Waters Landing Elementary School
Fifth Grade Newsletter
January/February 2014
Important Dates
Jan 10th
Town Hall Meeting
K-2 9:30am
3-5 2:30pm
Jan 17th
2nd Marking Period Ends
Jan 20th
MLK Holiday
Schools Closed
Jan 21st
Teacher’s Workday
No School for Students
Jan 27th
MLK to visit 5th grade students
Jan 28th
Kingsley Astronomy Field Trip
Evans and 1/2 Cook
Jan 29th
Kingsley Astronomy Field Trip
Warner and 1/2 Cook
Jan 29th
Parent Night at MLK
Jan 30th
Report Cards Distributed
Feb 7th
Town Hall Meeting
K-2 9:30am
3-5 2:30pm
Feb 14th
Valentine’s Day
Parties at 2:15pm
Feb 17th
President’s Day Holiday
Schools Closed
Feb 25th
Science Fair
Feb 28th
Early Release Day for Students
Interims go
Home
Kingsley Center Astronomy Field Trip
We are very excited to have our first field trip of the school year to the
Kingsley Center. Our field trip will center around the study of Astronomy. The field trip and the activities planned will support our quarter 3
science investigations about the planets, stars, seasons, life sustainability,
and Earths relationship and dependence upon the sun.
Permission slips have been sent home. The cost of the field trip is
$6.00 per student. Students must return permission slip with payment or
a note that payment has been made electronically. Students will also need
to bring a bagged lunch that day. We will be having lunch at approximately 1:30/1:45; it will be directly after our return to school. The lunch room
will not be operating or open at that time.
We are in need of 12 chaperones/parents for this field trip, six
each day. If you are interested, please send a note to your child’s homeroom teacher.
In addition, please ensure that your child dresses warmly
as this is an outdoor field trip.
Reading
We begin our study of poetry in 3rd quarter. We
study the themes present in poems, meaning of words, narrator and/or speaker’s point of view. We continue on with a study of realistic fiction, use of
quotes when inferring, narrator’s and/or speaker’s point of view. As we finish
poetry we study realistic fiction using Junior Great Books with an emphasis
on ,the use of quotes when inferring, meaning of words, text structure, comparison of characters, setting, or events, and the comparison of texts in same
genre.
We will also conduct a study of graphic novels, comparing the graphic
novel to the literary text and the use of the writer's words to create visual images.
We will continue specific vocabulary instruction for new academic vocabulary ,
as well as, figurative language, and the affixes and roots of words.
Social Studies
Instruction focuses on the regions of Maryland and why people created settlements in specific areas. We then begin our study on westward Expansion. We will
look at cause and effect relationships on a growing nation. We will also look at the
effects that additional settlers had on the native population, as well as, on the land as
they moved westward.
Writing
Again we will be writing multiple pieces and covering all areas of writing a personal narrative to inform and to give one’s opinion.
With informative writing we will be looking the introduction of a topic, development of the
topic, grouping related information logically, and solid concluding statements.
With opinion writing we will be looking for and instructing on introducing a topic, stating an
opinion, reasons supported by facts, organization – ordering reasons logically, grouping ideas logically, and solid concluding statements.
These will be followed by a narrative writing piece where we will be looking for and instructing on establishing a situation, introducing a narrator and/or characters, word choice –dialogue to
develop experiences, sensory details, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, presentation, and
conclusion. The narrative will also be turned into a multimedia project in the form of a book trailer.
5th
Grade
Math
In math we continue with the multiplication of fractions. We continue to
work with fractions with like denominators, fractions with unlike denominators,
and fractions greater than a whole. Students will work with equivalent fractions
as a strategy to solve word problems, and estimation & reasonableness of answers of responses to discuss their work.. We will then move onto the division
of a whole number and a fraction (partitive, whole number products) and problem solving, using length models,, number line models, and set models. Division of a fraction by a fraction (where the numerator of one factor is a multiple
of the denominator of the other) and problem solving .
6th Grade Math/Math A
Students will complete their study of fractions, decimals, and ratios this month.
The second half of their assessment Unit 2 CD is scheduled for Jan 30 and
31st.
Unit 3 is the study of geometry. It begins with the study of angles,
measuring angles, sum of interior angles, identifying angles as adjacent, complementary, or supplementary. It continues with the classification of quadrilaterals and
triangles by their sides and angles. The unit continues on with the construction of circles, angles, triangles, and quadrilaterals based on given measures, and ends with locating and plotting coordinates on a coordinate plane and the study of transformations.
Science
We begin our study of wave energy, celestial patterns, light & shadow, properties &
patterns of Earth & stars, Earth’s relationship to the Sun, characteristics of Earth and other
planets, and the characteristics of other celestial bodies such as comets, asteroids, meteors, and
the moon.
Birthday Celebrations
If you wish to send in celebratory treats for your child’s birthday please send in cookies or
doughnuts. Items must be purchased from a store. Students do not have enough time to
eat larger treats and they make a huge mess. Thank you for your support in this matter.
REPLENISH
Please check with your child. Many of them
need to replenish supplies needed for school: erasers, pencils, spiral notebooks, etc.
Donations are appreciated. With the cold and
flu season upon us, most of us are in need of tissues.
Thanks,
Ms. Cook, Mr. Evans, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Chechik