Sligo Creek Elementary School
February 2013
Happy Valentine’s Day
Fifth Grade Newsletter
Special points of
interest:
Math
5TH GRA DE MATH
For the month of February
we w ill continue to investigate different w ays to represent decimals, and percentages. This is a perfect time
for children to apply their
know ledge of these concepts
to real life situations. Try these activities w ith your child:

Estimate the cost of five
items on the grocery bill.

Compare metric measurements to the nearest
millimeter

Rounding decimal numbers to different place
values.

Visit
www.ed.gov/pubs/math
for additional activities.
Additionally, have
your child continue to practice basic multiplication facts.
6TH GRA DE MATH
Students have finished w ith measurement and
are heading into decimal
numbers. Percentages, ratios, proportions, and scale
draw ings are gradually being
introduced using models,
contextual problems, and
discourse. Know ledge of
basic facts is key in being
able to see relationships betw een numbers.
model how they solved a
problem. They need to be
able to clearly explain their
model and deter mine if their
answ er makes sense. Being
able to justify a mathematical
response is also very important w hen discussing answ ers.
It is also important
for students to be able to
 Please check your child’s assignment book daily for dates
and/or assignments that pertain to your child’s homeroom.
 Please check Friday Folders on
Friday for important information from the school.
 SNACKS—Please send only fruit,
vegetable or individually
bagged foods; no chips, dips,
candy or juices.
5th Grade Teachers
Ms. Perkins
Mme Dickson (F I )
Mme Falloux (F I )
Ms. Clay ( HFA )
Ms. Cooper (Math 6 )
Reading/Language Arts
This month w e
are starting our William
and Mary in all English
classes. Additionally, the
French reading classes
w ill focus on elements of
science fiction, in addition to applying various
reading strategies.
Students w ill continue to
take “test paragraphs” to assess
writing progress, in addition to completing BCR questions.
The main w riting project
this quarter w ill be how to w rite a
feature article. Based on a research
question. This month students are
going to focus on elements of a fea-
ture article and crafting research
questions. Students w ill also learn
how to locate articles related to their
topic by using on-line databases.
Finally, by the end of the month,
they should be able to skim/scan
articles and take notes related to
their research question. We have a
lot of w ork ahead of us!
Happy Valentine’s Day
Page 2
Science
Social Studies
During the month of February, the first science rotation (Falloux and 1/2 Perkins’
class) will be starting the astronomy unit.
During this unit, we will look at Earth’s properties, differences between the planets in
the solar system, the moon’s movements,
and constellations and why they “move”
around in the sky. The air and space museum is a great place to study this further on
the week-ends.
The Colonies Revolt
The Colonies start to pursue
change. Knowledge of the roles of
citizens and government enables individuals and groups who are in conflict
to create change by working within or
against systems of government. A
new political system may be formed.
The foundation of these beliefs was
laid with the ideas & events surrounding the American Revolution.
February 2013
Sun
3
10
Mon
Tue
4
5
Smith Center
Smith Center
Falloux, Dickson
Perkins, Clay,
Schrank
11
12
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
6
7
8
9
13
14
15
16
Valentine’s Day
Party 2:15- 3:00
17
24
Science Rotation 2
Begins (Falloux,
Schrank, Perkins)
18
19
20
No school
Rotation 1
Presidents’ Day
Science Unit Test
25
26
27
21
22
Early Release
28
23