Fifth Grade News
Week of February 26th - March 1st, 2024
Important Dates
March 2024
Tuesday, March 12 - PTA Meeting - 6-7 PM
Friday, March 22 - Spring Break Begins at the End of the School Day
Monday, March 25 - Monday, April 1 - Spring Break
April 2024
Tuesday, April 2 - Schools Reopen
Friday, April 5 - Third Marking Period Ends -All Schools Close 3 Hours Early for Students
Tuesday, April 9 - PTA Meeting - 6-7 PM
Wednesday, April 10 - Systemwide Professional Development Day – Schools Closed for Students
Tuesday, April 16 - Report Cards Available on Focus
Friday, April 26 - Schools and Offices Close 3 Hours Early
National Read Across America Day is on Saturday, March 2, 2024. We are excited to celebrate reading during the week leading up to March 2nd with a schoolwide spirit week. Please see the attached flier for information about each day. Below are some suggestions for celebrating reading at home that week as well. As always, participation is optional.
Monday 2/26- read a fiction or non-fiction book about animals
Tuesday 2/27- read a book about friendship or a famous American
Wednesday 2/28- read a silly book or a book about an influential athlete
Thursday 2/29- read a book about a different culture
Friday 3/1- read your favorite book
Kids Heart Challenge COMING SOON
Save the Date! Spring Concert
The 4th grade chorus and 5th grade instrumental Spring Concert is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21st at 6:30pm.
All 4th grade students are a part of the chorus. 5th grade instrumental students who take lessons with Mrs. Kiper will also be performing. More information will be sent home at a later date, but please mark your calendars!
Dismissal Procedures
When notifying the school about a change in dismissal or early dismissal, please send an email to all 3 fifth grade teachers as well as both of our office staff Barb Balestrini bbalestrini@bcps.org and Katherine Taylor ktaylor3@bcps.org on the morning of the change or early dismissal.
Math
Period 1 and 2 - Unit 5: Multiplying and Dividing Fractions
Students will be taking their Unit 5 Assessment on Tuesday, February 27. Review activities are available on Schoology.
In Unit 5, students extend their understandings of multiplication and division to working with fractions.
Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings:
- Multiplying and dividing fractions can have a different effect than when multiplying and dividing whole numbers.
- Multiplication does not always lend itself to producing a product bigger than either or both of the factors used.
- When a given number is multiplied by a fraction less than 1, the product is less than the given number.
- Division does not always produce a smaller quotient than the dividend and/or divisor.
- Quotients that are greater than the dividend when a whole number is divided by a fraction less than 1.
- Knowing and understanding both interpretations of division, sharing and grouping, is required to make sense of division with fractions.
Period 3: Unit 5: Proportional Relationships
In this unit...
- Students learn to understand and use the terms “proportional,” “constant of proportionality,” and “proportional relationship,” and recognize when a relationship is or is not proportional.
- They represent proportional relationships with tables, equations, and graphs.
- Students use these terms and representations in reasoning about situations that involve constant speed, unit pricing, and measurement conversions.
- Special focus is given to circumference and area of circles as examples of proportional and nonproportional relationships, respectively.
- Students informally derive the formulas for circumference and area of a circle and are introduced to the value π.
ELA
Content
English Language Arts
This week, we will be continuing our new module. Module 7 is titled Above, Below, and Beyond. In this module, students will listen to, read and view a variety of texts and media that will present them with information about exploration.
A genre focus on autobiography provides students with opportunities to identify author's craft and purpose, and to make and confirm predictions in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter informational text, persuasive text, science fiction, and narrative nonfiction to build knowledge across genres.
As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn about exciting land, sea, and space discoveries.
In addition to this module, we will be reviewing essential grammar skills that are necessary for students to use in their writing.
As a reminder, since this is an odd-numbered module, there will be a writing piece due at the end of week 3. The writing piece will involve a research project/writing. This will be introduced this week and the students will choose their topics and begin to research them.
Social Studies Unit 2 - Revolution
The students will learn about...
The French and Indian War cemented Britain’s hold on North America and expanded British holdings into the Ohio Valley. Colonial settlers were dismayed to find out that the British, in hopes of avoiding further clashes with the Native American populations living in the Ohio Valley, mandated that the colonists stay to the east of the Appalachian Mountains.
Issues over the collection of taxes by the British to help pay for the expenses of the war ignited rebellion in the colonies in the form of tea parties and other instances of civil disobedience. Great Britain sent troops to quell the uprisings, but the military presence of the “redcoats” and British demands that colonists quarter the British soldiers only fanned the flames. Finally, war broke out between the bedraggled Continental Army, under the command of General George Washington, and the well-trained British regulars.
A Declaration of Independence from England gave support to the cause. A turning point in the war occurred when the Patriots won a victory at Saratoga, New York. The French joined the war, which turned the tide in favor of the Patriots. The American victory was sealed at the Battle of Yorktown. The Treaty of Paris ended the war and established the United States of America as a free country.
From the Nurse’s Office:
A Message from the Fifth Grade Room Parents
Hello 5th Grade Families!
We are looking for volunteers to be on a 5th Grade Committee to assist in planning the end of year celebrations for the class. Our students have worked hard to achieve the status of “5th Grader”, and deserve all of the special privileges that come with that title!
Some of the committee’s responsibilities will include:
- Plan events such as the class pool party, teaser days, and class kickball game
- Decorate for the farewell assembly
- Design and order the class shirt
- Assemble class slideshows
- Decide on fundraising needed to support these endeavors
If interested, please sign up in the link below and we will reach out to you in the coming weeks about the first meeting. Thank you!