FIFTH GRADE NEWS
February 19- 23, 2018
No School on Monday
THANK YOU!
Our Valentine's Party was such a GREAT success. Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered and just supported our classes. It's so fun to watch them make these memories before they head off to CTMS.
SNACK TIME
1. Lots of unhealthy snacks: If they eat a piece of chocolate or candy during lunch that is fine, but candy will not be permitted as a snack in class.
2. Messy Chips (Takis): Chips with a lot of seasoning or cheese on them not only create a huge mess with paper and technology, but can result in a lot of licking fingers and then working. During this flu season, we really want to keep our spreading of germs to a minimum if we can.
3. We have quite a few that are opting out of eating a lunch and instead using their ability to snack during class as their "meal". We all feel that as 5th graders they can make those choices for themselves, but want you to talk with your child so that you are aware if they are eating lunch or not.
4. As a safety precaution students are not allowed to share food or snacks at anytime.
5. No snacks with Nuts will be permitted.
We will absolutely do our part to ensure that your students have the best day possible and make smart choices with their snacking, but we also appreciate your partnership with us, by talking with your child. If you have any questions, please contact your homeroom teacher.
Lockheed Martin Engineering Visit - Wednesday February 21st
Lockheed Martin engineers will visit our Science classrooms on Wednesday, February 21, to share with students about the importance of science and math education and to share about their exciting jobs. In keeping with our Portrait of a Graduate district goal, the goal of this event is to inspire our students to work hard in their studies and to one day become engineers.
CTMS Counselor Visit - Thursday February 22nd
CTMS Counselors will be visiting 5th graders next week to discuss transitioning to middle school and course selection for 6th grade. Students will bring home a yellow course selection sheet which is due back to their homeroom teacher on Wednesday, February 28. Don't forget to attend the CTMS Showcase on Tuesday, February 20 (6:00pm) to learn more about CTMS and different elective courses.
Six Flags Read to Succeed- There is still time!
It's not too late to turn them in! Get your forms to Mr. Wahpekeche or Mrs. Freyou ASAP!
If your child reads six hours and completes the reading form, they will receive a free child's Six Flags ticket to be redeemed this summer. If you can't find the form, you can download a new one by going to the web address below:
http://static.sixflags.com/readtosucceed/StudentReadingLog.pdf
Headphones In Class
A letter from Mrs. Hays
Hi Parents,
Mrs. Mannen and Mrs. Sifford’s student teacher's (Jennifer Munoz and Rachel Sutton) last day will be February 23. They have worked hard preparing to become teachers and have been wonderful with our kids. We’d like to show them how much we appreciate their hard work. Mrs. Mannen and Mrs. Sifford are going to put together a basket full of teacher supplies for each of them.
Would you please consider donating to help buy items for the basket? Any amount is helpful! You can send money (cash preferred, checks can be made out to Samantha Sifford) to school by next Tuesday, February 20th.
Mrs. Mannen and Mrs. Sifford will also have the students write each of them letters and will bind them into a book for them as a thank you.**
Please consider donating and let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Michelle Hays
Mrs. Siffords Room Mom
**The link to type the letters are in Mrs. Sifford's Google Classroom. Students can open the two Google Docs and type their letters there. Thank you!
Homework
NO HOMEWORK THIS WEEK FOR ALL CLASSES!!!!
We still encourage your students to get onto ixl.com, Stemscopes, Readworks, Learning Ally, or Google Classroom to review and practice current content.
Next week Homework will begin again and will be placed in Google Classroom.
What's Happening In Class?
Science Matters
We completed the Science Benchmark. Be looking for information to come home next week about your child’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to Science concepts.
Space Science is our focus for one more week, as we will take the district TEKS Check and revisit topics as needed. Weather and Climate, including The Sun and The Water Cycle, is our current unit of study. As we did with Earth Science, we are utilizing models to simulate the real world and help us with our understanding.
Space Science TEKS 5.8ABCD:
TEKS 5.8AB Weather and Climate
TEKS 5.8C Day and Night
TEKS 5.8D Characteristics of Sun, Earth, Moon
What can you do to help your child at home? Talk about differences between the Sun, Earth, and Moon; watch a weather forecast with your child; help them notice shadows at different times of the day; ask your child to explain the water cycle. Also, please utilize Stemscopes learning resources, games, and video glossary for review at home.
You will find vocabulary Quizlets, Blendspace activities, Slideshows, and Menu Plans in Google Classroom Mannen Science 2017-18 that will also be good for your child to review at home.
Miss Sutton, our student intern, is currently teaching all three classes of Science. I am assisting her with planning and checking in with her frequently during the day about the progress our students are making.
Math:
Our current unit is Multiplying and Dividing of Fractions.
5.3I I can use pictures, models and the traditional algorithm to solve the multiplication of a unit fraction (one as the numerator) by a whole number.
5.3J I can use pictures, models and the traditional algorithm to solve for the quotient when dividing a whole number by a unit fraction.
5.3L I can use pictures, models, and the traditional algorithm to solve for the quotient when dividing a unit fraction by a whole number.
Currently Mrs. Munoz, our student intern is teaching all 3 classes. I am working with her to co-plan, support, pull small groups to help our students be the most successful they can be. She is working very hard to create relevant, challenging and engaging work for our students to do.
Students are working in their blendspaces on Google Classroom to complete daily work and to have opportunities for challenging extensions should they finish early.
To support your students, please sit down with them while they are on ixl.com this will allow them to work through the steps with you. Students should ALWAYS have paper and a pencil with them while they work through problems on ixl.
Humanities:
Social Studies
Units 7: Westward Expansion (3 weeks)
Westward Expansion focuses on the idea of manifest destiny via the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, and the Gold Rush. Westward Expansion occurred early in our country’s history and we want to understand how this helped the United States expand beyond being only 13 states. Along the way, we will learn about the numerous reasons people had for making the move West!
Reading
Inferencing, drawing conclusions, and providing text evidence will continue to be important as we work through these units as well. With our benchmark out of the way, we can begin to focus in on specific reading skills in small groups and one on one with Mr. Wahpekeche. We will explore the elements of fiction, point of view, and continue to develop our comprehension in order to improve our ability to summarize.
Writing
Students will continue to utilize the writing process (brainstorm, draft, revise, edit, publishing) when developing expository essays, personal narratives, and persuasive essays, or informational essays. In addition, students will be working on writing informal and formal letters making sure to incorporate figurative and sensory language. We will spiral back to prepositions and prepositional phrases, subordinate conjunctions, and using proper punctuation.
STAAR Dates
Wednesday April 11 - 5th Grade Reading
Monday May 14 - 5th Grade Math Retakes (If necessary)
Tuesday May 15 - 5th Grade Reading Retakes (if necessary)
Wednesday May 16 - 5th Grade Science
Upcoming Dates
2/19: NO SCHOOL- Student Holiday
2/21: Lockheed Martin Engineer Visit
2/22: CTMS Counselors to Visit 5th Grade
2/23: Lunch with the Principal and Gatorville
Stay In The Loop
To receive cell phone reminders, please text @ghes5 to 81010
Email: samantha.sifford@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/domain/289
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/5thGradeGHES/
Twitter: @5thGradeGHES