5B Activities for the Week of March 2, 2015

Hello Parents and Students!

Welcome to March! This school year is flying by!

Here are the reminders for this week:

1.  Please have your child bring in headphones or ear pods on Monday.  We will need them for PARCC testing.

2.  PARCC testing is this week.  It will occur Monday through Friday in the morning only.

Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week: 

Word Study:  This week we will be working on words that are R-Controlled.  The words will be posted to the blog on Monday morning because I saved them on my desktop at work and I don't have access to them now at home. :-(  Sorry for the inconvenience. As usual, the test will be on Friday.  Students will get their word list on Monday as usual.

Math Acceleration:  We will be finishing up the last lesson in Unit 5 this week.  We will only have math three days this week due to PARCC testing.  This will give us enough time to finish the last lesson(s) and review.  We will also be creating our study guides.  As of right now, the Unit 5 test is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 10th.  However, during the week of March 9th, PA math testing will occur.  I am unsure of the exact dates for that, so we may need to be flexible with the Unit 5 test date.

English Language Arts:  We will continue our study of our anchor text, Red Kayak.  We will be having a quiz on the vocabulary from chapters 10-12 on Wednesday.  We will review for this on Monday/Tuesday.  We will also be responding to questions in our journals pertaining to this book.  The students were introduced to narrative poems last week.  We will begin writing our own narrative poems this week.

Science:  We are at the end of our study of the Digestive System.  Our assessment of this unit will be on Thursday.  We will be reviewing the material earlier in the week.  Also, due to PARCC testing, the computer lab and laptops will not be available for use this week and next.  Therefore, we will have to postpone working on our Digestive System brochures for a couple of weeks.  They are coming along nicely and we will continue working on them as computers become available.  The students may also continue working on these at home if they would like. I have saved many of the students'  brochures to my flash drive.  However, if you have an extra flash drive at home, please send it to school with your child so he/she can save their brochure to work on at home.

Social Studies:  We are moving back into social studies this week.  Last week we had a quick pre-assessment about how much we know about King George III and George Washington.  We'll continue to talk about these two famous men this week as we move closer to the Revolutionary War.

That's it for now.

Please email me with questions.

Thank you,

Mrs. Bennick :-)

5B Activities for the Week of February 23, 2015

Hello Parents and Students:

Here are the reminders for this week: 

1.  Please return the 5th Grade Farewell permission form and $10 if your child plans to attend the farewell.  Thank you to all who have already returned it.

2.  Students have school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only this week.  Thursday is Parent-Teacher Conferences and Friday is Teacher Institute Day.  If I need to speak with you regarding your child's progress in school, you have already been contacted.

3.  Please send in two food labels this week for a science activity.  Thank you.

Here's what's going on in the curricular areas: 

Word Study:  There is no word study this week due to the shortened week!  Instead, we will do some grammar practice in school.  :-)

Math Acceleration:  We will continue to work on Common Core State Standard 6.EE.B7 this week.  Our focus will continue to be on equations….specifically focusing on using algebra to solve multiplication and division equations.  This week we will involve fractions with equations.  Also, we will be participating in a lot of problem solving involving equations using models.  Expect a couple of exit slips this week to check for understanding.  Also, a permission form was sent home regarding Math Acceleration testing.  It was a pink form.  Please disregard this form.  It was sent home in error.  The correct form was sent home the following day regarding the PA math test.  ALL Math Acceleration students will participate in PA math testing the week of March 9th.  There is no permission form needed for this testing.  I apologize for the confusion.  Also, I will post a link on my blog of useful websites to visit to help prepare for the PA math testing.

ELA:  This week will be a continuation of many things.  We are about halfway through our anchor text, Red Kayak.  Students should be studying the vocabulary from chapters 10-12.  A quiz on these words will be given at a later date.  We also read and analyzed the poem, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.  This week we will be discussing narrative writing…specifically narrative poems.  We will begin writing our own narrative poems (with illustrations) this week or next.  Students will also be introduced to a new book entitled, George Vs. George.  This books compares Britain's King George III with the Colonists' General George Washington.  This book/discussion will be our headway back into social studies.

Science:  In a couple of weeks or so, we will be finishing up our study of the Digestive System.  Currently, we are creating a digestive system medical brochure.  This will be ongoing for a while.  Students are doing research on a specific area/condition/disease of the digestive system.  They will then be formatting this information onto a brochure.  We will be learning about nutrition and reading food labels soon.  Please send two food labels in with your child sometime this week.  Thank you.

That's it for now!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Bennick :-)

5B Activities for the Week of February 17, 2015

Hello Parents and Students!

Here are the reminders for this week: 

First of all, I'd like to thank Mrs. Shah and Mrs. Dhulipala for organizing a fun Valentine's Day party for us.  A good time was had by all!

Also, thank you for all of the chocolates, cakes, personal cards and letters that you gave me for Valentine's Day!  You made my day very special!  :-)

1.  There is no school Monday, February 16, due to President's Day!

2.  The Robert Crown follow-up will be this Friday afternoon from 2:00-3:00.

3.  Parent Teacher Conference forms will be sent home via backpack mail on Tuesday.  Conferences are scheduled on a "need to see" basis.  Therefore, conferences are not scheduled for every student.  Please check your child's form to see if a conference is needed. Thank you.

Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week: 

Word Study:  We are continuing on with the Vowel Team.  This week, the vowels we will be studying include -oi, -oy, -au and -aw.  The words have been posted to the blog.  The spelling test will be on Friday and will include spelling the words, diagramming and meanings.

Math Acceleration:  We will continue to solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations.  We have mainly focused on addition and subtraction in equations, but will move on to multiplication and division.  We will also increase our knowledge of inequalities by continuing to study the greater than, less than and equal to signs.

ELA:  We are currently on chapter 10 in our anchor text, Red Kayak.  We have had many great discussions about the choices that have been made thus far in the book.  The students will also be introduced to the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.  We will make comparisons between the main character in the book Red Kayak and choices made in both the poem and The Man in the Mirror song we listened to last week by Michael Jackson.  At some point this week, the students will be introduced to our 3rd Quarter performance task which includes researching an historical event and person and creating both an interview and news story.  This task will be ongoing throughout the 3rd Quarter.

Science:  Our study of the Digestive System continues this week.  The students will have a quiz on labeling the organs involved in the system. (They should have a sheet to study from.)  We will be doing some annotating of digestive system information and creating a digestive system brochure.

That's it for this week!

Please email me with any questions.

Thank you and have a great week!

Mrs. Bennick :-)

5B Activities for the Week of February 9th, 2015

Hello Parents and Students,

Here are the reminders for this week:

1.  Our field trip to Robert Crown is this Tuesday, February 10th.  Please send your child to school with a sack lunch and drink.  We will eat lunch after we return to school, however, it will be after hot lunch hours.  Therefore, hot lunch will not be available.

2.  Our Valentine's Day party is this Friday, February 13th.  Our party planners have organized some fun games for us.  Also, most students in 5th grade still pass out Valentine cards.  However, this is optional.  If your child decides to pass out cards, please make sure they include all students.  Thank you.  I emailed a class list to all parents.

3.  Two permission forms were sent home yesterday.  One is for the 5th Grade Farewell activity and the other is for a science experiment in class.  Please sign and return these forms at your earliest convenience.  Thank you!

Here's what's going on in the curricular areas this week: 

Word Study:  Due to the shortened week last week, I decided to focus on homophones only.  This week, we will have the Vowel Team words.  They are posted on the blog.  The test will be on Friday and will include spelling, diagramming and definitions.

Math Acceleration:  We have begun Unit 5 which focuses on Equations and Inequalities.  The standards were sent home via backpack mail last week.  We have studied solving equations, solutions of inequalities and substitutions.  We have also learned how to graph inequalities on a number line using closed and open circles.  This week, we will be learning how to use algebraic expressions to solve problems and writing algebraic equations.

ELA:  We have a LOT going on in ELA currently.  Our study of Red Kayak continues.  We have been introduced to and discussed vocabulary for chapters 1-9.  We will have a quiz on these words mid-week.  We have also been answering some text-dependent questions pertaining to the book and we will be creating oxymoron charts as well.  (We didn't get to that last week.)  We will also be participating in PARCC tutorials this week during our computer lab time in preparation for the upcoming PARCC testing.  (Early March)  Most students finished their Writer's Workshop projects and several presented them yesterday in class.  They were awesome!  We are learning so much about many things!  This week we will finish the presentations and students will be introduced to our 3rd Quarter Performance Task late in the week.

Science:  Our study of the Digestive System continues.  In fact, we have learned all of the organs that are involved in the digestive system and are beginning to learn their functions.  We participated in a science experiment last week which showed how our teeth help aid in digestion.  This week we will be participating in another science experiment in which we will be eating Saltine crackers.  Please return the permission form ASAP.  We will be doing this experiment on Thursday.

That's it for this week!  Enjoy the week!

~Mrs. Bennick :-)

5B Activities for the Week of February 2, 2015

Hello Parents and Students,

Here's what's going on in 5B this week! 

First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming out to Open House this past Wednesday.  The class was packed with people and I had the opportunity to talk with many of you.  I really appreciate that you took time out of your busy schedules to stop by and check out all of the great work the students have been doing!

Word Study:  This week we are on Lesson 14, Vowel Team.  There are 20 words this week.  Students will be tested on diagramming, spelling and knowing the meanings of each word.  The words have been posted to the blog and the test will be on Friday.

Math Acceleration:  We took the Unit 4 test last week.  Most students did very well.  The break down was 11 A's, 8 B's, 5 C's and 2 D's.  We will go over the test on Monday to answer any questions the students may have.  We will be starting Unit 5 this week which focuses on Expressions and Equations. The Unit 5 Standards will be sent home with your child on Monday.  We will be taking a pre-assessment for Unit 5 on Monday as well so I can determine planning for the unit.

English Language Arts (ELA):  Red Kayak is our anchor text for the third quarter.  Our theme for this quarter is "At a Crossroads" which focuses on making choices and how they affect our lives.  First, we will be discussing our essential questions and understandings for the unit.  These are the questions that we refer back to all quarter.  In the book they talk about oxymorons.  We will be creating our own oxymorons chart in class this week.  We will also be completing a brochure pertaining to Red Kayak and completing some comprehension questions/tasks with supporting evidence.

Social Studies:  We finished our colony projects and they are hanging on our walls now.  They look great!  The students demonstrated great teamwork to complete these in time for Open House.  We are now switching back over to science for a little while.

Science:  Our focus in science for the next few weeks will be the Digestive System.  This week, students will be introduced to the organs that are involved with digestion.  I have prepared a power point to familiarize the students with vocabulary involved with this unit.  Students will also view a video which shows the process of digestion.  Other body systems will also be discussed briefly during the next few weeks one of them being the Reproductive System.  Basic vocabulary will be presented to the students prior to our going to the Robert Crown Center.

That's it for this week!  Please email me with any questions.

Have a great week!  Enjoy all of this beautiful snow!

~Mrs. Bennick