Reading

We continue to work on being reflective

learners. The students completed a 2nd 9

Weeks Reflection, as well as a Bloom’s Taxon-

omy Inventory.

Our next novel will be Bridge to Terabithia. It is

full of figurative language!

We have explored the Six Thinking Hats explic-

itly with our read aloud, Auggie and Me. Ask

your child which is his/her favorite “hat”!

Social Studies

The students have completed the Money-

combs Business Plan in their mini economy

groups. Please help our economy by joining

us for our second Market Day on Friday,

March 9th. It will take place in the cafeteria

with Mrs. Dickerson’s fourth grade class from

9:00-10:00am. Feel free to come and go

throughout the hour!

Each business has also designed a survey to

help them prepare for Market Day, created a

website for customers, and an advertisement.

We are also discussing Henrico’s government

and how it is similar to our state and federal

government.

Math

We have finished fractions and ratios. The stu-

dents learned how to add and subtract

mixed numbers and four different types of ra-

tios.

The students have enjoyed learning more

about variables and completing algebraic

expressions and equations.

REMINDERS:

3/1: Student Half-Day

3/3: Book Fair begins at Barnes

and Noble

3/9: SPES Market Day—Parents

Invited (9:00-10:00am)

3/13: Tdap Vaccination at SPES

3/14: Pi Day!

3/15: Nauticus Field Trip

3/21: MSiC Field Trip

3/27: VCU Market Day Field

Trip—More information to come.

QUICK UPDATES: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

MRS. BERNHEART: MCBERNHEART@HENRICO.K12.VA.US / 360-0812

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Can you believe we’re already four weeks into the third nine weeks? As I said in my email, I

am so fortunate that we communicate on a regular basis through newsletters, the blog,

email, and Class Dojo. I sent home a folder with all families that contains some information

to take us to the end of the school year. Their second nine weeks final grades are included

in the folder for your records. It’s nice that PowerSchool makes this available at any point for

you and your child to check! As you know, Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems have been

used in the gifted program, and it is important to experience all levels. Therefore, I have in-

cluded a comprehensive chart that includes the definition of each level (knowledge, com-

prehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and create). There are also key words under

each level. Knowledge and comprehension are considered lower level thinking skills; how-

ever, for some students, this is more challenging for them. There are also actions and out-

comes—the action’s results. Lastly, question stems are also on the chart. These are great for

students to realize what types of questions they are answering. I created a Bloom’s Taxono-

my Inventory for your child to take. This included twenty-five questions or activities pertain-

ing to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This was an easy book to use for the purpose of the

inventory. Based on the questions, your child used a 1-3 rating scale on whether he/she is

good at that type of question and whether or not he or she likes the task. Furthermore, your

student ranked the question based on it being easy, medium, or difficult. This inventory al-

lowed your child to see where he or she feels comfortable, what he/she likes, and what he/

Mrs. Bernheart’s Buzzworthy ‘Cont.

she finds challenging. The challenging part was a bit deceiving since, for the purpose of the

inventory, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was used. Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

strategy is a technique used to look at decisions or situations from different points of view.

This helps the students move away from habitual thinking styles (I know I am guilty of this my-

self) and more towards a well-rounded outlook. I have included a handout on this so that

you can read further if you wish. Habits of Mind are also important for gifted students. As Art

Costa puts it, “Habits of Mind are the characteristics of what intelligent people do when

they are confronted with problems, the resolutions of which are not immediately apparent.”

These are rarely performed in isolation. We will refer to characters in books using these be-

haviors, as well as our own. Again, I have put some study tips in your child’s folder to encour-

age your child to study in a manner that they learn best, whether that is visually, auditory, or

kinesthetically. Furthermore, there is an article on motivation and gifted students. I think this

is good timing since they are more than half-way to middle school. Lastly, your child’s 2nd 9

Weeks Self-Reflection is included. We continue to work on being self-reflective learners.

Thank you for the Valentines! They were fun and creative; I am always appreciative of your

love! I hope each of you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. The students were presented

with a Valentine Container Design Challenge on Wednesday, February 14th. The students

were presented with a simple problem. How would they contain their valentines? Therefore,

the challenge was for students to design and create a container for them to contain their

valentines. The container had to have a theme surrounded around how they keep their

heart healthy and active. Some students chose for their design to be one, large symbol

such as a basketball hoop or a bed (rest keeps us healthy, right?)! They were only able to

use paper, and it had to fit on their desk or attach to their desk. Additionally, it needed a

“door” and at least one movable part. Besides the paper, the students were able to use

glue, tape, staples, fasteners, scissors, pencils, and coloring implements. The designs were

well done! I loved how the students portrayed themselves.

Mrs. Bernheart’s Buzzworthy ‘Cont.

READING

Your child has a “Reading Skills Study Guide—First Semester” in his/her binder. This includes

many of the skills that we discussed during the first half of the year. This includes word analy-

sis strategies and word reference materials, fiction, and nonfiction text. We discussed vari-

ous ways of using context clues including synonyms, antonyms, explanations, and exam-

ples. We also reviewed multiple meaning words, including homonyms and homophones.

The students can easily determine synonyms and antonyms when the vocabulary is familiar

to them; however, if it is not, they may need to use process of elimination in order to deter-

mine the answer. We discussed various reference materials, such as the dictionary, thesau-

rus, atlas, almanac, glossary, and index. Through our novels and read aloud, we have dis-

cussed character development, the plot diagram, and point of view in detail. Furthermore,

as we continue to read, we will be discussing the main idea and supporting details. Drawing

conclusions and making inferences continue to challenge the students; therefore, we will

be doing it whole group and in small groups this week and next. I am so proud of how the

students performed on the First Semester Benchmark. Your child’s grade can be found on

PowerSchool. We will go over the exam once it’s released to me.

We have been busy during our reading block working in whole group and small groups,

completing projects, and presenting them to the class. The students are currently working

on a literacy menu, and I am pulling small groups to read a fictional text and discuss infer-

ring. While working on their literacy menu, students are working on their exact path on the

computer. This is specific to each student’s reading needs. In reading response journals, stu-

dents are responding to a science topic (rocks, oceans, or cells). Their writing must be struc-

tured like one of the five nonfiction text structures we’ve discussed. In writing, students are

adding to their figurative language dictionary and transition library. Both of these docu-

ments can be found in your child’s Google drive. Each child is also completing a compre-

hension classwork grade and reviewing the fourth grade weather topic as their cross-

curricular activity. Lastly, each student is working on their Element Baby Book.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Our language arts goes hand in hand with our reading. As I’ve already discussed, students

have been tackling many different figurative language techniques as we read aloud and

read to self.

Students have also been working with Latin roots and Wordly Wise vocabulary. The class has

worked hard to identify specific parts of speech and use it in their writing.

We will continue to work on grammar, usage, and mechanics weekly. For the next couple

of weeks, we will work on specific topics per week, starting with commas.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We are wrapping up Henrico government with discussing the magisterial districts and the

way our county’s government is comprised. Mini Economy is well underway. The students

have created a business plan within their operating system. Each business has also com-

piled a survey in order to better produce for the market days. Furthermore, the businesses

have designed a website using Google sites. Please take a look at your child’s hard work!

Thank you for your continued support throughout this real-world project-based learning ex-

perience. We couldn’t do it without your support! Our first in-class Market Day is taking

place today, and we look forward to debriefing afterwards to improve before the next one

on Friday, March 9th. It will take place from 9:00-10:00am in the cafeteria with Mrs. Dicker-

son’s fourth grade class. You are invited to join us!

As you know, in February, we often honor our presidents. Some students memorized the

presidents in chronological order. A wonderful song was there to help them! They received

the rubric and the students will recite them over the next week. Other students chose to

memorize the fifty states in alphabetical order. We talked about how memorizing can be

beneficial and how it helps our brain develop. The students seemed excited to take on this

challenge and to be able to choose which they wanted to work on.

Lastly, thank you for coming out and supporting International Night! I hope you were able to

see the country presentations the students created.

MATH

We have finally finished fractions and ratios! The students learned how to find the GCF and

LCM, simplify, and add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers. These are all fifth grade

concepts. We also learned about ratios (sixth grade topic) and how to express them in

three different ways. The students also took their Math Benchmark this past Tuesday and

Wednesday. I am very proud of their hard work! You can find your child’s score on Pow-

erSchool. Way to go, kiddos!!!

We worked through fifth and sixth grade concepts pertaining to variables this week. The stu-

dents learned how to write a written phrase for a variable expression or equation and vice

versa. We talked about how order matters for subtraction and division, but not for addition

and multiplication. The students also explored various vocabulary words, such as coeffi-

cient, variable, term, expression, and equation. We talked about how to simplify expressions

when given the unknown value, or variable. Order of operations came back into play for

this! Lastly, the students learned how to solve equations. Sometimes the students will be able

to solve without much brain power, but other times, it will not come so easily. Therefore, it is

imperative that your child understands how to show their work when solving algebraic

equations.

Next week, we’ll work with Hands-On Equations. This is a whole-brain instructional approach

to algebra. This involves manipulatives that many of the students like, while others just like

working with the numbers. This brings back their Multiple Intelligence strengths. The visual

and kinesthetic approach provides students with an effective introduction to advanced al-

gebraic concepts. Here are some algebra concepts that your student will learn through

Hands-On Equations: the concept of the unknown, how to evaluate an expression, how to

combine like terms, the relational meaning of the equal sign (both sides have the same val-

ue), and the meaning of an algebra equation.

Mrs. Bernheart’s Buzzworthy ‘Cont.

SCIENCE

Did you know the fifth grade science SOL covers all of the fourth grade content, as well as

the fifth grade topics? Last week was the first week we began reviewing fourth grade con-

tent. The fourth grade content goes right along with what we have done so far in fifth grade

(scientific method, rocks, oceans, cells, and matter). Below, you will find what we covered

this week and last, as well as what is approaching.

Week of February 12 — 4.6 Weather

Week of February 19—4.9 Natural Resources & Watersheds

Week of February 26—4.5 Animals & Ecosystems

Week of March 5—4.4 Plant Anatomy & Processes

Week of March 12—4.2 Force & Motion

The students have also been learning about matter. We began by brainstorming examples of

solids, liquids, and gases. We talked about properties of matter and the characteristics of

each phase. We watched a few video clips to help us visualize condensation and evapora-

tion, as well as the melting, boiling, and freezing points. We’ve also discussed the effect of

temperature on the phases of matter. This week we learned more about atoms and ele-

ments. The students understand how to read the periodic table and understand what an at-

om is made up of, as well as elements! We will begin talking about molecules and com-

pounds and how these differ from atoms and elements next week. We will wrap up our mat-

ter unit with mixtures and solutions.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. M.C. Bernheart