The Upton 4/5 Team News
Curriculum News for November-December, 2016
Marvelous Math with Ms. Wasil
4th Grade - Students are working within Unit 2, which focuses on multiplication. Students are exploring and trying new strategies to multiply large numbers and two-digit times two-digit numbers. Please have your child practice multiplication math facts 0-12 at home. They may use the program Xtramath on the computer to do so or flashcards. Students have homework every Monday-Thursday.
5th Grade - Students just finished up Unit 2, which focused on addition and subtraction with decimals, rounding, and place value. You should have recieved your child's test with the attached rubric. If not, please let me know. Students will now begin Unit 3, which focuses on multiplication and division with fractions. Please have your child practice multiplication math facts 0-12 at home. They may use the program Xtramath on the computer to do so or flashcards. Students have homework every Monday-Thursday.
Spectacular Science with Mr. Boyer
5th Grade - Students will begin their exploration of the Sun, Moon and Stars. We will learn about the motion of the moon and Earth. We will look closer at stars to see what they are made of and how we track them in the sky. This unit is fun and gives us a chance to think of science outside of Earth! Please encourage students to observe the night sky and make connections to what we learn in class.
Social Studies with Mr. VanFleteren
4th Grade: The United States in Spatial Terms
In this unit students explore the United States through the social studies discipline of geography. In exploring the United States in spatial terms, students first consider the location of the United States. They learn about and use a variety of geographic tools such as maps, globes, and satellite images to answer the question “Where is the United States?” Next, students examine the concept of place relative to the United States. They use songs, stories, photographs, and aerial images to investigate the question, “What is it like there?” and to describe significant physical and human characteristics. Students also use the concept of regions to compare sections of the United States. They build on their understanding that regions are defined by common characteristics and explore ways in which the United States can be divided into regions. Students then compare a region to which Michigan belongs with other regions in the United States using special purpose maps. In doing so, students examine geographic features such as elevation, climate, and patterns of population density in the United States. As a culminating project, students summarize what they have learned by creating a poster, picture book, PowerPoint slide show or other visual describing the United States according to the geographic themes of location, place, and regions.
Focus Questions
- What questions would geographers ask in examining the United States?
- What tools and technologies would geographers use to answer geographic questions?
- How might the United States be described using the concepts of location, place, and regions?
Content Expectations
4 - G1.0.1: Identify questions geographers ask in examining the United States (e.g., Where it is? What is it like there? How is it connected to other places?).
4 - G1.0.2: Use cardinal and intermediate directions to describe the relative location of significant places in the United States.
4 - G1.0.3: Identify and describe the characteristics and purposes (e.g., measure distance, determine relative location, classify a region) of a variety of geographic tools and technologies (e.g., globe, map, satellite image).
4 - G1.0.4: Use geographic tools and technologies, stories, songs, and pictures to answer geographic questions about the United States.
4 - G1.0.5: Use maps to describe elevation, climate, and patterns of population density in the United States.
4 - G2.0.1: Describe ways in which the United States can be divided into different regions (e.g., political regions, economic regions, landform regions, vegetation regions).
4 - G2.0.2: Compare human and physical characteristics of a region to which Michigan belongs (e.g., Great Lakes, Midwest) with those of another region in the United States.
5th Grade: Colonization and settlement
In this unit students examine the causes and consequences of European settlement in North America during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Throughout the unit, students use primary and secondary sources to examine how Europeans adapted to life in North America. Students begin the unit by exploring the reasons for European colonization and identifying the push and pull factors that caused people to migrate to the New World. Students next examine a variety of early settlements such as Roanoke, New Amsterdam, Jamestown, and Plymouth. In doing so, students explore how the reasons for migration and the physical geography of the New World influenced patterns of early colonial settlements and their development. Students explore the three distinct colonial regions: New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. They investigate significant developments in each colonial region, focusing on political institutions and economic activities. For example, in studying the growth political institutions, students explore the Mayflower Compact, colonial representative assemblies, the establishment of town meetings, and growth of royal government. Emphasis is also placed on the economic development of each region, including the establishment of staple-crop agricultural economies in the south and the growth of manufacturing and small farms in New England. Students also consider how regional economic differences influenced the use of slave labor in different colonial regions. In exploring the relationships between the European settlers and American Indians, students compare how the British and French differed in their interactions with indigenous peoples. In considering the Dutch settlements in New Netherlands, Quaker settlement in Pennsylvania, and the subsequent English takeover of the Middle colonies, students analyze immigration patterns that led to ethnic diversity. Students also assess the role of religion when exploring each colonial region. Throughout the unit, students gather and evaluate evidence to answer the question: Why did different colonial regions develop in North America?
Wonderous Writing with Ms. Kirkwood and Mrs. Piccirilli
4th & 5th Grade Writing
Persuasive Essay Writing Unit 2
Fifth graders are wrapping up their Personal Narrative Units this week. As we embark upon our Persuasive Writing Unit our writers will take a position on the shared class topic. Students will learn to develop a solid argument by researching both sides of the issue. Students will read critically, to plan and write their own arguments, which include reasons and evidence for their position.
They will also learn to lift evidence from sources and analyze it for strong evidence in support of their argument. Writers will use the writing process to draft and revise introductions and conclusions as well as make decisions about paraphrasing and using quotations from different sources to build their position. Students will develop systems for note taking and citing researched sources.
Writers will also look at counterclaims and their validity within their essay. Lastly, students will use all they have learned to choose their own idea to take a stand for something that matters to them personally.
Writing Tools & Expectations:
- Students will learn to use professional editing marks to check their own and peer writing. (Give your child a terribly written sentence and ask them to correct it using the editing marks they've learned.)
- We will focus on correct sentence structure. Students have learned that every sentence needs a subject and predicate. They are expected to use capitalization and punctuation correctly.
- Understanding grammar is vital to becoming a excellent communicator. In writing conferences and as a whole group students will be asked to work on specific grammar rules and issues that may present themselves in their writing.
- All 4th and 5th grade students have Google Classroom accounts. Ask your child about Google Classroom. Please also note that all of our final copies are done on Google. This means that when deadlines draw near, students may be able to complete their final drafts as homework.
Contact Us on "Class Dojo" or by Email
Mr. Boyer: boyert@royalaokschools.org
Ms.Kirkwood: kirkwooda@royaloakschools.org
Mrs. Piccirilli: piccirillik@royaloakschools.org
Mr. Van: vanfleterenw@royaloakschools.org
Ms. Wasil: wasilk@royaloakschools.org
Website: royaloakschools.org
Location: 4400 Mandalay Avenue, Royal Oak, MI, United States