Week One in the Books!!

We made it through the first week, and we couldn't feel more fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such an AWESOME group of fifth graders!  It looks as if Isaac will just be leaving us some breezy days and intermitant rain.

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child into our LAB (Language Arts Block) class this year.  This will be a very intensive program designed to help students reach his or her potential in an ability based setting. Our LAB classes will be meeting Monday-Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.  During this time block the students will be receiving instruction in reading specifically geared to their ability.  We will be using our reading, social studies and science textbooks in addition to novels during reading instruction.  Students will be participating in literacy centers, guided reading, and writing instruction and practice.   

In math, students were introduced to Divisibility Rules.  These rules help students in their application of division concepts as we'll be moving through this unit.  As you may have noticed, students have these rules in the "Morning Work" folders that they brought home with them this past week.  We will continue with our study of "Understanding Division," and hope to assess students with a Mid-Chapter Checkpoint Quiz on Thursday in addition to the Divisibility Rules.

In science, we began our unit study on "Thinking Like a Scientist," which will go into depth regarding the components of the Scientific Method.  Students will be engaged in hands on labs this coming week as we prepare for our upcoming science fair projects that will be here before you know it.

Our new website is coming together slowly.  Thanks for your patience as I work out the kinks.  We want to thank you in advance for your support in making this the most memorable and productive year for your child!  It takes a TEAM to make it happen!  

Halfway through the week, and things are going great!  Today, we had our PBS Tour of the school to re-familiarize students, both old and new, with the expectations we have of our fifth grades around school.  They are the role models that other students will be looking up to, and we set the bar high!  Thank you for your ongoing support in making this their most memorable one yet!

Parents, please don't forget to send in your child's baby picture with them soon.  We will be using them for our annual end of the year yearbook collage.  Students will also need to bring in a recent picture to use for our "Guess Who" activity that students are completing independently for us to display to show off our AMAZING students!

In terms of curriculum, we've begun the year learning more about division, and today we talked about the Divisibility Rules and how we can use them.  We'll then be learning how to identify prime and composite numbers and prime factorization.  Homework assignments will reflect what is covered in class.  In science, students engaged in a group activity entitled, "Silly Science," where students were given every items where they had to classify them based upon the observations they made together.  We'll continue our unit on "Thinking Like a Scientist" by going in depth about what is involved with the scientific method through hands on activities.

Don't forget that Fridays are school spirit days at Beachland!  Students are encouraged to wear their Beachland t-shirts.  If they wear their Beachland t-shirts, they may also wear denim bottoms.

Are you ready?

Wow!  It was great to see such a wonderful turnout for orientation despite the inclement weather!  We loved getting the opportunity to meet everyone and welcome new families to Beachland.  Speaking of welcome, we'd also like to welcome the newest member to our fifth grade team, Mrs. Susan Brown!  If you haven't had a chance to say hello, make sure you do when you have the chance.

We would also like to welcome you to our new website!  We look to build upon what we already had with our original site.  If you'd like to receive notifications of when this blog is updated, make sure to complete the "Follow by E-mail" section on the right of this page.  Also, make sure to click on "Homework" to be directed to our homework page where you can also sign up to receive daily updates of homework assignments.

We're all looking forward to a fabulous year and all that awaits us!!  See you Monday!