Curriculum update and conferences

Our determining importance unit is going very well in reading.  The students demonstrate an excellent understanding of how to use text features and text structure to understanding non-fiction, and are now  classifying what's important versus what's interesting. 

We have begun a study of fractions.  The Kahn Academy has numerous videos online which demonstrate how to  do many of the concepts we are studying in math. The videos are excellent because they teach step by step, with the added benefit of being able to stop and rewind to review something that is confusing.  Here is a link to all of their videos on fractions.  I highly recommend that you encourage your child to view any topics which are unclear as we tackle this challenging unit.

In science we are studying states of matter.  Ask your child about the characteristics of solids, liquids, and gases.  

Our study of ancient civilizations has wrapped up, and we are moving on the early European explorers.  We will be researching explorers and creating magazines.  This will showcase our new knowledge of history, as well as give us an authentic reason to write non-fiction articles.

I am looking forward to meeting with everyone next week at conferences.  I want to let you know that I will be adopting a new method of conferencing.  Our meeting will begin with taking 4-5 minutes for you to tell me what you would like me to know about your child.  I will take notes during this portion of our meeting so that I can refer back to them as needed.  I will then take time to tell you about how things are going in the classroom, and answer any questions you  may have.  I realize that the time we have together is extremely limited, and am hopeful that this new method will help to optimize our time together.  

Reading Workshop

          The class has just finished reading Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.  We used an interactive reading approach, and stopped and discussed the book after each chapter.   The children used a variety of reading strategies to deepen their understanding of the text, and learned how to use direct quotes from the book when responding to the text in writing.  They watched how the character changed over the course of the book, and wrote well developed essays including specific details from the text as a culminating activity.  Finally, we will be watching the movie and making comparisons between the two.
          In the coming weeks we will be working on the determining importance unit.  We will be scrutinizing text structure and text features in non-fiction text, and examining how an author uses those to explain things to the reader.  Here is a great poster which explains text structure, and another outlining text features.  Your child will have both of these in their literacy binder at school, however you may wish to print them out to have a copy at home.  We will be working towards a goal of having the children create informational writing pieces using strategies learned in reading workshop.
          Although I do not assign a specific amount of reading each evening, I want to remind families of the importance of reading daily.  Look for as many fun opportunities to read as you can.  Here is a list of suggestions from Scholastic.  Although it is geared for middle schoolers, the ideas are perfect for fifth graders, as well.
          Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Partial product division

          In math we have recently started learning a new way to divide called partial products division. Although this method may appear quite different and more challenging that the traditional way many of us learned, the research indicates that this method reinforces the concept of place value when dividing. Here is a terrific link that breaks this method down into easy to follow steps. 

Inca Posters

Last week the students worked hard researching various aspects of Incan culture.  They then created posters to share their new knowledge with their peers.  Here is what it looked like:

Courtney, Jake, Ben and Yukthi researched Cities of the Incas

Molly, Cloey, Nate, John and Molly researched Incan Agriculture

Lindsey, AJ, Tyler, Will and Sam researched the Inca and his Government

Anthony, Chloe, Camden and Brianna researched the Incan Religion

Tyler, Michael, Kelli and Jacqueline researched Incan Roads and Bridges

Alex, Jalismarie, Trip and William researched the Incas and the Spanish Conquest

They all did a fabulous job working together to research, present and study the information.

Just a reminder that this Thursday we invite all parents to the Living Wax Museum at 9:00 in the cafeteria.  We hope as many of you as possible will join us. 

Virtual Pumpkin Stroll

We were all a little sad that the pumpkin stroll was cancelled due to the hurricane.  Here are some pictures of the doorways that were decorated in anticipation.  Have a safe and Happy Halloween.

Here's the latest news

     In reader’s workshop we have begun writing personal narratives.  Students have created timelines of their stories and spent time developing interesting leads.  We are working on focusing on a small period of time and describing it deeply.

     Students continue to work hard on math using IXL.  They have completed over 30,000 math problems this year!   Here is another great website they can use to practice using a protractor to measure angles, and another where they can have fun while studying the properties of polygons.

     We are wrapping up our study of simple machines by looking at how the design process works.  We will be building go-carts in class using the design process.  After that we will begin our study of matter.

     The children are creating posters to demonstrate their understanding of Incan culture.  Look for pictures of these on the blog soon.  We will finish the ancient civilization unit by studying the Aztecs.

    The Living Wax Museum is creeping up on us.  Please make sure that your child has written and 

memorized a speech that includes all important information about their character, created a poster with a biopoem and pictures, and has a simple costume to wear that represents their person from history.  We hope you will join us when they present on November 8^th.

Simple machines

Students worked very hard this week studying for the Mayan test as well as the unit 2 math test.  They demonstrated a good knowledge of the concepts taught.  Here is a terrific website to help them study for the simple machine test they will take next week.

Math fun

Mr. Kelly, our math CET, has passed along some free apps for playing math games.  This sounds like a great way to practice math while having some fun.

The publisher of Everyday Mathematics, McGraw-Hill is once again offering five of its ten EM game Apps for free on the following dates:
October 10-12
October 24-26
November 28-30
 
The following apps will be free and available via the iTunes App Store:
Addition Top-It
Monster Squeeze
Equivalent Fractions
Beat the Computer
Divisibility Dash


NOTE:Android apps will be 1/2 price.


To learn more about the game apps go to [ https://www.mheonline.com/apps/ ]https://www.mheonline.com/apps/ 

Indoor recess and free time - not the same thing

We have had a lot of indoor recess over the past few weeks due to the rainy weather.  Here are some pictures to show you what that looks like in our classroom.  I am experimenting with taking pictures with my tablet, so please excuse the lack of clarity in many of the shots.

Some of these activities are also done during 10 minutes of free time each day.  Ten minutes a day is a lot of instruction time to give up each day.  Think about it; that is almost an hour a week!  How do I justify that? 

I justify it by making sure that during those 10 minutes each day, Mrs. Duhamel and I spend the time working with someone who needs a little something extra.  If you send in a note that your child did not understand their homework or something on a test, we will probably go over that information during free time.  It is not meant as a punishment, but as an opportunity to provide extra instruction on a confusing topic.  If someone has a difficult time keeping up with class work, they will be given that time to work on it. Again, this is not to punish someone for working slowly, but to give them a little extra time to catch up. 

Over the course of the school year, all of your children will have worked with the teachers at some point during free time.  Please understand that free time is not an extra recess, but rather an additional learning time during which some children receive one-on-one or small group instruction. I like to think of this time as a chance to give students something extra, not a chance to take something away from them.

Time has been flying, so we must be having fun!

The students and I were talking today about how quickly the month of September has gone.  It seems like we just got back to school, and yet one tenth of our year is already completed!  September has been a very busy month in room 23.  We have spent a lot of time in class establishing routines for Reader’s and Writer’s Workshops.  The children have an excellent understanding of how to choose just right books, and most have built their stamina to read for at least 30 minutes without stopping.   They have also created many seed ideas for future writing projects.  We have started studying simple machines in science, and in social studies we have begun learning about the Mayan civilization. 

The children have been working hard on math skills with the IXL program and have already spent a total of 79 hours and 19 minutes performing 14,973 problems!  All of this time has been spent at home, and is a clear testament to their strong work ethic.  Some of the concepts that we have covered in class that can be reinforced through IXL are place value (sections A.1 and A.4), decimals (sections C.1, C.2, and C.3), addition and subtraction (sections D.1, D.2, D.3, D.4, and D.10), addition and subtraction of decimals (E.1 and E.2), and number theory (sections K.1, K.2, K.3, K.4, and K.5).

The Living Wax Museum will be assigned next week.  Please look for the guidelines in your child’s folder, and help them choose a biography that is written at their reading level, and is interesting to them.  The date of our presentation will be Thursday, November 8, 2012.  I look forward to seeing you all then.