Happy Friday!
As promised, here is the link to the document to sign up for a conference. If none of the dates or times listed work for you, please email us so that we can find a time that works for all of us. We hope to see you soon!
Have a great weekend,
Kimberly & Tim
Welcome to the first week of February! How is next Friday already Valentine’s Day? A big thank you to all who are sending in snacks or treats for our upcoming party. All parents are welcome to join us starting at 2 p.m. for the Valentine festivities. We will be sending home our most recent class list with the students tomorrow in case they would like to make or bring Valentines for their classmates. We ask that if your child is planning to bring in cards or treats, they bring enough for everyone. We currently have 26 fifth grade students.
BIG NEWS! Please be sure to put April 23 and 24 on your calendar. These are the dates of our fifth grade overnight field trip. We will head to Richmond and Williamsburg on Thursday, then back to Richmond on Friday. More information will be coming soon, but we wanted to be sure to get the date posted. We are VERY excited to be going on this trip in April rather than in March like previous years. Hopefully, the weather will be much more comfortable, and, as an added bonus, Maymont will likely be even more beautiful at this time of year!
Here is what’s going on in our core classes this week:
Language Arts: Rather than progress onto the next section of our Spinelli novels, we used this week as an opportunity to hone our skills and comfort with using RACE when answering questions about our novels. After using a rubric to self-evaluate how well each of the students were using the RACE approach, nearly every student found that they could have been far more successful in their attempts, especially when it came to using evidence from the text and explaining how the evidence helps answer the question. So, rather than trudge ahead, we used this week as a mulligan to help further our understanding. With the comprehension questions due by the end of the day tomorrow, each student will reevaluate their progress with last week’s rubric to guarantee they’re on the right path.
Additionally, due to a mistake that occurred on the vocab quizzes last week, the students retook the corrected quiz, albeit through a different format. With the previous version, they matched the vocabulary with the definition provided. This time around (and likely for the future), the students will utilize a word bank to complete a series of sentences that make use of each of the words. Not only does this approach require the student to know the definitions, but it also familiarizes them with the way in which these words are used (as well as their usual contexts). In a quick poll, nearly all of the students were favorable about this amended approach.
Math: In math this week, we continued to practice adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers with regrouping. Many students are struggling to use fractions and decimals within word problems. This is not a surprise, as students have a difficult time with word problems in general through all grade levels. We will continue to work on this skill in every unit, as we have all year. We are currently preparing for a test on Tuesday. In your child’s binder, you should find a plastic sheet with all of their quiz scores for each of the sections that will be on Tuesday’s test. If your child does not yet have a percentage score for a specific section (with the exception of comparing and ordering fractions), then that means the have not developed their understanding of this concept enough for me to take the a quiz grade yet.
A small handful of students have mastered all of the basic concepts of fractions as well as the addition and subtraction of fractions and mixed numbers, including those in word problems. During workshop times, these students have been working together to start making the connection between fractions, decimals, and percents.
History: This week, we’ve been learning about the waves of immigration seen in the United States between the 1880s and the 1920s. To aid in our discoveries and discussions, the students have been engaging with a variety of sources and activities, such as making inferences based on photos of various immigrant families and a virtual tour/scavenger hunt of Ellis Island.
As the students have worked together through these lessons, they’ve learned about the harsh travelling conditions, the reasons why a family would make the journey to America during this time, and some of the challenges these migrants might face in their new lives. Much of what is learned here will serve as a foundation for our subsequent units, particularly Westward Expansion and the Industrial Revolution.
Science: In science this week, we have been building on what students already know about our circulatory systems. Each student is creating their own book of “sketch notes”. These notes include how blood, blood vessels, and the heart work with the rest of the circulatory system. We will create a model of the components of blood, and use tennis balls to help students get an idea of how much force it takes to squeeze blood out of the heart. As we continue these investigations into next week, we will wrap up by seeing how the circulatory system works with the rest of the body systems.
As always, please know that we welcome you to contact us should you have any questions or concerns. We would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss our goals and objectives for this year.
Have a great week!
Kimberly & Tim
Good evening parents!
Our fourth and fifth grade classes will have their annual joint performance April 9th at 9 am and again at 7 pm. This is the Thursday before spring break. If you anticipate your child not being here that day, please let us know. We truly hope this is not the case, though. Both classes have already been working very hard to prepare during music class, so it is important that all students are here for the performance.
As a tradition, it has been up the fifth grade class to coordinate any costumes for the show if they choose. This year a large percentage of the fifth graders are choosing to participate in this student-led, volunteer, “costume committee.” This committee will take care of whatever they decide to create during some of their recess time between now and April. Please know, we have explained to the group that this should not involve group texting threads. While some students have and responsibly use their own devices at home, other students were not using the text string in a productive manner, and furthermore, many students do not have their own devices. Thank you for supporting us on this decision. Our fifth grade class has a lot of talent and excitement for theater, music, and costuming so we can’t wait to see the show in April!
Have a great night,
Kimberly & Tim
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:
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!