Happy Spring Break!

Congratulations to Mrs. Gallion on the birth of her son! We’re excited to have Ms. Moustafa as her long-term sub until she returns from maternity leave. If you need to contact Ms. Moustafa, her email is sarah.moustafa@apsva.us

We have lots of exciting information to share!

Tdap Vaccine Forms were sent home before spring break. Please return completed forms by Friday, April 6th. If you have any questions, please contact the Oakridge nurse, Jennifer Toma, jtoma@arlingtonva.us

Final Presentation of Learning will be Friday, April 6th from 2:00-3:30pm. Please sign in with the front office to see the students’ final round of projects!

Fourth Quarter Schedule:

April 10th-18th Quarter 1 review (students will be with their 1st quarter teachers)

April 19th-27th Quarter 2 review (students will be with their 2nd quarter teachers)

April 30-May 2nd Quarter 3 review (students will be with their 3rd quarter teachers)

May 3-4th Outdoor Lab for Casalengo, Driscoll, Gallion homerooms; Sanguino, Tem, Walker stay with homeroom

May 7-11th Quarter 3 review (students will be with their 3rd quarter teachers)

May 14-15th Outdoor Lab for Sanguino, Tem, Walker homerooms; Casalengo, Driscoll, Gallion stay with homeroom

May 16th-June 20th: Quarter 1 Teachers

SOL Dates

Science– Friday, May 18th

Reading– Monday & Tuesday, May 21 &22

Math- Wednesday & Thursday, May 30 & 31

Outdoor Lab:

General Information about what to expect: https://outdoorlab.org/education/fifth/

Online copies of all paperwork (hard copies will be sent home week of April 2-6): https://www.apsva.us/science/outdoor-lab/

APS volunteer forms (must be completed by ALL chaperones): https://www.apsva.us/volunteers-partnerships/volunteer-application-form/

Promotion Ceremony- Monday, June 18th

*exact time will be shared closer to the event

Family Life Education– Tuesday, June 19th

*Families have the option to opt their student out of the lesson. Permission forms will be sent home closer to the date for opt-outs.

Driscoll- Humanities 

This week has been very exciting! We switched classes and now Mrs. Gallion and Mrs. Sanguino’s homerooms will be coming to me and Ms. Tem for the second quarter. We hit the ground running, reviewing the difference between fact and opinion and reviewing topic vs. main idea. Students started to read 3 different articles about whether chocolate milk should be served in schools, began identifying facts and opinions as well as pros and cons presented by the authors. They also began creating a t-chart to record their findings. Students were also introduced to “powerwrites,” a fun writing warm-up to increase writing endurance, and the “daily edit,” a way to practice editing and grammar skills. Students learned the roots mand/mend and created a frayer model to take notes on their definitions, and investigated how Greece’s geography influenced its settlement.

Tem- STEM

This week has been so exciting! We are off to a great start for the third quarter. We have hit the ground running and have already started with the basics for the geometry unit. So far we have covered the definition of prime and composite numbers, as well as ways to test if a number is prime or composite. In Science we have started exploring matter, and have looked specifically at the different characteristics of each state of matter (volume, shape, and how the particles are moving). We also started looking at changes within matter, such as physical and chemical changes. This has been a great week so far!

Casalengo- Humanities

Welcome to third quarter! This week in Humanities we got acquainted with each other, our new surroundings, and routines. The students chose the books they wanted to read and respond to for their Reading Group Responsibility (RGR). We also began to explore the Ancient Civilizations of Canaan, Kush, and Egypt. In writing we evaluated Daily Edits which lead to great discussions about language and how it is used. Ask your child what book she/he chose for RGR. Have a wonderful weekend!

Walker- STEM

Hello New Parents! My name is Mr. Adrion Walker. I am the 3rd quarter S.T.E.M. (Science and Math) teacher for Ms. Tem’s and Ms. Driscoll’s homeroom students. Mrs. Casalengo is my team partner for Humanities (Reading, Writing, and Social Studies). My units of study are Everything Fractions and Earth Science (The crust and below). In Science, students have been engaged in activities relates to the layers of the Earth. We began to create flip charts of the Earth’s layers. We are almost completed this activity and will began labeling and listing important details next week. We will begin working on our Unit Project next week as well. Students will be creating a fun and engaging science video (like Bill Nye the Science Guy). The projects will be available for parents to see at the end of the quarter. Look out for an invitation to our Presentation of Learning Exhibit. In Math, students began to learn about equivalent fractions with and without models. We created and compared decimal and fraction models this week. Next week, students will begin to create slideshow or teaching video to assist other students to have a deeper understanding of equivalent fractions. If you need to contact me please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us

Sanguino- Humanities

Welcome Mrs. Casalengo’s and Mr. Walker’s classes! This week was our first week together and the students transitioned nicely. Students completed their daily edits, read an article about allergies, listened to a read aloud, and wrote summaries. Students also learned about new roots, or word parts, when they began the first chapter for social studies. In social studies, they began learning about three social scientist (archaeologists, historians, and geographers) who investigate the past. I am looking forward to a great quarter together! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me at kelly.sanguino@apsva.us. Have a great weekend!

Gallion- STEM

What a great start to third quarter! Students have been excited to get started with decimals! We spent this week rocking place value. Students have been working hard to multiply numbers by powers of 10 and recognizing how many times larger one digit of a number is than the other. Decimal place values have been introduced and students wrapped up the week by representing decimals in standard, written and expanded form. In Science, we started talking about cells. Students have been investigating the organelles that make up plant and animal cells and they got a chance to look at real cells under the microscope. Have a great weekend!

Please join our students at the second quarter Presentation of Learning!

Two days/times to come see all the hard work our students have accomplished this quarter:

Wednesday, January 24th, 2:00-5:00pm

Be sure to have your student guide you through their group’s projects after school!

Thursday, January 25th, 10:30am-12:00pm

Driscoll-Humanities

This week was very busy! Students learned new prefixes that will help them with STEM: kilo and milli. Every literature circle group had their second discussion- students had very interesting and thoughtful questions for their peers! Students also continued their work in social studies (learning about ancient Greece), and explored texts that use the compare/contrast structure. Students worked in pairs to read an article comparing democracy and republic systems of government, then created Venn diagrams to look at the differences and similarities. This tied into learning about the birth of democracy in ancient Greece. Students also picked their topics for their final opinion essay and began researching/taking notes on their topics and creating outlines for their 5-paragraph essays. We can’t wait to share students’ final writing before the end of the quarter, which is fast-approaching! Have a wonderful long weekend!

Tem- STEM

During this short week, we have continued exploring sound looking specifically at sound waves. This focused on looking at frequency, pitch, and volume. We also explored the different parts of a wave, focusing on compression and rarefaction. In math we finished geometry, ending with transformations of shapes and reviewing. We will be moving into measurement, beginning with area, perimeter, and volume next week. Students also spent time working on their final products for their presentation of learning. We will continue to work on these next week. Students have also started making flash cards for all the geometry terms learned this quarter. These are a great way to study these terms for the final exam as well as next quarter when they move to decimals.

Casalengo- Humanities

This week in Mrs. Casalengo’s class we continued with our Literature Circle responses. Some students have finished their novels for the quarter. Have you asked your child what they have been reading? Continuing with our figurative language unit, we learned more idioms and read a book about similes. We started a unit on Ancient Egypt and will go through it quickly as the end of the quarter is just around the corner! Have a wonderful three-day weekend!

Walker- STEM

Happy New Year and Happy Friday Again! This week in Everything Fractions and Earth Science Unit (The crust and below) we continued to learn about weathering, erosion, and deposition. We also began studying the rock cycle and the three main types of rocks (metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary). In math we continued to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators. Students learned to a cross multiply method or finding the least common denominator (LCD). In addition, we focused on simplifying fractions using the greatest common factor (GCF) and Prime and Composite numbers. Students are continuing to complete their video projects on our Earth Science Unit. Our final project is due January 26, 2018. Students will be creating a fun and engaging science video (like Bill Nye the Science Guy) as their final project. The projects will be available for parents see at the end of the quarter. Look out for an invitation to our Presentation of Learning Exhibit. Please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us if you would like to set up a meeting or have a question. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sanguino- Humanities

This week in humanities, students were hard at work despite the early closing, late start, and half day Wednesday! In reading, students used text features to help aid in their comprehension of nonfiction text. They also applied their understanding of the main idea in order to create their own titles, subheadings, and captions for nonfiction articles. In writing, students worked on completing their rough drafts of their research reports. In social studies, students read about the Paleolithic Age and Neolithic Age and compared and contrasted how people of those time periods went from hunters and gathers to farmers with a stable food supply. Last week, students were fortunate enough to have Ms. Ribetti as a guest speaker. She educated the students about the indigenous groups of people who live in the Amazon Rainforest. I’ve attached a photo of her with the students to share! Happy weekend!

Gallion- STEM

Happy New Year! We made it through our weird week of delays and early releases 🙂 We’ve been wrapping up our decimal unit with dividing with decimals. Students are no longer using remainders—they now divide out until they find the whole quotient or until the thousandths place (to prove it is a repeating decimal). Students have continued to practice decimal multiplication by checking their division answers—-multiplying the quotient by the divisor. In science, students are rocking the rainforest! We are in full create mode and they are constructing their 3D models and creating our ecosystem! We are excited to announce our presentation of learning dates for the end of this quarter! Friends and family will be invited to visit the rainforest on Wednesday 1/24 from 2:00pm-3:30pm and Thursday 1/25 from 2:00pm-3:30pm. If you prefer to come after school, your child can walk you through their projects on Wednesday 1/24 from 4pm-5pm. We look forward to your visits!!! Please check out the students Friday folder to see work samples from class! Have a wonderful weekend 🙂

Driscoll-Humanities

Students had a busy week before break- they learned about the roots jur/jus, what a counterclaim is in an opinion essay and why authors include one. They then worked with a partner and color-coded a student example essay to find all elements of an opinion essay. They also added a counterclaim to their own chocolate milk opinion essay. Students continued their center work and ended the week by reviewing all material learned so far with an interactive quiz using an app called Kahoot. Have a wonderful and restful winter break!

DRISCOLL HOMEROOM ONLY: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4eoW-B98HOTLLKLLRmZgSEQifXLS0JCzzrY0c79I1K54XFg/viewform

Tem- STEM

This week we finished discussing and examining quadrilaterals, angles, and triangles. This will take us into circle when we return from winter break. We also finished our unit on matter, and took our unit test. These tests will be graded when the students return! We will begin exploring light and sound when we return. Happy Holidays!!

Casalengo-Humanities

During this last week of 2017 we continued with our literature groups. Some students are close to finishing their novels. We also took a Main Idea quiz. We reviewed how to make the plural form of nouns in writing, which can often be confusing as there are so many different ways. We finally finished up our unit on Ancient Civilizations. Ask your child how they did on their unit quiz! Enjoy the winter break together. I look forward to seeing the students in the New Year!

Walker-STEM

Sanguino-Humanities

Gallion-STEM

Students wrapped up this week by completing their decimal choice boards. They applied their knowledge of decimals to complete real world scenarios or create teaching tools to help others learn more about place value, adding, subtracting or multiplying decimals. In science, we finished up discussing how living things interact with one another and students focused their research around the effects humans have on the ecosystem and their living things. The highlight of the week, however, was starting to create our rainforest! We have mango, eucalyptus, cocoa, ipe and mutumba trees going up and the kids are super excited! Wishing you and your families a fabulous winter break!!! See you in 2018!

Driscoll- Humanities

This week students learned a new root: phon. They also learned about nonfiction text structure and we had an in-depth exploration of cause/effect texts, looking at multiple articles and finding causes/effects within them. Students also learned about transition words and phrases and how writers use them to connect ideas/paragraphs. Students began adding transitions into their chocolate milk opinion essays. The final groups of literature circles met for their first discussions and students continued working on their center work. The week ended with an awesome presentation from an author/researcher who shared his 10 year journey about uncovering the co-creator of Batman! Have a wonderful weekend, stay warm!

Tem-STEM

This week we have finished our Matter unit. We ended the unit modeling atoms and looking more closely at the periodic table. The students voted to have the unit test on Wednesday. The students have a study guide, a list of what will be tested, and a wonderful notebook. Please use these resources to talk with your student about the test. We will be moving in Light and Sound when we return from Winter Break. In math we have continued exploring geometry, looking more closely at quadrilaterals. So far we have covered angles, triangles and quadrilaterals in our unit. All these topics are very vocabulary heavy and making/studying flashcards is strongly encouraged.

Casalengo-Humanities

This week in Humanities we continued with our Literature Group responses. In writing we wrote about a cancelled school day because of snow (a common wish among all students!) We reviewed our Ancient Civilizations chapter and the study guide went home today with all of the chapter assignments for practice. Next week we will wrap up that unit and our focus on main idea, and begin a unit on figurative language. Have a wonderful weekend!

Walker-STEM

Happy Friday Again! This week in Everything Fractions and Earth Science Unit (The crust and below) we learned more about plate boundaries and what causes volcanoes, and earthquakes and practiced comparing and ordering fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals. In Science, students have been working on a plate tectonic webquest. Students use links to websites to find information about plate tectonics. At the same time, students began to write their scripts for their plate tectonic video segment. Students will began recording next week. This videos will be included in our final project which is due January 26, 2018. Students will be creating a fun and engaging science video (like Bill Nye the Science Guy) as their final project. The projects will be available for parents see at the end of the quarter. Look out for an invitation to our Presentation of Learning Exhibit. In Math, students have continued to compare and order fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers. Students started a new Menu (3) of activities to complete in class. Student assignments grades are listed under google classroom. Students are creating a budget for a end of the year party (Reviewing Decimals) and they are creating a board game that includes all their fractions skilled they have learned. Please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us if you would like to set up a meeting or have a question. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sanguino-Humanities

This week in humanities, students continued to read their novels and complete their jobs in preparation for their lit circle meetings next week. In social studies, students read about three social scientist (archaeologists, historians, and geographers) and how all three are like detectives who investigate the past. Students continued to research their organisms, and this week’s focus was the ecosystem (specifically the layer(s) of the rainforest) where their organisms live. They also learned about the producers, consumers, and decomposers found in their ecosystem. Lastly, students continued to read a variety of nonfiction articles and applied reading comprehension skills (making inferences, compare/contrast, identifying the real-world problem and possible solutions, finding the main idea). Next week will be packed before the long break!

Gallion- STEM

Students have been working hard to add, subtract and multiply decimals. They have been continuing to practice rounding by getting an estimated answer before starting their computations. The goal is to make sure their answers are reasonable and place values aren’t lost or mixed up while they are doing the math. Next week, we will incorporate these operations into word problems. In science, students have continued to becoming experts of their living thing. They researched the rainforest ecosystem and started exploring what role their living thing plays in the ecosystem’s food chain. Next week, they will begin creating the backdrop to their rainforest and begin to plan the creation of their 3-D living thing. Enjoy your weekend!

Driscoll- Humanities

This week students learned a new root (bene) and played a review game with all the roots they’ve learned so far. Students also learned how to write a concluding paragraph for opinion writing and practiced identifying the parts of a good conclusion in an example essay. Students are working on writing their entire 5-paragraph essay about whether chocolate milk should be served in schools or not. We also had some of our first literature circle discussion- students were assigned a specific role for the first fourth of their novels and then met with their groups to share their findings. Centers were in full swing as students worked on finding the main idea of various nonfiction articles and summarizing the supporting details, as well as working on their social studies interactive notebooks. Students also completed a reading benchmark assessment to determine instructional needs.  Enjoy the snow!

Tem- STEM

Casalengo- Humanities

This week in Mrs. Casalengo’s class we took an assessment that will allow us to direct our instruction better. The assessment was similar to the SOL format. We continued with our literature groups and also shared some of the essays we wrote at the beginning of the quarter. The Social Studies study guide did not come home as planned but will early next week. Have a fabulous weekend!

Walker- STEM

Happy Friday Everyone!I am the 2nd quarter Science and Math teacher for Mrs. Gallion and Mrs. Sanguino. My units of study are Everything Fractions and Earth Science (The crust and below). In Science, students have been engaged in activities relates to the layers of the Earth. We are finishing up our video segment explaining the layers of the Earth and their attributes for our final video presentation. Next, we will delve more into learning about Plate Tectonics. Students will conduct an experiment or create a movie trailer to explain their understanding. These videos will be included in our final project which is due January 26, 2018. Students will be creating a fun and engaging science video (like Bill Nye the Science Guy) as their final project. The projects will be available for parents see at the end of the quarter. Look out for an invitation to our Presentation of Learning Exhibit. In Math, students have begun to compare and order fractions. Soon we will include decimals and mixed numbers. Students will also start a new Menu (3) of activities to complete in class. Student assignments grades are listed under google classroom. Please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us if you would like to set up a meeting or have a question. I look forward to hearing from you.  

Sanguino- Humanities

Gallion- STEM

Driscoll- Humanities

This week was jam-packed! Students learned about authors’ claim and reasons, and how to create their own. They learned about the structure of a 5-paragraph opinion essay, how to create an outline for their own essay about whether chocolate milk should be served in schools, how to write introductory and body paragraphs. Students got the chance to explore an example student essay and highlight the various aspects we learned about. We also reviewed the difference between topic and main idea, as well as identifying examples of each with an interactive game using the app Kahoot. Students worked on centers: social studies interactive notebook about ancient Greece, work on writing (chocolate milk opinion essay), independent work (google classroom assignments reinforcing main idea/supporting details), work on project (researching elements to help inform their project decision) and literature circles. Students continued to practice their editing skills using our Daily Edit warm-ups.

Tem- STEM

This week we began exploring elements and atoms. We looked more closely at the subatomic particles and how to find these using the periodic table. Students have also begun researching elements for their quarter project. In math we finished looking at statistics, specifically exploring mean, median, mode, and range. Next week will begin geometry, starting with angles and triangles. The quarter is off to a great start!

Casalengo- Humanities

This week we continued with our Literature Circle reading groups, focusing on the main idea and sequencing events. Ask your child what is happening in the story they are reading. In writing we had fun with the homophones they’re, their, there, it’s, its, you’re and your. Ask your child what a homophone is and see if you can come up with some others. We are finishing up our unit on the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Kush, and Canaan. A study guide will be coming home next week for the end of unit assessment. Have a wonderful weekend!

Walker- STEM

Hello Parents! I am the 2nd quarter S.T.E.M. (Science and Math) teacher for Mrs. Gallion’s and Mrs. Sanguino’s Homeroom students. Mrs. Casalengo is my team partner for Humanities (Reading, Writing, and Social Studies). In Science, students have been engaged in activities relates to the layers of the Earth. Students are finishing up their flipchart and diagrams of the Earth’s layers. Students are now writing their scripts for their layers of the Earth video segment. Next, we will began learning about Plate Tectonics. Students will conduct an experiment or create a movie trailer to explain their understanding. These videos will be included in our final project which is due January 26, 2018. Students will be creating a fun and engaging science video (like Bill Nye the Science Guy) as their final project. The projects will be available for parents see at the end of the quarter. Look out for an invitation to our Presentation of Learning Exhibit. In Math, students are rapping up equivalent fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers with and without models. Next week, we will began comparing and ordering fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers. Students decided to complete a survey and use the data to complete several tasks related to fraction and decimals or create an equivalent fractions game. Student assignments and grades are listed under google classroom. Please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us if you would like to set up a meeting or have a question. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sanguino- Humanities

This week in humanities, students continued to read nonfiction articles and practiced identifying the main idea and supporting details. They also practiced writing summaries. Students read an article that answered the question “What is a biome?” and they also read a short book about the parts of an ecosystem and how they interact with one another. This reading was done in preparation for their project research which will begin next week!

Gallion- STEM

This week, 5th graders focused on their understanding of place value to create number lines that explain how rounding decimals to the nearest whole, tenth or hundredth works. We’ve worked hard to identify what two appropriate values the decimal falls between—for example: when rounding 6.124 to the nearest tenth, what two tenths is the decimal between to begin with? (6.1 and 6.2). Next week we will get into adding and subtracting decimals and using the inverse operation to check our answers. In Science, students began studying classification of living things. We were looking into the five kingdoms (moneran, protist, fungi, plant and animal) and understanding how scientists classify living things. Students completed research on 3 plants and 3 animals of the Rainforest and will be assigned their living thing next week! Have a great weekend!

Driscoll- Humanities 

This week has been very exciting! We switched classes and now Ms. Casalengo and Mr. Walker’s homerooms will be coming to me and Ms. Tem for the second quarter. We hit the ground running, taking a main idea pre-assessment, completing an opinion writing pre-assessment, learned the difference between fact and opinion, and starting to learn about topic vs. main idea, researching all sides of an issue before forming an opinion, and gathering information. Students started to read 3 different articles about whether chocolate milk should be served in schools and identified pros and cons presented by the authors. They also began creating a t-chart to record their findings. Students were also introduced to “powerwrites,” a fun writing warm-up to increase writing endurance, and the “daily edit,” a way to practice editing and grammar skills.

Tem- STEM

This week has been so exciting! We are off to a great start for the second quarter. We have hit the ground running and have already started with the basics for the geometry unit. So far we have covered the definition of prime and composite numbers, as well as ways to test if a number is prime or composite. In Science we have started exploring matter, and have looked specifically at the different characteristics of each state of matter (volume, shape, and how the particles are moving). We also started looking at changes within matter, such as physical and chemical changes. This has been a great week so far!

Casalengo- Humanities

Welcome to Q2! We took a little time getting to know one another, sharing a few facts about ourselves, then we dove right in. In reading we took a per-assessment on the Main Idea in fictional text and started practicing sequencing events in a plot. Most novel based reading groups started as well. The students wrote about a small moment to demonstrate how much they know about narrative writing, the focus in Mrs. Casalengo’s classroom. Ask your child about the small moment they chose to write about. Additionally the students started reading about early civilizations and the factors that influenced where they chose to settle.

Walker- STEM

Hello New Parents! My name is Mr. Adrion Walker. I am the 2nd quarter S.T.E.M. (Science and Math) teacher for Mrs. Gallion’s and Mrs. Sanguino’s Homeroom students. Mrs. Casalengo is my team partner for Humanities (Reading, Writing, and Social Studies). My units of study are Everything Fractions and Earth Science (The crust and below). In Science, students have been engaged in activities relates to the layers of the Earth. We began to create flipcharts and diagrams of the Earth’s layers labeling and listing important details. We will begin working on our Unit Project after the Thanksgiving break. Students will be creating a fun and engaging science video (like Bill Nye the Science Guy). The projects will be available for parents see at the end of the quarter. Look out for an invitation to our Presentation of Learning Exhibit. In Math, students began to learn about equivalent fractions with and without models. We also practice the previous skill Order of Operations (G.E.M.D.A.S.). Students could decide to create slideshow or teaching video to assist other students to have a deeper understanding of equivalent fractions. Next, we will add finding equivalencies for decimals and fractions to our activities next week.If you need to contact me please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us

Sanguino- Humanities

It has been an awesome week getting to know students from Ms. Driscoll’s and Ms. Tem’s homeroom classes! They have transitioned smoothly and are already in the groove! This week’s focus was main idea and supporting details in nonfiction. The students also completed their beginning of quarter writing pre-assessment for informational writing. They continued reading their novels, and also continued to begin each class with an “every day edit” grammar warm up. Have a wonderful weekend!

Gallion- STEM

It has been an exciting week getting to know Ms. Tem and Ms. Driscoll’s homeroom kids! In STEM, we have jumped right into decimals and biology. Students have been introduced to decimals and been working on place value. They are being pushed to understand how place values relate to each other (ie: a tenth is 100 times larger than one thousandth) and using their place value knowledge to represent numbers in standard, written and expanded form. In science, we kicked off biology by taking a closer look at cells. Students have studied both plant and animal cells. We have looked at cells through microscopes and compared plant and animal cells to form a deeper understanding. I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!!

This very short week was packed! Students shared their final projects with each other, their families, and other classes during our Presentation of Learning. Community members got to visit all the 5th grade classrooms in a museum-style open house, view projects, and ask questions about the finished products.

Thank you to everyone who came to the Presentation of Learning! We can’t wait to see you at the next one!

Upcoming event- PRESENTATION OF LEARNING:

Families are invited to a presentation of learning, during which students will show off their amazing projects they’ve worked on throughout this quarter. Students will be available to show off the results of their incredible effort and to answer any questions visitors have regarding their project.

Wednesday, November 8th 2:00-5:00pm (please sign into the office if you visit during school hours, 2:00-3:41pm)

Thursday, November 9th 2:00-3:30pm (please sign into the office if you visit during school hours, 2:00-3:41pm)

Driscoll- Humanities

We had an incredibly busy week! Students have been working hard to finish their element project in time for our presentation of learning (invitations to come) next week. They’ve also been preparing and meeting in their literature circle groups to discuss the current section of their novel. Students are responsible for leading and participating in the discussions based on their assigned role for that particular section. Students have also been working to finish their social studies interactive notebooks (lessons 18-20) as well as any unfinished google classroom assignments about main idea, text structures, and inferring. Tuesday was our wonderful Halloween parade and we had a fun party afterwards. Students competed in a “wrap a mummy” relay race using toilet paper, and created seasonal window catchers thanks to our wonderful room parent, Mrs. Baird! Friday was the Team Kids carnival, which many of our students helped manage- everyone had a blast, either as an organizer or a participant! We’re looking forward to the end of our first quarter, and the first switch of the year!

Tem-STEM 

This week we have spent time finishing our projects. Using our knowledge learned from the matter standards, we have applied this to our projects to demonstrate mastery of elements. In math we continued measurement, specifically looking at the area and perimeter of irregular shapes. Students have practiced breaking these shapes into quadrilaterals and triangles to find the area. We started to explore light, looking at similarities and differences between light and sound. We will continue to explore light in the short week next week, and then finish in the fourth quarter. Thanks to all the parents who came to celebrate Halloween with us! The students had a blast and looked amazing!!

Casalengo- Humanities

This week we added “sequencing events” to our reading response notebooks. Ask your child what has been happening this week in the chapter book they reading. We did some practice with homophones and dialogue in writing. The students also started typing their “memorable moments” into a document. More editing and revising will be done next week.

Walker- STEM

It has been an amazing week! Our room parent (Mrs. Maney) provided a fun activity for our Halloween party. The students really enjoyed the mummy wrapping contest. Thanks to Mrs. Maney! Students have been really engaged trying to finalize their videos for the Presentation of Learning (POL). They have worked really hard and I want to thank them for all the extra effort. We continued to focused on the layers of the Earth and the changing of the Earth’s surface (weathering, erosion, and deposition) and added the Rock Cycle (Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous). In Math, some students continued to work toward mastery of comparing and ordering decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers. The entire class practiced adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. Next week, the students will complete their end of unit assessment on Fractions/Decimals. This will include (1.)identifying and representing equivalent fractions and decimals. (2.)comparing and ordering decimal numbers, fractions, and mixed numbers. (3). Solving single and multi-step problems with adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. (4.) Simplifying fractions.

Sanguino- Humanities

This week in humanities, students finalized drafts of their research reports in preparation for writing conferences with me, which began towards the end of the week. As a follow up to unity day last Friday, students read an article about empathy and choosing kindness. Students also finished creating their living organisms in preparation for the presentation of learning next week!

Gallion- STEM

Happy Friday! This was our last full week together in quarter 1. Students have been working hard to demonstrate mastery with adding, subtracting, multiplication and dividing decimals. They are working on a choice board as the end of unit assessment. They have nine choices and must complete four activities that show their understanding of various decimal skills. Students have continued to advocate for themselves and work in small groups to deepen their understanding of concepts they aren’t 100% confident in yet. In science, we concluded our biology unit and students are wrapping up their living thing research project. We look forward to seeing you next week for our POL (presentation of learning)! Have a wonderful weekend!

Driscoll- Humanities 

Although this week was very short, students got a lot done and worked very hard! Students completed their 5-paragraph opinion essays after revising and editing with their writing partner and Ms. Driscoll. They also continued to work on their Social Studies interactive notebook (Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome), independent work on google classroom, their literature circles novel/role, and their element project. Wednesday was Ms. Tem’s homeroom’s publishing party. Students got the chance to share their finished essays with the class and answer questions about it. Next week Ms. Driscoll’s homeroom will have their publishing party and additional time to revise after reflecting on questions/feedback from their peers. Final versions will make their way home towards the end of the week!

Tem- STEM

During this short week, we have continued exploring sound looking specifically at sound waves. This focused on looking at frequency, pitch, and volume. We also explored the different parts of a wave, focusing on compression and rarefaction. In math we finished geometry, ending with transformations of shapes and reviewing. We moved into measurement, beginning with area, perimeter, and volume.

Casalengo- Humanities

Even though it was a short week we accomplished a lot! The students wrote their personal narrative rough drafts and used a revising and editing check list to make changes. Each reading group read another chapter and responded in their reading notebooks. We also continued to learn more about the early settlements of Egypt and Kush.

Walker- STEM

***Parent/Teacher Conferences****If you were not able to schedule a conference from my home room or Ms. Casalengo’s home room please email me at adrion.walker@apsva.us to discuss math and science progress. Because of the short school week, we will continue to engaged in Science research projects about the earth’s layers and the rock cycle for their quarter 1 end of unit assessments. Students will create a video presentation from the research they discovered. We continued to focused on the layers of the Earth and the changing of the Earth’s surface (weathering, erosion, and deposition) and added the Rock Cycle (Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous). In Math, students continued to practice previous skills: Order of Operations (G.E.M.D.A.S.), and finding equivalent fractions and decimals with and without models. We are now working toward mastery on comparing and ordering decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers and we adding and subtracting fraction with unlike denominator.

Sanguino- Humanities

This week in humanities, students continued to read and discuss articles, and respond to questions that asked them to draw conclusions from the content. Additionally, they continued their study of ancient history, reading about the different hominids and their abilities. The primary focus during humanities was writing. Students invested a lot of time on their research reports. I conferred with each student to provide feedback to them them during this process and answered any questions they may have had.We ended this short week with a considerable amount of our morning dedicated to the CREATION of the Rainforest as well as each student’s living organism!

Gallion-STEM

We have packed a lot of learning and creating into our short week! Students have been problem solving and figuring out how to create their living thing. Some have used paper mache, some clay, lots have used paint and others are putting together various objects to make their realistic replica. The teamwork has been outstanding and the rainforest continues to come together.Students took a quiz on multiplying decimals earlier this week and we moved on to dividing whole numbers but getting a decimal for the quotient (no more remainders :)). Students have also continued their algebraic thinking through hands on equations and today we had a fun math dice tournament. In science, students started studying cells. They have been learning about organelles that make up plant and animal cells and the jobs the organelles have. We have looked at some under the microscope and will continue to learn more about the building blocks of all living things! I hope everybody enjoys their long weekend and I look forward to seeing many parents over the next couple of days 🙂

Driscoll- Humanities

This week students took a pre-assessment about making inferences and drawing conclusions. They then learned what an inference is (text evidence + background knowledge = inference), how readers infer, the difference between an inference and a prediction, and practiced inferring using commercials, our read aloud novel, and short passages. Students continued to work on centers and their 5 paragraph opinion essays. Students learned about the differences between revising and editing writing, then received their writing partner assignments and got to work revising and editing each other’s writing. We’re looking forward to sharing our finished opinion essays on Wednesday with an in-class publishing party!

*If you need to sign up for or reschedule your conference, please use click here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090949adad2fa2f85-fall

Tem- STEM

This week we continued to explore sound, focusing on frequency and amplitude. We finished our matter unit with an assessment on the standards. In math we wrapped up our study of geometry, finishing with transformations of polygons. We will move on to measurement, while reviewing geometry. We will specifically review angels, triangles, and quadrilaterals and all the attributes that go along with these shapes.

Casalengo- Humanities

This week in Humanities we added strong emotion words to our Small Memorable Moment planning sheets and crafted the lead to our stories. We began Literature Circle book groups which included responding in our reading notebooks. Ask your child to tell you about what they are reading. We used our iPads to learn more about Ancient Civilizations. The students listened to the text and completed some activities digitally. Have a fabulous weekend!

Walker- STEM

****Please sign up for a fall parent/teacher conference at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084eaca823a4fc1-mrwalker

Science: Students have been engaged in research about the earth’s layers and the rock cycle for their quarter 1 projects. Students will create a video presentation from the research. We continued to focused on the layers of the Earth and the changing of the Earth’s surface (weathering, erosion, and deposition) and added the Rock Cycle (Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous).

In Math, students continued to practice previous skills: Order of Operations (G.E.M.D.A.S.), and finding equivalent fractions and decimals with and without models. We are now working toward mastery on comparing and ordering decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers. Next, we will begin adding and subtracting fraction with unlike denominator.

Gallion- STEM

We had such a fun week! Students have completed the base of the rainforest. they have been installing the backdrop, large trees, vines and leaves. Next week their create focus will shift towards their specific living thing. Students will use materials to make a realistic replica of their plant or animal. They have completed their research and will be writing a report to go along with their replica. In math students have worked to multiply decimals and use estimation to check their answers. Next week we will wrap up our decimal unit with dividing decimals. In Science we will take a look at the similarities and differences between plant and animal cells.

Sanguino- Humanities

The students are on a roll and have nearly finished the backdrop of the rainforest! Next week, they will begin to create their 3D models of their organisms. This week in reading, students learned what the words “infer” and “imply” mean, and then how readers use background knowledge and evidence in the text to make inferences/draw conclusions. They began by applying those skills to fictional passages and at the end of the week read a nonfiction article about the Amazon Rainforest to connect the new skill of making inferences/drawing conclusions to their project. In writing, students continued to draft their research reports, while referring to mentor text examples. Next week they will do some peer reviews using the writing rubric.

Driscoll- Humanities

This week centers got into its full swing- students rotated through 5 centers: independent work, read to self/Lit Circle, work on writing, social studies, and work on project. Students worked on a variety of things including their 5-paragraph opinion essay, researching further for their element project, reading nonfiction passages and completing Venn Diagrams comparing/contrasting ideas, and reading/completing prep work for their literature circle discussion. Students also learned how to write a conclusion paragraph, how to include transition words and phrases to connect related ideas/paragraphs, and how to include a counter argument to strengthen their claim.

Tem- STEM

This week we explored polygons and the attributes that differentiate them. We looked specifically at triangles and quadrilateral. We have continued to review measures of central tendency and prime and composite numbers. Vocabulary is heavy this quarter, review is helpful! In Science we have finished Matter, with a test coming this week, ask your student the date (the blocks are doing different dates). We also began our Sound unit, looking more closely at what defines sound.

Casalengo- Humanities

Hello! My name is Mrs. Casalengo and I am happy to be picking up where Mrs. Burkart left off. This week we spent a little time with introductions, getting to know one another and establishing routines. We began brainstorming for our new personal narrative about a memorable moment and started exploring the social studies book on Ancient Egypt and the Middle East.

Walker-STEM 

Students continued to learn about the rock cycle and the 3 types of rocks in Science. We also learned about weathering, erosion, and deposition. We focused on comparing and ordering decimals and fractions.

Gallion- STEM

This week our Rainforest has started coming together! Teams have worked through challenges to install large trees and create the backdrop to our forest. Students have continued to become experts through research with this week’s focus being around their living thing’s habitat and role in the food chain. In science, students have been learning more about classification of living things by looking through the three domains and the five kingdoms all living things can be classified in. In math students have continued to deepen their understanding of place value and decimals. We focused on estimation to check if their answers made sense while adding or subtracting decimals.

Sanguino- Humanities

In Humanities this week, students began their history unit by studying social scientists who investigate the past. In reading, they continued to apply their understanding of text structure while reading a variety of articles. At the end of the week they cycled back to review main idea and supporting details as they read an interesting article about Friday the 13th and triskaidekaphobia. In writing, students continued to research their living organism and completed their introduction paragraphs for their research reports. The students were REALLY exciting to begin CREATING the backdrop of the Rainforest! I have attached a few photos of the initial stages of that process! 🙂

Rainforest 1 Rainforest 2 Rainforest 3 Rainforest 4

Driscoll- Humanities

This week students started working on centers, rotating through different centers (social studies, independent work, work on writing, small group, and read to self). Students received their literature circle novel and first job assignment. Students learned about text structure, and more specifically, compare/contrast. They began working on their matter project, researching to decide which element is the most valuable, and learning more about it. Students learned how to write introductory and body paragraphs for opinion essays, and finalized their opinion essay outline. Students continued to research for their opinion essays and distinguish between fact and opinion.

Tem- STEM

This week we worked finding central tendencies of data. These include finding the mean, median mode and range. We also begin classifying and measuring angles using a protractor. We started researching our element for our quarter project, ask your student what element they have chosen! We also continued to define what makes an element, molecule, and compound.

Walker- STEM

Students have been engaged in research on the impact of earth by the rock cycle for their quarter 1 projects. We have focused on the layers of the Earth and the changing of the Earth’s surface (weathering, erosion, and deposition). In Math, students continued to work on Order of Operations (G.E.M.D.A.S.), and finding equivalent fractions and decimals with and without models.  Please sign up for a fall parent/teacher conference at  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084eaca823a4fc1-mrwalker

Gallion- STEM & Sanguino- Humanities

The votes are in and students have chosen to study and transform our rooms into a Rainforest!  Students have all researched plants and animals found in the rainforest and have been assigned one living thing to become experts on this quarter.  This week their research led them through discovering behavioral and physical adaptations of their living thing.  Students will start to create 3-D models of their living things next week while they continue to research their living thing’s habitat and begin to learn about classification of living things.In math, students have continued deepening their understanding of decimals.  They have been working hard to understand how place value works and how it can help them with their computations.  The 5th graders have also been working on ratios and identifying equivalent decimals, fractions and percents. In language arts, students read various articles and showcased their understanding of main idea and supporting details in their final post assessment. Additionally, they began to study text structure and how identifying it can aid in their comprehension. Students also completed an “on demand” 45 minute informational writing assignment and then assessed one another by pairing up, using a rubric, and providing detailed feedback to each other. It proved to be a valuable lesson to prepare them for the initial stage of composing their research reports!

5th grade Blog- Week of September 18th-22nd, 2017

Driscoll/Tem  Humanities

This week students worked with partners, and independently, on identifying main idea and key details from nonfiction passages. Students used a graphic organizer to show the relationship between key details and main idea. Students read articles such as “Why Matter Matters,” “Matter Can Change,” “What is Energy?” and “Evaporation and Condensation.” Mr. Chapuis visited and facilitated an activity around finding pros/cons in an opinion article about textbooks and tablets in school, asking students to create a persuasive powerpoint presentation sharing their opinion. Students also completed their first reader’s response entry in their online journal. Students were also pulled for individual reading pre-assessments to determine their current reading level.

Students began working on their online interactive notebook for our first Social Studies chapter, “Geography and Settlement of Greece.”Students participated in “powerwrites,” 1 minute exercises to practice writing endurance and observed their improvement. Daily Edits, exercises in editing grammatical/spelling mistakes, are a regular part of the writing block. Students also learned the difference between topic and main idea, as well as reasons for persuasive writing and facts to support their reasons. Students created a list of appropriate persuasive techniques and began brainstorming and working on a persuasive 5-paragraph essay on a topic of their choice, focusing on identifying their “claim” and recognizing it as their main idea.

STEM

In science we began our study of matter. We looked more closely at mass and volume of matter and how this affects the world around us. We also started to explore how molecules inside types of matter act. In math we continued to use the steps of order of operations to solve multistep problems. We also looked at deconstructing numbers to determine what prime and composite numbers mean.

Burkart/Walker  

Humanities 

• Identify key details in fiction text
• Distinguish between interesting information and key details in fiction text
• Justify the main idea with supporting details
• Reading pre-assessments

STEM

Gallion/Sanguino

Humanities 

• Identify key details in fiction text
• Distinguish between interesting information and key details in nonfiction text
• Justify the main idea with supporting details
• Reading pre-assessments

  STEM In science students have started to explore ecosystems.  Students have been researching the different living and non-living components of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.  So far we have looked at the ecosystems found in the ocean, pond, lake, desert, rainforest and we will conclude the week looking at the forest.  On Monday they will cast their vote for the ecosystem to study in depth this quarter.  In math we have started our decimal unit.  Students have been working hard to deepen their understanding of place value in decimals.  They have been exposed to modeling different decimal values and have been practicing writing decimals in written, standard and expanded form.  Students have continued to practice using the order of operations with their ipads as well.