The Week of October 1st

Hello, TCE families. Thank you for taking the time to read our 5th grade blog!

What's Happening Around TCE?

Conferences: 

TCE Parent-Teacher Conferences will be this Friday, October 5th. The learners do not have school on this day, but are encouraged to join the conferences. Your child's homeroom has sent out an email with a sign up link. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's homeroom teacher. 

Aptitude Test: 

A letter went home earlier this week about an aptitude test that the 3rd and 5th graders will be taking on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week. They will be testing for less than an hour on each of these days in their homeroom classes. Our specials, lunch, and recess time will remain the same. 

Popcorn During Texan Town:

The learners can order popcorn on Fridays during Texan Town for 50 cents. They also have the opportunity to pay $2.50 for a subscription, which will cover the cost of popcorn for the remaining 5 Texan Town sessions. 

 CGA Writing Competition:

The Coppell Gifted Association is gearing up for its annual writing competition. They are excited about having as many learners participate as possible, and they are also on the hunt for educators that can help judge the writings. I have been a judge for the past five years, and it is not hard at all. They send you digital files of a particular writing category to judge, and you can do it in the comfort of your own home.

Metrocrest Food Drive:

TCE is partnering with Metrocrest Services to provide food donations for local families and senior citizens. The food drive will run October 9th-19th. We will have boxes at the end of each downstairs hallways that leaners can place their donations in.

A Peek Into Our Classrooms

Exploring different types of energy in science.

Learning about unfair taxing during the American Revolution!

Learning about unfair taxing during the American Revolution!

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math

Here is the link to this week's optional homework.This week in math we will finish our unit over decimal place value. The learners will take a test on Thursday of this week that requires them to represent the value of the digit in decimals through the thousandths place using expanded notation and numerals, compare and order two decimals to the thousandths place and represent comparisons using the symbols >, <, or =; and round decimals to the nearest tenth or hundredth place.

Science

This week in science we will start the week by investigating light. We will start with how light travels and then we will be investigating color. After our light and color investigations, we will be investigating mechanical energy. We will be using hands on investigations and Discovery Education to lead the learners to a full understanding of these topics.

Social Studies

Students are continued their study on the American Revolution. Now that they understand the causes of the Revolution, learners will explore the Declaration of Independence and the impact of Patriots, Loyalists, and Neutralist.

Reading & Language Arts

In reading, we will be focusing on identifying the theme of a fiction text by analyzing the problems that the characters face. In spelling, we will focus on commonly confused words. In grammar, we will continue to focus on irregular verbs. In writing, we will be writing narratives in the form of comics! Then we will be learning how to correctly write dialogue using the speech bubbles in our comics.

Sky Ranch Payments

We are thrilled to be able to start talking about our trip to Sky Ranch in April! Your son/daughter will be coming home with a letter (printed on bright green paper) about the payment options for our trip. You may also access that letter here. 

The first payment of $50 will be due on Monday, October 1st. You may pay by cash, check, or credit card. If you choose to pay by check, please make your check out to Town Center. If you choose to pay by credit card, you may access this link to make your payment. 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email your homeroom teacher and ask. We are more than happy to help! 

The Week of September 24th

Hello 5th grade families! We can't believe it is already near the end of September. Thank you for taking the time to read our blog updates!

What's Happening Around TCE?

Conferences: 

Mark your calendars for our Parent-Teacher Conferences on Friday, October 5th. The learners do not have school on this day, but are encouraged to join the conferences. Your child's homeroom teacher will email out a sign-up link for a conference time within the next week.

Fair Ticket: 

The learners will be coming home with a free ticket to the State Fair of Texas. The fair is located at Fair Park in Dallas, TX, and will be open from September 28th - October 21st.

A Peek Into Our Classrooms

Happy "FRIYAY" from 5C!

5th Grade Relay Race Challenge in Math

5th Grade Relay Race Challenge in Math

5th Grade Relay Race Challenge in Math

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math

Here is a link to this week's optional homework.

This week in math we will continue our unit over decimal place value. This unit will require the learners to represent the value of the digit in decimals through the thousandths place using expanded notation and numerals, compare and order two decimals to the thousandths place and represent comparisons using the symbols >, <, or =; and round decimals to the nearest tenth or hundredth place.

Science

This week in science we will be starting our unit on force, motion, and energy. The learners will start by reviewing circuits, conductors, and insulators with hands on investigations. We will then start investigating light. The learners will be learning how light travels.

Social Studies

This week, in Social Studies, the learners will continue exporing the causes of the American Revolution. Learners will learn more about the impact of events such as The French and Indian War, Taxation without Representation, The Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.

Reading & Language Arts

This week we will be starting fiction Book Clubs! Learners will have the opportunity to select their top fiction chapter books. Then, they will meet with their Book Clubs to write their Club Constitutions, come up with a Club Name, and begin reading & discussing their books.

In writing, we will begin our narrative unit. Learners will start with a quick narrative pre-assessment. Then, they'll write short narratives in the format of a comic strip or graphic novel! We can't wait to see what they come up with.

In grammar, we will focus on collective nouns and irregular verbs. Ask your son/daughter to explain the definition of a collective noun, and then see if you can think of examples as a family!
In spelling, we will focus on words that have consonant changes when we add -ion or -ian.

The Week of September 17th

Hi TCE families! Thank you for taking the time to read our blog. We will continue to update the blog every Friday with important information, so be sure to bookmark this link. 

What's Happening Around TCE?
We loved having so many of you visit our classrooms on Friday, September 14th, for Special Friends Day! We also want to thank our wonderful room parents for coming early to help set up the snacks for each of our classes. 

Book Fair: 

Did you not have enough time to stop by our Fall Book Fair? Did we run out of an item that you wanted? Well good news! You can shop our book fair online until September 20: http://www.scholastic.com/bf/towncenterelementaryschool

Purchases made online will be delivered to the school about two weeks after the book fair, and profits will go towards our school library.

Fall Family Picnic: 

We hope to see all of our TCE families tonight from 6:00-8:00PM at the Fall Family Picnic! If the weather allows,  it will be at the Town Center Plaza located adjacent to our playground and behind City Hall. If it is raining, we will move indoors to the gym/cafeteria, and have games under the awnings. It is a great time to connect with other families and staff, and everyone has a chance to participate in our yearly auction for fun-filled prizes. We'll have several food trucks and a DJ. We hope to see you all there! 

Conferences: 

Mark your calendars for our Parent-Teacher Conferences on Friday, October 5th. The learners do not have school on this day, but are encouraged to join the conferences. Your child's homeroom teacher will email out a sign-up link for a conference time within the next couple weeks.

We will continue to update the calendar at the top of this blog to share important dates.

A Peek into Our Classrooms

Learners reviewing the Six Traits of Writing

Learners reviewing the Six Traits of Writing

"Chat Chair"- one learner gets the floor to share at the end of the day!

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math

Here is a link to this week's optional homework. This extra practice also serves as a great review for the test over Whole Number Operations that the learners are taking on Monday, 9/17. Our next unit is over decimal place value, which we will begin this week. This unit will require the learners to represent the value of the digit in decimals through the thousandths place using expanded notation and numerals, compare and order two decimals to the thousandths place and represent comparisons using the symbols >, <, or =; and round decimals to the nearest tenth or hundredth place.

Science

This week in science we will be wrapping up our unit over matter and energy. We will be sending home a review this weekend. This is NOT homework, but the learners may complete it over the weekend. We will be going over it on Monday during class. The learners will be taking a test over what they learned on Tuesday. they will also be completing a project to showcase their learning. They will complete their pre-test for force, motion, and energy on Friday.

Social Studies

This week, in Social Studies, the learners will begin their unit on the causes of the American Revolution. Learners will be introduced to new unit vocabulary and will explore events such as The French and Indian War, Taxation without Representation, The Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.

Reading & Language Arts

In reading, we will continue to focus on how to think analytically to write about reading. We will also be launching our new Book Clubs! Learners will have a chance to practice what they've learned about analyzing the text with their book clubs.
In writing, we will wrap up our beginning of the year writing assessments. Ask your son/daughter about the place they chose to write about! In our grammar study, we have become experts on identifying the subject & predicate. Next week we will focus on identifying and using collective nouns. In our spelling study, we will focus on consonant changes when we add -ion to the end of root words.

The Week of September 10th

Hi everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read through our 5th Grade Blog again.

Please see the Google calendar embedded above with important dates and reminders. 

What's Happening Around TCE? 

• Please plan on joining us Friday, September 14th for Special Friend's Day, a fun-filled day at Town Center! We have designated times throughout the day for "Special Friends" (family & family friends) to visit our learners' classrooms in order to see some of the great things they are learning and doing. The designated time for 5th grade is 8:30-9:30. Our campus book fair will also be open during this time. In order to expedite the check-in process for our Special Friend's Day visitors, please fill in the form above (click here or on the picture) BY THURSDAY, SEPT. 13TH AT 10:00AM in order for us to quickly sign in the special friend and send them to meet up with your child.

• TCE's Annual Fall Family Picnic will be Friday, September 14th, from 6-8pm. We would love to see your families there!
• The book fair will be going on the week of September 10th-14th. Your learner will attend a "book fair preview" to get an idea of what books he/she would like to purchase. There will be designated times they are allowed to purchase items from the book fair this week, including Special Friends Day.

A Peek into Our Classrooms

Learners writing WELL about reading!

Learners writing WELL about reading!

5th Grade helping out Kindergarten at our Book Fair preview!

5th Grade helping out Kindergarten at our Book Fair preview!

You can always follow the hashtag #tce5th on Twitter to see more pictures from our classrooms. 

Important Reminders: 

• As you know, we had Curriculum Night this past Thursday, August 30th. During Curriculum Night, we shared a presentation that has a lot of important information about this year. (Click here for the link.) If you were not able to make it to this event, please take a minute to read through the presentation. If you have any questions, please email your son/daughter's homeroom teacher. We are happy to answer any questions! 

Curriculum Updates: 

Math
This week in math we will continue expanding our multiplication and division abilities! We will be working on multiplying 3 digit numbers by 2 digit number and dividing 4 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers. In multiplication and division we will be focusing on using the traditional algorithm strategies. If you feel that you're learner would benefit from extra practice at home, here is a link to the optional homework for this week.

Science
This week in science we will be exploring the differences between mixtures and solutions. The learners will be participating in several hands on activities that will help them understand the how mixtures and solutions are different.

Social Studies
This week in Social Studies learners will close out their unit on Colonization and begin exploring the causes of the American Revolution.

Reading & Language Arts
In reading this week, the learners will focus on thinking analytically and revising their writing about reading. Through the workshop model, the learners will also participate in beginning of the year fluency & comprehension checks.
In writing, we will review the Six Traits of writing in preparation for our Beginning of the Year Writing Assessment. We will also review how to identify the complete subject and complete predicate of a sentence.

In writing, we will review the Six Traits of writing in preparation for our Beginning of the Year Writing Assessment. We will also review how to identify the complete subject and complete predicate of a sentence.

Our 5th graders wrote their own versions of "Where I'm From" poems. Learners then created visual presentations to showcase their poetry. You may access the instructions and rubrics for these assignments in this presentation. The fifth graders will be posting their finished products on this link.