5 TH GRADE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
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Dear 5th Grade Families,
We are looking forward to continuing all of the wonderful
learning we have planned for your children! Here are a few
things that we are learning about in 5th grade this month!
Math Workshop:
For Math Workshop, students will continue to explore
decimals! We will continue to focus on representing and
comparing decimals. Students will use rectangular grids
and number lines as representations to examine the place
values of digits in decimals, understand the size of
numbers that include decimals, and identify equivalent
decimals and fractions. Students will also order decimals
from greatest to least and least to greatest. Then, we will
focus on adding and subtracting decimals. Students will
use grids to help them visualize and identify the place
value of decimals as they begin adding and subtracting
them. Students will also add and subtract decimals using a
variety of contexts. Finally, students will consider how the
addition and subtraction strategies they use for whole
numbers apply to adding and subtracting decimals.
Reader’s Workshop:
Students will be exploring Interpretation of Book Clubs
and Analyzing Themes for Reader’s Workshop! Students
will work on strengthening their intellectual independence
by writing about their reading analytically. Once we
sharpen our reading and thinking skills, we will be able to
see more significance in a text and to trust what we notice
for a reason. With great literature in hand, students will
embark on a study of interpretation. Soon, we will begin to
work in small book clubs that will last for the remainder of
the unit. Book club members will work together to identify
the themes that thread through their texts. They will learn
the art of interpretation by linking ideas and building larger
theories.
Important Dates:
12/6- Learn with Your Child
12/13- Winter Wonderland
12/20- Ballroom Performance
12/23 - 01/01- Winter Recess
Email:
Mrs.miller@school.edu 555-125-5789
December 2019
Writer’s Workshop:
Students will be working diligently on their literary essays.
We will explore how to develop and support a claim about a
character or theme in a shared text. Students will be exposed
to several thesis templates that they can use to build a
structured essay with a thesis and supports. Students will
learn strategies that essayists use to back up their claims
about a text, such as using mini-stories. Once students have
learned these skills, they will then self-select narrative texts
they want to think more deeply about, and use additional
strategies to help them write to grow their ideas. Then,
students will craft interpretive thesis statements that capture
the precise theme and are well substantiated by the text.
Students will take their work to the next level by using
quotes that best fit their supports. They will build a
repertoire of strategies to support their claims with parallel
lists and an analysis of the author’s craft.
Science
Scientists are finishing Chapter 2 and getting ready to
embrace, Chapter 3. In this chapter, students shift their
thinking from daily patterns to yearly patterns. They
investigate how Earth’s yearly orbit around the sun affects
what stars we see. They observe the position of
constellations over time with the Simulation, and use the
classroom walls to visualize what a person on Earth sees as
a year goes by. Students also read ‘Dog Days of Summer’,
which gives them an opportunity to think more about yearly
star patterns and what these observations have meant to
humans over the centuries. After identifying three
constellations depicted on the artifact with the help of the
Simulation and the reference book, ‘Handbook of Stars and
Constellations,’ students suggest which constellation might
have appeared on the missing piece and what the artifact as
a whole portrays. Feel free to schedule a meeting or a
conference call by contacting me at either
elubick@schools.nyc.gov or
chelseaprepscientists@gmail.com.
Please feel free to e-mail us with any questions or concerns
regarding your child academically. As always, we are
available every Tuesday for Parent Engagement from 2:40-
3:20 pm. Please contact us, to set an appointment.
Teacher Email:Important Dates:
Ms. Mignone: mignone@ps33chelseaprep.com
Ms. Epstein: Alisonepstein8@gmail.com
Ms. Scicutella: Nscicutella@schools.nyc.gov
Ms. Bianchini: Bianchini@ps33chelseaprep.com
Phone
Ms. Foster: kfoster5@schools.nyc.gov
Website:
http://www.mrsmiller.edu