March 19, 2018

5th Grades’s Big Idea!
​GROWTH & POWER
Our theme for the third trimester is:FORCES
Enduring Understanding:
​All life is interdependent and interacts with one another
Unbalanced forces cause change  
Change has both negative and positive consequences

Science
     In Science, we have been exploring matter, mixtures, and the changes that can occur with these substances.  Students designed many different experiments to explore states of matter, mixtures, and solutions.  We learned about factors that can effect the solubility of substances with an inquiry lab.  We also explored various methods to separate a mixture and students were able to separate a variety of mixtures using different techniques.

ELA: In ELA we have just concluded our novel, Among the Hidden, and took our unit test.  Students are working on a sequencing project on the book and will be finishing it this week.  In this project, students are writing the 8 scenes in the book and talking about why they are the most important to the story.  In writing, we will begin to write argument essays.  Our first topic:  Should chocolate milk be allowed in schools? 

MATH
What are the two systems of measurement?  What can you tell me about each system? How did ancient people measure length? To further explore  our investigation of the Metric and U.S. Customary systems of measurement, students are given a  brief history on the two systems and highlighting where the systems are used throughout the world. Students have also been converting customary and metric measurements and gaining a deeper understanding of this skill through explorations.

SOCIAL STUDIES

This month has been spent learning about how propaganda was (and still is) used during WWI to influence our country’s opinions and emotions.  We integrated this knowledge with the book the students have been reading in ELA, Among the Hidden.  Students created posters which either supported or opposed the 3rd child law from the book and have been displayed in the hallway.  
We have also learned about how the Roaring 20’s brought about new music, styles and lots of FUN!  All of this fun, however, led to the Great Depression which had a huge impact on our country!  FDR’s New Deal programs helped our country during this time of turmoil and WWII eventually pulled our country out of despair and back into prosperity.

We are all looking forward to our D.C. trip and having the history that we have been learning about all year come to life!

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