We have officially wrapped up Topic 1 in Math class. Students in Mr. Rost and Mrs. O'Neill's class have the first Topic Assessment and are in search of your signature. Students in Mrs. Mezan's class will bring their assessment home very soon.

The Topic Assessments this year will be in two parts. The first part is a test of basic skills. The second part is a Performance Assessment, where they apply the skills they have learned to a real life problem. Thank you for studying with your child before the assessment. I will give similar notice before the next test.

Every Friday there will be a short quiz that is based on the concepts learned during the week. These will help all of us to gauge student understanding.  Look for these to come home early in each week for a signature as well.

In Topic 2 we will add and subtract decimals. We will also estimate sums and differences in order to determine the reasonableness of solutions. These are skills that have a direct practical use in our every day lives. Please be on the lookout for times when you estimate and add/subtract decimals. Point these occasions out to your child to give them a reason and purpose for their learning in this unit. 
Stay dry!

Mrs. Mezan

Room 24 - Astronomy and Weather Unit / Book Clubs

We're into our astronomy and weather unit full swing now. I ask that students attempt to make sky observations daily, if possible. While they don't need to record what they are seeing, I would like them to take note of any cool features and be ready to share or discuss what they see periodically. I will also be providing schedules for opportunities to see the International Space Station go overhead, which is really neat to see with bare eyes, but even better with binoculars or a telescope, if you have them.

Also, our first book club order has closed, but be on the lookout for the October form coming home soon. Again, purchases made through out class code benefit the class library and allow me to get more books for the kids across the year. It is important that orders placed online use our class code of QBKB6. Otherwise, we do not get the bonus points from the order to help our class library. Again, this is not mandatory, but is of help to our books, so we can get new ones or replace used ones over time.

Thank you for all of your support from home and have a great day!!!

-Mr. Rost

Spelling

Good afternoon fifth grade families!

Here's what you need to know about Spelling in fifth grade:

• Lists:
• All classes will receive a list (and word study instruction) every Monday.  
• Lists will be no more than 10 words (may be less).
• O'NEILL & MEZAN:
• You can expect your child to have different word lists than other students in their same homeroom.
• ROST:
• Students will all have the same word lists
• Lists will be Science/ Social Studies-based
• Homework:  
• Spelling homework will NOT be everyday.
• Homework will be indicated with a star, in the "Reading" section, in students' planners.
• Spelling homework that is assigned will not be overwhelming: sorts, underlining patterns, etc.  
• Quizzes:
• Fridays will be our quiz day.  

O'NEILL

Students took a spelling pre-assessment/ inventory today.  This will allow me to give students lists and deliver instruction that is responsive to where they are in their spelling development.  O'Neill's students will not have words to study this week.

MEZAN

Students will take a spelling pre-assessment/ inventory this week.  They will not have words to study this week.

ROST

Students received their spelling list today.  They all have the same words.  They do not have homework today, other than to write their words in their planners.  In case they lost their list (it's a small yellow sheet of paper).  The words are numbered below. 

1. Landforms
2. Mountain
3. Source
4. Valley
5. Mouth
6. Plain
7. Lake
8. Tributary
9. Bay
10. Peninsula

Get Caught Reading:  Remember to email in pictures when you "catch" your child reading!  Hadley.ONeill@hcps.org

Upcoming Dates:

• Riverside Elementary School Clean Up:  Saturday, Oct. 1, 7AM - 12PM
• Race for Education: Friday, Oct. 28
• Reading Week: Monday, Oct. 31 - Friday, Nov. 4.
• Book Fair Projects: All entries need to be brought to school between Monday, Oct. 24 - Wednesday, Oct. 26.  Information regarding reading week and projects will come home this Friday at the latest.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences: Monday, Nov. 7 (information to follow at a later date)

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Get Caught Reading!

Target Learning Goals: Each week, I will post, updating you on our "target learning goals" in our Readers' Workshops. Target learning goals are essentially our focused objectives; outlining specific reading skills or strategies.  Please note that these first few weeks of school, students are not expected to totally master some of these strategies.  The first few weeks are more about getting students to exhibit effective reading behaviors that they will use throughout the year.

MEZAN:  Students are learning strategies to help them think while they read.  While some of these strategies are not new to students, it's critical we reteach effective reading behaviors at the beginning of each year, as students are reading more complex texts.  These strategies will help keep students reading and finishing books that will make them stronger readers.

Target learning goals this week:

• I can use my schema to make meaningful predictions.
• I can use question stems (who, what, where, when, why, and how) to wonder while we read.
• I can read with empathy, making connections to characters.

O'NEILL & ROST: This week we're focusing on making connections: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.  Additionally, in making these connections, students are using their readers' notebooks and sticky notes to write about their reading.  There is a ton of research I could share with you about the benefits of writing about reading, but to keep this short, the big two are: 1). it improves comprehension and 2). fosters critical thinking.

Target learning goals this week:

• I can wonder while I read, asking questions to interact with text. 
• I can make text-to-self connections to read with empathy.
• I can make text-to-text connections to compare characters, plot, conflict, etc. 
• I can make text-to-world connections to consider themes and big ideas.

  "Get Caught Reading" is a nationwide campaign that launched in 1999.  The goal: to promote literacy and celebrate reading at home and in the community.  Please feel free to snap a photo when your child's reading.  Email them to me (Hadley.ONeill@hcps.org), and I'll print them here at school and post them in our room! I'll also display snapshots of (school-appropriate) celebrities, athletes, teachers, etc. who "get caught".

Upcoming Dates:

• Riverside Elementary School Clean Up:  Saturday, Oct. 1, 7AM - 12PM
• Race for Education: Friday, Oct. 28
• Reading Week: Monday, Oct. 31 - Friday, Nov. 4.
• Book Fair Projects: All entries need to be brought to school between Monday, Oct. 24 - Wednesday, Oct. 26.  Information regarding reading week and projects will come home this Friday at the latest.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences: Monday, Nov. 7 (information to follow at a later date)

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

We are nearing the end of Topic 1 in our Math book. We have learned all about whole number place value to the millions and decimal place value to the thousandths! We have rounded and compared decimals. Finally, we will focus on looking for patterns and structure to solve problems.

As will probably be the case for the rest of the school year, each class is at a different place in Unit 1.

Mr. Rost's class will take the Topic 1 assessment tomorrow (Wednesday). They have a Study Guide to guide their review of concepts now.

Mrs. O'Neill's class will take the Topic 1 assessment on Friday. Look for their Study Guide to come home Wednesday evening.

Mrs. Mezan's class will take the Topic 1 assessment next Tuesday. Look for their Study Guide to come home next Monday.

Please take some time to go over the Study Guide with your child to review the concepts taught during this unit.

Thank you!
Mrs. Mezan

Room 24 Update - Science!!!

We have finished up our family life unit as of today and will be moving along to our Astronomy and Weather unit, as our first complete science unit of the year. We will be starting with a look at stars and solar systems and narrowing focus to planets and characteristics that support life.

While we will not be completing a dedicated moon journal each night this year, I would ask that you begin observing the moon at home on a daily basis, as frequently as possible, to support our development of moon phase understanding. This truly will assist in our modeling and concept building later in the unit.

We have also started our informal study of plant life. This will be ongoing across the year with various types and species of plant life and will also involve an optional planting activity later in the year as the weather warms up once again.

I think we've gotten off to a very good start so far with much accomplished in our 17 days. However, I would also remind everyone that there is a long way to go and remaining focused on tasks at hand and not on socializing will be essential to success along the way.

I hope this update find you all well. Have a wonderful week!!!

-Mr. Rost

Reading Week 4

In Readers' Workshop this week, all classes are continuing to learn strategies that will help them build their reading stamina and monitor and grow comprehension.

Specifically, we're concentrating on strategies that will keep us reading when we "get stuck".  As all students are reading just-right texts, they will run into unknown words, more complex text structures, flashbacks, etc.. So it's important to have strategies under our belts to keep us engaged with the text.  One way we can do this is by recognizing unknown words (words we can pronounce but don't know the meanings of yet) and using context to figure out what these words probably mean. In class, we describe context in fiction as "what's happening in the story right now".  Take a look below at how some students are using this strategy.

Other strategies of the week include:

• visualizing-- in fifth grade, a common way we get stuck is not recognizing when the setting has changed  
• predicting/ questioning-- it's important to stress these strategies as they help us "think while we read".  If students aren't thinking while reading, that's when they typically abandon books, daydream, lose track of characters, plot, etc.. 
• paraphrasing-- "checking-in" every few pages, making sure students are monitoring comprehension

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs. O'Neill

Scholastic Book Orders

Across the year students will have an opportunity to buy books on monthly book orders from Scholastic. This month's order forms went home yesterday and are due by September 25.

Each month I will be sending home order forms, but also you may order online at any time by accessing this link:

https://orders.scholastic.com/QBKB6

Online orders can be paid for using credit/debit cards or PayPal. Any orders sent into the classroom must be paid by check made out to Scholastic. We cannot accept cash. I'm sorry for any inconvenience related to these options, but the guidelines are from Scholastic and are not my own.

Using the above link will ensure that our classes get credit for the orders and bonus points can be earned to help build class libraries, just as much as sending the order form into school, Also, I do take into account student interests and requests when ordering classroom books, so that current students can inform purchases, read additional material they like, and help build a stronger class library for future classes.

I hope that everyone will have a chance to look over the available books each month and make purchases, as the deals made possible through these order are almost always better than book store and Amazon prices and some books or series are only available through this order form. However, there is never any pressure to buy, I just wanted to be sure to do my best to make sure everyone was aware of the opportunity, if you are interested.

If you have any questions about the ordering process, please feel free to ask.

Thank you for your support!

-Mr. Rost

This Week In Reading!

"Why are they doing push-ups?" you might be asking yourself...

This week in Readers' Workshop/ Room 17 we'll be working on building our reading stamina and laying down some foundation that will enable us to grow as readers. To students, I compare reading to push-ups.  If, in one month's time, students wanted to double the number of push-ups they could complete without taking a break, what would they do?  They'd practice; trying to do more push-ups every few days.  Reading is very similar in this regard.  If we want to get stronger as readers, we have to push ourselves to read texts that will enable us to grow in our reading lives.

Today students learned a strategy to help them select books that will help them become better, more effective readers.  We call this the 5 Finger Rule.  It's outlined below.  Encourage your child to select books that pass the 5 Finger Test when they're reading at home.

  

Tomorrow and Friday, we will learn and practice strategies that help us get hooked and stay hooked on books; i.e., how we read differently to help us stay engaged with and think about text.  The emphasis here, we really want students picking appropriate texts and finishing them.

Homework:

• Math homework
• 30 minutes reading:  Students are to read 30 minutes every school night for reading homework. 

Reminders:

• Parent/ Guardians Permissions Form: Please return the orange and white bubble sheet at your earliest convenience. 
• 5th grade helper applications: Due this Friday.  

Classroom Supplies:

• Click Supply List for the 5th grade supply list

Like Mr. Rost, I will try to post once a week with updates and objectives.  Please feel free to email or call with questions. 

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Social Studies / Room 24 Update

Last week, I tried to post an update and ran into some technical difficulties in getting my post to upload properly, so here we are a few days later than I meant to be posting. In any case, I hope to post about once a week. I may possibly post more if there are any big activities, pictures, or assessments I wish to share about, but my goal is once a week otherwise.

We have moved solidly into our first unit regarding maps, land forms, physical features, resources, and the social motivations for human movement, map making, and location-based understandings.

We have had a few nights of light studying homework to review and reinforce our daily studies regarding map elements and land forms. I encourage the continuation of this topical review, as it will be applicable for assessments within this unit and applications in future units, as well as a useful life skill when we find ourselves without a phone or GPS. Speaking of assessments, I hope to complete the first unit assessment by the end of this current week,

I hope that everyone has had a successful transition back to school. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions regarding studies or expectations.

Thanks for following and have a great day!

-Mr. Rost

Math:
Next week we will begin using the new math curriculum! We are all very excited to use this new tool. We will be reviewing place value and the idea that the value of a digit depends on its place in a number. Our values will range from hundred millions to thousandths.
We will review that a digit in any place has 10 times the value it would have in the place to its right, and 1/10 the value it would have in the place to its left. We will also use exponents to write powers of 10.
There will be math homework each week night that will review what we have learned in class and other basic concepts.
Keep practicing those multiplication facts! Fluency in these makes math so much easier.

An at home activity you can do with your child to review:

Place the Digit
Materials: number cards for 0-9, paper, pencil
1. Mix and place the cards face down. Your child picks the top card while you name a place from ones to millions.
2. Have your child write a number that includes the digit on the card in the place you named. Alternate roles and repeat until all the cards have been used. Increase the difficulty of the game by including the digit on the card in two or more places in a single number.