Reading: This week in reading, we will do a variety of activities. On Monday, we will work on using comprehension strategies and define unknown vocabulary words using a
Time for Kids magazine. For the rest of the week, we will be working on a fun project using alliteration. I will read the book
Animalia, and the students will look for examples of alliteration in other texts. Then they will create their own alliteration. We will also be presenting our wordless picture books and our mash up books.
Book Report: Your book report for December must be a biography, memoir, or autobiography. The presentation will be Wednesday, December 21. For this book report you can select from one of my examples, or you can come up with your own idea. You need to provide a detailed account of the person’s life, have a visual, and give a presentation.
Here are a few examples:
Example #1:
Illustration of your person
5 character traits that relate to your person and evidence
Write a summary about your person's life
Do you think it was a good idea to write a biography about this person? Why or why not?
Example #2:
A timeline of the person's life
5 character traits that relate to your person and evidence
Example #3: Power Point
Photo Collage
Birth & Childhood
Education
Adulthood - Family and jobs they had before becoming famous
What made them famous
Interesting facts about your person
Later Years/Death
Math: In math we will start unit 6. The first couple of lessons will focus on using landmark data, which is minimum, maximum, median, mode, range, and mean and organizing the data. They will ogranize the data by using graphs, line plots, and stem and leaf plots. On Thursday, the students will work on identifying mystery line plots.
Writing: This week in writing we will be finishing our marketing plan. The students have been put into groups, and their group picked one item to develop a marketing plan and advertise the item. They can select how they would like to present this item: TV ad, radio ad, billboard, print ads, a web page, or Prezi. The students need to think about who is your target and develop a marketing plan to reach the audience. These will be presented in class on Tuesday.
Science: In science we have focused on the atom and magnets. The students learned that an atom is made up of protons, neutrons, electrons, and a nucleus. They also learned about ions. We discussed the periodic table of elements, and the students learned how to read it. After learning about the periodic table of elements, the students drew atoms. They also learned the difference between an element and a molecule. We used the interactive periodic table of elements to learn more about each element, and we built a salt crystal using play-doh. In the first lesson for magnets, students observed three different rocks looking at their similarities and differences. In this lesson they learned that there is a type of rock with magnetic qualities called lodestone. In the next lesson, students learned how magnets got their name, and they did an experiment to see if a one unit magnet or a two unit magnet held more paper clips. Last week in science we continued to do experiments with magnets. On Monday, the students learned how to make a magnet. Then the students saw the magnetic field around different magnets. On Wednesday, the students learned where a magnet is the strongest and which magnet is the strongest. They also saw what objects magnets attract and what substances magnetism can pass through. This week we will review for the magnet test on Monday, and their test will be on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, the students will learn about statice electricity. Static electricity occurs when extra electrons collect and stay in an object for a period of time. Electrons move from object to object through friction. As the electrons move between two objects, one object gains electrons and becomes negatively charged. The other object loses electrons and becomes positively charged.
Social Studies: We finished our social studies unit and will move on to science for the rest of the quarter.
Spelling Unit 14:
absent servant present instant accident assistant current moment resident
ignorant pleasant distant innocent intelligent restaurant patient government
statement migrant participant efficacious orbiting continent magma landforms
embarrassment magnificent amendment resistant pungent expedient resilient
immigrant incident consonant electricity traitor static map scale Congress
BOX TOPS:
The PTA is always collecting box tops. They can be found on many different products such as: Progresso soups, Kleenex boxes, Suddenly Salad, Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, and many more products. Check all of your purchased goods and send in your box tops. This is an easy way for the school to make money to enrich our children at May Watts.
HEALTHY SNACK LIST:
Due to life-threatening peanut/nuts/sesame allergies at every grade level and the fact that we change classes for math and flex groups, we are asking that no peanut/nut/sesame products be sent in for a nutritional snack. Also a list was sent home that stated the food items that will be allowed for snacks. The following items can be brought in: fruit, vegetable sticks, pretzels, cheese slices or cubes, raisins, cereal mix (i.e. Chex Mix), rice cakes, and crackers.
NEW READING INCENTIVE PROGRAM:
There is a new reading incentive program that Mrs. May is doing. To earn the prize, the fifth graders will need to read 400 minutes in a month. That is 20 minutes a night. Minutes will be checked on January 9.
Important Dates:
Science Test Tuesday, December 20
Spelling Test Wednesday, December 21
Book Report due Wednesday, December 21
December 23 - January 8 No School - Winter Break
January 9 Classes Resume
