2025 - 2026 School Year
We are now beginning the second quarter of the school year, and my personal favorite part of fifth grade! The content and novel are two of the things that make this time of year so fun and special. This quarter, we are beginning with informational texts so we can build some background knowledge before we begin our second novel, Peak, by Roland Smith. This novel takes us on an adventure to Nepal and Tibet to the slopes of the Himilayas, as Peak and his dad take on Mount Everest. Our focus will be on finding main idea and details, determining the meaning of unknown words and phrases, comparing and contrasting text structure, and synthesizing information from multiple sources.
**Please see the "Week at a Glance" section for more detailed plans for each day of the week.**
Important Dates
Friday, October 31 - Fall party 11:00 - 12:00; Early Dismissal 12:05; Please log in to PowerSchool today to view your child's Quarter 1 report card
Tuesday, November 11 - Veteran's Day Assembly
Friday, November 21 - Early Dismissal 12:05
Monday, November 24 - Parent Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, November 25 - Parent Teacher Conferences
Wednesday, November 26 - Friday, November 28 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
Friday, December 19 - Winter Party 1:15 - 2:15; Early Dismissal 2:30
Remind Updates
Our Encore classes for the year are as follows:
Quarter 2 - Spanish with Mrs. Smerz
Quarter 3 - STEM with Mrs. Jozaitis
Quarter 4 - Music with Mr. Bertrand
We have PE every day - please remember to have appropriate gym shoes with you each day.
My ELA classes will visit the library on Mondays.
Quarter 2 Overview
Essential Question: What influences our ability to adapt?
Novel: Peak by Roland Smith
- Narrative writing - Students will working on continuing a story as well as writing from a different character or narrator's point of view
- L 5.2 – I can demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Reading Literature Standards:
- RL 5.1 I can quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
- RL 5.2 - I can determine the theme of a text; determine how characters respond to challenges.
- RL 5.3 - I can compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story.
- RL 5.4 - I can use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words.
- RL 5.9 - I can compare and contrast stories in the same genre according to similar themes and topics.
- RI 5.1 I can quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
- RI 5.2 - I can determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details.
- RI 5.4 - I can determine the meaning of words or phrases in a text using context clues.
- RI 5.5 - I can compare and contrast the overall structure of a text.
- RI 5.9 - I can integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write about the subject.
Scholastic Book Club Orders
Our class code is QCDZK. I place orders from Scholastic at the end of each month. These book orders give our class a chance to build our classroom library as well as earn free books for our classroom. If you need any help with your order, please let me know! Thank you for supporting our classroom. Access Scholastic Book Order Here
E-Learning Plan
In the event of the need to call an e-learning day, we will be utilizing the schedule attached below. E-learning days will only be called if we have fair warning of severe inclement weather and have time to send students home with all their materials and devices.
