Hey Mr. Gray

Feb 13-17, 2023

We will spend the next several weeks reading about the American Revolution. This will match closely with our study of the American Revolution in Social Studies. Next week we will read “I Survived: The American Revolution, 1776”. In anticipation of our upcoming Revolution Book Club Unit, the kids will make a reading plan for their group which will include of timeline for their reading, independent and group work, and a rubric for grading.

We will continue our  unit called “Research Based Argument Essay”. The kids will publish their third Argument Essay. For this essay the students will choose their topic of research. They will work throughout the week with independence and refer back to the work we have already done in our first two essays.

We will wrap up a unit called “Whole Number Expressions and Operations”. The students work on a project highlighting some of the trickier elements of order of operations and written expressions, work to solve difficult problems, and do some CML practice.

This students will continue our Social Studies unit exploring the events leading up to the revolution. We will focus on the intolerable acts next week that pushed the colonists to war. The students will be continue a digital timeline to help them keep track of all the acts and events. The will turn in the first half of their timeline on Thursday. We will also take a quiz on the location of the 50 states on Wednesday. Finally, we will introduce the Great State Project which will be due on Thursday, Feb 23.

The kids will read a text and answer questions about water on Earth based on what they learned from the previous reading.  They will share their work and discuss the availability of freshwater on Earth.  Then students observe a demo that represents freshwater on Earth and graph the results.  Students draw and label a model of fresh and saltwater on Earth to demonstrate understanding and of course see Ms. DeMarco for Science Lab.

No vocabulary study this week. The kids will continue planning for their next Chit Chat speech.

February 6-10, 2023

Valentine’s Day Candy Grams- Due Tue Feb 7

We will spend the next several weeks reading about the American Revolution. This will match closely with our study of the American Revolution in Social Studies. Next week we will read “Alexander Hamilton” The Outsider”. The kids will have work to keep track of their thinking as they read, work on a project, and discuss with partners and groups each day.

We will continue our  unit called “Research Based Argument Essay”. The kids will publish their second Argument Essay. For this essay they will argue whether to support or boycott zoos. They will peer edit their paper and turn in their final piece on Thursday. Later in the week the kids will come up with their own topic for their third and final Argument Essay.

We will continue a unit called “Whole Number Expressions and Operations”. The students will review the entire unit and take a test on Wednesday. In addition, the kids will review their last CML test and do more CML practice and reflection.

This students will continue our Social Studies unit exploring the events leading up to the revolution. We will study the famous “acts” that pushed the colonists to war. The students will be making a digital timeline to help them keep track of all the acts from the Sugar Acts to the Boston Tea Party.

The kids will Students watch a video that shows the ways humans and other animals use water.  Then, they will do a close reading of a text to identify where freshwater is found on Earth, what animals are found in those regions, and how they interact with each other and of course see Ms. DeMarco for Science Lab.

No vocabulary study this week. The kids will begin planning for their next Chit Chat speech.

January 30- Feb 3, 2023

We will continue our new unit called “Argument and Advocacy”. The kids will prepare for their final debate. In groups of 5 or 6 they will formally debate topics. The students will spend the week preparing. They have to organize evidence, prepare opening and closing statements, rebuttals and even cross-examination questions. These debates will occur on Thursday. The students will get grades from me for their participation in the debate and contribution to the group. Audience members will also watch and score the debates. Groups and individuals will be given awards on Friday for their work in the debates.

We will continue our  unit called “Research Based Argument Essay”. The kids will continue working on their second of three essays. We will work on lifting the level of the essays by analyzing the evidence used and appealing to the audience while trying to provide a thorough argument.

We will continue a unit called “Whole Number Expressions and Operations”. The students will review and practice Prime Factorization  and take a quiz on Thursday on Prime Factorization and Order of Operations.

This students will start our next unit in Social Studies. We have been discussing the road the revolution: colonial life in the 1740s-1770s. The revolution has finally reached our doorstep. Next week will examine the meaning of the word “revolution” and its implications for the American Revolution. We will also take a sneak peek and important figures of the revolution and continue to study states and capitals.

The kids will begin the next Unit of Science and explore the question “How much freshwater is on Earth?” and of course see Ms. DeMarco for Science Lab.

The kids will finish up studying the words in lesson 2 of Wordly Wise and review Lessons 1 and 2 before a quiz on Friday.

January 23-27, 2023

Colonial Day- Fri Jan 27

We will continue our new unit called “Argument and Advocacy”. The kids will prepare for their second debate. In groups, they will build their background knowledge, collect and organize evidence, and outline the debate with an opening statement and main points. They will also prepare their rebuttals. The kids will also take a quiz related to reading informational texts on Thursday.

We will continue our  unit called “Research Based Argument Essay”. The kids will begin building their background knowledge for their second essay. The will collect and rank evidence and begin drafting. We will pay close attention to adding counterarguments and rebuttals.

We will continue a unit called “Whole Number Expressions and Operations”. The students will engage in some order of operations error analysis and we will study the language of expressions where we will convert expressions to english sentences and vice versa.

This week our big event will be colonial day on Friday. The kids will make several craft projects related to life in colonial america. Early in the week we will begin building our knowledge of states, capitals, and other american geography. We will also take a day to read about and discuss slavery in the colonies. The kids will do some background reading for this on Monday and then we will have a class discussion on Tuesday.

The kids will take a quiz on the effect changes to a food web on Wednesday and of course see Ms. DeMarco for Science Lab.

The kids will finish up studying the words in lesson 1 of Wordly Wise and move on to the lesson 2 words..

 January 16-20, 2023

Hello Mr. Gray's 5th Grade Parents and Happy New Year!

I would like to thank you all for the generous gift card.  How kind of you to think of me this holiday season!  I am grateful to be your child's science teacher!

Thank you again,

Ms. De Marco 🙂

Reader’s

Workshop

We will continue our new unit called “Argument and Advocacy” The kids will prepare for debates throughout the week with a partner and then have multiple debates on Thursday. We will discuss rules for arguments/debates and how to mine for relevant information.

Writer’s

Workshop

We will continue our  unit called “Research Based Argument Essay”. The kids will continue their drafts focusing on the structure of arguments, using evidence and transition words, and clearly stating how the evidence supports their position. They will publish their first argument this week all about whether or not chocolate milk should be banned from schools.

Maths

We will continue a unit called “Whole Number Expressions and Operations”. The students will review and practice using order of operations (PEMDAS) and engage in some error analysis.

Social Studies

As we study the English colonies in the middle of the 18th century, the students will study how the colonies began to gain an american identity. Specifically, representative governments started to pop up in the form of town halls and meetings. The students will prepare for and engage in a “town hall meeting” this week.

Science

The kids will build upon their understanding of the relationship between organisms in an ecosystem. Using an interactive, they simulate making changes to an ecosystem and record how the changes affect other organisms within the ecosystem. Students watch a video and of course see Ms. DeMarco for Science Lab.

Vocabulary

The students will take their first Classical Roots Quiz on Tuesday. We will pause Classical Roots and study vocabulary from a program called Wordly Wise. We will switch back and forth because Classical Roots and Wordly Wise for vocabulary study.

January 7-13, 2023

We will start a new unit called “Argument and Advocacy” will focus on students gathering information and taking a side on issues relevant to kids. The students will read articles and study other sources of information to organize an argument and prepare for a debate. We will discuss rules for arguments/debates and how to mine for relevant information. The students will take a quiz on Thursday.

We will start a new unit called “Research Based Argument Essay”. We will start off by analyzing arguments (reflecting our work in reader’s workshop), then flash-draft arguments. At the end of the week we will begin to build argument with evidence using quotes.

We will start a unit called “Whole Number Expressions and Operations”. The students will spend the week analyzing and practicing different strategies for the multiplication and division of whole numbers. We will spend time attending to precision to make sure we do not make careless mistakes. The students will take a quiz on Friday.

As we study the English colonies in the middle of the 18th century, the students will study how different colonies were set up and they will make their own colony with rules and expectations. Then we will take a day to study the First Great Awakening which was a religious and societal change in the colonies that directly affected the idea of being an “American”.

The kids will study Energy in Food Chains they will explore ideas about energy and matter flow, watch a video about food chains, make connections from what they have learned so far. The goal is to strengthen knowledge of how energy moves through a food chain and of course have Science Lab with Ms. DeMarco.

The students will start our next section of Classical Roots looking at Lesson 2 which has the roots “sub” and “torqueo, torquere” and “verso, versare”

Need to Know

Reader’s

Workshop

We will spend a few days this week taking a close look at the vocabulary and characters in the short story “The Gift of the Magi”. The kids will also spend time discussing the story with the whole class and in small groups. The students will turn in some of their week at the end of the week. They will also create a list of fiction books they would like to read for their upcoming homework when we start our next unit. That unit called “Argument and Advocacy” will focus on students gathering information and taking a side on issues relevant to kids.

Writer’s

Workshop

We will spend the week discussing the examples and definitions of the word “honor”. We will use that discussion to make New Year’s Resolutions about how kids can honor their teachers, school, family, classmates, friends, and themselves. In order to facilitate this thinking I’d like kids to bring in a baby picture of themselves on Thursday. It can be digital saved in their Google Drive. They will not be sharing these with the group, they just have to be able to see their own picture. The students will write about this and turn in work at the end of the week.

Maths

We have a short math schedule this week. We have time for a mathematical review scavenger hunt and Continental Mathematics League test on Thursday.

Social Studies

We will jump right back into the colonies and start studying the important founders of the 13 English colonies. The kids will also study some of the characteristics of the colonies and take a colonies geography quiz on Friday.

Science

We will read an informational text, then complete a graphic organizer explaining the relationships between Antarctic organisms. Students explain the cause and effect relationship between individual organisms and the food chain itself and of course have Science Lab with Ms. DeMarco.

Vocabulary

The students will start our first section of Classical Roots looking at Lesson 1 which has the roots “per” and “fer, ferre, tuli, latum.”

October 3-7, 2022

Video Announcements Class Podcast  Class Website Weekly Schedule

Work Page Parent Portal School Calendar Bell Schedule PTA Volunteer

The students will close wrapping up thinking about theme and do a little preparation for our first novel study coming up the week of October 10.

The kids will continue to draft and work on their second narrative story. We will study adding past and future scenes to add to the meaning and practice endings. Finally the students will publish their final draft of their second narrative.

The kids will be spend a short week doing some speed math and mental math practice as well as some work preparing for our first test for Continental Mathematics League.

No Social Studies this week.

The kids will be reading about and reflecting identifying how a material's properties are used in determining its suitability for meeting a specific purpose.

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September 19-23, 2022

Important Links

Video Announcements Class Podcast  Class Website Weekly Schedule

Work Page Parent Portal School Calendar Bell Schedule PTA Volunteer

Need to Know

Reader’s

Workshop

This week, the kids will continue reading fiction books. The goal over the next few weeks is to read with meaning and interpretation in mind to have more tools to understand theme. They will have a partner to share their thoughts and work with and keep their thinking in their reader’s notebook.

Writer’s

Workshop

The kids will publish their first narrative and turn it in. We will a short time for kids to share out their finished work. As we move on to drafting more small moment true stories, we will focus on bringing out meaning in stories, elaborating on important scenes and adding scenes from the past or future.

Maths

We will continue our dividing fractions unit. This week the students will explore the relationship between visual methods of dividing fractions and the “keep it, change it, flip it” method. We will review our division work and take a quiz.

Social Studies

During this week, the kids will study the government and economy of native american tribes. They will also make a study guide for a test coming up next week. Finally, in honor of “Constitution Day” which is Saturday, the 17th, the kids will have to memorize and recite the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to a partner.

Science

The kids will read about the new Artemis series of missions NASA is embarking on and look carefully at the kinds of materials used for space-faring missions.