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Weekly Update: 1/12

Happy Friday!! Hope it has been a wonderful week! 

Social Studies:  We have been discussing the Civil War, we even got to act out the Battle of Gettysburg!  We're looking forward to continuing our study next week! 

Reading: This week we kicked off our fantasy book clubs!  This week we learned about how authors give us clues that reveal the setting to us as a reader.  We also learned about how the problems and experiences our characters have can teach us about what type of people our characters are and the plot.

Writing: We began our first literary essay this week.  We watched a short video clip about the Panyee Football Club.  We wrote a claim, reasons, and gathered evidence.  Today we began our flash draft!  We will continue our work next week.

Math: We started chapter 8 which is all about fractions!  We learned about how to connect fractions and divisions, how to find the greatest common factor, simplest form, and the least common multiple.  This is just the beginning of our in depth study of fractions, woohoo! :)

Some reminders: 

This week we began D.A.R.E. today.  If you are looking for more information about D.A.R.E. you can visit the link HERE!

It's time to start thinking about Fifth Grade T-shirts!  

We are going to have a fun opportunity where the kiddos are able to make a t-shirt design that we will vote on.  If your child is interested, I would like the designs submitted to me by February 5th!  It is not required, however.  I'm excited to see what they come up with!

Upcoming Events:
1/15: NO SCHOOL! 

1/24: Buddy Assembly and Early Release (1:40 PM) -- Wear your buddy shirt! 

1/26: Family BINGO @ 6:30 pm

Have a great weekend! 

Sincerely,

Meredith Holtmann

Time for Kids packet and letter coming home today. Bring in your packet with 7 addresses filled out and you get a ghost key chain! :)

5th Grade Party Permission Slip coming home today!

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