Monday, March 1

MATH
We learned how to add and subtract with like denominators. It's pretty easy: Keep the denominator the same and add or subtract the numerators. Just don't forget to simpify your answer.

Finish the worksheet tonight.

HUMANITIES
In class you put together a whole set of flashcards. These are your study guide for Friday's quiz!
Get people to test you. It doesn't matter who -- your Dad, sister, friend, fish. Just study!

Weekly Blurb -- Week Ending Feb 26

HUMANITIES
There are always so many things that seem to go on at once in our Humanities class. On the Social Studies side, we are continuing to look at America’s march towards freedom. This week, we looked at the documents that stated the nation’s intention to be free – The Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Freedom.

As we did that, we weren’t ashamed to pick a fight. The class revisited the work we did on debates before the break to stage their own debate on the topic “Should America go to War.” Student groups needed to prepare an opening statement, rebuttal and closing argument.

As if that wasn’t enough, we are also writing an essay that will go into this academic term’s yearbook. The theme for the yearbook is “Dreams,” and grade five students needed to write an essay following the topic “Dreaming of the Day I’m …” Entries to date have been quite creative, but I want to know how some of these 22 year olds are managing to pull off being a millionaire. We’ve had to temper some dreams with a dose of reality about entry level positions and salaries in your twenties, but the exercise should be something fun for students to look back on when they crack open their yearbooks somewhere down the line.

MATH
Work continues in fractions. We’ve simplified them, compared them, found their equivalents and even turned them into decimals. Our quiz on this foundation work was this Friday. Next week we’ll start to add and subtract.

SCIENCE
We just wrapped up our latest unit, Matter and Energy. Students had their quiz on the material that we have studied all this block on Thursday. On Tuesday, we started to talk about our next unit, Populations and Ecosystems. We learned what an ecosystem is, and students even made some observations of the eco-system they live in.
EXTRA
On a personal note, I want to say that it has been a pleasure teaching grade five this year. I am sad to leave students in the middle of the great learning and progress that is happening. I think I have been fortunate to have a class full of motivated students who truly want to learn. I can easily say that this has been my best year yet in the teaching profession.

Officially, I will be teaching the class until Wednesday. I feel very positive about leaving the class to Ms. Fletcher’s care. The students are lucky that they will have a teacher who will have a seamless transition into the school and already knows the students.

I plan to keep in touch with the students during the year, and I encourage them and you to reach out and say hello, too. My personal email is ginamlnyc@gmail.com.

All the best,
Gina Larson-Stoller

Friday, February 26

MATH
We're still practicing mixed numbers and improper fractions. Complete the worksheet for Monday.

HUMANITIES
The first draft of your Dream essay was handed back. Write the second draft over the weekend. Remember to make your sentences interesting.

Thursday, February 25

MATH
Today we learned how to convert mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa.

I found this great site that will actually do the conversions for you, but besides just giving you the answer, it also give you an unbelievable explanation on how to do it, too. Check it out! It can help you with your homework.

Finish the worksheets handed out in class.

HUMANITIES
I am going to be a teacher.
I am going to live in New York City.
I am bored with this sentence structure.

So what can you do when your sentences fall into a rut? Flip it, and then add details!

Living in New York is going to be adventure because I can explore Central Park.

Try doing some more on your own tonight like we did in class today.

Wednesday, February 24

MATH
Please go over the sheet Calculating Fractions. Use a calculator to find out if the pair of fractions are equivalent or not. Remember to divide the numerator by tghe denominator.

Also, complete the Simplifying Fractions worksheet. Fractions are only in simplest form if the only common factor between the numerator and the denominator is one (1).

HUMANITIES
Have your My Brother Sam is Dead quiz signed.

SCIENCE
Tomorrow is our quiz on the section Matter and Energy. Look over your notes that we have taken for the past few weeks and know the following concepts:

• states of matter
• physical properties
• chemical properties
• types of energy
• ways to transfer energy

Tuesday, February 23

Greetings,
I hope you all had a restful and fun Chinese New Year break. We're back in action after our week off, and we're dusting off the cobwebs as we move forward in some units, and start new topics in others.

MATH
We're continuing our work with fractions and comparing them to decimals. Tonight's homework asks you to VISUALIZE what decimals and fractions look like. And if you finish your homework correctly, you should have the answer to a riddle.

HUMANITIES
We've started a new essay that will soon find its way into our school yearbook. This year, the theme is "dreams." Our class essays will be titled "Dreaming of the Day I'm ..."

Yesterday, you answered the brainstorming questions to start writing your first draft of this essay. Finish up that first go at it tonight.

SCIENCE
Take a look at the eco-system around you. Sit outside for 10 minutes and write down all the living things you observe. Record your results. Let's see how much biodiversity you find!

Thursday, February 11

MATH
Today we talked about changing fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions. Need to review the lesson? Look at the video below:


Finish the worksheet handed out in class for homework.


SCIENCE
Get ready for our Science Fair tomorrow!

Wednesday, February 10

MATH
Today we broke into focus groups. Please make sure to complete the worksheet that was handed out in your particular group.

HUMANITIES
Get familiar with the characters and read the story again. We will have our novel quiz tomorrow.

Look here for the character list.

Tuesday, February 9

HUMANITIES
We finished our class novel today. Read tthe Epilogue and How Much of This Book is True sections tonight.

We have a quiz on Thursday.

MATH
We're continuing to work on comparing fractions. Finish the worksheet for more practice tonight.

Monday, February 8th

We spent a great day at Elsa High trying out what some of our courses might be like for next year. Tomorrow, we're back to our regular schedule.

MATH
Please complete the Comparing and Ordering Fractions worksheet.

Remember how to compare? Take two fractions:
            3/4    5/6
1. Find the LCM of the denominators.
            LCM of 4 and 6 is 24
2. Rename the fractions as equivalent fractions with the new denominators
          18/24     20/24 
3. Compare.
          3/4  <  5/6

Invitation to parents - Feb, 5, 2010

Dear Parents,

As you know, the fifth grade has been hard at work on their Science Fair projects since December. We will be presenting all of the projects in the School Hall on Friday, February 12th.

It would be wonderful to share their work and results with you on that day. We are inviting you to join us between 12:45 to 2:00 to view the students’ projects.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at our Science Fair.

Best Regards,
Gina M. Larson-Stoller

Weekly Blurb - Feb 5

HUMANITIES

Students continued to study more about the roots of the American Revolution. We finished reading about how differences started to grow in the country, leading to infamous battles like the Boston Tea Party and Battles at Lexington and Concord. At this point, the stage is set for all out war.

In class, however, we are just beginning to get underway for a major debate between the Loyalists and the Patriots. Students this week learned the basic format of the Lincoln-Douglas debate style and are starting to build their arguments for their sides of whether America should go to war. Students had some practice building an opening argument, rebuttal and closing statement by debating topics such as “Should kids get to choose their bedtime” and “Should homework be assigned every night.” We should be ready to stage our debate of the American Revolution next week.

We’ve also continued to make progress in our book, My Brother Sam is Dead. We have learned that Sam is serving under Benedict Arnold, and given his notoriety in history, we can consider this an instance of dramatic irony. With Tim’s father missing, and Sam serving in the war, we are learning more about the hardships, brutality and dividing power of wars.

MATH
I’m happy to report that many students in the class did a great job on our quiz this week that tested our foundation skills for fractions. Great job! We’ve only begun our fraction unit by building equivalent fractions this week.

In our stock portfolios, the market continues to eat away at our value. Team CASH is in the lead with only $150.00 more in their coffers than they had at the beginning of our game.

SCIENCE
This week we finished out our unit on matter and energy. But the bigger news, of course, is the upcoming science fair. Students should be putting the finishing touches on their backboards this weekend. It has been a great process for the student’s to learn, and should help them as they move on to more formal school-wide or even regional science fairs in middle and high school. Please find an invitation to our Science Fair included in your child’s communication book. You’re welcome to view our class’ work from 12:45 to 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 12th.

EXTRA! EXTRA!
Just a reminder that the students will be going to Elsa on Monday for “Transition Day.” The high school has a whole itinerary full of activities designed to give students a taste of middle school life.

JEWISH STUDIES - ENGLISH SPEAKERS
from Morah Epstein
The students are continuing their learning about the Eser Makot and the preparation for leaving Egypt. They have learned almost fifteen pasukim by hear and have shown good comprehension of the material in an oral review. Additionally, we will begin our study of Purim. Unbelievable, but there are only two weeks of school left before this joyous holiday. Emphasis will be on the main mitzvoth of the day, the story itself and the enjoyable customs related to Purim.

The students are also doing a unit on Believe in Yourself.

We are continuing our weekly quizzes which are written on Fridays. Also, the students have a reading log and are now to have finished five Jewish books in English or Hebrew for this part of the curriculum.

Thank you to all those parents who are learning the Daf Hashvui with their children!!

Please send in tzedaka for “Matanot L’evyonim”, the special charity collection to help those in need in Israel to also enjoy Purim. Many thanks and a Happy Purim to all.

Thursday, February 4

Tonight is the Carmel Annual Dinner, so homework was kept light . I'll see you there at 6:30 p.m.!

MATH
Equivalent fractions can be formed by multiplying or dividing the numerator and denominator by the same number.

1/2 = 2/4 or 6/12 or 3/6
5/15 = 1/3 or 20/60

Of course, we could create hundreds of other equivalent fractions as long as we follow the rule. Tonight, complete the worksheet on equivalent fractions for homework tonight.

SCIENCE
Check out this video on science fairs. It will show you tons of display boards to give you some ideas!

Wednesday, February 3

MATH
Please complete the worksheet on prime factorization. Create factor trees and write your final answer with exponents, if necessary.

Also, get your most recent quiz signed!

HUMANITIES
What a luxury! We had two periods to meet for Humanities, and we spent our time learning about the structure of Lincoln-Douglas debates. We had some good debates in class on the following topics:
Should students have homework every night?
Should kids be allowed to choose their bedtime?

Tonight, think out some logical arguments on both sides of this topic that relates to our current lesson:
Should the Thirteen Colonies go to war with Britain?

SCIENCE
Keep working on your Science reports. They are due on Monday, February 8th.

Tuesday, February 2

HUMANITIES
Please read chapters 8-10 tonight.

SCIENCE
Please finish any of the questions that you did not get to in class in your Science notebook.
pg. C60 - questions 1-4
pg. C61 - Reflect & Evaluate

Monday, February 1

MATH
Make sure you study for our quiz tomorrrow: GCF, LCM, divisibility rules, prime and composite numbers and evaluating exponents.

HUMANITIES
If you didn't get a chance in class, please finish the questions for the reading in your English Open Response book.

SCIENCE
We just finished covering talking about potential and kinetic energy, and the way our own bodies get energy. Finish questions 7-12 of Investigation 2 in your Science notebook.

Weekly Update: January 29

HUMANITIES
This week, we looked at the reason why the English colonists wanted to rebel against the British throne: Taxation without representation. We simulated the cumulative effect of just a puny tax adding up to a big burden by collecting pencils in class every 5 minutes. It didn’t take long for the students to rebel against me – proving that something that seems small – a pencil – can be a great drain.

This exercise helped us understand better why Patriots were emboldened to fight against the British, a key piece of the background for our current class novel, My Brother Sam is Dead.

Students this week and last also worked on their submissions for the Hong Kong Young Writer’s Contest. The theme this year was New Tales of the South China Sea. Students were asked to submit a travel piece, and it was surprising to see how many wanted to write about their home, Hong Kong. I guess they took to heart the sage advice that all writers follow: write about what you know. Submissions from Grade 5 will be from:
               Sam Khorsandy, Rubin Verebes and Joshua Ellis-Einhorn

MATH
Can 723 be divided by 3? If you know the rules of divisibility, you can answer this question quickly. Students are laying the foundation for a major unit in fractions coming up. We’ve been concentrating on our rules of divisibility, which is helping us find factors and figure out whether a number is prime or composite. A quiz on all our work over the last two weeks will be coming up on Tuesday. Encourage your students to get prepared!

Work on our fantasy stock portfolios continues, as well. Students reinvested some extra cash into new stocks based on our class visit from Seth Fischer from Oasis last week.

SCIENCE
Do you know how many calories your body needs? How many calories are in what you eat per day? What is a calorie anyway? We looked further this week at potential and kinetic energy. We looked at how calories translate into potential energy, and we use them up through kinetic activities that we do.

EXTRA! EXTRA!
In other news, it is worth noting that the school raised more than $7,600 for Haiti last week at our fundraiser. Despite it being a last-minute event, the fifth grade class really came through, bringing in more than $1,800! Well done.

JEWISH STUDIES - ENGLISH SPEAKERS
from Morah Epstein
• Reading pasukim from Parashat Vaeira
• Review pasukim learned by heart
• Discuss perakim four and five of Sefer Yehoshua
• Vocabulary quiz
• Parashat Hashavua
• Tu Beshvat - songs and customs

JEWISH STUDIES - HEBREW SPEAKERS
from Morah Yoel
• למדנו על טו בשבט הקרב ובא (שבת הקרוב). מדוע ט"ו בשבט חל בתקופה זו של השנה. מה המשמעות למעה של טו בשבט, כיצד מבחינים בין עץ לשיח לפי היהדות בכדי לדעת אם הברכה על הפרי הוא "בורא פרי האדמה" או "בורא פרי העץ".
• בנביא למדנו על המצווה של ברית מילה שיהושע עושה לעם ישראל לראשונה מאז 40 שנה שיצאו ממצרים וכיצד לא קיימו מצוה זו כ"כ הרבה זמן. למדנו על עשיית קרבן פסח (שתלויה במצוות ברית מילה) על הפסקת המן וראשית האכילה מתבואת הארץ.
• בחומש למדנו על חזרתו של משה למצרים להוציא את בני ישראל משם. על האותות שה' מוסר בידו, ועל ההצטרפות של אהרן למשה לשליחות שמה לא רצה.
• התחלנו ללמוד לקראת החידון העולמי של תנועת בראשית (הארגון העומד מאחורי הדף השבועי שהתלמידים מקבלים מידי שבוע) בנושא 'תאמין בעצמך'. למדנו על כוחותיו של האדם, ועל היכולות שלנו שלפעמים מפתיעים אפילו את עצמנו.


HEBREW - HEBREW SPEAKERS
• קראנו את הסיפור 'כי האדם עץ השדה' על יולק, נער ניצול שואה ששונא עצים, אך דווקא לעצי ארץ ישראל מתחבר. למדנו על המושג 'מולדת', ומדוע ישראל היא המולדת של כל היהודים, גם אם לא נולדו בה בפועל. הסיפור נמצא במקראה 'פיתחו את השער' שבביה"ס.
• במסגרת פרויקט 'סופרים ומשוררים' למדנו על עוזי חיטמן. על התלמידים היה להגיש תחילה עבודה, ואחכ" למדנו עליו בכתה. עמדנו על הסגנונות השונים שלו: שירי ילדים (אבל אני נשאר תמיד אני) שירים למבוגרים (שיר לשלום), שירי נבחרות כדורגל (מכבי חיפה) ועל תוכניות טלויזיה שלו (חלום עליכם, פרפר נחמד).
• באשכולית אנו לומדים את החוברת 'תארים' ומעשירים את אוצר המילים שלו במילים כגון פזיז, בהילות, עוצמה ועוד.

Friday, January 29

MATH
Complete the questions on the study guide -- and make sure to study your divisibility rules.
Bring in questions on Monday. I'm always available for extra help during recess or after school. Your quiz is on Tuesday. It will cover divisibility, GCF, LCM, prime and composite numbers, and evaluating exponents.

HUMANITIES
Please complete the open response question in your notebooks. We'll go over the answer in class on Monday!

SCIENCE
Keep working on your science projects and backboards!

Thursday, January 28

HUMANITIES
We've read chapters 4-7 of My Brother Sam is Dead. Now it's time to show what you know. Please answer the 8 questions in complete sentences. Do your best work: it will be graded.
Thanks also for getting your submissions in on time. We had 100% class participation! That makes us all winners!

MATH
Today we tackled eponents in class, which can be easy if you just remember one thing: Exponents stand for REPEATED multiplication, not a number times another number
6^3 is actually 6 x 6 x 6 (NOT 6 x 3)
so 6 to the third power (6^3) = 216.

Tonight, finish the worksheet on evaluating exponents.

SCIENCE
Today we talked about the potential energy of food, which we count by calories. How many calories do you need? How many calories do you consume in a day? You can find out by looking at the websites we started to explore in class.

Calories in Food
Calories You Need

Wednesday, January 27

MATH
Today we talked about the difference between prime and composite numbers.
Prime numbers only have two factors, 1 and the number itself
           Ex. 5 - 1,5
Composite numbers have more than two factors
           Ex. 12 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12

Finish the worksheet handed out in class for homework. You might have a few extra questions to do on divisibility, too, depending on which focus group you were in.

HUMANITIES
Submissions for the HK Young Writer's Contest are due tomorrow. Make sure your piece is PERFECT!
Also, let's keep moving forward in our reading. Please read Chapter 6 & 7 of My Brother Sam is Dead.

SCIENCE
Science Fair reports are due Friday!

Tuesday, January 26

HUMANITIES
Please edit and type your submission for the HK Young Writer's Contest for this Thursday. Make sure you are submitting your best work. Read your work not twice, but three times. Then, have your brother read it, or your mom. Better yet, then go to your dad for feedback and then maybe a friend. The more people who read it, the better it will be.

MATH
Please finish the worksheet on Least Common Multiples.
Your quizzes on dividing and multiplying decimals was handed back today. Please have them signed tonight.

SCIENCE
We talked quite extensively today about how to structure both your report and display for our Science Fair. Please look over your directions or refer to the websites below for help.

http://www.super-science-fair-projects.com/elementary-science-fair-projects.html
http://www.cool-science-projects.com/Science-Fair-Project-Display.html
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_sample_final_report.pdf

Thursday, January 21

MATH
Please look at the example on the top of tonight's worksheet, and follow it to answer the questions.

HUMANITIES
Tonight, put on your writer's hat and pen a great travel essay. Remember, you might be entered for a chance to compete in the Hong Kong Young Writer's Contest.

SCIENCE
Please and the questions from Investigation 1 handed out in class in your Science notebook.
Are you working on your science fair project? Next week, we'll start talking about handing in the first draft of your report. We're closer to the end than you think!

Tomorrow, support Haiti. Bring in your donations and be uniform free!

Wednesday, January 20

HUMANITIES
Students started writing for the Hong Kong Young Writer's Contest today. This year's theme is New Adventures of the South China Sea. Fifth grade students were asked to write a travelogue about somewhere in this region.

First drafts are due on Friday.

MATH
Please finish the worksheet on GCF

SCIENCE
Please fill out the Science Fair Progress Report to let me know how your experiment is coming.

Tuesday, January 19

MATH

Take a look at our divisibility rules again. Then finish the worksheet handed out in class.

HUMANITIES

Please have your test signed.

If you didn't finish the questions in class, choose any 15 questions from the Chapter 2 & 3 handout to answer in your Humanities notebook.

Monday, January 18th

HUMANITIES
Please read chapters 2 & 3 of My Brother Sam is Dead. We will start answering questions in small groups tomorrow.

Weekly Blurb - Week of January 15

HUMANITIES
How was the economy of the South built? Students learned this week that most of the plantations and cash crops were built on the backs of slaves. This week, we wrapped up a large unit on the original Thirteen Colonies, which also lays the groundwork for our next big unit focus: The American Revolution. The rumblings of discontent started in the later half of the eighteenth century, and students have begun to see that not everyone was on the side of democracy. In the book My Brother Sam is Dead, we meet Sam, a college student filled with ideas of revolution. However, his father believes that the learned men of Parliament and the King know what is best for the colonies. The book should shed light on how families were divided over this debate that eventually brought the colonies to war. Students will take a test on the thirteen colonies on Monday.

MATH
Another big unit in Math was finished this week when we took our test on multiplying and dividing decimals. We’ll continue to review these skills in daily warm-ups, but we’re ready to move into our next unit: fractions.

On Friday, when we would typically take a look at our fantasy stock portfolios, we had a real stock broker come to our class and give us tips on how to tell whether a stock is a good bargain or is overpriced. Seth Fischer, a broker at Oasis in Hong Kong, compared a company on the stock exchange to a lemonade stand. He peppered them with questions that made them think about competition. “What would you do if your brother opened up a stand next door to yours?” He asked them about the barriers of entry to market. “Could you just go out to the street and set up a lemonade stand?” (According to his experience with his son last summer, the answer is no. His son was shut down by the police who asked for his Hawker License.) He also asked them to consider what makes a product unique in the marketplace. “Does anyone have the secret recipe for your lemonade?” At the end, he left the students with a few more tools to decide how to purchase stocks. We’ll put into action what we learned next week when students will get a chance to reinvest their earnings and purchase more stock.

SCIENCE
We continued to look at matter in its various states and how it can change. Students had several items they observed. First, they looked at a block, and then at a glass of water. When students transferred the water to a different container, they saw first-hand one of the properties of liquids: they take the shape of the container that they are in. Air might not be visible, but blow up a balloon and we can see that it can fill up a space, as well. Students then had to determine whether each of the following were a chemical or physical change: adding salt to water, cooking an apple, burning a candle, melting ice. Think you know? Check your answers by asking your fifth grader.

Have a great weekend.
- Ms. Larson

Friday, January 15

HUMANITIES
Study for your test on the Thirteen Colonies. Here's what you should focus on:

 People to Know

• Puritans
• John Winthrop
• Roger Williams
• Anne Hutchinson
• King Philip
• Quakers
• William Penn
• George Calvert

 Terms to know

• Common
• Barter system
• Hornbook
• Free-market society
• Trial by jury
• Indentured servant
• Slave
• Broker

 Main Ideas

• Which colonies fought with the Native Americans? Which ones didn’t?
• What was the center of New England life?
• What were some of the commercial uses of whales? What were some of the difficulties of being a whaler?
• What was the triangular trade route? Which countries did they connect? What was traded?
• What were the main crops grown in the Middle Colonies?
• Why did England take over the colony that belonged to Netherland? How did they win the war?
• What were some reasons people wanted to immigrate to America?
• What was The Great Awakening? What were some of the results of it?
• Did the people of the Southern colonies fight with the Native Americans? What happened?
• How did most plantations operate? Who owned them? Who ran them? Who worked them? What did they resemble? Why?
• How did enslaved people keep their culture alive?
• Where did slaves who escaped run to? Why?
• What were the major cash crops of the Southern Colonies?

 Map Skills

Be able to place all thirteen colonies on a map.
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

 SCIENCE

Work on your science projects!

Thursday, January 14

HUMANITIES
Finish reading Chapter 1 of My Brother Sam is Dead. Answer any 15 of the 22 questions handed out in class.

Wednesday, January 13

MATH
Finish the division sheet handed out in class. SHOW ALL YOUR WORK!

HUMANITIES
We've been learning how to revise conclusions over the past couple of days. Put what we've learned into practice tonight and write three good sentences to sum up the main ideas. Remember to have fun while you're writing!

Monday, January 12

MATH
Complete the worksheet on dividing decimals. Need a review on how to do it? Look here.

SCIENCE
Finish the Investigation Worksheet on matter.

Friday, January 8th

MATH
During the lesson part of the class, we broke into groups. If you were working with Ms. Larson, you will need to correct the worksheet "Zeros in the Product" from the other night. If you were working with Ms. Yuen, please finish the challenge sheet that you had on mulitplying decimals.

SCIENCE
Just because we didn't have a Science class on Friday doesn't mean that you slack on our major class project: your Science fair project. Collect materials, write a survey (if your using one), do something to start!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Welcome back to 2010. I hope everyone got a well-deserved break. We're back up and at em, though, in class. Here's our homework for tonight.

MATH
Complete the worksheet on multiplying decimals.

SCIENCE
Get your Science test signed.
Start on your one paragraph proposal for the science fair. It is due this Thursday.

HUMANTIES
Write sentences for the words that you will be studying this week. Need a reminder of what they are?

1. Refuge
2. Trial by jury
3. Proprietor
4. Justice
5. Prosperous
6. Order
7. Expanded
8. Outnumbered
9. Diversity
10. Immigrant
11. Militia
12. Preach
13. Revival
14. Participation
15. Social
16. Prosperity
17. Artisan
18. Apprentice
19. Gristmill
20. Grain