Week 19 Grade 5

TWIG5: This Week in Grade 5 

Welcome to our last week of school before Winter Break!! 

A big WELL DONE needs to go to our CAC Girl's Soccer team and especially the fifth grade girls in the team. They represented CAC last week with pride and determination, as well as integrity and perseverance. 

Rudolph's  REMINDERS 

Tuesday will follow a Thursday schedule to help balance missed classes due to holidays.

Special Day planned for Thursday, Dec. 21st: Please see the detailed schedule below: 

Schedule

7:55 - 8:15 In class time

8:15 -10:00:  PreK - 5   House Event

10:00 -10:30: PreK - 5 recess break including snack. Please bring a snack.

10:30 - 12:00:  K - Grade 5 Community Service "Pass the Parcel"

12:00 - 1:00: Lunch/recess (pizza x 2, juice x1 cupcake x 1, students bring additional food if student would like more)

1:00 - 1:50:  Class Winter party (parents welcome)

2:00 - 3:00:  Winter assembly: Christmas Around The World! Each grade will sing a song and a few 5th graders will perform in a skit.

After School Activities Reminders This week, December 17-21, there will be NO After school activities.

 Santa's Curriculum Corner

Reading Workshop & Writing Workshop
Students are immersed deep within their chosen topics and have been reading, researching and taking notes on all of their new learning and understanding. We have practiced a variety of note-taking strategies such as reading with a question in mind, recording the facts that answer that question, along with our reactions and thinking. We have used fact/react charts as well as boxes and bullets to help keep our notes organized. Students learned about text features and text structures and have been using them to increase their comprehension. We have practiced skimming and scanning and reading for the 'gist'. We will continue to read and research this week while focusing on summarizing and paraphrasing skills. Students are also drafting their leads and beginning to draft some of their subtopics. Students know that leads are written to capture the reader's interest and let readers know what they will learn. 
Students are welcome to continue to read about their topics over the break and take notes in their drafting and planning notebooks. (Please take care not to lose these drafting books.) After the break, we will continue drafting and begin revisions as we work toward putting together an researched-based informational book. 

 South Pole Science

Now that we have first 'hand' experience at life without opposable thumbs the students will continue their quest on discovering how and why plants and animals adapt. This week we will also introduce our end of unit assignment. This will give the students an opportunity to consider their topic choice over the holiday and discuss it with their family.





We wish you all a very warm, safe and fun winter break!!!!!


Your partners in education,
LeeAnn "Jingle Bells" Kasal lkasal@cacegypt.org 
Bonnie "Deck the Halls" Greene barmstronggreene@cacegypt.org 
Caitlin "Silent Night" Johnson cjohnson@cacegypt.org
Jonathan "Winter Wonderland" O'Sullivan josullivan@cacegypt.org

Week 18

           TWiG5: This Week in Grade 5

                               December 10 - 14

As we are getting closer to the winter break there are a few activities up and coming. There is definitely excitement in the air! 

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, Dec. 19, will be a Thursday schedule
• Dec. 21 - ES Winter Assembly (2:00 pm - 3:00 pm)
• Dec 22 - Jan 13 Winter Break. School resumes Jan 14

Book Fair: This year's Christmas Book Fair begins on Sunday December 10th in the Middle School Back Courtyard! If you would like your child to shop during the times below, please send cash (suggested: 300 LE) with them. Otherwise, the fair will stay open Sunday-Thursday after school from 3-5 so you can accompany your child or purchase for yourself.
5J: Dec. 10 - 2:00 - 2:30
5O: Dec. 10 - 2:30 - 3:00
5G: Dec. 11 - 11:30 -12:00
5K: Dec. 12 - 1:00 - 1:30

If you missed the 5G assembly here is the link

Curriculum Corner

Reading Workshop & Writing Workshop

Students continue to research within their chosen topics and have been reading and taking notes on all of their new learning and understanding. We have practiced a variety of note-taking strategies such as reading with a question in mind, recording the facts that answer that question, along with our reactions and thinking. We will continue to read and research this week while focusing on summarizing and paraphrasing skills. 

Math Workshop

Module 3 will conclude Thursday with the end-of-module assessment following on Sunday. It is very important that students take their time, read the questions very carefully and use strategies such as rereading, highlighting, underlining or rewriting the important parts in order to ensure correct understanding of the problems. Students will need to use the RDW (read, draw, write) approach and draw labelled pictures such as tape diagrams, number lines, or fraction boxes to support their thinking. A final written sentence with the final answer is also expected. Encourage your child to determine questions they have, and get them to seek out assistance in plenty of time before the Thursday assessment.

This week, we will continue to add and subtract fractions, including improper fractions as well as mixed numbers. We will work to solve multi-step word problems and assess the reasonableness of our answers. "Will your sum be greater or less than one-half? How do you know?" These are the types of questions students will be answering in class, as they use estimating skills to determine where their answers will land.

Using interactive technology in Science Class

Science 

Last week, students spent time exploring adaptions of various plants and animals. By participating in a fun 'thumb' activity, students saw first hand how having an opposable thumb is advantageous to us humans. Next week we will continue explorations by learning how plants and animals survive the desert biome. This week we will also begin guided research with the teacher using the BIG 6 research model and examples from the desert.

Circle Solutions

This week in Circles we will be focusing on Respect within our classroom. We will be planning some activities and games around the theme of Respect. 

Take care and have a great week!

From your Grade 5 Education Partners,

LeeAnn Kasal   lkasal@cacegypt.org

Bonnie Greene barmstronggreene@cacegypt.org

Jonathan O'Sullivan josullivan@cacegypt.org
Caitlin Johnson cjohnson@cacegypt.org

Week 17

TWiG5: This Week in Grade 5

 Welcome to week 17 of learning, exploring & having fun!!!

REMINDERS

-Early release day on Monday: Students will be dismissed at 11:30am- there will not be any hot lunch.

-Field Trip: There is a field trip coming up- please check email for details.

-5G Assembly on Tuesday, Dec. 5th... as always, all are welcome to attend!!
-Hour of Code: Students are encouraged to participate in the 'Hour of Code' (computer programming). Instructors are available in the IT labs during all recesses to assist and teach!

Winter Celebrations (message from the office)

We are planning for the last day of school before winter break, which includes a house event, winter parties and culminating in a winter assembly at the end of the day, we hope you will all be here to join in the fun! If you can’t, we would appreciate knowing if you are planning to take your child/ren away at an earlier date. Please inform your classroom teacher.

Pass the Parcel Activity (message from Service Learning)

Dear Parents,

As a part of the Service Learning Office activities for the Elementary school and with the cooperation of the Students Council team, we will start a Warm Clothing Drive and Toy Drive to be donated to Stabl Antar Dreams School. The collection of the donations will begin on Wednesday, December 6th, 2017. Elementary school students will have boxes for donations in their classrooms.  Middle and High school students will be able to donate in the boxes at Eagle Plaza (The front gate).

On the day of the Winter Celebration (December 21, 2017) there will be different stations to clean, fix, sort and wrap the donated items. Parents are welcomed to help with these tasks at the different stations during this day. Please check the full plan of the day here:  Winter Celebration Community Service Plan. Please follow our announcements and updates on the CACN, Newsletters and Tuesday's morning assemblies.  Thank you for your continued support of CAC and helping others stay warm this winter. 

Guidance News 

How to Be a Helpful Bystander – Acts of Compassion 

Students are hearing stories about courageous, helpful bystanders and practicing various ways to be a helpful bystander in real-life scenarios.  A helpful bystander takes action when they witness someone being hurt by others. It only takes ONE helpful bystander to stop teasing and there are several direct and indirect ways a person can help. We will have lots of discussions about the role of the bystander and the power of this role in either:

- Ignoring the mean behavior and allowing it to continue, or

- taking action, speaking up and stopping the mean behavior. 

They will role-play various scenarios in which they will use their words and/or actions in a way that is helpful and compassionate. Students will learn 3 ways to help someone else, which include:

Report – tell a trusted adult

Refuse – say something (using assertive words and body language)

Support – go to the person who was hurt, sit by him or her and ask if they are okay.

Curriculum Corner

Reading & Writing Integrated Informational Unit

Students have been practicing finding places worth stopping and jotting about as they read informational books. Some ideas that were discussed are:

-When we learn new information

-When we are going to burst with curiosity

-When we come across new words

-When we make new connections
-When we come to the end of a section
Students know how important it is that they are jotting about their reading and are checking to see if they are understanding the information. Closing the book after reading a section and asking yourself, 'what could I teach someone about what I just read?' is a great strategy to check for understanding.
We are also getting close to having everyone finalize their topics that they will write about for their informational books. Choosing a topic that we are passionate in is a must! Choosing a topic with a variety of resources is also a determining factor as well as checking to see that our topics are not too big nor too small. 

Writers ask themselves some tough questions when they are choosing a topic for information writing. They ask:

1. Do I care about this topic? What am I eager, fascinated, inspired, indignant, or dedicated about to explore, learn and become an expert voice in?

2. What about this topic is important?

3. Do I know enough right now to imagine a possible table of contents?

4. Do I know one or two resources I can use to begin gathering information?

Ms. Hebba teaching us about Lucid Press- the format we will use to publish our informational books. 
This week, Ms. Fitzgerald will also be visiting us to support with citations and research skills. 

Math Workshop

PARENT TIPS MODULE 3 TOPIC C

Students will write the end-of-module assessment for Module 3 on Sunday, Dec. 17th. This week, students use the number line when adding and subtracting fractions greater than or equal to 1.  The number line helps students see that fractions are analogous to whole numbers.  The number line makes it clear that numbers on the left are smaller than numbers on the right, which leads to an understanding of integers in Grade 6.  Using this tool, students recognize and manipulate fractions in relation to larger whole numbers and to each other.  For example, “Between which two whole numbers does the sum of 

134$1\frac{3}{4}$ and 535$5\frac{3}{5}$ lie?”

This leads to an understanding of and skill with solving more complex problems often embedded within multi-step word problems:

Cristina and Matt’s goal is to collect a total of 312$3\frac{1}{2}$ gallons of sap from the maple trees. Cristina collected 134$1\frac{3}{4}$ gallons. Matt collected 535$5\frac{3}{5}$ gallons. By how much did they beat their goal?

134 + 535 − 312=3+(3×54×5)+(3×45×4)−(1×102×10)$1\frac{3}{4}\mathrm{ }+ 5\frac{3}{5}\mathrm{ }- 3\frac{1}{2}=3+\left(\frac{3\times 5}{4\times 5}\right)+\left(\frac{3\times 4}{5\times 4}\right)-\left(\frac{1\times 10}{2\times 10}\right)$

  =3+1520+1220−1020$=3+\frac{15}{20}+\frac{12}{20}-\frac{10}{20}$

  =31720$=3\frac{17}{20}$

Cristina and Matt beat their goal by 31720$3\frac{17}{20}$ gallons.

Word problems are a part of every lesson.  Students are encouraged to utilize tape diagrams, which facilitate analysis of the same part–whole relationships they have worked with since Grade 1.

Science Inquiry
Last week, students spent time thinking about the essential question of the unit along with the vocabulary words. Students collaborated on a shared google slide deck where they each researched and wrote about one of our target vocabulary words. This is shared with the students on their drive and they are encouraged to access it and review the vocabulary. We also tried a new-to-us technology (Pear Deck) during a lesson to present new information in an interactive and engaging way. 
This week, we will look deeper at the types of adaptations animals and plants display in order to survive in their environments.  By participating in a fun 'thumb' activity, students will see first hand how having an opposable thumb is advantageous to us humans. We will also watch a video on adaptations and practice some note-taking using boxes and bullets. 

Circle Solutions & Core Value Books

This month, we continue to look at COMPASSION. Students will bring home our Core Value books to read and discuss with their parents.  We kindly ask that the books are returned the following day so that the next student can bring it home. 

During circle solutions, we will extend our focus on the act of giving to help those less fortunate than us. This is a great lead up to the pass the parcel activity that students will participate in. Some classes will also continue to focus on having a Growth Mindset. 

Your partners in education,

LeeAnn Kasal   lkasal@cacegypt.org

Bonnie Greene barmstronggreene@cacegypt.org
Jonathan O'Sullivan josullivan@cacegypt.org
Caitlin Johnson cjohnson@cacegypt.org