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: The Coordinate Plane

Activities: This month we looked at graphing points and drawing coordinate planes. We played games with finding points on a large coordinate plane taped to the floor. We also played Battleship using coordinates and read/created maps based on coordinates. We ended the unit looking at graphs that use the coordinate plane to show data. The end of the month brought the final project, to write a survey question, gather data, and create a graph on the coordinate plane to show the data.

Teacher Tip:

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

Topics: Opinion Writing, Text Evidence

Activities: Students have been hard at work this month on opinion/argument writing. Practice makes perfect so we wrote three papers taking positions on the topics of zoos, school uniforms, and multivitamins. They planned, wrote and edited their work to ensure that it included all relevant information and followed standard writing conventions. I was so impressed with their hard work and the progress that was made. Then we spent some time learning how to find evidence in text and writing our answers in complete sentences that reframe the question being asked.

Teacher Tip: We have kicked off our third and final book project of the year. Students will select and read a book that is new to them, create a project that represents the book, and present it to the class on Wednesday, May 28.

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

Topics: Our learning objective for this month were the following: Investigate the behavior of solid materials in water, gain experience with the concept of saturation, measure the volume and mass of solids and liquids, compare the quantities of two solid materials required to saturate 50 ml of water, compare the solubility of materials in water, use scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations: observing, communicating, comparing, organizing, and relating.

Activities: Students discovered how much salt it would take to saturate 50ml of water. They did this by saturating a solution completely, removing the excess salt, and weighing the final solution against 50ml of plain water. We discussed errors that could have occurred during our experimentation that could account for the differing amounts we came up with as a class even though we were all using the same amount of water, measuring tools, weights, and salt (incorrect measurements of their salt or water, not removing all the extra salt from their saturated mixture, incorrect weighing of the saturated solution).

Vocabulary: solvent, solute, saturated solution, solubility

Teacher Info: Mrs DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: VEX Robotics

Activities: This month we continued our adventures with VEX Robotics! We started learning to code with the VEX IQ software and learned how to add different Devices to our Robot Brain and how to code them into our Programs. We have been working on preparing for a Tug of War competition with our bots. We built a base bot, learned how to drive it with the controller, and with the program software. We learned about the engineering notebooks, how to work in a robotics team successfully and how gear ratios can affect towing capacity, and tested several different gear ratios. We are in the process of adding mass to our basebots and studying how varying the center of mass affects tow power. The Monday we get back from Spring Break, we will finally compete for our final Tug of War competition.

Teacher Tip: If possible, bake recipes from scratch with your children. Baking requires more precision than cooking and the kids can use practice following step by step directions with precision! Also, tasty food makes an excellent built in reward for their hard work!

Teacher Info: Ami Clayton, Substitute Teacher, 360-318-2508 M/W

Topics: 3 Branches (continued), Checks and Balances, Turning ideas into laws

Activities: This month, we continued our close look at the Branches of Government and learned about the different roles and responsibilities for each branch. We completed graphic organizers to identify the people and the jobs carried out by each branch. To do this work, I asked students to engage with a variety of resources.

We watched the delightful ear worm video from Schoolhouse Rock, "I'm Just A Bill" that explains the convoluted process of how a bill starts as an idea and if it's lucky, becomes a law. Recently, we have begun a challenging simulation to learn how the separation of powers works. In our sim, we worked through the process of creating a healthy school lunch menu as a representation of the law making process. Each group got to role-play each branch’s responsibility in the law-making process. We had Lead Chefs (Executive Branch), Menu Writers (Legislative Branch) and Nutrition Inspectors (Judicial Branch). None of the branches could complete their work without the consent of the other branches. This meant that lots of collaboration was required and revisions were frequently made. Students quickly realized that the process was slow and cumbersome, just like the real legislative process, but in the end, we hope to have a satisfactory outcome that meets the required criteria, a healthy lunch that students will enjoy. Just like the real legislative process!

Once students had developed a solid foundation of knowledge about the 3 Branches, we discussed which of the branches had the most power. Most students felt that the Legislative branch had the most power (which is aligned with the view that most scholars have) and a few felt the executive branch was at the top. Ideally, the 3 branches should be well balanced so an argument could be made for any of the three.

With this foundation in place, we examined the law making process by using an online interactive called Branches of Power. In this simulation, students were asked to take control of all 3 branches and see if they could get a law passed. They need to choose an agenda, identify core values, hold hearings on a bill, deliberate with both houses of the Legislature and see how adding or removing clauses could make a bill more or less popular. As they played the game, students responded to a variety of questions about how the branches check each other's power. They also developed a familiarity with important vocabulary and analyzed whether or not laws / clauses were constitutional and played a few Kahoots to make sure students were grasping all the big ideas. We definitely have a classroom of students who I am confident would make great leaders some day.

Teacher Tip: Ask your student which branch of government they felt was most important and, most importantly, see if they can explain why.

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

Jeff Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu