ECS - Academics - 5th - Environmental Charter School at Frick Park

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Fifth Grade

Welcome to the 5th grade home page!

This is the new location for our weekly newsletter! This will be updated weekly, typically by the end of the day Monday (or the first day of the school week). You will find news, notes, and this week's vocabulary words right here. Eventually we hope to be able to do even more with this space!

For more information on what's going on at ECS, please refer to the online calendar.

The best way to communicate with your child’s classroom teacher is e-mail. Here are our e-mails:

Mr. Tracey: William.Tracey@imagineschools.com

Ms. Hsieh: Vicky.Hsieh@imagineschools.com

Mrs. Falbo: Sarah.Falbo@imagineschools.com

Mr. Szpila (Team Teacher, contact person for the 5^th grade newsletter/home page): Jerome.Szpila@imagineschools.com

5^th Grade News

January 23-27, 2012

News and Notes:

Friday is a half day. It is also an ECS Spirit Shirt day

Scholastic Book orders are due tomorrow – Tuesday, January 24. They can be handed in to your child’s classroom teacher, to Mrs. Peperato (6^th grade teacher), or online, using code HPL9F.

This Week in 5^th Grade:

Math: We are continuing to work with fractions this week. We are finding equivalent fractions, converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa. We will also learn how to convert a fraction to a decimal.

Writing: We are in our Poetry unit, and this week we are going to study how to shape and form poems, and then focus on using our feelings and experiences to write poems.

Reading: We are continuing with poetry this week, studying the poetry of Valerie Worth. We will read a number of Worth’s poems and look at the tools and techniques she uses to write poetry, and how those tools add meaning to her poems.

Inquiry: We have made quite a lot of progress on our Service Learning Projects. Some groups have nearly completed their projects, which is very exciting! We are going to spend some time studying the structure of the U.S. government as well. In our FOSS science time we are going to continue exploring how pulleys are used, specifically how two-pulley systems can give us a greater mechanical advantage.

Environmental Education: Enviro this week: This week fifth graders will begin Unit 3, in which we will begin exploring the question, “How does geology help us understand the past?” They will begin by gaining an understanding of geologic time in comparison to the amount of time they have been alive.

Do at home! How old is old? Do some internet or library research to find out how long ago the dinosaurs lived, or how old is the oldest fossil? Remember, we talked about how water has been on Earth for an estimated 3.5 billion years!! Do you think water is older than rock?

Homework: (suggested schedule)

Monday-Thursday: Math (Study Links page)

Tuesday: Vocabulary (due Friday)

Wednesday: Spelling (due Friday)

Thursday: Study for Vocabulary and Spelling Quizzes

Robust Vocabulary: Number the Stars Ch. 1-5

January 23-27

WORD	DEFINITION
lanky	When you describe someone as lanky, you mean that they are tall and thin. Ellen was a stocky ten-year-old, unlike lanky* Annemarie.*
contempt	If you have contempt for someone or something, you have no respect for them or think that they are unimportant. Three years, Annemarie thought with contempt. Three years they’ve been in our country, and still they can’t speak our language.
sneer	If you sneer at someone you raise your upper lip in a way that shows that you don’t respect that person. It’s a way that people show contempt. The soldier appeared to be sneering* at the girls.*
obstinate	If you describe someone as obstinate, you mean that they are very stubborn in their refusal to do what they are asked to do. Stand still, Kirsti, Annemarie ordered silently, praying that somehow the obstinate* five-year-old would receive the message.*
sabotage	If someone sabotages something, they deliberately break it. If someone sabotages a plan, they deliberately mess it up so it won’t work. Annemarie heard Mama and Papa talk…about the news…of sabotage* against the Nazis.*
dawdle	If you dawdle, you take more time than is necessary to get somewhere. Kirsti dawdled* just behind them or scampered ahead, never out of their sight.*
scoff	If you scoff at something, you speak about something in a way that shows that you think it is ridiculous. Kirsti said, “I remember the fireworks.” “Silly,” Annemarie scoffed, “You never saw the fireworks.”
belligerent	A belligerent person is angry and aggressive. “I did too,” Kirsti said belligerently.
INQUIRY WORDS (not review)
Action Plan	An action plan is a sequence of steps that need to be followed in order for something to be successful.
Democracy	A Democracy is a system of government in which people vote for their leader.

Spelling Words

height

humorous

immediately

interesting

its

it’s

knew

knowledge

Name______________________________________

Word Relationships

Vocabulary

Directions:

Describe how the two vocabulary words might be connected or related. You can use them in a sentence, if that’s helpful.

For example:

Anonymous/intriguing – Discovering the identity of the anonymous letter-writer was an intriguing task for the detective.
Biodiversity/ecosystem – A healthy ecosystem typically includes robust biodiversity.

Sneer/contempt - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Belligerent/Sabotage - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Scoff/Action Plan - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Democracy/obstinate - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lanky/Dawdle - ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name ____________________________________________________________

Spelling List #4 Homework due by Friday, January 27

height humorous immediately interesting

its it’s knew knowledge

Use each spelling word at least once in 5 complete sentences. Underline the spelling word(s) in the sentences.

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