Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
update 12-19
Last update for the year...can't believe the first semester is over! Your kids are halfway to sixth grade.
We have been very busy as usual. We are finishing up our file-folder biography projects which turned out really nice. The kids have been working hard to draw portraits of their people on the front cover of the project and filling up the inside with a timeline, the impact that person has made along with what influenced them in their lives. On the back cover is a free choice activity. The creativity is definitely flowing along!
We have also been working on our integrated unit on Native Americans between Social Studies and Language Arts. That has culminated with a flip-book showing how similar and different two tribal areas are. Last week, we finished our informational writing pieces on Native Americans too. Native American projects are due tomorrow and will be shared while the biography projects will be shared Wednesday.
One of our last, fun activities that we will be doing in class related to Native Americans is having the kids create an artifact that shows what they learned about Native Americans to display in our hallway. Today, I saw dream-catchers being made, teepees, longhouses, and a head-dress with feathers being started.
As a reminder, the holiday parties are this Wednesday from 2:45-3:30. Several fifth graders have also helped fill up our display case to show their festive holiday spirit! I will post a picture on here tomorrow.
Reading Counts comes to a close for the 2nd quarter this Wednesday. There will be an incentive for kids that read over winter break and take the quizzes. Ask your child about this as they will find out in class Wednesday and glue it into their planners.
Thanks for all of your continued support and happy holidays! Enjoy winter break.
We have been very busy as usual. We are finishing up our file-folder biography projects which turned out really nice. The kids have been working hard to draw portraits of their people on the front cover of the project and filling up the inside with a timeline, the impact that person has made along with what influenced them in their lives. On the back cover is a free choice activity. The creativity is definitely flowing along!
We have also been working on our integrated unit on Native Americans between Social Studies and Language Arts. That has culminated with a flip-book showing how similar and different two tribal areas are. Last week, we finished our informational writing pieces on Native Americans too. Native American projects are due tomorrow and will be shared while the biography projects will be shared Wednesday.
One of our last, fun activities that we will be doing in class related to Native Americans is having the kids create an artifact that shows what they learned about Native Americans to display in our hallway. Today, I saw dream-catchers being made, teepees, longhouses, and a head-dress with feathers being started.
As a reminder, the holiday parties are this Wednesday from 2:45-3:30. Several fifth graders have also helped fill up our display case to show their festive holiday spirit! I will post a picture on here tomorrow.
Reading Counts comes to a close for the 2nd quarter this Wednesday. There will be an incentive for kids that read over winter break and take the quizzes. Ask your child about this as they will find out in class Wednesday and glue it into their planners.
Thanks for all of your continued support and happy holidays! Enjoy winter break.
Monday, December 5, 2016
update 12-5
Last week, we had another essay battle from writing about Infographics. Your child took his/her paper home and should have shared it with you. Here are the winners: Trinidad, Ollie, Emma, Ben, Sophia, Maddie, Megan, and Aidan B. Congrats to them!
This week, we started our Native American unit. We will be learning and studying Native Americans in both SS and LA class. The goal in fifth grade is to learn about Native Americans around the United States, not just Ohio (4th grade was just Ohio). There is one more formative for the 2nd quarter this Friday and a summative the following Friday.
Our writing focus is on writing informational pieces drawing information from multiple sources. We continue to work on that and are typing each week through Google Classroom.
A reading log is due this Friday along with a Digital Readworks article that is online. Reading Counts points are due by 12/21. As an incentive, if a child reaches his/her goal by this Friday, they will be excused from the homework next week. So far, many kids have accomplished this! I have met with each child today and let them know how they are doing.
Thanks for your support! Holiday shop is this week.
This week, we started our Native American unit. We will be learning and studying Native Americans in both SS and LA class. The goal in fifth grade is to learn about Native Americans around the United States, not just Ohio (4th grade was just Ohio). There is one more formative for the 2nd quarter this Friday and a summative the following Friday.
Our writing focus is on writing informational pieces drawing information from multiple sources. We continue to work on that and are typing each week through Google Classroom.
A reading log is due this Friday along with a Digital Readworks article that is online. Reading Counts points are due by 12/21. As an incentive, if a child reaches his/her goal by this Friday, they will be excused from the homework next week. So far, many kids have accomplished this! I have met with each child today and let them know how they are doing.
Thanks for your support! Holiday shop is this week.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
update 11-29
Our informational studies continue...each day we have independent reading time. This week and next, we are reading biographies and continue to work on main idea and details along with vocabulary. Ask your child who he/she is reading about!
We also had some fun reading about pirates this week. A man, Barry Clifford, found and salvaged the only known pirate treasure in the whole world. One kid wanted us to take a field trip to Cape Cod where the museum is. We took the vocabulary words from the article and made a graffiti board to show them. That was fun for all of us!
Informational writing continues on. Tomorrow, we will be writing about infographics using Google Classroom. Next week, we will start learning about Native Americans in North America.
Reminders:
*Reading Counts Points due by 12/21
*Digital Readworks Article due this Friday
*Book Talks start tomorrow! I have been reminding kids in class when they have their turns coming up.
We also had some fun reading about pirates this week. A man, Barry Clifford, found and salvaged the only known pirate treasure in the whole world. One kid wanted us to take a field trip to Cape Cod where the museum is. We took the vocabulary words from the article and made a graffiti board to show them. That was fun for all of us!
Informational writing continues on. Tomorrow, we will be writing about infographics using Google Classroom. Next week, we will start learning about Native Americans in North America.
Reminders:
*Reading Counts Points due by 12/21
*Digital Readworks Article due this Friday
*Book Talks start tomorrow! I have been reminding kids in class when they have their turns coming up.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
update 11-22
Our first battle of the essays was a success! Winners were: Trinidad & Alex, Raj, and Aidan W. Congrats to them! See the pictures below.
Today, we also created disguises for our Thanksgiving turkeys. Check out those photos below too.
We are reading and working with informational text. Students have been reading independent books three days a week in information followed by two days a week in fiction. As a reminder, Reading Counts goals are due by 12/21.
Our writing focus has shifted to informational writing. We are working on pulling ideas together from multiple sources in order to write. The US symbol projects went home yesterday. Please check those out!
Lastly, the class books about our expert pieces went home last week. Those were amazing too. Thanks for your continued support and Happy Thanksgiving!
Today, we also created disguises for our Thanksgiving turkeys. Check out those photos below too.
We are reading and working with informational text. Students have been reading independent books three days a week in information followed by two days a week in fiction. As a reminder, Reading Counts goals are due by 12/21.
Our writing focus has shifted to informational writing. We are working on pulling ideas together from multiple sources in order to write. The US symbol projects went home yesterday. Please check those out!
Lastly, the class books about our expert pieces went home last week. Those were amazing too. Thanks for your continued support and Happy Thanksgiving!
Monday, November 14, 2016
update 11-14
We have moved on from fiction into informational text. Today in class we reviewed what that meant and keywords that make informational text different. Today, we also reviewed main idea and details. During our independent reading time, the kids chose books based on a science theme to read independently and practice finding main ideas and details. All of these books are informational-ask your child what book he/she picked!
The other mini-unit we are completing up until Thanksgiving is about United States symbols. Today, students read about the White House, Mt. Rushmore, Statue of Liberty, and the Liberty Bell. While reading, we practiced recording main ideas and underlining key details. Tomorrow, they will have to choose two of these to focus on. They will be using these symbols to craft a writing piece on the importance of U.S. symbols. We will also make a small project on this. Mini-lessons will relate to writing informational pieces and hooking the reader. We will also be completing our first Battle of the Essays. Students will be competing against each other using their essays to determine the winner. These are a lot of fun!
Thanks to all who completed the survey I sent out last week. A quick clarification on Reading Counts. I passed out reports to all students last Friday. Goals are cumulative and will be through the entire year. All point goals are entered into the computer and in your child's planner. Points for 2nd quarter have to be completed by December 21. Any questions, please email me.
*Book Fair Preview and Buying is this week. Ask your child for more info on this!
The other mini-unit we are completing up until Thanksgiving is about United States symbols. Today, students read about the White House, Mt. Rushmore, Statue of Liberty, and the Liberty Bell. While reading, we practiced recording main ideas and underlining key details. Tomorrow, they will have to choose two of these to focus on. They will be using these symbols to craft a writing piece on the importance of U.S. symbols. We will also make a small project on this. Mini-lessons will relate to writing informational pieces and hooking the reader. We will also be completing our first Battle of the Essays. Students will be competing against each other using their essays to determine the winner. These are a lot of fun!
Thanks to all who completed the survey I sent out last week. A quick clarification on Reading Counts. I passed out reports to all students last Friday. Goals are cumulative and will be through the entire year. All point goals are entered into the computer and in your child's planner. Points for 2nd quarter have to be completed by December 21. Any questions, please email me.
*Book Fair Preview and Buying is this week. Ask your child for more info on this!
Monday, November 7, 2016
update 11-4
This is our last week of fiction for the quarter! Capture the Flag ended well. Check out our projects below. We also did some creative writing prompts based on the book. Kids wrote about a new hero, villain, or other important American artifact that could have been stolen.
We are going to try something new this week on Wednesday using the laptops. There is a website called Digital Storyworks where kids go online, read articles, and then practice answering questions about them. After trying it this week, it will be assigned for homework that will be due Friday, November 18. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
Our literary analysis will also end this week with a typed piece comparing Capture the Flag to National Treasure (movie we watched) plus there will be a writing piece based on the summative that will be given this Thursday. Next week, we will start informational text.
We are going to try something new this week on Wednesday using the laptops. There is a website called Digital Storyworks where kids go online, read articles, and then practice answering questions about them. After trying it this week, it will be assigned for homework that will be due Friday, November 18. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
Our literary analysis will also end this week with a typed piece comparing Capture the Flag to National Treasure (movie we watched) plus there will be a writing piece based on the summative that will be given this Thursday. Next week, we will start informational text.
Monday, October 31, 2016
update 10-31
Capture the Flag will continue the rest of this week. It is assigned nightly for homework. Sometimes, students have to just read and other times they have to answer questions or write on a post-it. Check out the homework page if confusion arises at all over this. A NEW reading log will be handed out Friday that should cover a new book your child is reading. I will have books available Friday for kids who cannot find a book to read. Reading Counts goals are uploaded into the computer and points are due by December 21.
Last week we did more skits- check those out below.
Last week, we typed for 30 minutes and students learned how to use the word count tool. They had to type 2 paragraphs- a similarities and a differences one for the characters in our books and typed in the number of word at the bottom. We are going to start to track this and hopefully see an increase in number of words over time. It worked out quite well!
In class today, we learned a new app called Skitch. Students chose a vocabulary word, uploaded a picture and included text on them. Below are some samples.
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