Hello Parents:
I can't believe that we are already halfway through October. The days are flying by. The weather has turned cooler, so please have your child bring in a light jacket or hoodie to wear for outdoor recess.
The fifth grade classes participated in a Poetry Cafe yesterday. All of the participants did an incredible job! It is amazing what this fifth grade class is capable of.
Here's what the upcoming week will look like:
Reading- This week in reading we will be focusing on a story from our reading textbook entitled, Dear Mrs. Parks. We will focus on vocabulary, character traits, and extended response. We will be taking a comprehension test at week's end.
Flex.- During flex this week, we will discuss colonial times, which corresponds with our social studies unit.
We will read a book about colonial times and each group will be responsible for summarizing their portion of the book. Also, we will focus on the main idea and supporting details. The students will do a think-write-share activity. Our goal will be to work on reading for meaning.
Writing- The students just completed their personal memoirs. They have now begun writing a memoir from their animals' point of view. We hope to finish these memoirs by the end of the week. In addition to this, we will be making a book of "Dead Words". This will be a synonym book which will focus on using synonyms for words that are used much to frequently. For example, the word "happy" is used frequently. A better choice of word could be "joyful."
Math- We have finished Unit 2 and the students will be receiving their study guides on Monday. The Unit 2 test will be this Thursday. I will be reviewing a couple of concepts on Monday that were difficult in the last lesson.
Social Studies- We have a lot going on in social studies this week! First, the Chapter 4 & 5 test will be this Thursday. There will be no study guide, as the test will be open book. We have been studying colonies these past couple of weeks, therefore, the other fifth grade teachers and I thought that having the students create their own colony would be a great culminating activity. We will start this group activity mid-week. The students should have a lot of fun with it. Basically, each group will be given a charter. They will be responsible for discussing how best to use this charter along with developing a plan for repaying it. They will be naming their colony, developing a flag for it, discussing the areas' natural resources, climate, geography, etc. This is a creative group of students. I can't wait to see what they come up with.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.
~Mrs. Bennick
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Asheville, North Carolina
