March
5th Grade News
Dear Parents and Students,
March brings us the beginning of Spring and a time for hope.
We all can use a boost after a long, dreary winter. We have only
four months left before we say goodbye to our fifth graders. Let us do our best to encourage them to be their best version of themselves.
There are a few important upcoming dates below. On March 6th and 7th students will take the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA). It is an assessment to understand student's science learning from 3rd through 5th grade. The students will take MISA again in 8th grade. The assessment is similar to a reading MCAP assessment. Please visit their website if you are curious to learn more. Please be sure that your student has a pair of headphones here at school that can stay at school. Students will need headphones during the assessment.
Additionally, a letter came home this week about the Grade 5 health education unit on Family Life and Human Sexuality. This instruction is scheduled to begin on April 3rd. If you would like more information about this aspect of the health education program, you are invited to attend an informational meeting on March 12th at 8:30am. Instructional materials will be reviewed and you will have an opportunity to discuss the program with the teachers. If you would like to opt your student out of the FLHS unit of instruction please complete the opt-out request that was sent home. If the form is not returned, your student will receive instruction on FLHS.
As always, let us know if you have any questions!
Mrs. Barrios, Mrs. Calabretta, Mrs. Finn, Mrs. Hogan, Ms. Maloney
March Curriculum Connections
Reading / Writing
Grade 5 Benchmark Curriculum
Students will soon begin Unit 6 of Benchmark in what is the most exciting unit: Up Against the Wild: What compels us to survive? Students will read excerpts from various texts that show elements of survival. From surviving wildfires to a young Eskimo girl surviving the freezing tundra while befriending wolves on her own. Students will continue to practice reading skills such as:
*identifying key events
*summarizing
*drawing conclusions
*making inferences
*comparing themes
*identifying how characters respond to challenges
*comparing and contrasting characters
*quoting accurately
Students will also focus on learning language skills that include spelling compound words, variant vowels, and noun suffixes.
Enriched Literacy Curriculum
We will be reading a variety of stories and poems that relate to our William and Mary unit: Patterns of Change. Each time, we will explore the question: How can patterns help us better understand literature, history, and our world?” Outside of class, we will be reading novels by Christopher Paul Curtis and answering questions relating to cyclic patterns of change. Students will pay particular attention to the Home-Away-Home plot structure in their novels and keep a journal of their thinking to reference during class and small group discussions. In writing, students will apply their knowledge of poetry to create their own poems.
Math
In module 5, Topic B (lessons 4-9) concrete understanding of volume and multiplicative reasoning come together. Students solidify the connection between volume as packing and volume as filling by comparing the amount of liquid that fills a container to the number of cubes that can be packed into it. Complexity increases as students use their knowledge that volume is additive to partition and calculate the total volume of solid figures composed of non-overlapping rectangular prisms.
In Topic C (lessons 10-15) students extend their understanding of area as they use rulers and set squares to construct and measure rectangles with fractional slide lengths and find their areas. Students apply their extensive knowledge of fraction multiplication to interpret areas of rectangles with fractional side lengths and solve real world problems involving these figures.
Grade 5 / 6 Compacted Math
In Grade 6 Module 3 Topic C, students transition from the number line model to represent points in the coordinate plane. Their conceptual understanding of symmetry from Grade 4 and their experience with the first quadrant of the coordinate plane in Grade 5 serve as a significant foundation as they extend the plane to all four quadrants. In Lesson 14, students use ordered pairs of rational numbers to name points on a grid, and given a point’s location, they identify the first number in the ordered pair as the first coordinate and the second number as the second coordinate. In Lessons 15–17, students construct the plane; identify the axes, quadrants, and origin; and graph points in the plane, using an appropriate scale on the axes. Students recognize the relationship that exists between points whose coordinates differ only by signs (as reflections across one or both axes) and locate such points using the symmetry in the plane In Lessons 18 and 19, students graph points in the coordinate plane and use absolute value to find the lengths of vertical and horizontal segments to solve real-world problems.
Science / Social Studies
Science
As we continue our astronomy unit students will use a simulation model to collect data on changes in shadows over a day, and analyze the data to identify patterns. Additionally, students will construct an explanation of star trails (or the motion patterns of the Sun and constellations across the sky), using evidence from their observations.
Social Studies
In social studies we will focus on the question, How did early industrialization contribute to change in the U.S? Students will evaluate how industrialization impacted life in America, including in Maryland. We will explain how industrialization impacted the way people lived, worked, and consumed goods. Next, we will focus on the question, What were the lives of immigrants like living in America? We will describe the motives for immigration to the United States and how people responded to it. Students will explain what life was like for immigrants in America and analyze discrimination and the impact it had on the experiences of immigrants in America.
Calendar Reminders
March 6-7 - MISA testing 12:00-1:40pm
March 10 - Daylight Savings time begins
March 12 - FLHS Informational Parent Meeting 8:30am
March 21 - International Night
March 25 - April 1 Spring Break / No School for Students and Teachers
April 2 - PTA meeting 6:30pm
You have caught a leprechaun, and he has given you a pot of gold in exchange for his freedom. What would you do with it?
Mrs. Barrios - Buy myself a tropical vacation!
Mrs. Calabretta - Go on a lavish vacation!
Mrs. Finn- Invest
Mrs. Hogan - Pay for college for my children, build a beach house, and travel to many places with my family.
Ms. Maloney- I would love to buy a vacation home in Ireland!
How to Contact Us
Mrs. Calabretta: Anne_K_Calabretta@mcpsmd.org
Mrs. Finn: Kirsten_Finn@mcpsmd.org
Mrs. Hogan: Kerri_E_Hogan@mcpsmd.org
Ms. Maloney: Kristen_M_Maloney@mcpsmd.org