MRS. BRUCE
The end of the second trimester was March 8. We are in the homestretch!
One of the genres we worked on in the second trimester was writing literary essays. They read a text, crafted a claim about the text, then provided reasons and evidence to support their claims. This unit was very different from crafting narratives like we did in the first trimester. We worked on organization of our materials, taking notes, using direct quotes from the text, and also unpacking our evidence. Unpacking is explaining how each piece of evidence supported their initial claim. I am happy to say that each and everyone of them showed growth from their first essay to their Short Story essay.
We are in our second unit of essay writing. This unit is Argument Essay Writing. Currently they are doing research on both sides of a topic. They will soon choose their position, craft a claim, then provide reasons and evidence from their research to support their claims. We will be talking about using counterclaims and how to be persuasive. Be careful, they may use this strategy against you, to try to persuade you! Essay writing is challenging, but they all seem up to the challenge. In reading we are focusing on nonfiction again. We are reading multiple texts to gather our notes and evidence for our writing.
About once a week we will focus on some test prep. Fifth grade starts to take the NJSLA on May 13. We have been working with reading and writing strategies. We have been doing activities with common vocabulary that is seen in testing. We also will be building our stamina in both reading and writing. We practice on the computer to get familiar with the online components that are available to them. They will need headphones to use for the test. They should be bringing them to school on a regular basis. They cannot be wireless, they need to fit in the computer.
We have come to that "in between" with the weather. Don’t forget to send jackets on cold days for recess and remember the dress code for warmer weather. Warm temps outside don’t always carry over into the classroom, especially once the air kicks on. I suggest layers so they can be comfortable throughout the day.
With the nice weather approaching and spring sports starting, try to set a routine after school or encourage them to think about time management. Make a plan for when homework will get done and try to stick to it. I have started to post homework in Google Classroom, I will slowly be pulling away from requiring them to copy it into their homework journal. They can easily access it in the Stream in Google Classroom.
Report cards will be released at the end of the week. Below you will find additional important dates for 5th grade:
May 13 - Beginning of NJSLA
May 27 - Memorial Day - no school
May 31 - Field Day
June 3 & 4 - Move Up Day (we visit PRM)
June 6 & 7 - PEEC (more info to follow)
June 10 & 11 Concert (evening)
June 12 - 5th Grade Promotion 10am (more info to follow)
June 14 - Clap Out (more info to follow) and LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.