Fifth Grade Falcon Family Newsletter Mrs. Vaagen's Class

Greetings Fifth Grade Falcon Families! Your student has been hard at work!

Math Unit 7: Algebra

This past week, your student wrapped up Unit 7 (algebra) in math. We completed our final quiz and will be testing on Tuesday. We have one more day of review planned for tomorrow before the big test. However, the majority of students seem well prepared and have grasped all concepts thus far! I'm so glad many enjoy algebra as much as I do. Our next unit will cover volume and some geometry which will also be necessary skill sets for the upcoming SBA testing in mid-May. As always, retakes will be offered to students who score less than 75% on the unit 7 test. Make sure your student studies on Monday night!

Reading and Social Studies

In reading and social studies, we have been studying the treatment of Native American children who were sent to boarding schools beginning in 1880. We also covered the Trail of Tears and reservations prior to that and talked about the lasting effects on Native American families and culture. This doubles as our reading curriculum as we continue to study how nonfiction expository textbooks are organized. This week, we will dive deeper into understanding and purpose of an author's organizational choices. Our individual daily reading time continues, but please make sure your student is also reading 30 minutes per night so we can earn those AR points!

Personal Narrative Writing

In writing, students are working on final drafts and publishing of personal narratives. We will be having our publishing party with student author chair sittings this week! Students will also work on giving peer feedback using glow and grow strategy analyzing peer writing. They will be looking for elements of sensory details that create a "mind-movie" in the reader's imagination. Details include sound, feel, taste, touch, and smell which makes the personal narrative come alive for the reader. They will also be on the lookout for evidence of a moral, lesson, or change in the author based on the story. All are important elements of quality personal narrative writing. In vocabulary and spelling, we continue to learn new words weekly from our reading texts. We will also have another spelling and vocabulary test this Friday. Make sure your student studies his/her word cards!

Terrestrial Environments

In science, our new kit will arrive this week as we dive into the study of environments. Our first investigation will cover terrestrial environments including set up of terrariums. Students will plant and map where to put pea, corn, barley, radish, and clover seeds. They will then make observations on changes and conduct measurements of terrarium plants. Students will gain valuable knowledge on the relationships that exist between environmental factors such as how much water a plant gets and how well organisms grow. They will develop understanding into how environments change over time. We will again be blessed with help from our science docent on this experiment this week!

Announcements and Upcoming Dates

We are in need of baby wipes/Lysol cleaning wipes for desks. Please donate if you can!

Report cards go home April 6th so be on the look out!

Spirit Week: April 3-7

Spring Break: April 10-14

As always, thank you for supporting your student's education!

Christina Vaagen

Credits:

Created with images by Mimzy - "back to school pencils rainbow" • ericfleming8 - "mathematics math abstract algebra" • congerdesign - "books study literature" • mrsdkrebs - "Always Writing" • balanced.crafts - "tiny white mushrooms" • Mon Quixote - "announcements"

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