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03 Mar 2023
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March 3: 5th Grade Updates

Hi parents! We had our first visit to BAC this week. 5A spent an hour with our buddies at BAC and had a fantastic time touring the school, doing a get-to-know-you craft, and playing together in the gym. Our 5th graders showed such wonderful maturity and compassion while spending time with the young students at BAC. We can’t wait for 5B to visit the week following Purim!

Thank you to the many parents who volunteered to join our field trip to BAC! Sarah or Katie will reach out if you are needed for one of the trips. We unfortunately can’t accommodate all the requests but we hope to have other opportunities to join us on field trips later in the year!

Humanities 

The 5th graders have continued reading their book club books and having lovely discussions about their characters. Each group has started to focus on a theme of their book, all connected to our school values. They are tracking the ways that kindness, perseverance, belonging, and responsibility show up in their stories.

In writing, we are continuing to build our argumentative essays. At this point, everyone has created a thesis (claim) and written three reasons to support their thesis. We are now working on collecting, organizing, and synthesizing examples/evidence to prove the reasons. Through careful research and graphic organizers, the 5th graders are deep into the planning phases of their essay.

During social studies, we have been learning about many aspects of Ancient Egypt. Recently, the 5th graders presented a mini research project about an important pharaoh, created a skit to teach the class about a social class from Egypt, and learned the process of mummification. Next, we will bring science into humanities with an experiment to discover which substance works best to “mummify” an apple.

Math 

The 5th grade has been shoulders deep in multiplying fractions. We just kicked off the final lessons of the topic, which will focus on multiplying mixed numbers. In the wonderful world of multiplying fractions, students are able to see how fractions are all around us everywhere we go. When we conclude this unit, students will complete a project where they plan how to build the perfect dog house! Spoiler Alert: There are A LOT of fractions involved in building a dog house. In addition, it requires thinking critically, following directions, and working together as a team. 

Judaic Studies 

In Judaics class, we have been progressing through our Jewish year, learning about the new year for trees during Tu Bishvat, and moving through the Joseph narrative watching Joseph’s rise from save to success and thrown back into the metaphorical pit of the Pharaoh’s dungeon.

For Tu Bishvat, we focused on the idea of Areivut (responsibility) and our responsibility for future generations. We read the story of Honi and the Carob Tree, then made our own book which students read with their 1st grade buddies.
In our Torah study, we explored Joseph’s experience in Egypt as a slave. We noted appearance of G-d in our narrative for the first time and how G-d supported Joseph in his time of need while those around him were putting their faith in Joseph. Students asked kushiyot of the text and offered possible explanations for their questions. As a siyum for chapter 39, students reenacted the troubles that Joseph went through incorporating their own midrash into their dramatic renditions.
As of this week, we are in the midst of our studies of Purim. As we prepare for the annual reading of Megillat Esther this coming Tuesday (and several of the 5th graders are reading pesukim!), we are studying the characters of the Megillah – focusing on the characters’ strategies for resolving conflict and thinking up their own strategies which might create a sweeter ending to each conflict.
Shabbat Shalom & Purim Sameach!
Hebrew with Tamar

In Hebrew we are continuing to practice past and present tense using new vocabulary through biographies of Jewish people in Israel and around the world. This week  we watched the short clip from Israeli television staring Agam Buhbut who auditioned in song competition when she was a fourth grader, singing in moroccan. We used verbs in the past and present to describe her surroundings, family origins and discussed in Hebrew the value of culture and traditions using new vocabulary תרבות culture, לשמור to guard,  הפתעה surprise, and applied previously acquired vocabulary such as to perform, להופיע, special מיוחד, important חשוב. 

We are also reviewing and practicing present tense verbs asking each other questions, playing short skits and having group conversations.

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