Tuesday, April 29th

Today I introduced students to text mapping.  I gave them printouts about John F Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from a text (Presidents - an Eyewitness Book).  We read one together and we identified important dates and Civil Rights Movement connections. Then they worked on the other president with a partner.  They will use this information for their informational writing task later this week.

We continued with discussing the narrative writing assignment, My Favorite F.AVE Memory.  It will be the final narrative for the year and it's a great opportunity for students to improve upon their previous narrative grade.

Then we discussed the term 6 reading challenge and students shared their ideas for individual and group rewards.  I will reflect on their ideas and make a choice about the rewards within the next few days.

Lastly, the two classes joined together and we read a few chapters in Son and finished the day by watching the final part of Selma Lord Selma.  

 

Friday, April 25th - Final CRCT review

For weekend homework, students must complete the Final CRCT Social Studies Review. They should write the answers on the worksheet provided in class OR on a piece of notebook paper.  Students should bring it on Monday so we can review together.  Some students will also be bringing home an Economics and Government CRCT review packet.  If they bring one home, it means they didn't finish it during class as instructed.

For your reference, some of these standards have not been covered in detail yet.  This is why we're going to go over what they need to know for the test.   We will cover the final Social Studies standards, and complete a project, over the next few weeks.

Lastly, I will be home all day on Sunday waiting for a furniture delivery.  So I will be available and logged into Edmodo to answer individual student questions.  They can send their question to me AND the Black ELA and SS group so that the answers can be shared.

Monday, April 21st

Today we continued learning about the Civil Rights movement by completing an SQ4R with our social studies textbook (the chapter is pictured below).  SQ4R stands for survey, question, read, recite, review and reflect.  Then we watched video clips about John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson's actions in connection to the Civil Rights Movement.  

Report cards will come home today and I do not need them back signed.  For term 6 I will be assessing all of the standards so students will have the opportunity to be reassessed before the end of the school year.



Lastly, we had our UOI/Exhibition kick off today led my Ms. Newton.  After part 2 tomorrow, students will begin work on their Exhibition projects.

Exhibition mentors an Moving Forward Ceremony Schedule

The information below is from Ms. Karen Newton and it will be included in this week's newsletter.

*****   *****   *****

Volunteer to Be a Mentor For Fifth Graders
In the final year of the IB Primary Years Programme, students participate in a culminating project known as the Exhibition. Students are required to engage in a collaborative, inquiry process that involves them in identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues. Through this inquiry, they will also manage their time, research, proactively work with mentors, take appropriate actions, communicate their findings, assess their tasks and CELEBRATE their learning.  Students share their learning during the day as a part of the fifth grade moving on celebration that we call the F.AVE Finale.

We need you to help us accomplish this by volunteering in a fifth grade class for a minimum of one day a week for 45 minutes or an hour over the next 4 weeks.

The mentor should:  

• Meet regularly with the appointed group of students.
• Offer advice on locating resources and using them efficiently.
• Ask questions.
• Help interpret sophisticated/difficult information.
• Facilitate interviews, telephone calls, and any electronic communication.
• Provide goal setting and time management advice.
• Be supportive and encouraging.
• Celebrate achievements and successes with the students.
• Attend mentor training Monday, April 28th from 5:30-6:15 PM

The mentor should not:

• Do the work for students.

• Tell the students the direction to take, but instead ask probing questions to help facilitate their inquiry.

If you are a fifth grade parent and are interested in being a mentor, please RSVP for mentor training by emailing Karen Newton, IB Coordinator at knewton@csdecatur.net.

The F.AVE Fifth Grade Finale
The F.AVE Fifth Grade Finale is our celebration of fifth grade students and all that they have accomplished during their time at this school. A very important part of this Finale is the IB Primary Years Programme Exhibition.  The Exhibition will feature students sharing the outcomes of a collaborative research project that they completed in the last six weeks of school.  These research projects were self-directed with guidance from teachers and parent mentors.  The Finale will occur Wednesday, May 28, 2014 during the school day.   The celebration will occur by floors. Exact times and location for your child's group presentation will be sent home two weeks prior to the finale. Below is a general schedule of what the day will look like.

F.AVE Fifth Grade Finale Schedule 
Moving On Ceremony (2nd floor classes) --- 8:30-9:15 am --- Multipurpose Room
Black, McFaddin, Hardwick, Sharkey and Goodman-Terrell

Slide show and Transitions --- 9:15-9:25 am
IB Exhibition Research Presentations --- 9:30-11:00 am
(2nd floor classrooms)

5^th Grade Luncheon --- 10:50 am-12:00 PM   
(All fifth graders and family are invited)

Moving On Ceremony (3rd floor classes) --- 12:00-12:45 PM --- Multipurpose Room
Smith, Zimbardo, DiGiacomo, R. Stewart, S. Stewart and Reaves

Slide show and Transitions --- 12:45-12:55 PM
IB Exhibition Presentations --- 1:00-2:30 PM
(3rd floor classrooms)

for no reason...

Thursday, April 17th

Today's lesson covered the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Students took notes on the basic information and they attempted to guess, and then understand, President Kennedy's options during that time. 

After that we finished viewing short videos about the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain.  Students should view the following link to read some additional information about the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain, and the Berlin Airlift.  We concluded class by reading more from Son.

Tomorrow I'll be in UOI planning and I'll allow students 15 minutes to study their notes and view this blog so they can review the information.  I understand that we have covered a lot this week and I appreciate that many students have been engaged and ready to learn.

Wednesday, April 16th

Today students continued to work on their self-guided ELA review with BrainPop.  This morning we watched and discussed the Korean and Vietnam Wars.  Students were quite curious about both events and had lots of interesting questions.  Tomorrow I will conclude the Cold War instruction with a Cuban Missile Crisis simulation and notes on the Iron Curtain & Berlin Wall.

Additional Cold War Resources

Students should explore the sites below if they want to get a deeper understanding of some of the Cold War events.  If we had more time, I would include these in some of our class activities.   However, with testing, Exhibition projects, end of the year events, and final projects, we have much to do in very little time.  I have taught students what's required by the Georgia Performance Standards; however, I prefer to go more in depth so students can use higher-order thinking skills to understand our world.  

That being said, feel free to browse the sites below; they are informative and entertaining.

Cuban Missile Crisis

(from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum)

A City Divided
(from the U.S. National Archives)

Monday, April 14th

We got a lot accomplished today.  We discussed this week's vocabulary and reviewed the Cold War information we began before the break.  Students will have assessments on both Friday so they need to study the vocabulary and their Cold War notes.  Then we spent some time going over what's going to be on the test and discussed the depth of understanding I'm expecting from them.  Students have all of their handouts and notes from today.  Additionally, I attached today's notes below from the morning and afternoon class.  There are some very slight variations since discussions can go down varying paths with different classes; however, the general ideas are still the same.

After reviewing the test material, we read a passage on the Space Race.  That information will also be on Friday's Cold War assessment.  Lastly, students worked on their moon landing 3D maps as I read Messenger.  In the afternoon class we finished the book and we will do some concluding work with analyzing the literary elements of all three novels.  The morning class will finish the book on Tuesday.

This week's vocabulary 

(click on the picture to get to the quizlet)

What is the Space Race and which countries were involved?

How would different people, in theory, react to a communist government?

 This is what will be on the Cold War assessment

Term 6 Social Studies Standards

Now that the term 5 assessments are complete, we can now look towards the term 6 standards.  I will quickly be covering the BASICS so students will have the facts they need to answer the CRCT questions correctly.  However, as we move through the term, students will have a final Social Studies project and a week long economics activity.  These two projects will be done concurrently with the Exhibition project and individual grade repair projects.   

Here are the standards and I've included links to videos and documents that students should preview.  Most of them are short and students who watch them will have a head start when we complete our activities in class.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

SS5H7 The student will discuss the origins and consequences of the Cold War.

a. Explain the origin and meaning of the term “Iron Curtain.”  (personal account - read WITH parents)

b. Explain how the United States sought to stop the spread of communism through the Berlin airlift, the Korean War, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

c. Identify Joseph McCarthy and Nikita Khrushchev.

SS5H8 The student will describe the importance of key people, events, and developments between 1950-1975.

a. Discuss the importance of the CubanMissile Crisis and the Vietnam War.

b. Explain the key events and people of the Civil Rights movement; include Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and civil rights activities of Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. (Malcolm X isn't part of the standard, BUT understanding his philosophy gives students a greater understanding of American History)

c. Describe the impact on American society of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

d. Discuss the significance of the technologies of television and space exploration.

SS5H9 The student will trace important developments in America since 1975.

a. Describe U. S. involvement in world events; include efforts to bring peace to the Middle East, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Persian Gulf War, and the War on Terrorism in response to September 11, 2001.

b. Explain the impact the development of the personal computer and the Internet has had on American life. 

Tuesday & Wednesday

On Tuesday and Wednesday students presented their projects.  We also did a review for Thursday's assessment and continued reading Messenger.  Also, a few students have informed me that they will be missing Friday.  I won't be giving assessments on Friday; however, we will be doing some activities that will start the Social Studies curriculum for next term (The Cold War & the Civil Rights Movement).  We will also (HOPEFULLY!) finish Messenger.  If your child will not be here on Friday, please let me know. 

Students should study tonight and many of them brought their notebooks home.  Here are some pictures of the notes and I typed some of the remaining notes below since they were accidentally erased before I could get a picture of them.

Who were the Tuskegee Airmen and why were they important?
--They were an all African-American airman unit and their mission was to serve as escorts for Allied fighter and supply planes in Europe
--None of the planes they escorted were lost/shot down (that had never happened before)
--They proved that African Americans can become skilled pilots
--They helped with the Double V campaign (Victory against the Axis & Victory against American racism)

Women’s lives changed because of WWII.  Why?

--They gained the opportunity to work at different types of jobs

--Many gained respect as hard-working America

--A woman’s value extended beyond just being a wife and mother.

--They contributed in many ways to the war effort (selling war bonds, rationing, planting victory gardens, working in factories, serving in the military)

How did Americans help with the war effort?

--Rationing:  people could only get a set amount of certain foods & car gasoline.  They conserved so that essential materials (flour, sugar, meat, gas, rubber, metals, etc could be used by the military)

--Work in factories that produced supplies and weapons for the war

--Buy War Bonds so the U.S. government could pay for the war

--Keep secrets (for people building war machines & military people who made strategic plans)

--Plant victory gardens and eat food they grew themselves

What's the purpose of the UN?

--prevent conflict and war

--help disagreeing countries come to agreements

--humanitarian efforts (help people in famine and/or war torn areas, monitor elections, etc...)