Spring Update

Courtney and Molly are guest bloggers this week.

     We have been working very hard lately. Here are some examples of how.

     On Friday, April 26^th the entire fifth grade put on an exciting assembly about inclusion. We worked really hard to come up with songs, skits and speeches. Each class came up with a skit and our class did a chant that demonstrated inclusion. 

     At the assembly we watched a video that Mr. Morris sent us. To keep him busy while he’s away, our class sent him some activities to do and creative cards to read.

     Since MCAS is coming up, lately we’ve been working very hard to prepare for it. We’ve been working on math sheets for math and science packets for science.

 

     In Social Studies we are starting a unit about the Revolutionary War. To help us study this time period we are reading biographies by Jean Fritz. 

     Because we earned 15 smiley magnets as a class, we got to play a class kickball game as our treat.  It was really fun and ended up being a close game.

     With this work and preparation we are really confident we will be ready for middle school.

Vacation....here we come!

Today's guest bloggers are Alex and Brianna

     We have managed to get a lot of things done before we head off for vacation.  In math we just finished up multiplying and dividing fractions.  Now we are moving on to geometry. We are learning new and interesting things like polygon hierarchy diagrams and all of the properties of shapes. 
     We have been getting ready for science MCAS by doing review packets of things we have learned all year.  We have a fun hands-on project where we have been creating earth using humus, sand gravel and clay.  We mix the components up and create a mound. Then we create rainstorms and streams to see how the dirt erodes.  Right before vacation we planted seeds then watered them and put saran wrap to keep the water inside so it doesn't evaporate.
     In reading we have been doing literature circles using Sharon Creech books such as Walk Two Moons, Heartbeat, Ruby Holler, Pleasing the Ghost and Granny Torelli Makes Soup.  Also, we have been studying inferencing, looking at the character in each novel.  We have also used wordless picture books to make inferences.
     In social studies we did a similation of the colonial people and the king of England.  We learned how the colonists felt when their money was taken from them.
     We have been working with our kindergarten buddies on sight words.  We also went to the Rhode Island Philharmonic and got to sing along with and play the recorder with the orchestra.

     We have accomplished so much in the past month, despite the several snow days we have had.  We have been immersed in Number the Stars with a focus on the vocabulary and figurative language that Lois Lowry used in her writing.  We made lots of connects to The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco, Star of Fear, Star of Hope by Jo Hoestlandt, Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, So Far From the Sea by Eve Bunting, and Let the Celebrations Begin! by Margaret Wilde and Julie Vivas.  All of these books handle the Holocaust in such a moving way that is appropriate for 10 year olds, and they sparked a number of in depth conversations.

     We have spent time on a test preparation unit in writing.  Specifically, we have practiced writing open responses to fiction, non-fiction and poetry passages.  The children have learned to look carefully at the question and ensure that their answer addresses the question, that they have provided evidence from the text, and that they have explained the evidence they chose.

     In math we have been working on adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions.  We are looking at fractions in a very different manner by visually representing the work to show a deep understanding behind traditional algorithms.  The latest research shows that if a child simply uses an answer getting strategy, they often do not understand the underlying concept being studied.  This is a shift for all of us, and the children are rising to the occasion nicely.  We will wrap up this unit by dividing fractions.

     In science we have finished our earth materials unit.  Over the next few weeks we will be doing hands on experiments to create a model of earth, and recreate various natural disasters to examine their weathering and erosion implications.

     In social studies we are wrapping up our study of the colonies and will be moving on to the American Revolution.  We were quite fortunate this week to have the Bay Colony Educators visit the fifth grade.  They put on a fascinating presentation about what life was like for children in the colonies in 1750.  They included information about home life, school life, clothing, and the types of work required of 10 year olds in order to survive.  Thank you so much to the PCC for providing funds for this educational and entertaining program.

     Report cards go home next week.  March conferences are optional.  I will be sending home a letter requesting conferences that I think would be helpful.  Please feel free to send me a note if you would like one as well. 

 

This week guest bloggers Kelli and Samantha will let you know what has been keeping us busy in room 23. 

We have just finished creating PowerPoint presentations for the 13 colonies.  We researched a colony with a partner and then designed slides to teach our classmates about our colony.  We got our pictures off of the Internet to paste on our slides.  We learned to put only one to three words on our bullets.  We learned how to create different backgrounds and have different fonts.  We presented them to the class on the Smartboard. 

We have started our final copies for our personal essays.  We have been working on our rough drafts for about two weeks.  We created a thesis which we must support with specific details.  Hopefully we will be able to persuade our reader to agree with our thinking.

We are finishing up our Andrew Clements author study.  We read lots of his books and completed activities with them.  Some of the books were Things Not Seen, The Report Card, A Week in the Woods, The Janitor’s Boy, Jake Drake Teacher’s Pet, The Landry News and Things Hoped For.  We are now into our second literature circle book.  After that we will write to Mr. Clements, and hopefully he will write back!

 

We are beginning to learn about our earth materials.  We have learned about soil and weathering, rocks and minerals.  We determined different types of rocks by looking at their properties.  We have read about the different types of soil and what effects soil, and how weathering can make caves.  Weathering can also change rocks formation.   

 

 

The fifth grade has just performed it’s winter chorus concert.  Some of the songs were Time of My Life, Dance a Jig, and Just One Small Voice.   In Open Circle we have been learning about leadership. Some children go into kindergarten and first grade classrooms during recess and morning work to help the students learn their flashcards.  Our whole class will be starting buddies with Miss Nally on Tuesday of this week.  We will be helping the children learn how to read!

Happy New Year 2013

We are settling back into our routines very nicely.  We have lots of interesting curriculum to cover before our next break in February.  We are continuing a study of fractions.  Here is a terrific website that offers free printable fraction worksheets, as well as other helpful math resources.   We have begun an author study of Andrew Clements.   We will be reading several of his books as we delve into the Asking Questions unit of study.  We will be writing personal essays over the next several weeks.  We are leaving European Explorers and moving into Colonial America.  In science we are beginning a study of Earth Materials.

Wishing you all the best in 2013.