5th Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the 1st for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Fractions

Activities: We ended out unit on numerical expressions. Students showed improvement with being able to speak, listen, write, and read numberical expression accurately. This will help them write expressions for word problems, making them easier to solve, conversing with neighbors as they help each other work through problems in class, etc. We also completed an art task where students were asked to use visuals to solve an expression. They were also asked to write a sentence for how they would read aloud the expression. Attached will be some pictures.

We began our second unit on fractions. Of all the units in 5th grade, fractions is the biggest and most important to focus on, so we will take our time. We talked about what fractions were and how to convert mixed fractions into improper fractions and vice versa. We practiced multiplying and dividing fractions, and have started addition. We will continue this unit into next month.

Teacher Tip:

Teacher Info: Mrs. Alexander, halexander@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Adding Details, Descriptive Writing, Personal Narratives, Figurative Language, Literacy Celebration

Activities: October has been a fantastic month of writing! We kicked it off with an activity that helps us add details to our writing and vary our sentence beginnings. By asking ourselves the 5W’s (who, what, when, where, why), we are able to take bland sentences and make them better! Next we moved on to descriptive writing by playing a game in which we write a description about an item and see if our classmates can guess it. This game quickly turned into a round robin of writing and guessing that students loved. We started our first big writing project by reading personal narratives written by other students our age. Kids quickly saw that when telling their stories they need to include a clear beginning, middle and end, they need to have transitions, and they need to state some sort of lesson learned in the end. After that introduction, students were ready to start planning their own work. We brainstormed ideas, wrote a beginning, middle and end outline, and verbally shared our story with a classmate. When it came time to begin writing our own personal narratives, students were ready to go and the classroom reverberated with the happy sound of keyboards tapping. We took a break from writing one day to go over figurative language as another tool in our toolbelt to improve writing. Through a series of games and activities, students quickly memorized several types of figurative language which we will continue to practice until using it in our writing becomes a habit. The month concluded with our annual Literacy Celebration where we enjoyed fun costumes and energetic literacy games!

Teacher Tip: Encourage your student to submit an entry to The Vibe, our digital school newspaper! Submissions can be emailed to thevibenewspaper@gmail.com

Teacher info: Rachel Oscarson, roscarson@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Trigger Events, Election of 1860, First Shots, Leaders and Why War?

Activities: This class of 5th grade historians has really gotten into a fantastic rhythm in our US History class. We spent a lot of time this month building an understanding of how and why the Civil War became inevitable. We know, of course, that big events like the Civil War, are usually preceded by smaller events. In class, we called them "trigger events." One trigger event leads to another and they "snowball" or get bigger as they go. We learned about 5 of the smaller (but not insignificant) events that led to the Civil War and put them into chronological order. These events were:

1. The Compromise of 1850

2. The publishing of Uncle Tom's Cabin

3. The events in "Bleeding Kansas."

4. The Supreme Court's Dred Scott Decision

5. Abolitionist John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry

Working in groups, students were given the job to become an expert on one of these events and then to present what they had learned to the class. As experts, they learned what happened, why it was important and how it impacted the North and the South. This work encouraged students to sharpen their skills as close readers, note takers and presenters of information. Next, we examined the hotly contested election of 1860 which was one of the most important in American history. Four men; Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, John Breckenridge and John Bell, were all competing to be the next President of the USA.

Just like today, each candidate had different plans for the country.

Just like today, each candidate tries to explain their plan in a way that appeals to the most Americans. We analyzed brief summaries of campaign speeches from each candidate. As students read, they saw that most candidates shared opinions on the most important topics from the time:

- Slavery in the south

- Slavery in the west

- Homesteading

- Railroads

A fun and challenging day of classwork asked students to reflect back on the groups of American voters we had learned about last month and try to make informed guesses about which group would have supported which candidate. Of course, Lincoln wins and based on everything we have learned so far, the Civil War now seems unavoidable. Students learned about the secession of 11 states and the formation of the Confederate States of America. We analyzed facts, data and statistics to determine which side was best prepared for the war. We read about political and military leaders from both North and South and examined some primary source quotes to try and understand exactly why people were fighting.

Wow! As I write all that I am amazed at how much these 5th grade historians have covered! I continue to be impressed by their ability to collaborate with each other and take on some challenging and complex academic work. Well done!

Teacher Tip: Check in with your student to see what they can tell you about the Union and the Confederacy on the eve of the war. Which side was better prepared to fight and why?

Teacher Info: Let me know if you have any questions!

Mr. Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Keyboarding & Google Sheets

Activities: The majority of the month was spent adding to previous knowledge of Google Sheets and applying this information to a larger project. This year students learned how to create comparison bar graphs and were able to apply this information as we predicted and then analyzed the flavors of candy brought as a birthday treat. Students also learned how to use the sum function to add columns of data.

Because much of Google Sheets was a review (gridlines, columns, rows, headings, creating and personalizing graphs and charts), the students were able to quickly create graphs and complete the Techno Candy Project. Each student pretended he/she was proposing a new type of candy color and submitted a proposal with graphs and charts to support their request. We have had a lot of fun discussing the best colors and personalizing graphs to reflect our data.

Reflection Questions: What does 'range' represent and what happens if the total/SUM is part of the range?

Teacher Info: Mrs. Montgomery, rmontgomery@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Elements of Art: Line, Shape, Texture, Color, & Space; Principles of Design: Pattern, Balance, Emphasis, & Rhythm

Activities: We celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by looking at folk art mirrors from Mexico. Students learned about radial symmetry and how a repeating pattern gives an art piece “rhythm.” They created their own “Mexican Mirrors” with a variety of patterns, designs, and bright colors and included an embossed metal “mirror” in the center. Many students even embellished their work by adding sequins similar to the original mirrors we looked at. These turned out absolutely stunning and they are currently on display in the Meridian District Office! As we moved further into fall and the evenings started to get darker earlier, we read the book, Windows, by Julia Denos. The story follows a boy taking his dog for a walk looking at lit windows and wondering what the people inside were doing. Students used lines & shapes to draw houses and used their imagination to create a narrative about what was happening through the lit windows. This is a work in progress, but they are looking fantastic so far!

Reflection Questions: Ask your student what is happening through the lit windows in their house.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Warnock, swarnock@meridian.wednet.edu