This Week in Room 33! March 9-12

What to expect this week in 5th grade:

ELA: Students will be busy this week drafting, revising, and editing their fantasy narratives with a focus on story elements such as setting, characters with internal/external quests or problems, and resolutions. We are using all we know about reading fantasy to help us write our fantasy narratives. 

We will also continue our study of the Industrial Revolution with discussions on the rise of big businesses, the growth of cities, and working conditions.

STEAM:  We are continuing our study of measurement. This week we will convert customary units of capacity. We will also plot data on a line plot, analyze the data, and determine the fair share or average.

This Week in Room 33! March 2-6

What to expect this week in 5th grade:

ELA: Students are responsible for celebrating their argument essay with YOU at home after we celebrate at school on Tuesday! They will know to show you their essay on their online writing portfolio and share their self-evaluation checklist by Friday.

We are excited to launch NEW units involving the fantasy genre. We will be writing our own fantasy narratives later this week utilizing all we know about what makes a strong narrative while adding in fantasy elements. We are continuing to study apostrophes as a grammar focus. We are learning and noticing how we use apostrophes to show either ownership or contractions. 

In social studies, we are beginning to study the Industrial Revolution, focusing on the benefits and costs of industrialization. 

STEAM: ***As a reminder, students are responsible for logging into their Gmail to view their Check My Progress scores and share with you! Last week, we did NOT take a check in. Students were engaged in an end of unit “Escape Emoji Jungle” project! Students worked in groups to complete tasks in order to escape. The tasks all involved adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. 

This week, students will begin our next unit of study on measurement! We will participate in a scavenger hunt to practice measuring with a ruler, specifically measuring to the nearest ½ inch and nearest ¼ inch. We will also be converting customary units of weight, length, and capacity.

This Week in Room 33! Feb. 24-28

What to expect this week in 5th grade…

ELA: Students are continuing to read their book club books and hold thought-provoking and student-led book club discussions. Students are drafting their research-based argument essays with a focus on balancing evidence with analysis (our thinking), acknowledging counterclaims, offering responses/rebuttals, and appealing to the audience. We will be using this Opinion Writing Checklist to revise/edit our work. We are studying apostrophes as a grammar focus. We are learning and noticing how we use apostrophes to show either ownership or contractions. 

STEAM: As a reminder, students can log into their Gmail to view their math check in scores and share/discuss with you! We are busy working on dividing fractions this week! Students are not just learning the steps, they are learning how to show visually with models in order to truly understand the algorithm. I couldn't be prouder of the math discussions we have each day! 

In science, we are working on our end of unit project as we are answering the following question→ How can we analyze and interpret data to write an opinion piece about where we want to spend our next birthday? We will utilize scientific data/research as our evidence to support our reasons why.

This Week in Room 33! Feb. 10-13

We will be having a small Valentine's party in our room to celebrate on Thursday! A snack will be provided. We are encouraging students to bring in any board/card games they would like to play during the afternoon. 

We will be jumping for Kids’ Heart Challenge from 11:25-12:15!

Students are more than welcome to bring in valentines for all classmates, however, they cannot contain any food/candy product. Please see the class list below- we have 25 students! Students also may bring in a decorated box to collect their Valentines if they would like to, or we have plastic baggies they can use here. 

Thank you so much!

Isabel A., Noah A., Lily C., Kaden C., Will D., Elliott D., Lucas F., Michael F., Joy F., Caroline F., Luke G., Jillian H., Emily I., Gus J., Sydney J., Hudson K., Amelia L., Gwen O., Charlie P., Joshua R., Kate R., Aidan S., Kash S., Kyra S., Rose S.

What to expect this week in 5th grade…

ELA:  We are researching debatable issues as we study arguments and advocacy! This week we will continue to organize an ethical research life to investigate an issue within research teams. We are working on analyzing our evidence, staking a claim for one side of the argument, and creating a thesis statement. After organizing our research into reasons/evidence to support our claim, we will draft our argument essay with a focus on adding powerful quotations later this week.

STEAM: In math, we will begin ch. 10 with lessons on understanding parts OF a number and multiplying whole numbers and fractions. In Science, we are exploring what makes a star seem bright to us.

This Week in Room 33! Feb. 3-7

What to expect this week in 5th grade…

ELA: Within our book clubs, students are spending time trying to answer this big question→ How can we become informed and bring awareness to social issues around us? Students will brainstorm, plan, and work on implementing their ideas this week. I couldn’t be prouder of our journalists as we wrapped up our journalism mini-unit by creating our very own classroom digital newspaper! Check it out HERE!

We will continue to discuss our BIG question as we begin a NEW unit on argument and advocacy. We will be evaluating claims, reasons, and evidence that are presented in argument texts about debatable issues. Over the course of this unit, students will write a research-based opinion essay.

STEAM: We will be working through the second half of chapter 9.  Students will practice problem-solving by determining reasonable answers, estimating sums and differences, adding and subtracting mixed numbers, and subtracting with renaming.

In science, we are continuing the “Our Place in the Universe” unit. This week we will→   

• Observe and record changes in shadows during the day and use the data to understand that the sun’s apparent position in the sky is caused by Earth’s rotation on its axis and revolution around the sun.  
• Describe the pattern of the moon over a month’s time.

This Week in Room 33! Jan. 27-30

***Reminder- I am looking forward to our student-led conferences this Tuesday and Thursday. Please see the following link to confirm your time slot! January Student-Led Conferences

What to expect this week in 5th grade…

ELA:  Within our book clubs, students are spending time trying to answer this big question→ How can we become informed and bring awareness to social issues around us? We are analyzing the way different authors address and craft similar social issues in both literature and current events. Some book club discussion questions we are asking and exploring include:

• Who has power? Who is powerless? Why?
• How is power maintained? Who maintains it?
• Whose voice is heard? Whose is missing?
• Whose values are included? Whose values seem excluded?

This week we will also be working on drafting, revising/editing, and publishing our class newspaper for our journalism unit in writing.  We can’t wait to share the finished product with you! 

STEAM: We will be beginning Chapter 9: Adding and Subtracting Fractions.  We will be learning about rounding fractions, and adding/subtracting like and unlike fractions.  In our science lessons, we are asking the question, “How does Earth’s motion cause day, night, and the seasons?” as well as, “How does the appearance of the sun’s path change over time?”

This Week in Room 33! Jan. 21-24

***Reminder- Please make sure you have signed up for a January Student-Led Conference! January Student-Led Conferences- Sign Up HERE!

What to expect this week in 5th grade…

ELA: 

We are focusing on looking at social issues within our book clubs. We are looking at how paying attention to intense scenes and how different characters react to the situation, allow us to learn more about the issue.  Our book clubs are focusing on how the social issues might connect to one, or many characters in the book. We are also working in small groups reading articles on social issues, pushing our thinking beyond the text. 

We are continuing our journalism unit writing editorials and reviews. We are also interviewing others to include quotes in our articles. We will begin work on our classroom newspaper towards the end of the week. Our grammar focus this week is “What do endmarks do?”

STEAM: 

We will wrap up chapter 8 by comparing fractions and writing fractions as decimals and percents.

Students are responsible for showing you their Check My Progress scores on their Gmail (because of no school on Friday, we are taking the check in on Tuesday, scores will be released on Wednesday). The focus is always giving their best effort day in and day out, and showing off their hard work during these checks. We are also focused on learning from mistakes and understanding why they got a problem wrong. 

We are continuing to learn about how gravitational forces affect the solar system, including Earth. Ask your child how they would describe gravity?