5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
UPCOMING AND ONGOING EVENTS​ ~​A few things to keep in mind…
Going Paperless! Papers typically sent in Wednesday envelopes will now be sent
electronically as attachments when the weekly newsletter is sent out. If you need a paper
copy, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher.
November Conferences:
A conference paper was sent home with your child today. Please ask your child for the
paper today!
Lehigh University Field Trip
Saucon Valley Middle School has been invited to watch a Lehigh University girls’
basketball game on November 16th. A paper copy of the field trip permission slip and
lunch order form was sent home with your child last week. You will also find both
forms in the attachment section of this week’s email.
Picture Retakes:
Picture retakes will be November 7th. If you want a picture retake, please send your
child’s picture package to school on retake day.
Middle School Book Fair
The Middle School Book Fair will be held on November 14-22nd. I am looking for volunteers. If you
are interested and have clearances, please contact ​[email protected]​. The Book Fair
profits support the school and classroom libraries and gets more books into the hands of our
students.
The Rise and Shine Breakfast Program-A Great Way to Start Your DAY!!
Please visit our Food Service website for additional information and guidelines.
Literacy Week Donation Link
To donate, please click on the following link:
https://madmimi.com/p/c6b8d8?fe=1&pact=10433-134846496-8120110951-b12943b137a220d31
42d8c1b6eb726f926f92235
Parents can check PowerSchool ​to keep track of student progress throughout the year. Call the
office or Mrs. Alderfer, our fifth grade guidance counselor, if you do not know your password
information.
Note from SVMS Office:
Any student in grade 5 that changes their usual transportation home MUST have a note or phone call.
We will NOT send students home in any other way than the usual without a note.
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
Remember: If you wish to assist with events such as field trips,
Parent Clearances Needed - Click to read more –
http://www.svpanthers.org/page.cfm?p=3379&newsid=538​ takes about 3-4 weeks.
PTG News: Next meeting is December 9th at 2:30 and December 13th at 6:30
Giant A+ Registration is now OPEN​! Please log on to ​www.giantfoodstores.com​ ​and select A+
School Rewards under the Bonus Card Tab. You will need the first three numbers of your LAST
name, your Giant Card number and the SV Middle School code = 23438. Please sign up! This is free
$ for our school to help pay for field trips. Even if you signed up during school registration you still
need to log on to the Giant website to enter your info
Active email links are provided below for your convenience.
Team Cooperation
Team Integrity
Mrs. Kemper (team leader)​ Language Arts
[email protected]
Mrs. Kishbaugh​ Language Arts
[email protected]
Mrs. Stotz​ Language Arts
[email protected]
Mrs. Marsilio​ Language Arts
[email protected]
Mrs. Steirer​ Math
[email protected]
M​iss Burkholder ​ Math
[email protected]
Mr​s. Paulson​ ​Science/Social Studies
[email protected]
Mrs. Faccinetto​ Science/SS
​[email protected]
Mrs. Lewis​ Enrichment Teacher-LA & Math
[email protected]
Mrs. Henderson​ LA/Math
​[email protected]
Mrs. Kunkel​ ​Language Arts/Math
[email protected]
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
Team Integrity’s Newsletter
Mrs. Marsilio~Language Arts
READING:​ We have reviewed test taking skills for Reading Tests and will go over them again before
the Benchmark Test this week. ​ ​This test will assess students on all of the vocabulary and
comprehension skills addressed since the beginning of the year - synonyms/antonyms, similes,
drawing conclusions, character traits, theme, main idea, summarizing, and using textual evidence to
support ideas. Students will need to apply these skills to a fiction and a nonfiction passage.
● Book Clubs​: Meetings will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the month of October
and the first week in November. Students should check the board for chapters that are due for
the next meeting. Students should be reading at home to be prepared for class discussions.
● All Scholastic orders are ​due by 11/11/16​. You can order online with my teacher code: PBMZL
or you can send in a check written out to Scholastic.
WRITING:​ Writing Benchmark Test this week. It is an informative piece. ​ ​For this, students will
respond to a prompt by independently writing a 5-paragraph informational essay​.
SPELLING:​ No new spelling this week
GRAMMAR: ​No new grammar this week, we will be working together on the Grammar Benchmark to
review the skills taught during 1st quarter.
Mrs. Kishbaugh ~Language Arts
Reading​- This week we will be reviewing main idea and detail, character traits, and drawing
conclusions in order to be prepared for our unit 1 benchmark. We will be taking the benchmark on
Tuesday and Wednesday. We will carry over into Thursday if time is needed. During this time, we will
also continue to read from Wonder.
Main idea and detail quiz grade has been posted on powerschool.
Writing​- Unit 1 benchmark will be started on Thursday. It is an informative piece. The students will
have two prompts to choose from. I will be handing out and going over their special person
informative piece before the benchmark so he/she knows the areas in which need to be enhanced.
Spelling:​ The unit 5 spelling test was given on Monday, October 24th. The scores will be uploaded
into powerschool by Tuesday. There is no new spelling this week due to the benchmark
assessments.
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
Grammar: ​We will be focusing on complex versus compound sentences. A complex sentence
features an independent and dependent clause. A subordinating conjunction always marks the
dependent clause. A conjunction is also prevalent in a compound sentence. Two simple sentences
are combined through the use of a conjunction such as and, but, or, for, nor, and yet to create a
compound sentence. A quiz on complex/compound sentences will be given on Tuesday, October
25th.
I will be sending home a review sheet of all of the grammar skills we have gone over on Tuesday. It is
to be used as a study tool for the grammar benchmark. The grammar benchmark will be given on
Friday, October 28th.
Miss Burkholder Math
Please refill your child’s supply of pencils. Many are coming to class with no pencils.
We are working in Unit/Domain 1: Number and Operations in Base Ten.
Periods 1 & 2 Students will continue to practice multiplying decimal numbers. The students
will begin reviewing basic division facts and long division involving whole number dividends with 1
and 2 digit divisors. They will then work on real world problems requiring interpretation of the
remainder. Students will need to decide if the remainder needs to be 1) “bumped up” to the next
whole number 2) ignored or 3) expressed as a fraction or a decimal. Students should be prepared for
the end of the unit assessment: Numbers and Operations in the Base Ten Number System, which
will be given on Wednesday November 2. They will be given a study guide to help review.
Period 3 & 4 This week we started Monday by practicing subtracting decimals. We will also be
introduced to the CUBE strategy to approach solving the word problems. We will continue working
on solving computational problems using order of operations (PEMDAS). We will dig into how to
write numerical expressions (using brackets and braces) and solve the expressions using given real
world problems. Below you will find an example:
Maria and Matt would like to buy a basketball that costs $17 and a backboard that costs $85.
Maria babysat for 5 hours last week and earned $6 per hour. Matt trimmed bushes for 7 hours last
week and earned $5 per hour. If they combine the money they ​ earned, which expression represents
how much more money they will need to buy the basketball and backboard?
a. (17 + 85) – [(5 x 6) + (7 x 5)]
b. (17 + 85) – [(5 + 6) x 7]
*Please have your child practice his/her basic facts (for multiplication or division) at home for speed
and accuracy. The goal is 50 facts complete in 3 minutes with 100% accuracy. There should be at
least five signatures a week when I check every Monday.
*Key Vocabulary​:
value
place
digit
standard form
word form
expanded form
operation
order
rounding
expression
operation
compatible number
estimation decimal
tenth
hundredth
thousandth millionth
evaluate
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
Mrs. Faccinetto ~ Social Studies​:
5th Graders have been working on their Island Projects. They have been designing and
creating their own personal island in this culminating project, using these landforms, bodies of water
and many of the other geographic terms and concepts we have been working on thus far. They will
be graded using a rubric. Students have had access to this rubric to use as a self-assessment tool
along-side of their map-making. This project will be wrapping up either Wednesday or THursday of
this week.
Next up, in the exciting world of 5th Grade Social Studies, we will be entering the history of
Native Americans. We will look at how the first Native tribes came to the Americas as well as why. In
this unit we will be comparing and contrasting three major Native American tribes (Plains, Iroquois
and Pueblo). We will be examining the food, shelter, clothing and how their ​environment
influenced ​each of these aspects.
*Key Vocabulary​:
Native American nomadism
Peublo
Iroquois
culture
mesa/plateau
wooden poles
bark shingles
influenced
adapted
Mid-Atlantic/Woodland
farming
Plains
Long House
tipi
Southwest
environment
migration
government
embroidery
Great Plains
nomad
adobe
buffalo
settled
Extension, Reinforcement and/or Discussion Starters​​:
--What made Native Americans more settled rather than being so nomadic?
--Who introduced the horse to the Plains people?
--How did the environment have an effect on (or so important) to each of the tribes? Can you give
examples?
Reinforcement Videos & Online Games and/or Activities:
Life in the Anasazi Tribe (connects to Pueblo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrBhq6iXOTQ
People of the Plains (connects to Pains)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtfwCljzg7g
People of the Woodlands (connects to Iroquois)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRS1KSTEAfI
*Please be sure to check you son/daughter’s Social Studies folder for up-​to​-date materials,
occasional “clean​outs” and that they are keeping up with general organization/neatness.
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
Team Cooperation’s Newsletter
Mrs. Stotz~Language Arts
READING:​ On Tuesday and Thursday this week, students will participate in Discussion Group
Meetings #7 and 8. Students should come to class with their prepared notes and their novel, ready to
discuss their assigned chapters. ​Their completed “Novel Notes” packet will be collected and
graded after their final meeting on Thursday.​ Each section should be completed even if your child
was absent for a meeting. If your child is missing pieces due to absences, he/she should see me,
and I will let them know what to write in the “during” and “after meeting” section of notes. Additionally,
students who were missing pieces throughout the meetings (I have circled items on their pages like
page numbers and/or quotes) have until Thursday to finish these missing pieces.
Students will begin the Unit 1 Benchmark in Reading on Tuesday this week. ​This test will
assess students on all of the vocabulary and comprehension skills addressed since the beginning of
the year - synonyms/antonyms, similes, drawing conclusions, character traits, theme, main idea,
summarizing, and using textual evidence to support ideas. Students will need to apply these skills to
a fiction and a nonfiction passage. Students are encouraged to practice areas of weakness on Study
Island this week for homework.
Reading Notebooks (RNBs) are due Friday, October 28th.​ Students have a checklist to
self-assess before handing in their notebook. If they are missing notes dues to absences, they
should see me or a classmate (before Friday) to get a copy of or to copy their missing notes.
WRITING:​ ​Students will begin the Unit 1 Benchmark in Writing on Wednesday this week. ​For
this, students will respond to a prompt by independently writing a 5-paragraph informational essay​.
SPELLING:​ No new spelling this week.
GRAMMAR: ​Unit 1 review - Simple and Complete Subjects and Predicates, Independent and
Dependent Clauses, Conjunctions (Coordinating - FANBOYS - and Subordinating), and Compound
and Complex Sentences. We will review in class, and a study guide will be sent home. Students
may also practice on Study Island or “Fling the Teacher” (a game for reviewing subjects and
predicates). ​Students will take the Unit 1 Benchmark in Grammar on Thursday this week.
Mrs. Kemper~Language Arts
READING​ Period ½
Students have started a novel called, “Finding Buck McHenry”. Students have received novel notes to
use with this selection. We will be working on types of characters, Point of View, summarizing, plot,
theme and dialogue. Benchmark tests will be Tues. and Wed. this week.
Period ¾
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
We continue to read the novel, “Esperanza Rising”. Students are working on character types,
summarizing, symbolism, literacy devices.and theme. Benchmark tests will be Tues. and Wed. this
week.
WRITING - ​Students have started learning how to upload their informational essays to Schoology.
We uploaded stories to schoology at this point. Most were already hand graded with comments and
suggested and shared with students. We will be making the move to commenting and grading
through Schoology.
SPELLING​ - Due to benchmarks, we will not have a new Spelling lesson this week.
GRAMMAR - ​We will continue looking at compound and complex sentences. Students are going
back to their essays to determine if they are using a variety of different types of sentences and if they
are punctuating correctly when using subordinate or coordinate conjunctions.
Reminder to turn in Lehigh Univ. field trip permission slips.
Look for conference forms today :).
​Mrs. Steirer~Math
Periods 1: This week the students will “interpret the remainder” in real-world problems requiring
division. They will need to decide if the remainder needs to be 1) “bumped up” to the next whole
number 2) ignored or 3) expressed as a fraction or a decimal. We will also spend time review all
skills that have been taught since the beginning of the year. Students should be prepared for the end
of the unit assessment: Numbers and Operations in the Base Ten Number System, which will be
given toward the end of the week. They will be given a study guide to help review.
Period 2: The students will begin reviewing basic division facts and long division involving whole
number dividends with 1 and 2 digit divisors. They will then work on real world problems requiring
interpretation of the remainder. Students will need to decide if the remainder needs to be 1) “bumped
up” to the next whole number 2) ignored or 3) expressed as a fraction or a decimal.
Periods 3 and 4: The students will be working on real-world problems in which they will need to
multiply whole numbers and decimal numbers. There will be a quiz on adding and subtracting
decimal numbers and multiplying whole numbers and decimal numbers in the middle of the week.
They will receive a study guide, which they can read over, reviewing the process of these skills. We
will then move into long division.
*Please have your child practice his/her basic facts (especially multiplication) at home for speed and
accuracy. The goal is 50 facts complete in 3 minutes with 100% accuracy. I will be providing
practice packets for those students that need to work toward achieving the goal.
5​th​ Grade
WEEKLY UPDATE
October 24, 2016
Mrs. Paulson ~ Social Studies
On Monday, we will finish our map projects. The rubrics used to guide students through the project
will be used to evaluate the maps. The rest of the week will be spent on our first unit of history. We
will begin by determining why and how the first people came to the Americas. We will trace the path
of the Plains, Pueblo, and Iroquois tribes. Our focus will be on where they settled, and how they used
the environment to survive. We will also compare and contrast the tribes.
*Key Vocabulary​:
Native American nomadism
Pueblo
Iroquois
culture
mesa/plateau
wooden poles
bark shingles
influenced
adapted
Mid-Atlantic/Woodland
farming
Plains
Long House
tipi
Southwest
environment
migration
government
embroidery
Great Plains
nomad
adobe
buffalo
settled
Extension, Reinforcement and/or Discussion Starters​​:
--What made Native Americans more settled rather than being so nomadic?
--Who introduced the horse to the Plains people?
--How did the environment have an effect on (or so important) to each of the tribes? Can you give
examples?
Reinforcement Videos & Online Games and/or Activities:
Life in the Anasazi Tribe (connects to Pueblo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrBhq6iXOTQ
People of the Plains (connects to Plains)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtfwCljzg7g
People of the Woodlands (connects to Iroquois)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRS1KSTEAfI
*Please be sure to check you son/daughter’s Social Studies folder for up-​to​-date materials,
occasional “clean​outs” and that they are keeping up with general organization/neatness.