5th Grade at Bear Creek Elementary
Week 3 - September 21st - 25th
Dear Families,
In lieu of Enrichment Fees this year, I am asking families to purchase three novels for our novel studies for this school year. We will use these three novels for our reading block, but with social studies integration. If you are unable to purchase these three books, please contact me as soon as possible. We will begin our novel studies the week of October 5th.
1. Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution by Avi
2. The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh
3. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Dust-Karen-Hesse/dp/0590371258
Quizlet - We will be using Quizlet for math and science to practice fluency and vocabulary. There is an option to create a Quizlet account (which is free) but requires parental support/supervision for children under 13. You are more than welcome create an account for your child, but it is not mandatory. Students can still access Quizlet content without an account, but will not be able to see their name in the "leaderboard" for friendly competitions. It is completely your choice if you want to create an account or not.
PLP - All of your child's work/notes will be on a google slide called PLP (personal learning path). This slide can be accessed through math and science BLEND. This is a weekly checklist of their math and science work. The idea is to give the student choice in which assignment they do when, as long as all assignments (the links in blue) are completed by the end of the day on Friday. It will also help your child with time management as they learn to break tasks into manageable chunks and plan out their asynchronous learning block. Please reach out to Mr. Linnell if you have questions about the PLPs.
Small Groups - Mr. Linnell will start pulling small groups this week on Wednesday and Thursday during the long asynchronous block. Look for an email from Mr. Linnell so your child knows which days/time to attend their small group for math/science.
Digital Footprint and Digital Citizenship - We understand that sitting in front of a screen for an extended period of time can be "boring" and create temptations to surf the web. We have had conversations with all students about their digital footprint and being a digital citizen. Please have a conversation with your child, if you have not already, about the importance of being fully present during the short synchronous Zoom meetings. We know that you have so much on your plate at home and we appreciate you taking the time to discuss this and support us during virtual learning!
Lunch Bunch - We have discussed the possibility of an open-invite for lunch bunch a couple of times a week for the students to eat and chat with their friends in a non-academic setting. Stay tuned for more information on this!
Sincerely,
Ms. Harmon and Mr. Linnell
What we're doing in class this week...
ELAR - This week, we are finishing up with Author’s Purpose and Text Structures, and will be moving into practicing and applying vocabulary words. We will finish the week off by exploring Central Idea. Students will have assignments due on IXL and Blend, and are expected to be reading 25 minutes daily. Please remind students to check the calendar to keep up with due dates!
Social Studies - This week, we will finish up creating our classroom Bill of Rights, and move into the 5 Strands of Social Studies (History, Geography, Economy, Government, and Culture) and discuss the influence the 5 strands have on our lives.
Math - We are finishing our unit on Place Value this week. We will learn about rounding decimals and comparing/order decimals. There is a math PLP loaded with assignments in the math BLEND course.
Science - This week we are looking at physical properties of matter. We will learn about the difference between physical and chemical changes. There is a science PLP loaded with assignments in the science BLEND course.
Zoom Meeting Details
We are trying to make this as simple as possible for students and families. There will be one Zoom ID/password for Mr. Linnell's classes and one Zoom ID/password for Ms. Harmon's classes. On Tuesday, we will show the students how to switch Zoom calls, and where to find each Zoom link (including special areas). They can use the following Zoom links for Tuesday morning:
Ms. Harmon's Zoom (students in Ms. Harmon's homeroom will start with this link on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2655745986?pwd=bnVvVmxZd29iSkJaRHBxOTlmOUk3Zz09
Meeting ID: 265 574 5986
Passcode: zoom
Mr. Linnell's Zoom (students in Mr. Linnell's homeroom will start with this link on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9288665001
Meeting ID: 928 866 5001
Passcode: mlinnell
Bear Creek Elementary
Mr. Linnell - 5th grade Math/Science
Website: https://bearcreek.austinschools.org/
Location: Our AddressBear Creek Elementary School, 12801 Escarpment Blvd, Austin, TX 78739, USA
Phone: 512-270-8242
