Week 17

Happy holidays to you and your family! This semester has flown by, and I am so thankful for my fifth graders who have made the year so special! I am looking forward to all the exciting things 2017 will bring, and wish you the very best in the new year!

Here are a few reminders about our last week before the break:

• Houston Food Bank field trip this Wednesday. Please have your child wear their red Roberts t-shirt, closed toe shoes, and jeans.If possible, please also bring a nonperishable food item to donate. The most needed items are:

-        Canned fruit in water or light syrup

-        Whole grain macaroni, linguine, or spaghetti

-        Canned tomatoes; reduced sodium or no salt

-        Canned tuna or chicken in water

-        Canned green vegetables, reduced sodium or no salt

-        Canned beans; reduced sodium or no salt

• Holiday Party: Thursday from 1:30-2:30pm.

• All “correct and return” assignments due Friday!!!!

Math: Area, Perimeter, and Volume. Here are a couple of videos on how to calculate volume - Volume as Base Area times Height, Understanding Volume as Cubic Units

Go Math 9.1-9.4 and 12.2 (NO problem of the day quiz this week!)

ELA: Inferences and Exhibition paper writing/editing. (NO spelling or quizlet this week!)

Science: Review properties of matter and discuss the law of conservation of mass

Social Studies: 1500-1800 review (week 8 newspaper)

Week 16

Reminders:

• IOWA testing will take place this Monday through Thursday. Please have your child to school on time and ready to begin. A good night’s rest and a healthy breakfast is always helpful!
• This year's Spelling Bee qualifier will take place on Wednesday, December 7th. All students who were interested in participating received a study list last week.
• Food Bank field trip on December 14th. Each child must turn in the HISD permission slip, Houston Food Bank Waiver, and $6.00 fee. Also, a donation of non-perishable food item(s) would be greatly appreciated!
• Our class Holiday Party will be on December 15th.

Math:

Customary and Metric Conversions, Go Math 13.3 - 13.6

Problem Solving Quiz on Friday.

Reading:

Our main focus this week will be on writing our Exhibition 5 paragraph essays. We will also begin inferencing through our class novel, Breaking Stalin’s Nose.

Quizlet and spelling quizzes on Friday.

Science:

We will be exploring the question: How does energy affect matter and how does matter affect energy?

Social Studies:  

We did not get to the Bill of Rights project last week due to our busy schedule... we will begin those this week!

Week 15

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to relax, enjoy family and friends, and re-energize for the next few weeks of this semester! I have so much to be thankful for, including my 29 wonderful fifth graders that keep me smiling each day!

A few reminders:

1.   All fifth grade students will be taking a field trip to visit Pershing Middle School this Friday, 12/2. Please have them wear their red Roberts t-shirt. 

2.   Next week a portion of our students will be taking the IOWA test (Monday-Thursday), I will let each student know individually if they will be participating.

3.   All fifth graders will go to the Houston Food Bank on December 14^th.

Math: 

Monday-Wednesday we will continue multiplying and dividing fractions. There will be a test on Wednesday, November 30th

On Thursday, we will begin converting customary measurements (Go Math 13.2)
Problem Solving Quiz on Friday

Reading

Our main focus this week will be working on outlines for our Exhibition 5 paragraph essays. We will also be discussing transitions.

Quizlet and spelling quizzes on Friday.

Science:

Thermal Energy will be our main topic this week. We will also be reviewing for the Forms of Energy Unit Test on Thursday, December 1. The students have plenty of resources to help prepare for this test. (Science journal, study guide, Science Fusion book) Science Study Jams has awesome videos that your child can use to review as well… go to the Energy and Light section, watch the videos titled Heat, Light, Light Absorption/ Reflection/ Refraction. 

Social Studies:  

This week we will begin our Week 9 newspaper which focuses on the Bill of Rights. A group project will be assigned in which students will analyze a court case based on an amendment. They will create a poster that describes the issue in their own words and discuss how it affects us. Presentations will be made for the class and creativity counts!

Week 13-14

Reminders:

1. Students will be taking the CoGAT on the Tuesday, the 15th. Please make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast. We will begin promptly after announcements, so please do not be late.
2. Roberts Barnes & Noble Book Fair – November 15-16
3. Roberts Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday, Nov 16th 5-8 pm
4. Wednesday, November 16th will be a half-day! 12:30pm dismissal!
5. No school November 23-25! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Math:

Multiplying and Dividing Fractions and Whole numbers: Go Math 6.1-6.4

Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 21-22: Go Math 6.6-6.7

• Problem Solving Quiz on Friday, 11/18

ELA: Poetry Unit! The students will have daily poetry homework and will continue working on their poetry projects. We began the projects last week, and each student selected a poem to dissect, memorize, present to the class. Projects are due Monday, November 21. Please help your child practice their poem at home.

We will also continue looking at the different elements of poetry and figurative language (Quiz on Tuesday, November 22 - This is a change from last week’s notes).

• Quizlet and Spelling Test on Friday,11/18

Science: Forms of energy - Light and Sound will be our focus this week. There will be a small quiz on light and energy on Tuesday, November 22.

Study Jams has awesome videos that your child can watch to help review (and as always, the science journal is an excellent study resource!) Go to the “Energy, Light, and Sound” section, and watch the videos titled Heat, Sound, Light, Light Absorption, Reflection, & Refraction, Electricity, and Electric Currents/Circuits.

Social Studies:  We will be learning about the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and Branches of Government this week. There will also be a new newspaper (week 7) given this week to read, take notes on, and study.

P.S. - Thank you to all who contributed to the Teacher Appreciation Lunch, it was delicious and we are so grateful for your kindness and support!

Week 12

What’s Coming Up?

• The Fifth Grade Program will take place this Thursday, November 10th. The kids have worked so hard and are ready to show off their talents. We are to meet in our classrooms that evening at 6:15pm to prepare to go on stage. Please have your child dressed in a red, white, or blue shirt with jeans. The red Roberts t-shirt works great... See you there!

• We had a great “fun run” this past Friday! Thank you to all who supported! As a school we have met our “Boosterthon” pledge goal, which means that all Roberts students get a week of NO homework!

Math:

• Multiplying Fractions and Whole Numbers (Go Math 6.1-6.3)

• Benchmark Test on Tuesday, 11/8 - I have given out a review that may be turned in by the day of the test for extra credit on a lowest math grade.
• Problem Solving Quiz on Friday

Reading:  

• We are beginning our Poetry Unit! This week, the students will learn about two forms of poetry and create their own poems. They will also be assigned a project that involves selecting a poem to dissect, memorize, then apresent to the class. We will be choosing poems on Monday. If you and your child have a favorite poem, please have them bring it in!
• We will also be studying the different elements of poetry and figurative language (Quiz on November 18).
• Quizlet and spelling quiz this Friday (students were given their spelling list for this week after completing their quiz on Friday)

Science:

• Forms of energy - Mechanical and Electrical Energy will be our focus this week.  There will be a quiz on electrical energy next Monday, 11/14 (students will need to know the difference between open/closed circuits and series vs. parallel circuits).

Social Studies:  

• Revolutionary War Unit Test on November 10th. Students have already received a study guide to help prepare for the test. Notebooks and newspapers are excellent study guides as well!

Week 11

What’s Coming Up?

Reminder: Fun Run will take place this Friday, Nov. 4th. Please have your child dress appropriately.

Math: Addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators (LCM and GCF) TEST ON FRIDAY- This will cover Go Math lessons 5.3, 5.6, and 5.7

Adding & subtracting decimals - Bar Model

Adding & Subtracting Fractions with Like Denominators

Least Common Denominator (LCD) - Math Antics

Problem Solving Quiz on Friday

Reading:  Work on book club projects, due on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

Grammar - Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Quizlet and spelling quizzes this week.

Science: Forms of energy. We will be learning that energy is never destroyed or created and also about mechanical energy (potential vs kinetic).

Social Studies: We will be reviewing all week to prepare for our Revolutionary War Unit Test on November 10th.

Week 10

What’s Coming Up?

Math:

• Review multiplication and division with decimal numbers
• Decimal by whole number division
• Modeling division of decimals
• Addition and subtraction of fractions with different denominators.
• Visual Model of Adding and Subtracting Fractions
• Adding and Subtracting Fractions Math Antics

Multiplication & division of decimals test on Wednesday 10/26

Problem solving quiz on Friday 10/28

Math benchmark test on Tuesday, 11/8

Reading:

Historical fiction book clubs finish this Wednesday. We will begin our projects that will involve each student will creating a timeline comparing both the events in their novel and events that occurred in history. Due Friday, 11/4. We will also be covering plot structure and adjectives within our Daily 4 rotations.

• Quizlet and spelling quizzes on Friday.

Science:

Wrap up of natural resources and sources of energy unit - Test on Friday (Science notebooks are an excellent study tool!)

Social Studies:

Leaders and battles of the American Revolution

Reminder: Group work with mentors takes place each Thursday from 1-3pm. Please be prepared to share resources and ideas to make the most of this valuable time!

Week 9

What’s Coming Up?

International Festival: This Friday we have a early dismissal at 12:30pm. The International Festival will begin later that day at 3:00pm. I hope to see you there!

Math: Division of decimals by whole numbers. We will be using area models and pictorial models to show the quotients of decimals and whole numbers - see math notebook notes.

• Problem Solving Quiz on Friday

• There will be a Unit test on Multiplication and Division of Decimals on Wednesday, October 26th.

Reading: Historical fiction novels within our book clubs. We will focus on “types of conflict” in our discussions.

• Author’s purpose quiz on Monday

• Quizlet and spelling quizzes this Friday

Science:  Alternative Energy: Geothermal, Solar, Wind, Biomass/Biofuels, Hydroelectric.  

• Tutorial video: Renewable Fuels

Social Studies: Revolutionary War Heroes

Exhibition: If you have time, visiting your local library and having your child check out books based on their topics would be extremely helpful.

Week 8

What’s Coming Up?

Reminder: Tuesday is early dismissal, and Wednesday is NO school!!!

Exhibition: This past week we met our wonderful University of Houston mentors and began group planning for the exhibition projects! Students will begin conducting research on their topics this Thursday. We will begin with “paper” resources in class, and ask that each student brings in at least 2 items by Thursday. These can be topic-related articles from newspapers, magazines, and books checked out from a local library. If necessary, a resource may be printed from a reliable site on the internet with parent support.

Math:

We are continuing multiplication problem solving of decimals and whole numbers. Please continue practicing multiplication fact fluency. Problem solving quiz on Friday.

Reading:

Continuing our historical fiction book clubs with a focus on author’s purpose.

Grammar: Singular and Possessive Nouns

Quizlet and spelling quiz on Friday

Science:  

Alternative Energy Sources

• Wind energy
• Solar energy

Social Studies:  

Causes of the Revolutionary War

Scholastic Reading Club

Dear Families,

Scholastic Reading Club flyers are now available! If interested, orders can be placed online at https://orders.scholastic.com/Q6ZDY, where you’ll find a wide selection of quality books that are just right for your child’s reading level and interests.

Remember, you help our class earn FREE books and supplies with every order. Thank you for supporting your child’s reading both at home and in the classroom!

Mrs. Moliver

PS: Please let me know if your order includes a gift for your child, and I will contact you when it arrives!

First Time Ordering Online?

• Go to scholastic.com/readingclub
• Enter our Class Activation Code: Q6ZDY
• Shop and submit your child's book order.
• Your books will be delivered directly to the classroom.