TOPS 5th Grade Weekly Newsletter

Staff and students will be our of school Monday, March 11 through Friday March 15 for Spring Break. If you are behind in classwork, this is the perfect opportunity to get caught up.

We hope you enjoy an amazing week off and come back ready to finish the year strong.

I hope you had a fabulous week! Before we all take off for spring break, I wanted to send out an overview of what to expect when we return on 3/18, some resources to help you, and a fun riddle!

Preparing for when we return:

Quarter 3 is ending soon!

Quarter three ends on 3/8. It is important that all assignments due in Quarter three are completed today in order to ensure that there are not any Ms in the grade book. Please make sure you go through the grade book and make up any Ms. If you have any grades that are lower than you would like, please work through the lesson again to improve your grade. Remember you can take your TGAs multiple times (this is a great way to expand your comprehension, practice your skills, and increase your grade). If you have any questions or need help checking the grade book, please let me know.

Please check the grade book to ensure you do not have any Ms and complete any overdue assignments. Please log in to USA Test Prep and ensure that you have completed all of your TGAs.

Literature assignments on the Daily Plan

On your Daily Plan once you complete the open Literature unit, it will list your Literature assignment as the 19. You Need To Make A Choice unit. please DO NOT do this unit. We will do our Novel Units later in the year. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Quarter 4 Literature:

Literature: (17) Unit 13: I Didn't Know That: Lesson 1-6- March 4-22

(23) Unit 15: American Themes: Lesson 1-5- March 26- April 5

Catch Up- April 8-12

Unit 19 Novel Study- You Need to Make a Choice- April 15-26

Unit 29 Novel Study- You Need to Make a Choice- April 29- May 10

*After you complete Unit (23) Unit 15 in Literature please do not move on. Remember that the Daily Plan will not show Literature as overdue. It is important that you keep up with when each unit ends.

Preparing for Novel Units 19 and 29

Please take a moment to go through the book list for Unit 19 and 29. It is the same list, so you only need to open one. You will need to choose two books (don’t select them yet on the list) and make sure you can obtain a copy of the book. They are not provided by K12. You can check online to see if there is a free version, your local library, a family or friend, or buy the book. If your can not obtain a copy of the books, you may need to select a different book. Once we begin the unit you will select the book on the list and start reading. You will also work through the lessons in the Daily plan (these will load once the book is selected). If you have any questions, please let me know.

Riddle Answer:

Why did the boy eat his homework?

Answer: Because his teacher said it was a piece of cake.

Thank you, Hailey Malia, for an amazing riddle!

Weekly Riddle:

Each Friday I will send out a Riddle. Please come to class the following week with your answer.

This week's riddle is courtesy of Amazing 5th Grader Chloee Hunt!!!

What are you doing when you go on red and stop on green?

Please send me your answers or share in class next week! If you have a riddle you would like to share in the newsletter, please email it to me.

Have an amazing spring break!

You will not have any new OLS lessons the next 3 weeks. We will spend our time reviewing for the STAAR test in April. Please be sure you are practicing in STRIDE Math Academy. This is a great way to review for the STAAR test.

Your will notice your schedule will look a little different the next 3 weeks. Be sure to attend live class connect if at all possible. If not, be sure to watch the recording. You will have assignments given during Class Connect sessions that you must complete.

Our GREEN TEAM challenge has been extended to April 12th. Keep practicing! How do you join the GREEN TEAM!? Know all of your multiplication facts. Your report in Math Facts Pro shows all the facts you have memorized (quick recall) in green. Let's make all of your facts green. We will have something special for those students who are on the GREEN TEAM and know all of their multiplication facts.

Looking Back -

I hope that everyone has a fantastic break and is rested and ready when we come back. We managed to finish our unit on motion, force, work, and potential/kinetic energy, and this foundation in physics will serve you well in middle and high school science. We will continue to use these principles as we explore the forms of energy, including light and its properties, in Unit 10 (See Looking Ahead).

Looking Ahead –

We will take our understanding of the physics of mechanical energy to help us explore other forms of energy such as heat and thermal energy, light, and sound before moving into topics of chemical energy. Since the reading for Part 1 is primarily a review of topics already covered (potential and kinetic energy, electrical energy and circuits), students can review those pages, F62-65 and F68-73, before moving to Part 2 covering light and sound on pages F76-81 and thermal and chemical energy on pages F84-87.

Don’t forget the opportunities for extra credit in USA Test Prep

There is an extra credit assignment available in USA Test Prep – 5th Extra Credit #2. Read the article (paste the address in your browser) and answer some questions using your own ideas about the topic.

Continue to devote one hour (or two 30 minute sessions) to Stride Science lessons each week.

Science News for the Week: We are continuing to talk about energy as we move into topics of thermal energy, light, sound and more. Check out this collection of amazing chain reaction machines – how do people think of these things?

Hello 5th graders,

This is the week we will begin unit 7 – Moving Toward a New Century. The schedule for your social studies Class Connect has changed slightly for the new few weeks. All 5th graders have been invited to one session on Wednesdays. Please come ready to participate and learn!

Please complete these 4 lessons in unit 7 this week:

·

• Lesson 1: Settling the Last Frontier
• Lesson 2: The West

• Lesson 3: The Rise of New Industries
• Lesson 4: A Changing People

Every week you will check the grade level newsletter to see which Music Studio lessons to complete. Just open Unit 1, Lesson 1 in the OLS and click the link to take you to Music Studio! (This is why everything in the OLS for Music EXCEPT for Unit 1, Lesson 1 has been marked skipped.)

I update the gradebook on Friday afternoons. Check the gradebook on Monday morning to see your updated Music grade.

Happy Friday!!!

I hope everyone has an amazing Spring Break! I can't wait to hear of your adventures when we return.

I will keep the Health Activity Book attached so that you use with some of your OLS lessons.

Recording directions for TGAs in gradebook:

https://tinyurl.com/Gradebook-TGA-directions

The Hive:

We will continue to have Kahoot in the main room. Thank you LCs that have helped monitor chat and the rooms this week. I know it is wild in there but, it's recess. I hope everyone has had a blast!!!

Email: bwatt@texasonlineprep.org
Phone: 682.593.1514
Twitter: @TOPSMrsWatt