fbpx
(718) 858-8663

5th Grade Week of 12/14

Advisory:

This week and last week in advisory we used the famous Jewish text from the Mishnah, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me and if I am only for myself what am I. And if not now, when?” Last week we talked about self care and what we do to be responsible for ourselves. Students spoke about getting enough sleep, eating well and finding activities that are fun and relaxing. We also spoke about setting ourselves up for success. The next week we focused on the next line and talked about friendships. We used improv games to navigate real life difficult situations that could occur with others. Students practiced taking a moment to “F.I.G” (Find the feeling Identify the problem and set a Goal)  before reacting to something unkind. We also acted out what it looks like to be a good friend to someone else. Please check out our class photos and videos on our 5th grade google photo account!

Please join our class google photo album so you can see all of our great photos from the year! https://photos.app.goo.gl/TxJ8pei9sRfYkfG76

 

Humanities

In Humanities this week, we continued our study of our new text, Homeless Bird, while studying cultural aspects of India presented in the text and the literary concept of themes. Students continued their social studies civilizations projects in anticipation of our celebration on the 19th. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!-Tony

Math

Fifth graders continued their work adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. The arduous task of finding the least common denominator proved to be daunting, but was ultimately conquered. A quiz was given last Friday, and students were required to make any necessary corrections, and return them signed. This week, we began the comparatively simple task of multiplying fractions. Again, that is because you simply multiply the numerators, then the denominators, and simplify. Imagine the relief on students’ faces when a common denominator wasn’t necessary to do! Have a warm and wonderful break from school!-Fred
Judaics
After an intense “Great Nes (Miracle) Debate” the winner was voted on and Shemen (Oil) won! Students on both the war side and oil side gave passionate arguments for both sides and backed up their ideas in multiple text sources. I was so impressed by how serious they took the debate and some even switched sides when we had the vote because they had been swayed by the great arguments on the other side. After our Hanukkah Unit we went back to learning Chumash. We worked hard to identify the various prefix and suffix combinations that would be coming up in our text. Students became experts in identifying the root of the word and knowing what the prefix and suffix meant. They used these skills to continue translation in the text. We used our trope (Torah notes) skills to sing and do an interpretive dance of one of our psukim (lines). Please enjoy these videos on our google photo album. The activity was so fun and the students really understood what they were singing and how to phrase it appropriately according to the tune.
Students are now focusing on what it means to be an “up stander”. We read about Reuben standing up in a wise way to his brothers when they wanted to do something bad to Joseph. Students thought about times they had acted in a bad way and what had motivated them to do so. We acted out scenarios where someone stood up for the right thing while understanding the motivation of the people who wanted to act badly. It has been really wonderful to hear how students are using the situation with Joseph and his brothers to navigate their own personal social scenarios that they encounter.
Shabbat Shalom,
Laura
Science

These last two weeks we have conducted more experiments exploring the following concept of gravity and density. Students dropped different objects at a fit height in order to discovery if craters created in sand have different diameters. This was directly connected to the concept of weight from the last experiment. Later students started to explore density and mastered how to measure volume using a graduated cylinder. This demonstrated Archimedes’ displacement theory and allowed students to gain laboratory measurement experience. We will continue to explore density and apply the concept to buoyancy when we design and build our own custom boats.  Science continues to explore hands on activity creating a deeper meaning within science concepts and skills.-Mike and Sammi