Back to School Night

Dear 5V Parents,

It was so nice to see such a great turn out at 'Back to School Night' on Wednesday.  We really appreciate you taking the time, especially after your busy day.  As a grade 5 team, we truly felt your support and valued your questions and feedback.  It felt like we were able to have the kind of open, honest dialogue that will ultimately serve your child well this year. If you would like to refer back to the Prezi we showed, or if you weren't able to attend, the presentation is linked below.  Please continue to ask great questions and give honest feedback.  Again, my email address is jvanlare@acsamman.edu.jo.  Please feel free to contact me anytime.        

http://prezi.com/duy8nrgc_onp/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Kind Regards,

~Mr. V  

Check Out The Highlight Video From Our Awesome Dead Sea Field Trip

The Dead Sea Bonding Trip Was A Huge Success!

Everyone seemed to have a blast as we worked together, cheered each other on and spent time having fun as one united fifth grade community.  Our smiles shone as bright as the midday sun!  Moms and Dads, please come to BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT on Wednesday the 24th to see our awesome slideshow with many more photos.

Join The ACS Rice Bucket Challenge!

Mr. Gaylord's Grade 5 Selfie

Mr. Gaylord is our new ES principal.  On the first day of school he decided to capture the smiling faces of the Grade 5 students and teachers as we lined up to begin the year.  

Students Use Manipulatives to Deepen Understanding of Multiplication and Division

In math we have been working to deepen our understanding of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division by using unifix cubes to build different rectangular prisms.  For example, in the bottom photo a student makes 24 two different ways: one by stacking 6 groups of 4 cubes and the other by stacking 8 groups of 3 cubes.  This helps students to conceptually understand several different ideas:

1) The "fact familes" 4x6=24  6x4=24
                                 24÷6=4   24÷4=6                         
                                      3x8=24   8x3=24
                                      24÷8=3   24÷3=8

2) The Concept/Definition of Factors (numbers you multiply together to get a product) and Multiples (numbers you skip-count by to eventually land on a product...ie. if you skip-count by 3s, 8       times, you'll end up at 24: 3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24).          

3) The Volume of a Rectangular Prism 
(volume = length x width x height or V=L x W x H)
For example, look at the student using the orange   and green cubes above (ignore the colors by the     way), the Volume is 25 because the length is 5, the  height is 5 and the width is 1; V = (5 x 1) x 5 or 
                                                               V =  25

4) Shows a Real World Example of Solving             Equations with More Than Two Factors
(5 x 1) x 5 = 25  Orange and Green Cubes
(3 x 1) x 8 = 24  Black and Red Cubes
(4 x 1) x 6 = 24  Brown Cubes

5V Students Have FUN Practicing Basic Math Facts!

It is important for Grade 5 students to have their basic math facts memorized.  This will serve them as they move on to more difficult multiplication and division, solving problems, finding area and volume, algebra, as well as working with fractions, decimals and beyond.  MATH FACT WAR is a fun way to practice basic facts.  All you need is a deck of cards with the face cards and jokers removed.  Just like with the card game "war", the object is to win the other players cards.  Rather than with traditional war, where each player lays down one card, in Multiplication Fact War, each player lays down two cards.  He or she says the product of their two cards and the player with the higher product wins that round.  This keeps going until one player ends up with all of the cards.  There are certainly many other ways to help your child memorize basic math facts such as: creating or buying flash cards, downloading one of the many apps availible on phones (such as Flash to Pass), tablets and computers, and of course online games such as the link below.  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fruitshoot/fruitshoot_multiplication.htm 

Important Dates

September 13th     PTG Picnic   
September 18th     Dead Sea Field Trip   
September 24th     Back to School Night (For Parents)
October 3rd - 11th Eid Al-Adha Break
October 12th         Students Return to School
October 22-23       Parent Teacher Conferences   

Here They Are - 5V 2014-2015