We have been working hard in math and I was so excited to see the wheels in your child's brain turning as he/she completed the One Grain of Rice activity! It was great to see them processing what they knew in order to create algebraic equations to explain how many grains of rice Rani would receive no matter what day I threw at them. If they haven't already shared this with you, have them show you what they came up with! I was very proud at how they worked as a class to come up with a solution that worked. Everyone was into the lesson and engaged! We are carrying over what we learned about how numbers can grow into the lessons for this week. Yesterday they explored square numbers and now know what it means when some one says a number is square. Ask them, they thought it was pretty cool when they found out. Today, we worked with exponents and learned 4 different forms that they are expected to know about. We will be carrying on with this vein of thought by working with scientific notation and then moving into Order of Operations.
In science we have begun our unit on Scientific Investigation. There will be no formal end of unit test on this as we do scientific investigation as an ongoing skill throughout the year. I don't want your child to think that they learned something to just use on a test and that it has no relevance to the rest of the year. Instead, we will be working with the scientific method to do numerous experiments as we explore the other topics this year. I will be giving quizzes and classwork grades on the concept as we work through it instead.
In writing, we are going to explore writing spoonerisms. Today, I introduced them to the concept by reading part of a book, Smart Feller, Fart Smeller. As you can imagine, the title really pulled them in and they wanted to learn more about this very clever word play. At the end of the unit, your child will have stretched his brain to write his very own spoonerism that we will then compile into a class book to put in our library.
If you are interested, there is a Civil War Battle Reenactment occurring this weekend, Sept. 28 & 29 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of New Market Heights. Times and other important information can be found at the following link. The event is free and a great tie in to the fifth grade Henrico History Curriculum!
Just some general reminders of upcoming dates:
Thursday, 9/25-Half day for students. Please send in a note if you haven't already done so if your child's transportation for the day will need to be changed.
Friday, 9/26-Book orders due. Please visit the Scholastic site to order books for your child! Our class code is GWLMV. You can also send a paper order in with your child if you would rather. Unfortunately, I do not have a paper flyer to send home this month. I do have one for October and will send that out next month.
Monday, 9/29-Math Maps Test This will establish your child's baseline for the year. The data will be used to show growth. You do NOT need to prepare your child for this, just make sure that they get plenty of rest and a good breakfast.
Wednesday 10/8-SMILE! School Picture Day
Monday 10/13-No school for students.