Weekly Update 1/5

Welcome back!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed their break!  Thank you so, so much for the generous gifts!! 

Here's what we were up to this week!

Science-  We kicked off the year with a STEAM activity on snowflakes. 

Math- We are now in Volume 2 of our math series and starting chapter 8 on fractions and decimals next week. Please practice those basic multiplication and division facts with your student- it is SO important to know them quickly in order to efficiently perform these new skills. Thank you for all your hard work at home!

Reading- We began our fantasy unit! The students will be chose a fantasy book for their new book clubs. We will start our book clubs on Monday!

Writing- We finished up our memoirs and geared up for our next unit, literary essays!

Social Studies- This week will focus on setting new goals for the 2018 year and reflect on 2017.  We will begin studying the Civil War next week!

Upcoming Events: 

DARE starts next week!

1/12: Band Presentation 2-3

Have a wonderful weekend!

Meredith Holtmann

Weekly Update: 12/11

Happy, Happy Monday!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Here is what we are up to until Winter Break: 

Science: This week we will continue the study of the flow of energy, but focus on plants (absorb sun/nutrients, make food) and decomposers.

Writing: We are continuing  to draft, and then revise our memoirs. We are focusing on using figurative language to paint a picture in your audiences' mind, and using our external timeline to show how that affects the central character's feelings.

Reading: We are focusing on social issues as we bring our reading lenses to our texts and push our thinking to be more complex. The students are meeting in literature groups and continuing to bring rich discussions to their group.

Math: We will continue with Chapter 7 and focus on working backwards to solve a math problem, generating patterns, ordered pairs, and graphing ordered pairs.

Social Studies: We are  continuing  the study of the Civil War, and which events of the mid-1800's kept the nation together and which events pulled it apart. The students will be acting out several primary sources.

Upcoming Events: 

12/20: Winter Party 2 -3 PM

12/21 - 1/3: Winter Break 

Sincerely,

Meredith Holtmann

Weekly Update: 12/1

Happy Friday and Happy December!! 

This week has been very, very busy and full of all sorts of fun!

Reading: This week in reading we began discussing social issues that appear in the books we read.  Each kiddo is part of a book club that is reading a book that deals with at least one social issue.  Each night, students are required to read their assigned pages and write an entry in their notebook using the question props given to them.

Writing: This week we finished drafting our second informational pieces.  Today we recorded ourselves reading our pieces and on Monday will be creating a timeline with QR codes attached to listen to other's writing.  They have worked so hard on theses pieces and should be very proud of their writing!

Math: This week we finished up Chapter 6 (multiplying and dividing decimals).  We finished our study guide today in class and will review on Monday.  The test will be on Tuesday (12/5).  Please spend some time studying this weekend.  We began this chapter before Thanksgiving-- they may need some refreshing, especially with multiplying decimals! :)

Upcoming Events: 

12/2 (Tomorrow): Winter Festival  @ 9am

12/4 - 12/8: Last week for Helping Hands! 

12/6: 5th Grade Strings Rehearsal @ 9:15

12/8: SkyZone for Cookie Dough Fundraiser -- ONLY those who             sold enough items! 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Sincerely,

Meredith Holtmann 

Weekly Update: 11/17

Happy Friday! 

I can't believe that there is less than a week until Thanksgiving!  I love how this time of year, we are reminded of all of the blessings in our lives.  Take a few minutes this weekend and talk with your kiddo about what they are thankful for this year, they usually have some great answers! :)  I know I'm personally thankful for each of everyone of the kids in our class-- they are so fun, spunky, and sweet!

Science:  We played and game and did a project based on food chains.  We discussed why they are important for all living things to survive in an environment.  

Reading:  We worked on synthesizing information when we read and also discussed how in order to conduct meaningful research we must notice how all of the small details come together to form big ideas.

Writing: Drafting continued this week for our second informational piece.  They are coming along so well!  Some of focuses this week were including multiple perspectives in our writing and creating cohesion throughout of piece, specifically in our subheadings.

Math: This week we dove into multiplying decimals.  We learned how to multiply decimals by powers of ten.  We also practiced noticing patterns when solving word problems.

Social Studies:  We got to be lawyers during social studies this week.  We were given various court cases and had to use the Bill of Rights to decide if the ruling in these cases were fair based on the amendments.  It was a lot of fun! 

Upcoming Events: 

11/22 - 11/24 Thanksgiving Break (no school)

Please continue to send in items for Helping Hands! We are hoping to reach our next goal of 200 items!! Thank you for all you have sent in already!

Have a great weekend!

Meredith Holtmann

Tomorrow is Picture Retake Day!

Weekly Update: 11/10

Happy Weekend! 

This quote was something that we discussed this week during one of our morning meetings!  It was a great conversation -- one that I think they'd love to chat about at home this weekend, if you get the chance! :)

This week... 

Science: We discussed shadows and the rotation of the Earth.  We made models of the Earth and suns interaction which was super fun!  

Reading: We discussed different types of sources and explored primary sources.  We played a game of telephone which showed us how important it is to go to a firsthand account when researching if possible!  We also talked about organizing our notes and how that helps use understand what we are reading.

Writing:  We celebrated our first informational piece and are now researching for our second one.  The kids got to choose a topic that they were interested in and have really been enjoying the researching process.

Math: We took our Chapter 5 test on Tuesday and then began Chapter 6.  Chapter 6 is all about multiplying and dividing decimals.

Social Studies:  We finished up our law exam and had our law school graduation!  We are looking forward to being lawyers for our next activity next week.

Upcoming Events:

Ongoing -- Helping Hands! 

11/17: Picture Retakes

Helping Hands is well underway and we have set some high goals for our class.  Here's what we decided :

100 items = Free choice time!

200 items = Extra Recess!!

300 items = Karaoke Party!!!

Thank you to all who have already donated items.  Please consider sending something in so that we are able to make a wonderful holiday season for these families.  

Sincerely,

Mrs. Holtmann

Weekly Update 11/3

Happy November!

We are excited to be starting a new month and we're ready to make it the best yet! 

Here's what we've been doing this week...

Science:  We finished our discussion about the 4 spheres of Earth and completed our Sphere Project.  We presented them yesterday-- they did an awesome job!  We are looking forward to learning about food chains and webs early next week.

Reading: We have continued to learn about different strategies to use when reading nonfiction texts.  Some things we have discussed are monitoring our own comprehension, using strategies to help us with tricky vocabulary, and using text structure to help us understand the text better.  We will continue discussing strategies into next week!

Writing:  We are almost finished with our first nonfiction writing piece!  Monday will be our last publishing day and we will celebrate on Tuesday.  Some of the skills we've been working on this week are adding in a table of contents and bibliography, using formal language in our writing, and using our checklist to make sure we have included everything we need.  I am looking forward to reading their completed pieces- they have worked so hard! :)

Math: This week we wrapped up our chapter on adding and subtracting decimals.  We will have our chapter 5 test on Tuesday, November 7.  Please see my email for practice sheets to use to study.  The main topics covered in this chapter are rounding decimals to a certain place value spot, estimating answers, and adding/ subtracting decimals with models and with the normal algorithm.  Please encourage your child to study for the test! 

Social Studies:  This week in we've gone to Law School!  We are working on answering questions to pass our law exam so that we can become lawyers for our next chapter.  It has been lots of fun!

It's been a fun and exhausting week!  Spend some time getting some rest and relaxation this weekend.

Helping Hands Blurb:

We are so excited to kick off another holiday season with the Helping Hands Campaign that will begin Monday, November 6th! For those of you new to Concord, each year we organize a collection of food, cleaning supplies, personal care items, and paper products that help our very own Concord Families in need. And that is just the beginning! The Boy Scouts fill enormous gift bags as stockings, and the Girl Scouts provide socks, hats, and gloves! Each of the kiddos will also receive tickets to the Winter Festival, Spirit wear, and new books! The Giving Tree, provides much needed clothing, coats, and toys.  

Upcoming Events: 

11/7: Kick off Helping Hands w/ Jingles for Jammies! 

11/8: Early Release (wear buddy shirt!)

11/10: Veteran's Day Assembly @ 9 AM

Have a good weekend,

Meredith Holtmann