Barry 5th Grade Team Orange
December 6, 2019
Important Dates
12/11 - PLC Early Dismissal @ 12:50
12/13 - Celebration Assembly
12/17 - Ticket Tuesday
12/20 - End of 2nd Quarter
12/21 - 1/5 - Winter Break (Have a Great Holiday!)
Reminders
- Check your child's planner and trapper every night for important information
- Students should be reading at home for 30 minutes every night
- Please go through your child's trapper WITH them as there are important papers that need to return to school. Make sure you don't throw anything away without checking with your student first.
Secret Snowflake
Our class is celebrating the season with an opportunity to give a little to others. We are having a secret snowflake exchange. This is a week-long, secret gift exchange. Each child will draw a classmate and give a daily gift. These gifts will be just small tokens for the first 4 days.
There is no need to spend much. Just wrap the gifts, secretly place for the students to find, and watch from afar to see the joy on their faces. The last day is the reveal day. The kids are to give a little larger gift (about $5) and tell who they are. Five Below and Dollar Tree are great places to find fun affordable gifts. The kids have so much fun doing this and seem to truly enjoy giving as much as receiving.
If you feel comfortable letting your child participate, please sign and return the form that will be sent home today. I will then give each child a slip with their secret snowflake and a list of that child’s likes. Our exchange will begin on December 16 and the reveal will be December 20.
~ The 5th-grade Teachers
Winter Gear
Suggested attire:
- Heavy coat
- Hat
- Gloves
- Closed-toe shoes
- Scarf
If you need any assistance in getting these items for your child, please contact your child's homeroom teacher, or Stephanie Richison (richisos@platteco.k12.mo.us), and we will be more than happy to help out.
What's Happening in 5th Grade?
Math
In math, we have been learning how to divide multi-digit whole numbers using the area model and partial quotients method. You can find two links below that will take you to videos explaining how to complete these type of problems. We will be starting the long division method next week!
ELA
In reading, we have started our unit on Comparing and Contrasting in fiction and non-fiction texts. We will be continuing this unit after winter break, and it will be assessed in February.
In writing, we have been working hard to create 3rd person narratives. Students learned how to incorporate dialogue into their stories and develop our characters in a way that makes them interesting. We also studied various writing techniques such as word choice, using transition words, creating a setting, and having a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Students will be publishing their writing pieces next week and will be sharing their completed work next Friday. Your child will be bringing home a copy of their work to share with family and friends. I am so proud of everyone's hard work!
Science and Social Studies
Science
We finished our unit on Changes in Matter this week as we examined the characteristics of mixtures and solutions. We will be taking a test over the unit on Tuesday, December 10 during Science class. A study guide that students can use to review concepts and ideas at home was sent home with students today. I am encouraging the children to look over the study guide each day in order to review concepts and ideas and to continue to get practice with answering questions concerning changes in matter for the test on Tuesday. We will also be reviewing material in class to help prepare for the test as well.
Our next unit of study over the Earth’s Systems will begin next week. In this unit we will examine interactions between the different Earth’s Systems such as the Geosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, and Atmosphere.
Social Studies
We began our discussion this week about the events leading up to the American Revolution. In the weeks before the holiday break, we will be exploring events leading up to the Revolutionary War and examine some of the causes of the war. Our discussion began with focusing on the settlements of Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. We continued to discuss how the British colonists began to spread out into the rest of New England and discussed the idea that trade was important to the colonies and Britain during this time. We realized that some of the restrictions that the British put on trade with the colonies became one of the factors that led to the American Revolution. We ended our discussion this week by discussing Triangular Trade Routes between Britain, the colonies, and Africa.
Next week, we will continue to discuss the settlement of the British colonies by examining the characteristics of the Middle and Southern colonies. We will also begin to discuss how the British debt from the French and Indian War helped contribute to the American Revolution.
Contact Us
Melissa Seevers
5th Grade Math - Team Orange
816-436-9623 Ex. 3142
Sarah Shoup
5th-Grade ELA - Team Orange
sarah.shoup@platteco.k12.mo.us
(816) 436 - 9623 ext. 3153
Anne Hayes
5th-Grade Science and Social Studies - Team Orange
(816) 436 - 9623 ext. 3145