5th Grade

Jeffers’ Journal

Week of March 27^th– March 31^st  

Welcome to the twenty-eighth issue of the Jeffers’ Journal! “And he said to all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23).”  Please come to school each day with an open mind, positive “I can” attitude, a friendly smile, and eager to be a member of our team! Are you prepared to board the learning train?

Important Dates to Remember:

March    27^th Mass with Father Pat at 9AM

                29^th Hatch Day for the Chicks

               30th Hatch Day for the Chicks

April      3^rd Mass with Father Pat at 9AM

              5^th End of the 3^rd Marking Period

              6^th Holy Thursday-No School or CASE

             7^th Good Friday-No School or CASE 

            10^th-14^th Spring Recess-No School or CASE

           24^th Spring Concert at 6pm

           28^th Spring Picture Day

Here’s a breakdown of our learning:

1. Math: Its important children learn math facts for addition/subtraction and multiplication/division with the goal of automatic recall. For the upcoming week, the students will complete individual lessons on I-Ready Math each day. To begin the week, students will review what they have learned about Multiplying Fractions in preparation for the Topic test on March 28^th. In Topic 9, we will be focusing on how to divide fractions and how fractions and division are related. Do you know how to show the quotients as fractions and mixed numbers?   At the end of the week, we will practice dividing whole numbers by unit fractions.
2. English Language Arts:
   1. Grammar: Students will learn how to proofread their writing for subject-verb agreement, capital letters, and punctuation using the proofreading symbols. What is an adverb?  How can you compare with adverbs?  Can you identify the word that good, well, real, and very describes? Can you use the words good, well, real, and very correctly in your writing?
   2. Vocabulary: Each week students have 12 new vocabulary words and complete different activities each day (sentence completion, synonym/antonym, matching, word meaning, and context clues).
   3. Reading: An important skill we will be practicing is reading articles or passages and answering comprehension questions. The three types of connections that good readers make: Text-Text, Text-Self, and also Text–World. A Text-Self connection is when the reader can connect the text to his/her life.  Next, a Text-Text connection is a connection between texts. Finally, a Text-World connection is when the reader can connect the text to the world.  Students are also completing independent lessons on I-Ready Reading in comprehension and vocabulary each day.
   4. Spelling: Each day the students will learn two or three commonly misspelled words and a mnemonic device to help them remember correct spelling.  They will write a sentence for each word to demonstrate an understanding of its meaning and of conventional spelling.
3. Summary: My goal this year is to encourage your son/daughter to find a love of reading. I am asking that your son/daughter read a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes each night and complete a summary.  A summary is a short and sweet retelling of a text. It only includes the most important details. You can use the writing strategy of “Somebody Want But So Then” to help you write a short fiction summary. We will continue practicing how to write summaries this week by listening to more stories and also reading short passages.
4. Writing: The explanatory writing train is still in the Body Paragraph station. The students reviewed the categories that they are going use. Now we are working on writing a main idea and details for each category and deciding the order of the categories. After we depart the station we will be approaching the Conclusion station. In the conclusion, you restate the thesis statement and your whole writing comes to an end. We will also work on revising, proofreading, and editing our writing.
5. Science: Last week, in the first three lessons of our Chemical Magic unit, we talked about if magic potions are real, changing something worthless into gold, and how to decide if something is an acid. This week we will focus on the final two lessons of the unit. What do fireworks, silly putty, and rubber have in common?  Why do some things explode? The unit assessment will be given on March 31^st.
6. Social Studies: We are going to begin Unit 2 learning about the History of the United States. Some key questions we will be exploring are: What were the causes and effects of the American Revolution? How did the United States become a world leader? Why did the United States struggle with slavery but was able to expand? Our next lesson in Unit 2 will focus on the History of Canada. Some key questions we will be exploring are: Which European groups claimed Canada and for what reasons? How did Canada expand and gain its independence?
7. Religion: At Morning Assembly, we are spending time looking at a picture of one of the Stations of the Cross and discussing what we see. The next day, the students locate the reading in their Bible and then we read and discuss the story about the station. The theme of our new chapter is We Profess Our Faith. What does the Apostle’s Creed state?  Why are family values and beliefs important? What is the Blessed Trinity? How does it relate to Saint Patrick?
8. Google Classroom: Students are using my Google Classroom and will continue to use it throughout the year to complete assignments and quizzes in English/Language Arts, Math, Religion, Science, and Social Studies. They are also using Google Classroom to complete their Spanish activities assigned by Mrs. Green.
9. Mass: On Monday, March 27^th, we will be attending Mass with Father Pat. Father Pat will be collecting our class book of good deeds. Did you do something that was good or kind that should be included in our book?  All are welcome to attend.
10. Stations of the Cross: Stations of the Cross will be held on Friday, March 31^st, at 1:30 in the Church. All are invited to attend.