Week 22 Newsletter

Wow! What a busy couple of weeks we've had. This week we finished up our Unit 4, Life in the Colonies in Social Studies, which had us taking our unit test as well as a notebook check. We spend so much time collecting information in our Social Studies notebooks, so I'm always glad to see the effort everyone puts in to their work.

Next up will be Unit 5, Cause of the Revolution. We are finally ready to learn what was happening in the Original 13 Colonies, and what led the colonists to fight for independence. This is always a really exciting time in 5th grade Social Studies.

Our writing has also expanded into historical informational reports. Students picked a topic from a list of U.S. History topics and they've begun to research. This paper will show more of their knowledge in what is necessary with informational writing, while looking at it as a historian. We will study primary sources, maps, timelines, and people to better understand our historical event.

Thank you for all the cards and well-wishes for my birthday yesterday! It was so nice to spend the day with everyone!

Today in music class with Mrs. Robertson, students learned about Jazz music and how to scat. She took a video of our class, and in particular Vadim, showing off his new found scatting skills. I think you will enjoy the video! VIDEO LINK


URGENT: 
The cold/flu season has been sweeping through our classroom, as several students have been absent over the last several days. We've been wiping desks and cleaning hands to try and combat the coughing and sniffling. As a result, our tissue supply has been wiped out. If you have any tissue boxes that you are willing to donate, we would be very grateful!



UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Tues, Feb 6
• GATE test
• Wed, Feb 7
• Science Fair boards sold in Library at 2:50pm

Week 21 Newsletter

We were very busy this week!

On Monday we finished reading Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone, which is always my favorite book to read. It fits in perfectly with what we are talking about in Social Studies, learning about the original 13 Colonies. The founding of James Town in Virginia is full of dramatic events. I think it was a big hit for everyone in our class.

We also had our very first literature test, seeing how well students remembered the story, and important key details. This test will be sent home in next week's Friday Folder.

On Thursday we had our Mid Module 4 test. I was impressed with how well everyone has been understanding multiplying whole numbers by fractions. The test results will also be sent home in next week's Friday Folder.

Check out the PHOTOS tab above... I've added pictures from the Blackhawk Museum field trip and our holiday party!


UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Wed, Jan 31
• Unit 4 SS Test (Life in the Colonies)
• Pay Day
• Thurs, Feb 1
• SS Notebook Check (Units 3 & 4)
• pages all up to date including page #, date, title, and all necessary information
• Auction
• Fri, Feb 2
• Blood on the River hyperdoc due (Google Classroom)

Week 20 Newsletter

What a fun, short week we've had! We are finishing up the story Blood on the River, about the founding of the James Town colony, we turned in our Feature Articles, and learned more about the colonial job system. The students quickly learned why the colonists would want independence from England!

The next few weeks are extremely packed! We will be busy completing units, taking tests, and notebook checks. Below is a list of the important dates coming up. Please make sure you pay attention to when things are coming.

And a quick reminder, yesterday I posted that your student will not have a Friday Folder/Progress Report with them today. They will resume next week.


UPCOMING DATES:

• Wed, January 24
• Blood on the River, open notebook test
• Thurs, January 25
• Mid Module 4 Test
• Wed, January 31
• Unit 4 S.S. Test (Life in the Colonies)
• Thurs, February 1
• S.S. Notebook check (Units 3 & 4)
• pages all up to date including page #, date, title, and all necessary information

Week 16 Newsletter

This week we started our nonfiction writing with Feature Articles! Over the next few weeks students will be researching a topic of interest, gather facts, and writing informational articles. This is always one of my favorite writing pieces of the year!

We are also finishing up our Unit 3 in social studies, where we have been learning about the struggle between Native Americans and European settlers for land and resources. We will have our Unit 3 Test on Wednesday, December 13th.

Next Friday, December 15th is our field trip to the Blackhawk Museum in Danville. Students will be able to see many artifacts from Native Americans and the Westward Expansion of the United States.

Holiday Can Food Drive - December 11th - 15th

Our class is participating in the Friends Helping Friends annual Holiday Can Food Collection.  With your donations, we will be able to put tubs of food together that will be donated to local families during this holiday season :) Our class is collecting Brownie Mix, Cake Mix, and Frosting. Thank you for your support!!!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Wed, Dec 13
• SS Unit 3 Test
• Fri, Dec 15
• Blackhawk Museum Field Trip (9:15am-12:15pm)
• Mon, Dec 18
• Band & Strings Concert (1:15pm-1:55pm)
• Fri, Dec 22
• Dec. Pay Day (Class Economy)
• Holiday Party
• Minimum Day (8:15am-12:30pm)
• Start of Winter Break

SS Unit 2 Study Guide

Tomorrow is the Unit 2 Social Studies Quiz. Here's the study guide we created together. Good luck!

Weekly News: Week 34

The first week of May found us finishing up our study of graphing in Module 6, wrapping up our exploration of the Revolutionary War, and starting a few fun projects.

On Thursday we started putting together our Kites. This takes a lot of patience and attention to detail but the kids loved putting together the beginning frames for their Kites. We will be putting the finishing touches on our kites next week.

We also started our Geometry project... Geometrocity! Together with their table groups they will be designing their very own city complete with neighborhoods. This gives students a chance to put their Geometry knowledge to the test. The cities will be ready for viewing at Open House.

Donation Opportunity:
We are in need of paper road maps of the United States. If you belong to an auto club, like AAA, please consider stopping by a location and asking for a couple of their free road maps. We are in need of at least 11 maps to complete our Social Studies simulation. More information can be found HERE. Any help you can give is much appreciated!



Reminder: 
We start our CAASPP Testing on Monday. Please have all students at school on time as we begin testing right at 8:15am. I recommend bringing a book in case you finish the test early. This week we are taking the ELA portions of the state test.

Monday, 5/8-- ELA CAT
Thursday, 5/11-- ELA PT




Upcoming Events

• Monday, 5/8
• ELA CAT
• Tuesday, 5/9
• Social Studies Unit 6 Test & notebook check
• DARE Graduation. 
• Amador Theater. 
• Students need to arrive at 5:40pm.
• Thursday, 5/11
• ELA PT

Weekly News: Week 33

It's hard to believe that Week 33 of the school year has ended! Where has the time gone?

On Monday, students took the 6th Grade Math Placement test. It can be a very stressful day for our fifth graders but they all tried their absolute best and I was very proud of their dedication. Information regarding the Placement test timeline can be found HERE.

In Writer's Workshop we began our last writing unit... Memoirs. It's a wonderful way to end 5th grade and their elementary school careers by thinking about themselves and what makes them unique.

I've really been enjoying the conversations we've been having as we dive deeper into our Memoir Unit. Check out your student's Google Classroom account to see more of what they've been writing.


We are nearing the end of our Revolutionary War unit in Social Studies. We've looked at the battles, studied the roles that women played in the cause, and studied a few of the major battles. Without France's help we might still be with Great Britain! The Unit 6 Social Studies test will be on Tuesday, May 9th.


Next week Mohr School will be raising money for the Wheelchair Foundation. More information will be posted next week.

One last thing... today's Friday Folder includes a permission slip for 5th grade's Human Growth Unit. Please read the letter carefully and return it by Tuesday, May 23rd. The Unit will be taught on Thursday, May 25th and Friday, May 26th. The Parent Preview will be on Monday, May 22nd.


Upcoming Events:

• Monday, May 1st
• Daily BYOD begins
• Wednesday, May 3rd
• Mid Module 6 Test
• Friday, May 5th
• Chapter 5 Science Test

Testing Schedule:

• Monday, May 8th
• ELA CAT
• Thursday, May 11th
• ELA PT
• Monday, May 15th
• Math CAT
• Thursday, May 18th
• Math PT
• Monday, May 22nd
• Science CAST pilot

Social Studies Unit 5 Study Guide

This Thursday (March 30th) is our Unit 5 Social Studies test. Today we went over the correct answers in our study guide, which students had a chance to write down, but I've also uploaded my written version HERE.

A copy of the study guide was also sent to students' email addresses.

The test is worth 20 points: 6 fill in the blank, 4 multiple choice, 5 short answer questions.

Watch Our Travel Videos

To learn about the 13 Original Colonies, students created persuasive travel videos, hoping to convince future settlers to choose their colony as their new home. Please enjoy the wonderful videos the students created. They worked really hard and put a lot of thought and effort into their final products. Enjoy!

The Wilcox Crew

Ms. Britto's Bunch

Colonial Travel Videos

In Social Studies we began our unit learning about the 13 Original Colonies. For this project, in groups of 1-3 students, each group is making a Travel Video about their chosen colony. After researching and storyboarding their idea, they will be creating a 90 second video to try and persuade future settlers to move to their colony.

Today students picked their groups, chose their colonies and began to research all that makes their colony unique.

Over the next 2 weeks students will storyboard and ultimately choose the best way to complete their video. Videos will be finished on Friday, February 26th.

I've linked up a few of the documents the students are using for this project. Check them out!

Colony Groups
Research Document
Travel Video Guidelines

We will be working on this project on the following days: Wed 2/17, Fri 2/19, Mon 2/22, Wed 2/24, and Fri 2/26. Students are welcome to bring in their own device (laptop, tablet, phone) on any of these days as long as it is being used to help their group create their video. Students will also have access to class chromebooks.

United States Regions Project

We're beginning our first Social Studies Project! Today the class found out about the different U.S. regions we will be learning about. This project will be done primarily in class, but you may be bringing some things home to finish up.

Here's the instruction sheet, if you need a refresher. Can't wait to see what you all create!

The Amazing Race Across the States

For the past few weeks our class has been road-tripping across the United States to learn more about our country's states, national parks, monuments, and other interesting sights. The students were broken up into 10 teams and had to make a route that traveled through 20 states, either traveling from San Diego, California to Bangor, Maine or Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida.

Along their travels they made postcards, brochures, and souvenirs, they kept a journal of the things they saw along the way, they calculated their daily mileage and travel time, and encountered a daily "fate" which could either result in extra mileage or severe delays due to weather, car problems, or any number of incidents.

As a retrospective, the teams have been putting together a map of their route and highlighting their "Top 20 Sights". Take a look at the team maps by using the links below.

Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4	Team 5
Map	Map	Map	Map	Map

Team 6	Team 7	Team 8	Team 9	Team 10
Map	Map	Map	Map	Map

Team 1- Kina, Sarada, Nikita
Team 2- Shivani, Akanksha, Aashritha
Team 3- Anvita, Vaishali, Esha
Team 4- Noelle, Maille, Emily, Alicia
Team 5- Kendall, Simona, Victoria, Dalynn
Team 6- Connor, Sri, Xiuyuan
Team 7- Julian, Vedant, Meron
Team 8- Zachary, Dante, Div
Team 9- Cody, Joey, Sathya
Team 10- Adelric, Andrew, Matthew, Paolo

Upcoming: Amazing Race Essay & Speech

As we wind down our "Amazing Race" across the United States, the students have been preparing an informational essay & speech about a location they picked in class a few weeks ago.

The essay should focus on their location's historical importance, why people would travel to it, important facts, etc. It needs to be typed up and printed out to turn in.

The speech can be a retelling of their essay, though I recommend that it be under 2 minutes and memorized. Students may choose to change their speech slightly to make it more entertaining.

Both the essay and the speech are due on Monday, June 2nd. 

It is the last big assignment before report cards are completed for the final trimester.

Native American Folklores

For the past month, our class has been working on creating digital storybooks of our Native American folklores using the website, Storybird. The finished products are pretty awesome, and I hope you'll check them out. The kids all worked really hard on their individual books.

You can find all the projects in the Class Projects tab at the top of the page, or by clicking on this link.

Native American Folklores

Explorers Presentations

Over the last several weeks, students have been working in groups to research and inform the class on a European Explorer as part of our Social Studies unit. This week the students are presenting their information in front of the class, for their first speech. The presentations have turned out beautifully! Take a look at all their hard work.

The Adventures of John Cabot

by Adelric & Zachary

Amerigo Vespucci

by Simona & Sathya

Christopher Columbus

 by Nikita & Noelle

Ferdinand Magellan

By Emily & Shivani

Jacques Cartier

By Dante & Akanksha

Hernando Cortes Pizarro

By Vasuki, Dalynn, & Connor

Francisco Pizarro

By Kina & Sarada

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

By Andrew & Anvita

Henry Hudson

By Vaishali & Paolo

Hernando de Soto

By Julian & Kendall

Juan Ponce de Leon

By Div & Alicia

Marco Polo

By Sri & Esha

Robert La Salle

By Victoria & Cody

Samuel de Champlain

By Joey & Maille

Vasco de Gama

By Meron & Aashritha