We need 50-60 colorful old t-shirts for our Auction project. If you have any old t-shirt you want to donate please send them this week. Thank You!
5th Grade Math -
5th graders are studying Unit 3 - Place Value and Decimals. This week have been studying place value on number lines, and grids, and comparing decimals to fraction equivalents. We are continuing our practice comparing decimals (>, <, =), and using words, models, and labels to prove the value for different decimals, rounding numbers to different place values (rounding to wholes, tenths and hundredths).
No weekend home work.
Alder East Writing -
In our Word Work and journaling, we've started working on punctuation with quotation marks, ex. question marks inside quotation marks.
Explorer Reports:
This week we have been working on rough drafts by focusing on writing introduction paragraphs, and organizing body paragraphs while telling the explorer's life story (early life, exploration and voyages).
On Monday we write conclusions. 1st rough draft is due Monday.
Due Dates:
Notes Packet: Thursday, March 2
• Flag & Map Completed: Tuesday, March 7
• Report Rough Draft: Monday, March 13
• Final Report (title page, illustration of flag, route map, final draft, and bibliography): Friday, March 17
Requirements:
• Students will write or type their reports using MLA format – heading, double spaced, 12pt font – Times New Roman - if typed.
• An illustration of the flag of the country their explorer represented, using crayons or colored pencils (no markers).
• A route map (colored in crayon or pencil) with the continents and oceans labeled with a black, thin Sharpie.
• Use at least two sources of information, including books or websites (no Wikipedia).
• And, a bibliography with all sources listed in alphabetical order by the first letter in the source. Do not list books first, then Internet articles, etc.
Alder East Reading -
This week, we should have time for independent reading in addition to explorer research, so students should be bringing their independent reading books to school.
Reading for Information:
Alders are using reading time to research the life of one of the European explorers of the Age of Discovery. We have been working on referencing sources properly and gathering facts about their explorer's life and voyages. We're working on note taking skills, and with multiple students researching each of the explorers, students are collaborating and supporting one another during the research, though each is responsible for their own notes, and their own final report.
Make sure you ask your student about which Explorers they are researching:
- Christopher Columbus - John Cabot - Hernando Cortez - Jacques Cartier - Sir Francis Drake - Henry Hudson - Samuel de Champlain - Juan Ponce de Leon - Ferdinand Magellan - Francisco Pizarro - Hernando de Soto - Amerigo Vespucci - Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Independent Reading:
Students should always be doing independent reading at home - a chapter book, graphic novel, biography, or non-fiction that isn't focused on pictures and graphic information. Each Friday we're doing quick response journals based on what students are reading at home. Students compose brief paragraphs about what they are reading, what reactions they have had, what predictions they are making, and what connections they make.
Reading Log - due Friday, March 17th.
Alder East Humanities -
We are learning about Ancient Civilizations of the Western Hemisphere - Mayas, Incas & Aztecs. Last week we learned about the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan which had twice the population of both London and Rome. This week and next, we'll be comparing the similarities and differences of these three empires and the impact of European "discovery" and exploration of the New World.