Hello Parents!
Last week was filled with excitement as we squeezed in some filming of our video..I could not have been more proud of the positive attitudes and boundless enthusiasm of the class. Special thanks to Jake and Henry for their custodial work, and for Ben’s expertise with the filming. And just a tip…silly string is not for indoor use….just wait and you’ll see…
It was not all fun and games, however. As you know in fifth grade, we play hard and we work even harder. Here’s an update on our academic endeavors:
History
In our study of ancient India, we are currently learning about the origins and traditions of Hinduism. This week students will take a closer look at the mythology of Hinduism by exploring the gods and goddesses of Hinduism, as well as the Ramayana, an ancient epic poem with the classic theme of good vs. evil. Students will soon be creating a religion for their year-long civilization project as well.
Math
We are now working with concepts in geometry. Some of these are review from 4th grade and some are new. Students are learning how to classify triangles by both length of sides and types of angles. They will also be taking a closer look at quadrilaterals this week, learning to sort and classify them based on various traits.
English
We have started a new novel—Linda Sue Park’s Newbery-Award-winning book, A Single Shard, which takes place in 12th century Korea. In our weekly grammar class this week, we’ll take a look at how irregular plurals are formed, and students will have a quiz on what we’ve covered so far in our text book. While this week we won’t have a spelling test, next week we will. In the second trimester, word lists are taken from history concepts as well as Latin roots.
Writer’s Workshop
We are currently in unit on Word Choice. Students heard a “scary” story last week in the boiler room (!), and are now crafting their own narratives based on a personal experience. We will be zooming in and stretching out key details, and honing in on specific evocative language to give these stories the proper evocative feel.
Advisory
In Lederman Life Skills last week, we practiced using chopsticks and sampled kimchee, one of the Korean specialties mentioned in A Single Shard. This week, we will plan to use use MLK Day as a springboard for a discussion about the Civil Rights and Ruby Bridges, and then learn about bi-racial musician, Lenny Kravitz, and listen to some of his music. (If we have a snow day, this will bounce to next week!)
Here are the links to Lenny and Ruby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkBJcR9ZUjw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wsqtg-Rs7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx1zdngX0DQ
And here is a slideshow of the past few months:
Let me know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Jilly