January 25th-29th

General Announcements:	BGIS PTO Parent Academy is TOMORROW- Tuesday, January 26th 6:00-7:30 P.M. Dr. Kathy Murphy, HCS Superintendent, is our key-note speaker. Childcare is available.  BOX TOP COLLECTION THIS WEDNESDAY, January 27.  Make sure you label the BOX TOPS with your child's name and homeroom teacher's name.   Prizes will be drawn in March. Thank you for your AWESOME support of this easy school fundraiser!  Please help replenish our supply of GALLON Ziploc bags.  Also, please make sure you child has  colored pencils, and markers.  We appreciate your support!! Thank you!
Language Arts:	We will be continuing to talk about Point of View this week. We analyzed point of view and perspective in a movie clip from Inside Out in class today! Tomorrow we will be assigning an in class project about perspective and point of view that will be completed by Thursday. We will have a cold read on Friday, January 29th using a story they have never read before. The article "Scientists discover the brightest star explosion ever" was assigned on Tween Tribune last Friday and is due on Friday, January 29th. Students will need to read the article and answer the 3 questions that go along with it. We practiced opening a separate window with the the quiz so that they can easily go back and check their answers, is it is only a 3 question quiz. The assignment is a 10 point homework grade. Because the website will not allow them to retake a quiz, they may read and take other articles and quizzes to average with their score. Spotlight reader will take place on Friday, January 29th as well. The students will need to bring the book of choice they are reading to school be prepared to present the following: book title, author, main characters, basic plot, and a teacher question of choice. I will be choosing students at random, so everyone needs to be prepared! Grammar IXL skills V.1, V.2, U.1, and U.2 are due on Google Classroom by Friday, January 29th.
Social Studies:	We are closing our study of the creation of the United States government this week with discussing the Bill of Rights, Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists, and George Washington. I have assigned a homework sheet called "New Government" that is due on Wednesday, January 27th. Kids may use DE boards, previous classwork, and BrainPop videos to complete. The Government Test is MOVED to NEXT TUESDAY. We felt the kids could use some more time to review and cover one more topic. The study guide went home last Thursday and will be posted on google classroom social studies. I have created a quizlet for the kids to practice. I have posted discussion/reflection questions on the social studies google classroom for the kids to respond to as a participation grade. I am looking for the kids to answer and give a reason for their opinion. I want to see critical thinking!
Math:	We are working on rounding decimals to nearest whole number, nearest tenth, nearest hundredth, and nearest thousandth. We are comparing decimals and working on adding and subtracting decimals. Cumulative Review #15  came home today and is due Wednesday. Link to Cumulative Review #15 We will have a Cumulative Review quiz this Thursday!    Math IXL from last week was due today :-) A new IXL contract came home today and is due next Monday. This week's skills are: LEVEL G- G.15- Compare Decimals and Fractions on Number Lines; G.16-Compare Decimals and Fractions; G.11-Put Decimals in Order; G.7-Round Decimals
Science:	We will have a SCIENCE QUIZ on FRIDAY!  There are lots of notes in their Science notebooks to begin using to study.   We are learning about MATTER.....the 3 major properties of Matter:  Mass, Volume, and Density.   We are learning what metric and standard units are measure are used for Mass, Volume, Density, and Weight.   We are learning about the Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter. We are reviewing the different states of Matter- Solids, Liquids, and Gas....including a discussion of freezing point, boiling point, evaporation, water vapor, and condensation  We will have a SCIENCE QUIZ on FRIDAY!  There are lots of notes in their Science notebooks to begin using to study.

January 19th-22nd, 2016

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

General Announcements:	TOMORROW-(Wednesday, January 20th) are 5th Grade CLASS GROUP PICTURES :-)  Looking ahead:  BGIS PTO Parent Academy is NEXT Tuesday, January 26th 6:00-7:30 P.M.Childcare is available. Dr. Kathy Murphy, our Superintendent, is our key-note speaker.   Girls on the Run registration is open for this semester:  Find out more about Girls on the Run at www.girlsontherunbham.org Please make sure your child has a replenished supply of  pencils, glue sticks, colored pencils, markers, eraser caps, and scissors for this semester.. Thank you!   We are collecting Box Tops again.  January 27th is our next collection date this month.  Make sure you label the BOX TOPS with your child's name and homeroom teacher's name.   Prizes will be drawn in March. Thank you for your AWESOME support of this easy school fundraiser!
Language Arts:	We will be talking about point of view this week. Students will identify 1st, 2nd, 3rd person limited and omniscient person point of view. The point of view quiz will be on Friday, January 22nd. The first article was assigned on Tween Tribune last Friday. "Are you willing to travel by drone?" is due on Friday, January 22nd. Students will need to read the article and answer the 3 questions that go along with it. We practiced opening a separate window with the the quiz so that they can easily go back and check their answers, is it is only a 3 question quiz. The assignment is a 10 point homework grade. Spotlight reader will take place on Friday, January 22nd as well. The students will need to bring the book of choice they are reading to school be prepared to present the following: book title, author, main characters, basic plot, and a teacher question of choice. I will be choosing students at random, so everyone needs to be prepared! Grammar IXL skills R.3, T.1, and T.2 (Level G) are due on Google Classroom by Friday, January 22nd.
Social Studies:	We are continuing our study of the creation of the United States government this week with the Constitution and the branches of government. The kids have a BrainPop matching sheet due Thursday, January 21nd. They will need to watch BrainPop video (username: bgisbucs and password: bgis). I have posted discussion/reflection questions on the social studies google classroom for the kids to respond to as a participation grade. I am looking for the kids to answer and give a reason for their opinion. I want to see critical thinking!
Math:	We began our new Unit which focuses on Place Value of decimals, comparing and ordering decimals, Adding/Subtracting Decimals. Cumulative Review #15  came home today and is due Thursday. Here is a link to Cumulative Review #15 Last week's Math IXL was due today.   A new IXL contract came home today and is due no later than next Monday. This week's skills: LEVEL G   C.15-Multiply 2-digit numbers by larger numbers   G 2- Model decimals and fractions G 10- Compare decimal numbers
Science:	We have been sharing our "Human Impact on the Environment" research projects. We will also begin a new unit on matter. We are learning about: matter, properties of matter, mass, volume, density, physical properties of matter, and chemical properties of matter. We will be doing many activities in our Science notebooks.

January 11th-15th

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." 

 — Ralph Waldo Emerson

General Announcements:	We worked hard and had a great transition back last week! Please make sure your child has a replenished supply of  pencils, glue sticks, colored pencils, markers, eraser caps, and scissors for this semester.. Thank you!  Report Cards came home last Wednesday, January 6th! Please return if you have not done so already. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday- Monday, January 18th= NO SCHOOL Looking ahead:  PTO Parent Academy is Tuesday, January 26th 6:00-7:30 P.M.   We are collecting Box Tops again.  There are two collection dates this month:   January 13 and  January 27.  Make sure you label the BOX TOPS with your child's name and homeroom teacher's name.   Prizes will be drawn in March. Thank you for your AWESOME support of this easy school fundraiser!
Language Arts:	We will be comparing and contrasting 2 different stories about Christopher Columbus this week. After reviewing our findings we will determine if we think Columbus really deserved a national holiday. We will be doing a writing assignment about this in lieu of a comprehension test. The vocabulary test will be on Friday, January 15th. The first article was assigned on Tween Tribune last Friday. "Hawaii wonders, where are the whales?" is due on Friday, January 15th. Students will need to read the article and answer the 3 questions that go along with it. We practiced opening a separate window with the the quiz so that they can easily go back and check their answers, is it is only a 3 question quiz. The assignment is a 10 point homework grade. Spotlight reader will take place on Friday, January 15th as well. The students will need to bring the book of choice they are reading to school be prepared to present the following: book title, author, main characters, basic plot, and a teacher question of choice. Several students volunteered to do it last Friday and did a fantastic job. Starting this week I will be choosing students at random, so everyone needs to be prepared! Grammar IXL skills O.4, O.5, P.1, and Q.1 (Level G) are due on Google Classroom by Friday, January 15th.
Social Studies:	We are continuing our study of the creation of the United States government this week with the Articles of Confederation. I have posted discussion/reflection questions on the social studies google classroom for the kids to respond to as a participation grade. I am looking for the kids to answer and give a reason for their opinion. I want to see critical thinking!
Math:	We began our new Unit which focuses on Place Value and Adding/Subtracting Decimals. Cumulative Review #14  came home today and is due Wednesday. We will have a Cumulative Review quiz this Friday   Last week's Math IXL was due today. A new IXL contract came home today and is due NEXT TUESDAY. This week's skills are LEVEL G: G1 (What decimal number is illustrated?) G3- Understanding decimals expressed in words; G4- Place values in decimal numbers; G14-Convert decimals between standard and expanded form using fractions. Here is a link to Cumulative Review #14 link due WEDNESDAY!
Science:	We have been working on our "Human Impact on the Environment" research project. We will finish those up this week and present them in class. At this point, students that are not finished will need to finish outside of class time. We have had 5 full class days and some homeroom time to work on these projects.  ALL PROJECTS are due NO LATER than this FRIDAY. We will also begin a new unit on matter.  .

January 4th-8th, 2016

 "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." 

 — Ralph Waldo Emerson

General Announcements:	We hope you all had a wonderful break and were able to enjoy good times with family and friends!  We are excited for all this new year holds! We can't thank you enough for the amazing Christmas/holiday gifts you gave us! It is so fun to experience the excitement and joy when your children hand us their gifts. Each and every gift is very special, and we appreciate so much your thoughtfulness to us!  We would greatly appreciate if you can  replenish your child's pencils, glue sticks, colored pencils, markers, eraser caps, and scissors as we begin this 2nd semester of 5th grade!  Report Cards come home this Wednesday, January 6th! Please review, sign, and return Thursday, January 7th. Brock's Gap Career Fair is coming up, if you are interested in helping please fill out this form. Looking ahead:  PTO Parent Academy is Tuesday, January 26th 6:00-7:30 P.M.
Language Arts:	We will be talking about text structure this week. We will focus on the following types of nonfiction text: comparison, cause and effect, problem and solution, and chronology. The students will have to identify and create some examples of their own! There will be a quiz on the text structure types on Friday, January 8th. There will be no reading log this week. We are making an exciting new change this semester. We will be using a website called Tween Tribune, instead of using reading logs. The students will be responsible for reading the article we assign from this website and taking a short quiz each week. We still expect them to be reading a book of choice, bringing it to and from school, and prepared to talk about it on Fridays. We will choose different students at random to show their book, talk about the plot/characters, and answer questions for a portion of their homework grade. Look for more information next week when we get started! The kids were given a Word Wizard crossword puzzle to review vocabulary words from the past few stories. It is due Thursday, January 7th. Grammar IXL skills O.1, O.2, O.3 are due on Google Classroom by Friday. This another exciting new change. Ask your child to show you the 2 virtual classrooms they are a part of. It has so many neat features and will now host links, classwork, homework, documents, and study guides. In a lot of ways it will take the place of the blog for language arts and social studies. They can do work when they are out and don't have to worry about losing papers!
Social Studies:	We are beginning our study of the creation of the United States government this week with the Articles of Confederation. I have posted two discussion/reflection questions on the social studies google classroom for the kids to respond to as a participation grade. I am looking for the kids to answer and give a reason for their opinion. I want to see critical thinking!
Math:	We will do a couple of days of fraction review: comparing and ordering, adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators, improper and proper fractions, and fraction equivalents.  We will also begin our new Unit which focuses on Place Value and Adding/Subtracting Decimals. Cumulative Review # came home today and is due Wednesday.  There will not be a Cumulative Review quiz this week.   Math IXL contract came home today and is due NEXT MONDAY.
Science:	We are going to be working on an "Impact on the Environment" research project this week. The information for this project is posted on the Science page of this blog-Link to project directions.