Happy New Year (and New Units!)

2016 has much in store for fifth graders at Bryn Mawr!  In math, the girls have started to work with decimals.  This unit will have them adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers with tenths, hundredths, and thousandths.  The girls will also learn how to calculate various percentages: tip, tax, and discount.  Designing a bakery and online "shopping" (don't worry, we never go past the shopping cart phase) are two ways the girls will apply their new decimal skills! 

In language arts, both reading groups will continue reading and analyzing The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.  The main focus in January will be taking specific details from the text and using them to support opinions, observations,  interpretations, and predictions in reading response assignments.

In history, we are wrapping up our explorer unit and diving right into early English settlements.  Speaking of early English settlements, where did Roanoke go?.......

Martin Luther King Jr.

This morning, the girls wrote acts of service they will perform this weekend and placed it around one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s most famous quotes.

Remember, Monday is not a day "off" but a day "on," to serve others and the community.

Code!

In December, the girls began the coding unit by learning about Ada Lovelace, a famous, female computer programmer.  Next, the girls participated in the Hour of Code.  According to the Hour of Code website, "Launched in 2013, Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. We believe computer science should be part of core curriculum, alongside other courses such as biology, chemistry or algebra."  You can find more info about Hour of Code - even have your daughter do this at home - by clicking here.

The girls are now using Scratch, "a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations" (https://scratch.mit.edu/).  The girls began learning this programming language in 4th grade, building onto their skills.  This year, in fifth grade, the girls will continue to build on the basics of Scratch.  They are learning how to:  create animation incorporating movement and images, use xy coordinates to move sprites, alternate between different costumes, incorporate time and motion, import pictures and sound, create and recording sounds to use in projects, use the pen function, and use repeats to draw images.  Then, they will use these skills and incorporate them into a variety of games and other projects. 

We use the downloaded version at school.  You can download this at home or create an account for your daughter (parents permission and email required) by clicking here.  Please be aware that if you don't download the program, your daughter will be on an online community that should be monitored by parents.