5th/6th Grades 
Mrs. White 
 
Our class spent the month of April exploring and appreciating the many different forms of poetry, from writing it to reading it to listening to it to analyzing it. Each student has created a poetry book, which includes haiku, diamante, cinquain, bio, and freestyle selections. We invite you all to come in and view our work at Open House, which will be the evening of May 15th. Our reading groups continue to enjoy various novels and plays, including Milkweed, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Trumpet of the Swans, The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, and The View From Saturday. Our writing unit for May and June covers persuasive writing, which we will be integrating with Science classes. In addition to writing persuasive letters (be on the lookout for one coming home soon!), we will also be studying what goes into creating effective advertising and promotions. 
Science class has been busy with the Invention Convention, where students created their own inventions, and then had to produce an advertisement to market it. We displayed our work at the annual Science Fair in April, complete with prototypes. I am always pleased at how much thought and effort goes into this project, and this year’s 5th and 6th graders didn’t disappoint me at all. We recently finished a unit on genetics and heredity, and are now studying all about the properties of matter and how that relates to electricity and magnetism. We will finish out the school year in June with the annual Bottle Rocket project, where each student will be able to construct and then launch a bottle rocket on the school grounds. 
Fifth grade Social Studies class has been studying the American Revolution, and we are ending the year with the Civil War and westward expansion in 19th century America. Sixth graders have just finished a unit on the Middle Ages, and are now entering the Renaissance /Reformation. We will finish up the year with the French, Russian, and Industrial Revolutions. Both classes are preparing for our first annual “World Day” on May 18th. At this time, all 5th and 6th graders will be presenting their research reports on either U.S. States (5th grade) or Countries (6th grade), at which time they will have a food from their chosen area, a written report, a brochure, and a poster on display in the ACS cafeteria. All families, friends, and students are invited to join us, from 8:45 AM to 10:30 AM, to sample wonderful foods and drinks and learn something interesting from our class. We will also have a visiting teaching artist working with us after the presentations to learn about traditional dances from around the world.  
This has been a fantastic year, and I look forward to working with you all next September. Until then, have a safe and healthy summer! 

Posted by: Robin White