PTA Election Meeting - June 15 - 8:30am - Lower School
PS 230
Our Teachers
PS 230 5th Grade Team
Front Row (L to R) - Ms. Lasky, Ms. Grant, Ms. DiScipio, Ms. Kelley, Ms. Madison, Ms. Conroy
Back Row (L to R) - Mr. Ramos, Ms. Smith, Mr. Metzner, Ms. Fitzgerald, Mrs. Joudeh, Ms. Redmond
Please click on a teacher's name to view profile.
5-501 Ms. Kelley, Room 403
5-502 Ms. Lasky, Room 428
5-503 Mrs. Joudeh and Ms. Conroy, Room 405
5-504 Ms. Fitzgerald and Mr. Metzner, Room 429
5-505 Ms. Redmond and Ms. Madison, Room 431
5-506 Ms. Grant, Room 401
4/5 - 212 Mr. Ramos, Room 430
5th Grade Archives
Monthly Newsletter
5th Grade Newsletter: June 2017
Reading:
Our fifth graders are enjoying a journey to new worlds with magical characters during this month’s fantasy unit. Students are learning to recognize archetypes and use them to deepen their understanding of the stories. Since all good fantasy is grounded in reality, fifth graders are examining these texts for the real-world lessons that are lurking beneath the surface. Finally, we are discussing how all well-rounded characters face their own metaphorical dragons.
Finally, we are discussing strategies to keep our reading volume up during the long summer. Our goal? To enter sixth grade ready to do high-level thinking!
Writing
Our current writing unit is Fantasy. In this unit, students will draw on their prior knowledge of narrative writing and then push themselves to incorporate fantasy elements: fantastical worlds, magical objects, magical characters, and symbolism to create their own stories. Some students will write short stories; others will be creating short graphic novels.
Social Studies
For our final unit in Social Studies this year the students are learning about the American Civil War.
Our students are fascinated with this topic and are asking many great questions about medical advancements, slavery, technological innovation, and more!
You can support this learning at home by accessing free online resources such as Brainpop.com, history.com, newsela.com, and Google searches to watch videos, play games, and learn more about the topic. Also, you can check out books at your local public library on the subject and we recommend a classic by Patricia Polacco called, “Pink and Say.”
STEM
Math
If you were to ask the students what we are learning about in math they would tell you that we are finally doing Algebra, after hearing about it all year. The truth is we have been building their algebraic thinking and skills all year, but we have finally started using variables. Ask your student to show you how to play “What’s My Rule” at home or to explain how they solved the Banquet Table problem.
As the year comes to a close it is time to look back on all the amazing learning our students have accomplished this year. It is also a time to look forward to ensure each students success in middle school. Please make sure they continue to practice their math fact fluency and use all their online resources throughout the summer!
Science
Our fifth grade scientists are completing our unit of study—Variables. We have completed a lab report related to the controlled experiment we conducted in class and this will be used as an assessment. Once you receive the graded assessment and after reviewing it, please return it signed. We will start our second unit of study—Landforms. This unit introduces how our earth is shaped by looking at various landforms and by exploring erosion and deposition. At home, you can discuss the many types of landforms found on our earth such as mountains, canyons, plateaus, deltas, and more.
- Ms. Vera
Important Dates
Happy June, Fifth Grade Families!
Wow! We can’t believe it’s June! We have had such awonderful year with your children and can’t believe how many great things we have accomplished together! From traveling to the Poconos to solving complex, multi-step math problems, your children have grown up so much this year!
With that in mind, we would like for you to pay special attention to the dates in this newsletter. We have many special events planned for your children such as the dessert party, dance, and fifth grade graduation. Please keep these dates handy so that you can attend and celebrate all of these wonderful events with your child!
June 2017
June 7th - Talent Show, 6:00 pm
June 8th - Clerical Day, no students in attendance
June 9th - Author of "I Survived" series, Lauren Tarshis, coming to PS 230
June 11th - School Fair
June 12th - Clerical Day, no students in attendance
June 15th - BCT Performance
June 16th - 5th Grade Dance - tropical themed!
June 18th - Father's Day
June 21st - 5th Grade Dessert Party
June 23rd - 5th Grade Graduation
June 26th - Eid, School Closed
June 28th - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
The Importance of Summer Reading
With the end of the school year fast approaching, we want to remind families how important summer reading is for your children.
Research consistently shows that daily reading helps build reading stamina, comprehension, and vocabulary. While this break from academics is important for all members of the education community, especially students, it’s important to keep up with daily reading with your children.
The best part about summer reading is that your children can always choose their books. Cultivating a reading life involves your child having opinions, likes, and dislikes about types of reading. Whether it’s a graphic novel or a non-fiction textbook about Egyptian mummies, we, the fifth grade teachers at PS 230, highly recommend that your child does daily reading of choice throughout the summer. The best way to encourage daily reading is by modeling this yourself by reading your own book or sharing a book with your child. All of your children love to be read to in the classroom, we promise! You can also make it fun by adding different voices or characters as you read along, and if the book is challenging for your youngster, you can also take turns on different pages or chapters.
We are so proud of all of their hard work and wish them the best in middle school and beyond! And the best way to start middle school is with strong reading skills and enjoyment for the reading practice.
Summer Enrichment!
Summer is a great time to try different free and low cost enrichment programs across New York City. It is also a great time to visit museums and cultural institutions so that your child can see and experience many of the topics they have learned about in school.
Free and low cost programs:
Metropolitan Museum of Art – offers free art classes on Saturdays even through the summer for children ages 11 and up. You just need to register in advance. Admission to the museum is optional as to what you choose to pay.
Brooklyn Museum offers suggested admission – this means you can decide what to pay. Children under 11 are free and older children $6 as the suggested admission. Remember YOU decide what to pay and can pay $1 if you wish! See art related to Westward Expansion, Civil War, Revolutionary war. Look at the pictures and ask: What are the people doing? What story is being told?
Carroll Street Park will be offering free physical activities starting July 1st at 10 am Tuesday to Saturday.
Barnes and Noble runs a free summer reading program, and check in at your local library because often they hold a supervised free book club for students during the summer.