Starting the Newbery Unit

(Image from Amazon)

Today is the day, it's snowy and bright

And starting this unit is such a delight!

The girls are all ready, they already know

That nothing will stop us, not even some snow!

So come along with us, it won't be a bore

It's time to dive into this story of war!

***

Check out this Youtube review of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's book:

Let It Snow!

The school days left in 2017 may be few, but the girls are still hard at work reading their novels, adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers, and learning why European explorers dared to cross the uncharted waters of the Atlantic.  

Below, the girls enjoy making mini snow people at recess.

Hour of Code

This week, your daughter participated in the Hour of Code.  “The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries” (hourofcode.com).  We use this as an introduction to the programming your daughter will be doing throughout the year.  Learning the basics of programming reinforces problem solving and logic skills.

In fifth grade, the Hour of Code is most exciting!  The girls were able to choose from any of the programming activities.  This provides the girls an opportunity to use what they have learned in previous grades and prepares them for the work we will do using Scratch and Lego NXT.

If you would like your daughter to explore more at home, use this link.  Please note, different activities run on different devices and are appropriate for various ages.

From the Library

Fifth graders recently finished the Partner Book project.
In pairs, they chose a book to read together, as a tiny book group. They then presented their book to the class and included:
Title, Author, Date of Publication
A Brief Plot Description (no spoilers!)
One thing about the story upon which they enthusiastically agreed
One thing about the story about which they politely disagreed
Their thoughts on who would love this book

It was quick and fun and the girls enjoyed being in the limelight for five minutes.

Debate Fun!

The girls were fascinated to read about Amazon's new in-home delivery system today. They located risks and benefits of the service in a Newsela article, and then passionately debated these pros and cons of the product.

This article gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss point-of-view, the validity of sources, and the importance of synthesizing background knowledge with what we read.

Natural Resources

What better way to learn about the natural resources available to certain Native American tribes, than to spend history class surrounded by those resources?!  Stay tuned for part 2 of this lesson...

Computer Science: Game Design

In fifth grade, we learn all about game design!  This year, the girls started with Game Star Mechanic, a web-based platform that teaches the elements of gaming.  Read more about it on Common Sense.  Your daughter has to work her way through a sci-fi world in order to create her very own games.