First Two Weeks of Fifth Grade August 20 to August 31, 2018

Language Arts

We have begun reading Holes by Louis Sachar. Students have been discussing what makes a story part of the "realistic fiction" genre, the importance of reading a book's blurb to figure out key story elements, and using inference skills to talk about the personalities of the characters. Room 22  also enjoys listening to Space Case by Stuart Gibbs for a few minutes after lunch. 

We have begun the writing unit: Narrative Fiction. Students listened to stories by author Jon Scieszka which are fairy tales told from a different character's perspective and/or re imagined. Also we listened to stories involving "messy situations" and looking at pictures to inspire us with ideas for our own fiction stories.

Math 

We have been brushing up on our place value skills from the millions to the thousandths place. Practicing numbers in word form, standard form, expanded form, and expanded notation. We also have been multiplying and dividing by the Powers of Ten. Practice of this skill can be found here: Multiply/Divide by Powers of Ten. 

Social Studies

We began our geography unit of the United States by focusing on learning about maps and landforms and created landform posters. 

Art

Students made half face self-portraits and created hand art using warm and cool colors.

Revolutionary War Online Games

Choose Your Own Adventure Game: Pick a scenario, listen to instructions, choose people to advise you on your decisions to BE GEORGE WASHINGTON!

Road to Revolution

The American Revolution

Treasure Trek (finding places/items in a colonial town)

Measurement Games

Measurement games:  here  and here .

Food Chains

Read about Parts of the Food Chain here Food Chains here and  As you read fill out the worksheet.
Play the food chain game here . Put headphones on and watch the video by my favorite gal, Crash Course Gal .  Listen to a few Food Chain songs here  and here .

Keep the worksheet in your science section of your binder.

Highlights of January and February

Language Arts

We finished our 2^nd novel The City of Ember and the kids loved it. The book ended leaving us wondering: What happened to the Earth that required a city to be built underground? The two main characters found the way out of the city, but will anyone else be able to figure out the clues? And now that Lina and Doon are out, what will happen to them in the “real” world?

We began our new historical fiction novel, Chains by Laurie Anderson, which tells the story of Isabel a slave in New York City during the days before the Revolutionary War. We discussed the traits of historical fiction and dissected the book’s blurb looking for story elements.

After lunch we enjoy listening to The Secret Keepers by Trenton Stewart, a story about a boy who finds a magical pocket watch.

Room 22 finished researching, taking notes, drafting, and editing their State Reports. You can see the final product Thursday March 15 at the Writing Festival which will be in the MPR from 6:00 to 7:30 or at Open House. Our next writing unit will be Opinion Writing.

Proof reading and Editing State Reports

Mathematics

Room 22 started 2018 with an Algebra unit: focusing on variables and plotting points/lines on the first quadrant of a coordinate grid. We have been busy with adding/subtracting and multiplying fractions.

Starting the Fractions Unit with Froot Loops

Science

We have continued our unit of Earth’s Place in the Universe by discussing the life of a star and doing mini-research on a constellation. We also learned about the Earth’s Systems: hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. We focused on the hydrosphere discussing the water on the Earth and the little amount of fresh water that exists.

Social Studies

Room 22 learned about various European Explorers that had an impact on the New World. Students discussed the benefits and the disadvantages of the Colombian Exchange. We have recently begun a unit on the 13 Colonies, first learning about The Lost Colony of Roanoke and Jamestown.

Valentine's Day Art

Jamestown Colony Online Adventure and Fractions Games

The Jamestown Online Adventure 

After clicking the above link, read the page and then click on Start the Adventure. If the popup window occurs, click on it to enable Adobe Flash Player and "allow".


Fractions Games:  here and here and here

City of Ember - About the Author and Cave Visit

Read about Jeanne DuPrau, the author of The City of Ember and then answer the questions on the worksheet.

Check out the world's largest cave in Vietnam.