Happy Holidays
In spite of the tragedy that has struck our nation and stained this holiday season with sadness, I wish you and your family a joyous holiday. Hold your children close and enjoy the upcoming vacation time together. Our break begins on December 22 with school resuming January 7.
Field Trip
Caughlin's fifth graders are going on an Earth Science field trip this Friday, Dec. 21. This field trip is in lieu of a holiday party. We will be visiting the UNR campus between 9:40-11:15 to tour the Keck Mineral Museum, the DeLaMare Earth Science Library, and seismology lab. We will then head to the Bowling Stadium and view the Imax movie Ring of Fire. We will return to school in time for students to participate in the Polar Express. Students may change into pajamas at school.Classroom News
Math: Formal division instruction is coming to a close, but the practice will continue. We are beginning a fractions unit of study, which will continue in the new year.Reading: In conjunction with our social studies American Revolution studies, we will be reading historical fiction relating to the Revolution and writing of the Constitution. We will also be reading informational text relating to our science study Mixtures and Solutions and Earth science.
Social Studies: The American Revolution is still being studied. We have spent a great deal of time analyzing primary source documents relating to the Boston Massacre. The purpose of this intensive study to have students formulate an opinion on the "massacre" and cite the documents to support their opinions. This is an activity that supports the critical thinking and writing aspect of Common Core Standards.
We the People: We have begun one of the most important studies in our fifth grade curriculum, We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution program. This program is a supplemental social studies unit on the Constitution. The program was created by a Supreme Court Justice in 1987 because he felt students were not receiving adequate civics instruction. He realized that in order to sustain a democracy, the citizens must be knowledgeable and informed on Constitutional topics. The program is designed to be used in fifth grade, with programs for eighth grade and twelfth grade, as well. The highlight of the program is a mock Congressional Hearing at which students showcase their Constitutional knowledge and speaking abilities in front of a panel of judges. Twelfth graders' Congressional hearing is a competitive event with the winning teams from each state competing in Washington D.C. Our mock Congressional hearing is tentatively scheduled for the first week in March. To learn more about this program visit the Center for Civics Education: http://new.civiced.org/programs/wtp
Science: We have started the FOSS unit Mixtures and Solutions. This unit is activity based with several labs. We will also be investigating Earth sciences in conjunction with our field trip.
Writing: Students have be using the writing process to write a personal narrative. I am sure you will enjoy reading them! And of course they continue to write in the content areas and to the prompts in their spelling books.
