It’s been another fun week in fifth grade! Be sure to read to the end of this post to see our incredible progress on our garden project. There are many more pictures found in the Links and Resources tab at the top of this page.

HOMECOMING EVENTS September 30-October 4:

• Spirit Days-
  • Monday- Favorite sports team day
  • Tuesday- Backwards/inside out day
  • Wednesday- Crazy hat day
  • Thursday- Slippers or crazy socks day
  • Friday- Blue and Green day, Pep-Rally 

• Homecoming Friday’s Events:
  • Before School/Drop-Off Spirit Tattoos ($1.00)
  • Homecoming Parade 2:30
  • Pep Rally 3:00
  • Spirit Tailgate 3:30-5:15 (see below)
  • Homecoming games 4:00

• Fifth Grade BBQ (3:30-5:15, Friday October 4)- Students will be coordinating advertising and sales for this awesome fifth grade fundraiser. More information and permission slips will be coming home early next week. Last year, we were able to raise $750. Some of this money was used to treat the class to a special breakfast during our overnight field trip. We hope to raise even more this year. If you are able, please join us and spread the word to friends and family!

CONFERENCE NIGHT/DAY: Please do not forget to sign up for a parent conference. We hope to be able to meet with every parent! You will find the sign up sheet under the Upcoming Events section to the right or you can click HERE to sign up. If none of the available spots work for you, please email us to let us know so we can figure out an alternative time. Thank you!

Here’s our Academic Update for the week:

Reading: This week, we’re glad to report that we have finished presenting the Genre Group Projects and each were excellent in what they brought to the table. Plus, it was nice to let the students do the teaching for a change!

Additionally, the students each registered for Newsela, a wonderful resource we’ll return to throughout the school year. To start off, we read an article called “The Death of Reading is Threatening the Soul,” and responded to the text with a short quiz and writing activity. Despite the overly dramatic title, the students unanimously agreed that the article, which argues the harm that television and social media does to our attention span, was important and relevant.

Finally, in small groups, we created some French Surrealist poetry, which some of the students then read during our Community Meeting this morning. Definitely ask your student about this!

History: We have officially begun our Landmark Research! Much of this week has been focusing on good note-taking skills. As the students find valuable information, they’ll be recording what they find on note cards, which will be useful when we start organizing and structuring their essay in a few weeks.

To practice these skills, we read an article on a different kind of DC landmark, Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street, and created sample note cards based on what stood out to them. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, our students took their inaugural steps towards gathering information about their Landmark. So far, so good!

Math: In math this week we practiced using prime factorization to find all of the factors of a number. We also took the second version of the Factors, Multiples, Primes, and Composites test on Wednesday. Students will have their goal sheets updated with these new scores on Monday. Your child will need to share and explain their test and growth mindset sheet with you Monday night as part of their homework. They should also ask you to sign their test before returning it on Tuesday. Based on this assessment, some students will continue to receive instruction on this topic during our work times. Then they will be given the opportunity to take the third version of the test, if necessary, to show growth and understanding.

Next week, we will be working on a mini business planning unit as we prepare for the Homecoming BBQ. We will also continue practicing multi-digit multiplication and division of whole numbers. Please know, it is important for students to attempt and understand various strategies before learning the traditional algorithm for basic math topics. This helps them build a solid conceptual understanding of our number system and how parts of the problem relate to one another.

Science: We began our year-long science project today! Our fifth grader students will be working to revitalize and redesign the Lower School garden within the Playscape. This is so exciting! You would not believe how hard our students worked to break down the old raised beds and pull out the weeds. We highly recommend a thorough shower tonight and would not be surprised if your child asks to go to bed early! You’re welcome. 🙂

Check out the before and after pics of our work for the day!