The 5G Times
What's Going On in 5G
Reading
Written by Neon Monkeys
Reading
In March, we have been doing lots of activities in reading and activities that have been related to reading. Here are some topics that we want to talk about.
Journeys
This week in Journeys, our skill is fact and opinion for the story Can’t You Make Them Behave King George? This is in our new Revolutionary War Unit.
Last week, we read Dangerous Crossing, which was about John Adams and his son’s journey to France and what happened along the way. The skill we learned for Dangerous Crossing was cause and effect.
Bridge to Terabithia
We are doing Literature Circles for the book Bridge to Terabithia. A literature circle is a reading group where each group member has a job like summarizer and connector. The summarizer summarizes the chapters and the connector makes connections with what we are reading about. Right now, Katie is a word finder, Nate is an illustrator, and Olli is a connector. There are 3 separate groups.
Read-Aloud
For read-aloud so far we have read: The Prince of the Pond, The Search for Delicious, The Sign of the Beaver, The House Without a Christmas Tree, A Christmas Memory, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. This month, we are reading The Wednesday Wars. Some characters from the book are Holling Hoodhood, Maryl Lee, Mai Thi, Danny Hupfer, and Doug Swieteck. The genre of the month is realistic fiction.
We hope you enjoyed learning about what we did in Reading this month!
Writing
Written by The Cat Dudes
This month in writing we began a research project about artists. First, we selected our artist or they were assigned by Mrs. Gale. Next, we wrote a flash draft on what we already knew about our artists. Afterwards, we revised our flash draft, and then we researched to collect notes. Some artists include Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Dave the Potter, and Claude Monet. We used books from the library to continue our research. Then we wrote a draft and now were in the process of revising.
Along with the research project, we write SPARKS most days when we come in to the classroom. Sparks are journal entries where we write a story in a special notebook and we have choices to pick from to write about. One week the entire topic was about explorers. One topic was about a Viking saga! We did a lot in writing this month, and we hope to learn more about writing skills!
Signing off,
The Cat Dudes.
Math
Written by Kooky Llamas
This month in math, we have been multiplying fractions, using area models and learning order of operations.
For a while, we played a game called 24. The 24 game gives you 4 numbers and by using multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction you have to get to the number 24. PEMDAS, an order of operations strategy, stands for parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.
This March, we have also been multiplying fractions. To help us we have been using area models. They help you with multiplying fractions. The area models are easy but require careful attention.
In the beginning of the month we took the PARCC test. We had 2 days of math during the PARCC test. Each test took about an hour. We will be taking PARCC again in May.
We had a small change of schedule because of the PARCC testing, but, then we were back to our normal schedule and started working PEMDAS and multiplication.
Finally, we will let you solve a 24 problem using PEMDAS. Your numbers are 11, 10, 5, and 3. Good luck!
Social Studies
Written by Alien Bacon
This month in social studies we have been mainly learning about our explorers. We have done many projects on our explorers, like our bio cubes, timeline, trading cards, and boat designs. Dante’s explorer was Prince Henry. Alexis’ explorer was Hernando Cortes. Maggie’s explorers were Father Marquette, and Louis Joliet. Jack D.’s explorer was Vasco Da Gama.
BIO-CUBES
One activity we did with our explorers was making our bio cube. It is a box with information about our explorers, each side had different info. What we mean is that one side could have the explorer’s birthdate, or year of their most important exploration, it also had to include at least 3 pictures or illustrations. Our completed projects are in the hall for others to enjoy.
TRADING CARDS
Since it is baseball season we did trading cards on our explorers. On one side we had important information and on the front we had a picture of the explorer, his year of birth, and were he was from. Then we made copies and traded them with our classmates. They turned out pretty good. It was an enjoyable activity.
BOAT PROJECT
Lastly, in Social Studies we had been making boats! How do you say? Well, we are making them out of Styrofoam. The completed boats have to follow specifications, for example, the deck area had to be at least 30 centimeters square, the length must be 10 cm and the width at the broadest point 5cm! In addition, we will design sails and figure out how to get our vessels seaworthy. We have partners for the project, and when we are finished our boats we will race them in water. The projected date for the race is Thursday, April 2.
Our group, the Alien Bacons, enjoyed the explorer unit. We personally liked the boat project the best.
Miscellaneous
Written by Electric Frogs
BUDDIES
“I found a potato!” All of the fifth graders and first graders of Mrs. Gale’s and Mrs. Johnson’s class took turns hiding potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day. We did this activity with our first grade buddies. Along with hiding potatoes, we had a green lunch where everyone tried to bring a lunch that consisted of only green items.
GARDEN
We planted herbs with Mrs. Eastwick. Some of the herbs we planted were oregano, mint, and basil. We planted the herbs on March 11 and March 13. Since then we’ve been recording observations in our garden journals. We also, with Mrs. Eastwick’s help, planted peas in our newly cleaned garden beds.
REPORT CARDS
Another excited thing that happened in March was that report cards came out!
OTHER RECENT EVENTS
The Talent Show was also this month! Some of the acts were Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’, Shark Attack, and Surfin USA. Everyone who participated did a great job. Finally, nice job to all the students who participated in Science Olympiad!