With the Little Big Things Gala coming up, I think our mind certainly travels to the “littles” of elementary and all the big things they are up to, but don’t forget the middle schoolers! I would argue they are a perfect embodiment of a “little big thing.” They are big and in the middle of the growing-up-too-fast that we made them promise not to do – emotionally stretching, mastering academic concepts, learning hard lessons, wearing adult shoe sizes. However, they are also “little” – they’re back foot is still in childhood, their mind can still get lost in a neverland of creativity, playfulness, and an open mind. What a wonderful tension to be both little and big for four fabulous years. These “little-bigs” are certainly celebrated in this newsletter every week and at TCS each day. I hope you will join me in applauding them BIG at the gala!
-Ms. Maggie
Upcoming Dates:
- March 14 – Little Big Things Gala
- April 1 – Art Night Celebration
- April 3 – 10 – Spring Break\
ELA: This week in ELA, 5th grade studied The Walrus & The Carpenter by Lewis Carroll, reading the rhyme scheme, rhythm, figurative language, and illustrations closely for meaning. Poets then enjoyed a variety of comedic and clever pieces by Shel Silverstein, attempting to replicate the structure of his jokes and wit in their own poems and sketches. 5th grade began a new grammar unit, as well, with a test planned for March 18th.
Next week, 5th grade will work on sketching and line drawing with Ms. Henslee and begin rewriting and refining poems for our Spread the Word event on April 16th. They’ll have another week of grammar study before testing on 3/18, and will receive their grammar study guide by next Thursday.
Science: This week in Science, our 5th graders began an exciting cross-curricular math and science project. Students were introduced to bacteria, learning how scientists grow and study microorganisms by inoculating petri dishes. They also researched specific types of bacteria commonly found on human hands, building background knowledge about the microscopic world around us.
Next week, students will begin growing their bacteria cultures, collect data on growth rates, and continue researching their selected bacteria, combining scientific investigation with mathematical analysis as their project unfolds.
Social Studies: Students will be starting their women’s history month projects next week!
Math: This week in math, 5th graders continued to study and characterize both quadrilaterals and triangles, before relating this knowledge back to the first part of the unit – the coordinate plane. They’ll generate patterns between numbers to help interpret relationships between ordered pairs and different shapes on the plane.
Next week, we’ll wrap up this shorter unit with our end of unit assessment on Thursday (March 12). They received a study guide this week that we’ll review next Wednesday! They’ll also take their ERB Winter/Spring Milestone on Monday, which will showcase how much they’ve grown so far this year!
