Happy, Happy Friday!I hope everyone had a great week. Here are a few dates to keep in mind as we move through the next few weeks: Thursday, 11/1: 11:30 Dismissal: Parent Conferences Tuesday, 11/6: NO SCHOOL: Parent Conferences Friday: 11/9: Veterans Day Share and Celebrate at 1:15 (Save the date! Our class is hosting!) Monday 11/12: NO SCHOOL: Veterans Day Tuesday 11/20: Grade 5 Language Selection opens up (more information to come on that!) Wednesday, 11/21-Friday 11/23: NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Recess Here's a look at what we did in the classroom this week:Reading: In reader's workshop, we continued our discussion on the genre of realistic fiction. We also continued working in our guided groups. Students are doing a great job coming to group with things to talk about, and sharing their ideas with their classmates. Next week we will discuss setting and plot, how it plays a role in stories, and specifically look at ways it influences realistic fiction stories.
Writing: In writing this week, we flash drafted our first version of our personal narrative writing. We also worked with our 2nd grade buddies and created word art poems about Halloween. Next week, we will being working on editing and adding to our drafts by thinking about how to elaborate, add dialogue, and literary devices such as figurative language. Math: In math, we began exploring dividing with 2 digit divisors. Students are doing a fabulous job with this! I am so proud of their hard work and perseverance! Long division can be really time consuming and requires a lot of steps. Students are working through this and doing an excellent job! We also looked at interpreting out remainders, and knowing when to keep the remainder, include it in our answer, or when to use it as a fraction. Next week, we will review the chapter and take the chapter 2 test. The chapter 2 test is long, so will likely take two days to complete. Social Studies: In Social Studies, we began our first section of our US History book: The First Americans. We specifically talked about other Native American nations that were present in the US before explorers began arriving in the Americas. We talked about the Maya, Inca, the Aztec, and other Native American nations in North America lie the Hopi, Cherokee, Shoshone, Shawnee, and others. Science: In Science this week, we continued our reading of "A Long Walk to Water". We will be finishing that next week. Everytime I stop reading the kids yell a collective "NOOO!" because they don't want me to stop reading.
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As the fall air grows more and more chilly, we continue to work hard in room 504!It's hard to believe we just finished our 6th week of school. It's true what they say, "Time flies when you're having fun!" A couple of important dates to keep in mind in the coming weeks: PTA Book Fair: Monday 10/22-Friday 10/26 Wednesday, 10/24: 11:30 Dismissal: Parent Conferences Friday, 10/26: LES Picture Day Thursday, 11/1: 11:30 Dismissal: Parent Conferences Tuesday, 11/6: NO SCHOOL: Parent Conferences Friday: 11/9: Veterans Day Share and Celebrate at 1:15 (Save the date! Our class is hosting!) Monday 11/12: NO SCHOOL: Veterans Day Tuesday 11/20: Grade 5 Language Selection opens up (more information to come on that!) Wednesday, 11/21-Friday 11/23: NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Recess Here's a look at what we did in the classroom this week! Reading: In reader's workshop we began working in our guided reading groups. Students are working in realistic fiction books and working on all kinds of reading strategies. They are already doing a fabulous job talking about their reading, and responding to their reading in conversation or written responses. Over the next few weeks, we will be examining specific features of realistic fiction, and will also be making connections to features that it shares with other fictional genres.
Writing: In writing, we continued to generate ideas for narrative writing. Next week, we will flash draft on one of these ideas, and will begin looking at ways to improve and elaborate our narrative writing. Students have great ideas, and are excellent participants in writer's workshop. Math: In math, we began chapter 2 and our examination of division. We reviewed basic division skills, and learned a few (not as efficient) ways to divide using pictures and partial quotients. While they wouldn't be students "go-to" way of dividing, they did find it cool that it was another way to pull apart numbers and show division. Next week, we will be using the "regular old way" to divide. New from last year, we will be working with 2 digit divisors. Just a reminder as the math concepts start to pick up in complexity: mastery of math facts is essential for students to be able to solve these types of problems. Reflex math is an excellent resource to help with this. We use reflex at least twice a week in school, but students should also be logging in at home to get their practice in. If you have any questions about that, don't hesitate to contact me! Science: This week in Science and C~cubed, we continued our examination fo water, and looked at how water moves. We were given a task that required students to come up with efficient ways to move water under different types of constraints. Some groups had access to tap water right where they were set up. Some had to use the outside water fountain, some had to actually go outside and get water from a hose. All of the groups were given limited supplies to transport the water. The goal was to fill up their bucket in the classroom to a certain point. The purpose of this exercise was to show students what it can be like for certain countries and people in this world who don't have access to running water. It was also a great lesson on working together and collaborating to solve a problem. The students were awesome, and their reflection was so powerful. They also worked to build water towers for gummy bears. Again, a focus on collaborating and the realization that in order to solve a problem, they have to work together. One student said that the reason they were able to complete the project was because "it wasn't just one person in charge, it was all of us working together and bringing different ideas that added to our finished product. If only one person was in charge of making the plan or running the project, our tower probably wouldn't have come out so good". I think all of the teacher hearst in that room left happy that day!! Social Studies: We took a break from Social Studies this week as we focused on Science lessons. Next week we begin our study of US history. We will be creating an informational text that will highlight some of the important events in US history. For the first few sections, we will move quickly as they have covered them a lot in 4th grade (Native Americans, Explorers, Colonial America). I hope the kids enjoy this project as much as I do! Word Study: This week in word study we focused on wods that make the long /o/ sound using vowel teams of /ou/, /oa/, /oe/. Whew! What a week!Even though it was a short week, it was a JAM PACKED week. I think all of us in 5V are tired, and ready for some rest and relaxation this weekend. Here are a few upcoming dates to keep in mind: Wednesday, 10/24: 11:30 Dismissal for Parent/Teacher Conferences. In case you forget your time, the schedule is posted below. Friday, 10/26: LES PICTURE DAY *Also, PTA Monster mash is Friday night at 6:30 pm. Thursday, 11/1: 11:30 Dismissal: Parent/Teacher Conferences (see schedule above) Tuesday, 11/6: No School: Parent/Teacher Conferences SAVE THE DATE:Friday, 11/9, at 1:15, our class will be hosting the Veterans Day Share and Celebrate. Please invite any and all Veterans/current service men/women to attend as our special guests. Monday 11/12: NO SCHOOL: Veterans Day Wednesday-Friday 11/21-11/23: NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Recess Here's a look at what we covered this week! Reading: In reading, we finished up our discussions around expectations and routines of reader's workshop. On Monday we will begin meeting with guided reading groups. Students are already showing some EXCELLENT independent reading habits. Next week we will also begin book talks, so keep an eye out for those on seesaw!
Writing: In writing, we continued look at strategies for coming up with ideas for our narrative writing pieces. We worked on writing about turning points in our lives: first times, ast times, and times we've learned something. We also made a list of people who are important to us and wrote small moment stories about times we had with those people. Next week, we will begin flash drafting on a topic we want to write about for our guided writing piece during this writing unit. Math: In Math, we finished up chapter 1, and took the chapter 1 test on Thursday. We reviewed the text together as a class. I was SO pleased with the scores on that test!!! Students did GREAT! Social Studies: we finished up our discussion on local government with our tour of the Capitol building. The kids were awesome on this trip. We had such a great day!!! Next week, we will begin out US History projects, which I know the students will really enjoy. Science: In science, we began examining WATER in our world. We completed an activity where we were able to create a graph comparing the amount of fresh water, frozen fresh water, and salt water on the planet. Students were amazed at how little fresh water we had in comparison to salt water. We also began reading a new read aloud called A Walk to Water which will tie into our discussion on water and water use. We will also be completing some collaborative projects in C~Cubed, where students will be engineering ways to transport and move water efficiently.This years theme in is "Engineering with Empathy". I am so excited for all of the projects coming up! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. I hope everyone has a great weekend! |
Classroom NewsUse this page to keep up to date on what we are doing in the classroom. Also, don't forget to check out See Saw for student posts and stories. (We will set this up in September) Archives
February 2019
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