Fifth Grade News

Thursday, October 24 - Wednesday, October 30 - Book Fair

Friday, October 25 - Field Trip to Oregon Ridge

Saturday, October 26 - PTA Fall Fest

Tuesday, October 29 - Donuts with Grown Ups (evening PTA event)

Thursday, October 31 - First Marking Period Ends - Schools Close 3 Hours Early & Book Character Day!

Thursday, October 31 - 11:00 - 12:30 Pumpkin Math! (see below for more information)

Friday, November 1 - Systemwide Professional Development Day - Schools Closed for Students

Tuesday, November 5 - Election Day - Schools Closed for Teachers and Students

Wednesday, November 6 - Spirit Night at Panera

Tuesday, November 12 - Picture Re-Take Day

Tuesday, November 12 - PTA Meeting 6-7pm

Thursday, November 14 - Report Cards available on Focus

Tuesday, November 19 - Parent Teacher Conference Day - Schools Closed for Students

Friday, November 22 - Fancy Day/ Dress to Impress (School Wide Spirit Day)

Wednesday, November 27 - Schools Close 3 Hours Early

Thursday, November 28 - Friday, November 29 - No School

Tuesday, December 10 - PTA Meeting 6-7pm

Thursday, December 12 - Winter Concert

Friday, December 20 - Schools Close 3 Hours Early & PJ Day! (School Wide Spirit Day)

Monday, December 23 - Wednesday, January 1 - Winter Break - Schools Closed for Teachers and Students

Thursday, January 2 - Schools Reopen

Tuesday, January 14 - PTA Meeting 6-7pm

Monday, January 20 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Schools and Offices Closed

Friday, January 24 - Second Marking Period Ends - Schools Close 3 Hours Early

Wednesday, January 29 - Systemwide Professional Development Day - Schools Closed for Students

Friday, January 31 - Color Wars! Wear purple to support 5th grade (School Wide Spirit Day)💜

We're super excited that our BioBlitz field trip is coming up at the end of this week!

At this point, all student permission slips should be submitted to either Ms. Murphy or Mr. George. As a reminder, any student that does not have their permission slip submitted will not be permitted to attend the BioBlitz field trip, per BCPS policy.

Parent chaperones will be receiving a separate email soon with reminders and driving directions. Thanks to all who volunteered!

This week, prior to the field trip, all students will get a reminder sheet that restates important information in preparation for Friday.

We will be using TalkingPoints this year as a tool to communicate with families. This is a new program for us and we will be learning how to best use it along with you!

Families have three easy ways to use TalkingPoints and to communicate with their children’s teachers for free! They can use text messaging, download the separate app - TalkingPoints for Families - or they can use it on the web at TalkingPoints for Families

When notifying the school about a change in dismissal or early dismissal, please send an email to both fifth grade teachers as well as both of our office staff Barb Balestrini bbalestrini@bcps.org and Katherine Taylor ktaylor3@bcps.org on the morning of the change or early dismissal.

We are excited to announce that the fifth-grade class will continue the tradition of Pumpkin Math this year on Thursday, October 31st from 11:00 - 12:30. In Pumpkin math we use pumpkins to learn about measurement, weight, estimation, rounding, properties of circles, and several other mathematical concepts. In order to be able to provide this exciting and educational opportunity we need a few extra supplies.

Our 5th grade room parents have graciously agreed to help collect supplies for this event. Please see the sign-up below for items we are in need of. You may send in donations with your student any time during the month of October. The only thing we ask that you DO NOT send in with your child are the pumpkin carving supplies (knives or other sharp tools). Students will NOT be carving pumpkins, but parent volunteers will need to cut the top off of the pumpkins to allow for students to get to the seeds. If you sign-up to donate any carving supplies, please either bring them with you on the day of pumpkin math (if you are volunteering) or give them to a parent who is volunteering that day.

We are looking forward to a fun day!

In this unit, students add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators, using a variety of strategies to find common denominators.

The big ideas for this unit include:

• A fraction can be expressed in numerous ways.
• Representing a fraction or decimal in an alternate way might make it easier to compare with other fractions or decimals and to compute.
• Computation with fractions is an extension of computation with whole numbers.
• A fraction is relative to the size of the whole or unit.

In this unit, students...

• Learn to understand and use the terms “ratio,” “rate,” “equivalent ratios,” “per,” “at this rate,” “constant speed,” “constant rate,” “unit rate,” “speed,” “pace,” “percent,” and “percentage.”
• They recognize when two ratios are or are not equivalent and that equivalent ratios have equal unit rates.
• They represent ratios as expressions, and represent equivalent ratios with double number line diagrams, tape diagrams, and tables.
• They represent percentages with tables, tape diagrams, and double number line diagrams, and as expressions.
• They use these terms and representations in reasoning about situations involving unit price, constant speed, measurement conversion, color mixtures, and recipes.

Hello, parents!

We are starting Module 3 titled "Natural Disasters." In this module, students will listen to, view and read a variety of texts and media that present them with information about natural disasters.

A genre focus on informational text provides students with opportunities to identify central ideas, summarize events, and to ask and answer questions in order to better understand unfamiliar texts. Students will also encounter narrative non-fiction, realistic fiction, and persuasive text to build knowledge across genres.

As students build their vocabulary and synthesize topic knowledge, they will learn about the causes of different types of natural disasters.

As a reminder, this is an odd-numbered module which means that there will not be a formal computer-based assessment at the culmination of the module.

Students will be switching content classes on Wednesday, October 9th.

In this unit students will learn about...

• Thirteen Original Colonies
  
• Colonial Crafts and Trades
  
• New England’s Economy
  
• Economy of the Middle Atlantic Colonies
  
• Colonial Gristmills
  
• Hidden Figures of African History
  
• Economy of the Southern Colonies
• Southern Plantation Life
  
• Linking Cash Crops to Slavery
  
• Trade with Britain in 1750
  
• Triangle Trade Routes

Unit 1 of the BCPS Science Curriculum is called "Blast Off!" and will have students working in teams to plan and conduct investigations developing a fuel for a rocket they will design. At the end of the unit, they will put their fuel to the test by using it to launch their own liquid-propelled rocket and measure its altitude. Finally, after reviewing the flight data, they will propose how to make their rocket fly even higher.

This is the second week of Unit 1 for my first Science Group. Later in the Unit, we will be constructing bottle rockets and blasting them off. To do this, we will need donations of empty 16.9oz or 20oz soda/water bottles. Any help would be greatly appreciated!