Attention 5th Grade Students and Parents/Guardians: Because of the Covid-19,  Middle school offers
have been delayed and will be available for families in early April.  There has no official date set or released.
We will keep you updated as information is released by the NYCDOE. 

Atención estudiantes de quinto grado y padres / tutores: Debido a Covid-19, las ofertas de la escuela
intermedia se han retrasado y estarán disponibles para las familias aprincipios de abril. No hay una fecha
oficial establecida o lanzada. Lo mantendremos informado a medida que NYCDOE divulgue la información.

February - March 2020

Important Dates
February 17th– 21st: Winter recess – No School
March 5th: Parent/Teacher Conferences  
​March 25th-26th: NYS ELA TEST 3-8

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING?

Mathematics

• Fifth Grade completed our unit on decimals and are pushing forward into fractions.  We began adding and subtracting fractions by finding common denominators and creating equivalent fractions.  We will take this base of knowledge and apply it to multiplying fractions and mixed numbers.
  
• Sixth Grade finished a unit on rate and ratios.  Students were able to write ratios three different ways, find equivalent ratios and use that to find unit rate and unit cost. Students can now go to a grocery store and see which is the better price of an item and find out which is a better deal by using unit cost.  The current unit that we are studying are percents. Students will be able to find the part, the whole, and the percent of a number. Students will use prior knowledge that we learned in prior units by using a proportion and solving algebraically Students will use percent in real life situations to find discounts when they have sales. 
  

Reading and Writing

• Fifth Grade continuing with their class novel, Out of the Dust. In the novel study they are determining central ideas, citing textual evidence, elaborating on how events affect the characters, and comparing/contrasting ideas with other texts previously read. Simultaneously, students are connecting with history by learning about the Great Depression.
  
• Sixth Grade students are learning to make meaning of the information they read by asking questions and formulating ideas based on prior knowledge. This means, students are thinking about the new information they encounter and make sense of it based on strategies and learning they already possess. The goal is for students to apply these skills and strategies to strengthen and build beyond the current grade. Additionally, use text structures such as compare and contrast, cause and effect and sequence to understand different types of informational texts.  They are reading current event articles in NEWSELA and researching different topics in preparation for their investigative essay
  

Science

• Fifth Grade wrapped up our unit of modeling matter. We have learned all about molecules and their properties We have also learned about how different substances react to one another based on their properties. As an end of unit assignment, we created a salad dressing based on the properties of the ingredients. We had a taste test and we are happy to say the dressing tasted fantastic!
  
• Sixth Grade wrapped up Unit 2:  Thermal Energy and are now working on Unit 3:  Populations and Resources.  In this unit students, take the role as active ecologists studying a puzzling increase in jellyfish population.  In the fictional Glacier Sea, students are motivated to find out about ecosystems and their parts, how changes to one population in the food web can affect other populations, and how population changes affect other populations. Students will apply skills and strategies to determine the most likely cause of the jellyfish population explosion. Students will continue to use the scientific argument strategy to explain their claim.  Ask your child about what they are learning!  You will be impressed at how much they know. 
  

Social Studies

• Fifth Grade learning how specific events shaped our nation today. We will be studying US, Canada, Mexico, and   
     much more. Once countries are learned, an ongoing comparative study of cultures, government, and economics will 
     take place
  
• Sixth Grade students are continuing their investigation into the Eastern Hemisphere and are investigating ancient religions of the Eastern Hemisphere. Students will begin investigating about Judaism, then move onto Christianity and finally Islam. Students will have a quiz for the unit on each of the religions and are responsible for tracking important details about the religions on a graphic organizer. The unit will wrap up with an opinion essay as the summative grade where students will pick a religion that they would want to be and explain why with specific evidence that shows a deeper understanding of the material covered in this unit. 
  

Physical Education

• Grades 5 & 6 are continuing to improve fitness levels by developing cardiovascular endurance. Please continue to encourage our students to work hard and stay active so we continue to learn, grow, and have fun in P.E!
  

Digital Learning

• Our classes are using a blended model approach where students are utilizing digital resources to help them develop their skills. Please be aware that students will have to use their computer to complete work for school. Here are some of the sites students will use for school:
  • Google Classroom
  • i-Ready
  • Newela
  • Checkology
  • Kahn Academy
  • Pearson envision 2.0