May 4-8, 2015

News from Fifth Grade

May 5, 2015

Bible:  1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

We’ve been talking about bringing glory to God in all we do, and this is a short verse for a long week of work.  We’re now moving this week to discussing how God meets all our needs, both physical and nonphysical.  We very quickly found the difference between wants and needs!!

Language

Nouns

Studying plurals...ahhh, the the fun of the English language. Box= boxes; ox= oxen?  We’ll check out all the oddities as well as the ones that follow the rules.  We’ll also be starting a brief paper in class comparing and contrasting two very different books we’ve read.

Reading

Number the Stars will be finished this week.  We aren’t doing a test but instead are doing a guided reading that digs deep and incorporates scripture.  We’re also working on symbolism, personification, and connotative meaning.  This is the first time most fifth graders see these literary concepts; they are catching on quick.  It’s been a good introduction.  They’ve learned a lot about history through this little book, too.  We’ll start Hatchet next week by Gary Paulsen, a very different book.

Reading logs are gone this month.  In preparation for moving on to a more self-directed reading level next year, students will still attempt four books this month and fill out a little mini-report sheet on it. The mini-reports are 25 points each.   There are four different types of reports and I have others if they don’t feel their book is a good fit. The goal is to read and respond to four books.

 I want to tell you how diligent and incredible most of this class has been about becoming more purposeful readers.  (Some of them already were serious book lovers.)  They are digging into books with enthusiasm and I am running out of suggestions for some of them.  Time to delve into Miss Molinaro’s library!

Science

We will be making paper people for each system to finish up our human body systems unit.  Then we will finish out the year with a study on matter. Reproductive health talks will take place this week on Friday for guys and next week on Monday for the ladies.

Social Studies

STATE FAIR is almost here!  They are excited and ready to show off what they’ve learned!

There is nothing due this week for state notebooks, but students may be bringing home some components from their notebooks to improve or fix.   All changes are due this Friday.

We have a few parents coming in this Friday and Thursday to make color copies of each child’s state bird, flag, and flower.  The students can then use those color copies on their display board for the state fair.  

We’ve been discussing: costume ideas with a nod to keeping it simple but effective, how to deal with food, game ideas.  We’re getting our acrostics done to add to our display boards.  I brought two solid yet different examples to school to give kids an idea. Feel free to come take a look if you’d like.  

Regarding lunch on the day of the State Fair---the students would like to get pizza and sodas along with cookies and fruit.   I am all for it, but I will logistically not be able to do it while supervising the state fair.  I can collect funds in an envelope and hand off the cash to a parent if one is willing to organize it!  Any volunteers would be appreciated on this task.

Spelling

Lesson 31

States and Capitals

#40-46 test Friday. NY, NJ, ME, DE, PA, and CT.

MAY DATES

May 7     National Day of Prayer

May 8     Mom’s Day Lunch

May 13   State Fair

May 14   Spring Program

May 29  Movie in the Tab - “Toy Story”