal narrative.  Your children are becoming more focused writers who know how use sensory details and showing to engage their readers.  

Character Ed
We discussed the character trait of self-discipline this week in our Character Ed circle.  Self-discipline is thinking before you act and making good choices.  I was impressed with the honesty and maturity they demonstrated as they reflected on their behavior with a self-assessment. I asked them to choose one area they need to improve this week.  Hopefully, you will see some action on their part as they are to report back to the circle next week with an area of improvement.  We will continue discussing Self-Discipline through the month of September with role-playing different scenarios and creating an acrostic poem together.

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
Clay P Bedford

Cheers ~