5th Grade Flyer
Cotey-Ward Team ~ Week of September 2nd, 2019
Upcoming Events:
September 13th - No School for Students - Parent/Teacher Conference Day
September 19th - Literacy Night (and Book Fair week)
Students of the Week:
Remmy S. is our literacy student of the week! Remmy has been working hard on independent work and actively participating in small group. She is also a great partner. Awesome job, Remmy!
Math News:
Students will have our regular spiral review quiz on Friday that will cover problems we have reviewed all week.
We will also need small boxes for a project later in our unit, so any donations that you can send in of empty boxes would be appreciated! Some examples are: cereal boxes, granola bar boxes, smaller shoe boxes, toothpaste boxes, etc.
Literacy News:
We will also be moving into our second unit where we will be reading informational texts about successful individuals. Students will focus on identifying central ideas and comparing and contrasting the structure of the texts.
September 11 Homework Assignment:
I wanted to provide you with information about our upcoming class discussion and writing related to September 11, 2001. I know that this is a very difficult topic to discuss for everyone, but it is especially difficult for children to understand and respond to. Although it is difficult, it is very important that students know the basic facts of what happened that day and how it impacted our country. To continue practicing our standard of point of view, students will complete an interview with someone who has memories of that day. This will demonstrate to students the different perspectives people had of that day. In class, students will use that interview to practice narrative techniques by writing a narrative about their interviewee’s experiences on September 11th. To build background knowledge before writing, students will read articles and watch videos about this topic. This will help students practice our standard related to finding answers to a question from multiple print and digital sources. I am providing you with the resources I will be using in class so that you can preview them. If your child is particularly sensitive to this topic or you look at ANY of the resources and feel the material is not appropriate for your child, please let me know by Friday, September 6. I am very willing to have your child move to another space and complete a different assignment for some or all of this lesson. I do not want any child to feel uncomfortable or overly frightened during this lesson. These are the articles we will be reading in class. http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3756477 http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3756390 We will be watching these two videos. https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/september11th/ I also plan to begin the class by showing the first 15 minutes of ABC’s coverage of part of that morning. This includes the confusion and speculation of the reporters after the first plane hit, background information about the World Trade Center and the twin towers, and footage of the second plane hitting. The link is below. (The video actually shows their coverage until after the second tower falls; however, I will NOT show anything past the first 15 minutes.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KYE4zViAAg Finally, I will be reading an account from a flight attendant who was on a plane that was grounded at an airport in Canada that day. I think this article demonstrates some of the good that came during such a tragic time. Let me say again that the purpose of this lesson is not to upset or scare students. If you feel like your child needs an alternate assignment or needs to be out of the classroom for any part of this lesson, please let me know. Also, please tell your child that if they begin to feel frightened or uncomfortable at any time during the lesson, they can ask to leave, and I will let them. I want students to know about this day and how it has impacted our country, but I want to do this in a way that is appropriate for each student. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know by Friday, September 6. Thank you!