Hey Everyone,

 

We will begin Module 3, Natural Disasters, this week! The essential question students will be working on is: How can learning about natural disasters make us safer? 

 

Student will be working on the following:

Inquiry and Research Project: Create A Safety Pamphlet: Students will create a safety pamphlet with information about how to stay safe during natural disasters.

• Week 1 Brainstorm and Research
• Week 2 Write and Create
• Week 3 Practice and Present

Articles and stories students will read:

• Who Studies Natural Disasters?
• Eruption! Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives

Skills and strategies students will learn: 

• Author’s Craft
• Make and Confirm Predictions
• Text Structure
• Figurative Language
• Content-Area Words

 

See the attached Family Letter for more info on what we'll be learning!

HELLO, FAMILIES!
Over the next three weeks, our class will build their knowledge about subgenres of fiction, with a focus on different ways to tell a great story. We will read texts and view videos about how writers share compelling stories in literature of many types. Children will write a narrative about a character on a journey.
Explore the Genre 
The genre focus in this module is fiction. Discuss with your child the characteristics of this genre. Ask your child to read to you each day and make time to read together.
Look for texts that
• spark your child’s sense of curiosity and wonder
• tie to the module topic
• tell a compelling story, perhaps in an unfamiliar way
• allow your child to explore his or her interests—or discover new ones
Discuss the Topic
Set aside time daily for your child to share with you what he or she is 
learning. Use these ideas to help build your child’s knowledge about 
the topic: 
• Talk about the ideas your child has added to the Knowledge Map each week.
• Ask about the texts your child is reading and what he or she has learned from them.
• Share with your child your own questions about the topic, and work together to find the answers.
Build Vocabulary
Use these ideas to help your child build a rich vocabulary. 
The Big Idea Reinforce the topic words prose, dialogue, climax, and 
foreword in conversation. Use prompts like these: What was the 
climax of your weekend? Describe what dialogue looks like in print.
What Does It Mean? Have your child keep a growing list of the 
Critical Vocabulary words. Quiz each other on their meanings.
Word Hunt Look for words with the prefixes re– and fore– and the 
suffixes –ful and –ness in books, magazines, online texts, and environmental print.

Greetings ELA 5th grade families!
Over the next three weeks, our class will build their knowledge about inventors, with a focus on the informational text genre. We will read texts and view videos about how people can create amazing things through innovation, perseverance, and the desire to solve problems. 
The students will also write an expository essay about the circumstances that pushed the inventors in this module to create new inventions.

 

BRING IT HOME! Learning fun for the whole family!
Discuss the Topic

Set aside time daily for your child to share with you what he or she is 
learning. Use these ideas to help build your child’s knowledge about 
the topic: 
• Talk about the ideas your child has added to the Knowledge Map each week.
• Ask about the texts your child is reading and what he or she has learned from them.
• Share with your child your own questions about the topic, and work together to find the answers.

 

Explore the Genre
The genre focus in this module is informational text. Discuss with your child the characteristics of this genre. 
Ask your child to read to you each day and make time to read together.
Look for texts that
• spark your child’s curiosity
• tie to the module topic
• show a particular point of view
• have a clear text structure
Build Vocabulary
Use these ideas to help your child build a rich vocabulary. 
The Big Idea Reinforce the topic words excel, illustrious, revere, and
transcend in everyday conversations with your child. Use prompts like 
these: What do you excel at? Is there a person you revere? Who? What Does It Mean? Have your child keep a growing list of the Critical Vocabulary words. Quiz each other on their meanings.
Word Hunt Look for words with roots phon, photo, vis, aud, auto, bio and prefixes ex–, e–, ir–, il– in books, magazines, online texts, and environmental print.

 

If any work ever comes home to be completed, it's not homework, it may just be work they did not finish in class, and they may need support completing it, and they will need to bring it back when it's complete.

 

It's been a great first week. Have a great weekend.

 

Mr. McGinnis