I hope everyone had a most relaxing and enjoyable holiday with their family and friends. First and foremost, I want to send out a HUGE thank you to all of my students and their families for surprising me with the enormous gift card!!!!! I was speechless!!! I cannot begin to tell you all how moving it was, and how appreciative I am. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing group of students and families that I get to work with! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!!!!
We are all back to a schedule and moving on down the fifth grade road! Here's what the next few weeks will look like in our classroom.
Math - We are currently in the midst of another unit of fractions. This unit focuses on adding and subtracting fractions, as well as multiplying an dividing them. Within these operations, we will work on mixed numbers and borrowing in order to subtract fractions. We will also work on equivalent fractions and finding common denominators.
Reading - Before leaving for winter break, we wrapped up our third unit of reading. We are now beginning our fourth unit. This unit will focus on the skills of drawing conclusions, making generalizations, and using graphic sources to further our understanding. The strategies we will work on are questioning, predicting, visualizing, and identify the main idea and important details. We will also be staring small group book clubs. This will be a structured, independent reading of an assigned novel within students' lexile ranges. Groups will be assigned a number of pages or chapters to be read by a specific date and will be expected to answer at least one question about the reading. The questions will be written to focus on the skills that we will practice within this unit.
Science - Students are wrapping up a unit on body systems and stages of life in Health. Moving forward, we will begin working through Earth science and learning about concepts such as moon phases, and the solar system.
Social Studies - It's my favorite time of the year for Social Studies! We are beginning our unit about the American Revolution. We will spend a lot of time reading, making timelines, and discussing the events that led to the war. This unit will culminate with a large project. Look for details at a later date.
Writing - Prior to break, we spent time working on persuasive writing and imaginative narratives. We have spiraled back to persuasive and will spend a couple of weeks working on this genre of writing. We will also work on changing our perspective, or writing from someone else's point of view, as well as comparing and contrasting.
Just a quick reminder that winter is upon us, and coming full force now! Please be sure that your kiddos are dressed appropriately for the weather as we do go outside for recess unless the temperatures are below 13 degrees with a windchill or the playground is icy. Bundle up!
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Friday, December 4, 2015
Winter Is Arriving!
Doesn't seem like we really had much of a fall, although the weather has been pretty mild compared to years past. With that being said, please be sure that your kiddos are dressed appropriately for outside recess each day. We will go outside as often as is weather permitting, meaning as long as it isn't raining, snowing, or below about 20 degrees with the wind chill factor. I know that morning and evening temperatures can be quite different from what it's like at 1:00 when we go outside, but it's always best to prepared!
Here's a snapshot of what's been happening inside Room 222:
MATH - Today wrapped up a unit on data analysis and computation of fractions. We will move forward into unit 8 beginning on Monday, which will be more work with adding and subtracting fractions, but will have also include multiplying and dividing as well. We are currently scheduled to test on that unit on Wednesday, January 20, so there's plenty of time for practice and review.
READING - In the past several weeks, we have focused on the skills of identifying the author's purpose, sequencing with signal words, identifying the main idea and details of a text, and discriminating between facts and opinions. We will continue to focus on main idea and details next week, and using graphic sources to aid our comprehension the following week. We are working on concluding our Battle of the Books unit as well. Our classroom battle will take place on Thursday, December 10th, which means students have until next Wednesday to finish up and/or read as many more books as possible. Please check with your student on this! I have had conversations with several kiddos about the due date because there are still several who have not yet taken a Reading Counts quiz. Students must have read two books AND passed two quizzes in order to participate in the contest on Thursday.
WRITING - Our writing muscles are getting bigger and stronger! In the past several weeks, we have completed two persuasive writing pieces, two compare and contrast writing pieces, and we are now working on an imaginative narrative piece. This is a fun one! We are writing Twisted Fairy Tales! There are some great ideas brewing already and I cannot wait to read these!
SOCIAL STUDIES - After completing our short unit over government, we have now begun to read and learn about Spanish, French, Dutch, and English colonization. We will continue this unit on colonization for the next few weeks, wrapping up with a project toward the end of the quarter.
SCIENCE - We have spent a lot of time during this semester on Life Science. We have studied ecosystems, how they change, and why they change. We are currently in a chapter focusing on adaptations that living things make in order to survive in their environment and through ecosystem changes.
As you can see from above, things have been busy! And looking forward, it's going to continue for the next few weeks until we have a break for the holidays. Some of the events that you should keep in mind are: Santa Shop, student council's Milk & Doughnut Sale, Relay for Life Change Wars, class parties and a spirit week. Please be watching for Mr. Gianfagna's editions of the Cardinal Chronicle for more specific dates for each of the above mentioned events.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Here's a snapshot of what's been happening inside Room 222:
MATH - Today wrapped up a unit on data analysis and computation of fractions. We will move forward into unit 8 beginning on Monday, which will be more work with adding and subtracting fractions, but will have also include multiplying and dividing as well. We are currently scheduled to test on that unit on Wednesday, January 20, so there's plenty of time for practice and review.
READING - In the past several weeks, we have focused on the skills of identifying the author's purpose, sequencing with signal words, identifying the main idea and details of a text, and discriminating between facts and opinions. We will continue to focus on main idea and details next week, and using graphic sources to aid our comprehension the following week. We are working on concluding our Battle of the Books unit as well. Our classroom battle will take place on Thursday, December 10th, which means students have until next Wednesday to finish up and/or read as many more books as possible. Please check with your student on this! I have had conversations with several kiddos about the due date because there are still several who have not yet taken a Reading Counts quiz. Students must have read two books AND passed two quizzes in order to participate in the contest on Thursday.
WRITING - Our writing muscles are getting bigger and stronger! In the past several weeks, we have completed two persuasive writing pieces, two compare and contrast writing pieces, and we are now working on an imaginative narrative piece. This is a fun one! We are writing Twisted Fairy Tales! There are some great ideas brewing already and I cannot wait to read these!
SOCIAL STUDIES - After completing our short unit over government, we have now begun to read and learn about Spanish, French, Dutch, and English colonization. We will continue this unit on colonization for the next few weeks, wrapping up with a project toward the end of the quarter.
SCIENCE - We have spent a lot of time during this semester on Life Science. We have studied ecosystems, how they change, and why they change. We are currently in a chapter focusing on adaptations that living things make in order to survive in their environment and through ecosystem changes.
As you can see from above, things have been busy! And looking forward, it's going to continue for the next few weeks until we have a break for the holidays. Some of the events that you should keep in mind are: Santa Shop, student council's Milk & Doughnut Sale, Relay for Life Change Wars, class parties and a spirit week. Please be watching for Mr. Gianfagna's editions of the Cardinal Chronicle for more specific dates for each of the above mentioned events.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 30, 2015
Happy Halloween!
Fall has definitely arrived and I absolutely love the crisp, cool air! It is hard to imagine that we are now a fourth of the way through our year, but we are and we're still chugging along! Here are some updates for our classroom.
Reading - We are nearing the end of our second reading unit with Reading Street. We have been focusing on the skills of author's purpose and comparing and contrasting text as well as text features. We still have one more week of reading that will center around the theme of "doing the right thing" and we will then move into a week-long novel study. We will be reading "Rachel Carson: Pioneer in Ecology."
Math - Prior to going on fall break, we wrapped up our unit on dividing and division strategies. We are now working through a unit focusing on comparing fractions, ordering fractions, equivalent fractions, adding fractions, and a bit of data analysis. Our current test date for this unit will be Friday, November 13 so be on the lookout for a Test Alert early that week.
Writing - Late in the first quarter, students each wrote a narrative piece of writing making it a mystery using a picture. For that piece of writing, we focused on the skills of story elements (mainly climax), as well as adding dialogue using quotation marks appropriately. We are currently working on writing pieces that compare and contrast two different things. Next week we will begin a short unit on persuasive writing. This will be a very unique piece of writing as we will be doing a White Elephant Gift Exchange! Students will put a "gag" gift in a sealed bag THIS WEEKEND! Next week, they will begin writing a piece that will convince a classmate to select their gift over someone else's, but using only curiosity provoking ideas. In other words, they cannot tell what is in the bag! This is always a fun writing unit and the kids enjoy being creative with their clues while still learning about the basic elements of persuasive writing.
Social Studies - After discussing the three branches of the government, we have now moved on to the election process. We are discussing the political parties, learning about the qualifications for the presidency, what responsibilities are assumed as President, and how one becomes a leader. Today we held a primary election after students "nominated" a person of their choice. We will be filling out voter registration applications and holding a general election next week.
Science - During our Science time, we are currently studying health. We have been reading about how alcohol, drugs and tobacco can affect one's health. We have learned the importance of taking both OTC and prescription medications according to the label directions and how to read the labels.
I hope everyone enjoys their Halloween! Happy Haunting!
Reading - We are nearing the end of our second reading unit with Reading Street. We have been focusing on the skills of author's purpose and comparing and contrasting text as well as text features. We still have one more week of reading that will center around the theme of "doing the right thing" and we will then move into a week-long novel study. We will be reading "Rachel Carson: Pioneer in Ecology."
Math - Prior to going on fall break, we wrapped up our unit on dividing and division strategies. We are now working through a unit focusing on comparing fractions, ordering fractions, equivalent fractions, adding fractions, and a bit of data analysis. Our current test date for this unit will be Friday, November 13 so be on the lookout for a Test Alert early that week.
Writing - Late in the first quarter, students each wrote a narrative piece of writing making it a mystery using a picture. For that piece of writing, we focused on the skills of story elements (mainly climax), as well as adding dialogue using quotation marks appropriately. We are currently working on writing pieces that compare and contrast two different things. Next week we will begin a short unit on persuasive writing. This will be a very unique piece of writing as we will be doing a White Elephant Gift Exchange! Students will put a "gag" gift in a sealed bag THIS WEEKEND! Next week, they will begin writing a piece that will convince a classmate to select their gift over someone else's, but using only curiosity provoking ideas. In other words, they cannot tell what is in the bag! This is always a fun writing unit and the kids enjoy being creative with their clues while still learning about the basic elements of persuasive writing.
Social Studies - After discussing the three branches of the government, we have now moved on to the election process. We are discussing the political parties, learning about the qualifications for the presidency, what responsibilities are assumed as President, and how one becomes a leader. Today we held a primary election after students "nominated" a person of their choice. We will be filling out voter registration applications and holding a general election next week.
Science - During our Science time, we are currently studying health. We have been reading about how alcohol, drugs and tobacco can affect one's health. We have learned the importance of taking both OTC and prescription medications according to the label directions and how to read the labels.
I hope everyone enjoys their Halloween! Happy Haunting!
Friday, September 25, 2015
End of Quarter #1
I cannot believe that next week is the end of our first quarter! I think that every year passes more quickly than the one before, and I am having SO much fun with this group of kiddos that I truly want time to slow down! I get many compliments on what a great group of kids this is and how well-behaved they are with guests, specials teachers, and substitute teachers. I love them all! :)
It's been a very busy ending to our quarter, but here's what we've been doing in Room 222.
Math - Today we are wrapping up our third unit of Everyday Math in which our focus was on some geometry skills. We worked on classifying and measuring angles, classifying and identifying triangles, and identifying polygons. We will be starting Unit 4 on Monday, so I'll be sending home a copy of the Family Letter via e-mail so you are best able to assist your student with homework.
Reading - After completing our first theme study in Reading Street, we read the novel Shiloh. We did a lot of work with the novel to identify cause and effect relationships, various themes that appear throughout the novel, and how characters change from the beginning to the end. This is a much-loved novel with students each year and it was an absolute pleasure being able to have such a great turnout for our movie party yesterday. The movie has quite a few differences from the book, so it was fun to compare the two, as well as talk about how the characters were portrayed in the movie versus the book. We are back to our reading books this week with a new unit focusing on the theme of "doing the right thing" and skills such as sequencing, comparing and contrasting, and author's purpose.
Writing - We have worked a lot in the past several weeks on the trait of ideas. We have discussed what a thesis statement is, and how to write one. We have practiced identifying thesis statements, as well as writing them for various pieces of informational texts. Next week we will be moving into the genre of mystery where we will focus on plot (specifically rising action and climax), and the grammar skill of adding quotes appropriately to a piece of writing.
Science - This week completed our unit over the interactions in ecosystems. We created a model pond in our room, and observed it's "succession" over the course of several weeks. Be sure to ask your student what succession is, and what our ponds evolved into over time. We are now moving into a chapter which will focus on how energy moves within an ecosystem.
Social Studies - We have spent several weeks learning about a variety of explorers, where they came from, and why they explored. Students are currently working on their own individual mini-project writing a journal entry as if they've been on a ship with a specific explorer. They are telling who they are with, where they are going, what they might find, people they may encounter, etc. They are also designing a picture depicting something from their journal entry. We will begin to move into government next week.
With next Friday marking the end of our grading period, please be sure you are aware of your student's current grades. In today's Friday Folder, your student may bring home papers that require corrections to improve their overall scores. Those corrections must be completed and returned to me by Tuesday, September 29th in order for the scores to be adjusted and entered into Power School for grades to be finalized. All students have been shown how to login to Power School using their own account information. We did this last week. Every student logged in and was able to view their grades and check for missing assignments. I had conversations with students who are currently missing work reinforcing the fact that in order for their final grade to improve, they MUST get work turned in to me ASAP. I am letting you know this information so that there are not any surprises when you see grades and ask your student about them! They are all aware and know exactly what they need to do!
We have lots of events coming up here at Cardinal, so please be sure you're keeping your eyes peeled for flyers and other information to come home with your student. Some things to look forward to are the 5th Grade Music Program, the Cardinal Rocks Out Cancer Talent Show, a book fair, fall break, and fall parties.
It's been a very busy ending to our quarter, but here's what we've been doing in Room 222.
Math - Today we are wrapping up our third unit of Everyday Math in which our focus was on some geometry skills. We worked on classifying and measuring angles, classifying and identifying triangles, and identifying polygons. We will be starting Unit 4 on Monday, so I'll be sending home a copy of the Family Letter via e-mail so you are best able to assist your student with homework.
Reading - After completing our first theme study in Reading Street, we read the novel Shiloh. We did a lot of work with the novel to identify cause and effect relationships, various themes that appear throughout the novel, and how characters change from the beginning to the end. This is a much-loved novel with students each year and it was an absolute pleasure being able to have such a great turnout for our movie party yesterday. The movie has quite a few differences from the book, so it was fun to compare the two, as well as talk about how the characters were portrayed in the movie versus the book. We are back to our reading books this week with a new unit focusing on the theme of "doing the right thing" and skills such as sequencing, comparing and contrasting, and author's purpose.
Writing - We have worked a lot in the past several weeks on the trait of ideas. We have discussed what a thesis statement is, and how to write one. We have practiced identifying thesis statements, as well as writing them for various pieces of informational texts. Next week we will be moving into the genre of mystery where we will focus on plot (specifically rising action and climax), and the grammar skill of adding quotes appropriately to a piece of writing.
Science - This week completed our unit over the interactions in ecosystems. We created a model pond in our room, and observed it's "succession" over the course of several weeks. Be sure to ask your student what succession is, and what our ponds evolved into over time. We are now moving into a chapter which will focus on how energy moves within an ecosystem.
Social Studies - We have spent several weeks learning about a variety of explorers, where they came from, and why they explored. Students are currently working on their own individual mini-project writing a journal entry as if they've been on a ship with a specific explorer. They are telling who they are with, where they are going, what they might find, people they may encounter, etc. They are also designing a picture depicting something from their journal entry. We will begin to move into government next week.
With next Friday marking the end of our grading period, please be sure you are aware of your student's current grades. In today's Friday Folder, your student may bring home papers that require corrections to improve their overall scores. Those corrections must be completed and returned to me by Tuesday, September 29th in order for the scores to be adjusted and entered into Power School for grades to be finalized. All students have been shown how to login to Power School using their own account information. We did this last week. Every student logged in and was able to view their grades and check for missing assignments. I had conversations with students who are currently missing work reinforcing the fact that in order for their final grade to improve, they MUST get work turned in to me ASAP. I am letting you know this information so that there are not any surprises when you see grades and ask your student about them! They are all aware and know exactly what they need to do!
We have lots of events coming up here at Cardinal, so please be sure you're keeping your eyes peeled for flyers and other information to come home with your student. Some things to look forward to are the 5th Grade Music Program, the Cardinal Rocks Out Cancer Talent Show, a book fair, fall break, and fall parties.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
August Updates
I'm happy to say that we have had a VERY smooth beginning to our year! I have been very impressed with how quickly we are catching on to routines and living up to the high expectations that I have! Here's a look into the upcoming week:
Reading - We will be reading a non-fiction story about Satchel Paige while working on the reading strategy of questioning and the skill of identifying facts and opinions. We will work on these through a variety of other activities during our stations as well.
Math - Unit 2 has just begun! This unit's focus will be on adding and subtracting algorithms. Students were introduced to a new addition strategy late last week called the "partial-sums" method. I discussed with the class how a carpenter has many tools in their toolbox, but do not necessarily use all of them all the time. We then discussed how this method is just another tool in our own math toolboxes; it is something we should at least try, but we are not required to use it. I let students know that I do not prefer them to use any one strategy over another. However, everyone did attempt to use the partial-sums method, but were able to use whichever strategy best suits them.
Science - We are currently wrapping up our first chapter based on classifying plants and animals. This week will include a short lab using microscopes to study the difference between plant cells and animal cells, along with an open-book test. The test will be given over the course of two class days (30 minutes each day) in order to allow students time to use their books and complete the test with a sufficient amount of time.
Social Studies - It's been a quick study, but we are also finishing up our chapter over ancient civilizations and Native American culture regions. Students have probably informed you that we are beginning a group project this week. On Friday, we discussed the requirements and guidelines for the project. Students formed groups, chose a culture region to present, and should be ready to begin working on Monday! Final projects will be due by the end of class on Friday, August 28th.
Writing - Our writing block has been focused on the trait of ideas using news articles as our source. We are currently working on developing focused paragraphs with catchy titles, subheadings, and the use of proper nouns in our own "original" newspaper articles. It's been very fun to see students be so creative and have fun with this type of writing!
If you haven't yet responded, please be sure to let me know what size t-shirt your student wears. I will be giving those to our PSG later this week for our Redbird Run fundraiser coming up in September!
Several students have displayed an interest in campaigning for our Student Council. Students who are interested should have brought home a letter from Mrs. McMullen, our Student Council advisor, with information regarding some important requirements for students who serve. Those students who have returned the signed information and have written a campaign speech will be eligible to run. Speeches will be read anonymously by myself to the class on Friday morning and a vote will then take place. Good luck to those who run!
Reading - We will be reading a non-fiction story about Satchel Paige while working on the reading strategy of questioning and the skill of identifying facts and opinions. We will work on these through a variety of other activities during our stations as well.
Math - Unit 2 has just begun! This unit's focus will be on adding and subtracting algorithms. Students were introduced to a new addition strategy late last week called the "partial-sums" method. I discussed with the class how a carpenter has many tools in their toolbox, but do not necessarily use all of them all the time. We then discussed how this method is just another tool in our own math toolboxes; it is something we should at least try, but we are not required to use it. I let students know that I do not prefer them to use any one strategy over another. However, everyone did attempt to use the partial-sums method, but were able to use whichever strategy best suits them.
Science - We are currently wrapping up our first chapter based on classifying plants and animals. This week will include a short lab using microscopes to study the difference between plant cells and animal cells, along with an open-book test. The test will be given over the course of two class days (30 minutes each day) in order to allow students time to use their books and complete the test with a sufficient amount of time.
Social Studies - It's been a quick study, but we are also finishing up our chapter over ancient civilizations and Native American culture regions. Students have probably informed you that we are beginning a group project this week. On Friday, we discussed the requirements and guidelines for the project. Students formed groups, chose a culture region to present, and should be ready to begin working on Monday! Final projects will be due by the end of class on Friday, August 28th.
Writing - Our writing block has been focused on the trait of ideas using news articles as our source. We are currently working on developing focused paragraphs with catchy titles, subheadings, and the use of proper nouns in our own "original" newspaper articles. It's been very fun to see students be so creative and have fun with this type of writing!
If you haven't yet responded, please be sure to let me know what size t-shirt your student wears. I will be giving those to our PSG later this week for our Redbird Run fundraiser coming up in September!
Several students have displayed an interest in campaigning for our Student Council. Students who are interested should have brought home a letter from Mrs. McMullen, our Student Council advisor, with information regarding some important requirements for students who serve. Those students who have returned the signed information and have written a campaign speech will be eligible to run. Speeches will be read anonymously by myself to the class on Friday morning and a vote will then take place. Good luck to those who run!
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Welcome Back to School!
It's crazy to think about how quickly the summer flew by, but we are back to school and ready to get back into a groove! Thank you to all who were able to make time to meet me at Parent Information Night last week. I am truly enjoying getting to know your kids! This is a GREAT bunch!
Here are some of the things we will be working on this week in class:
Reading - We will be reading a tall tale titled "Thunder Rose" and focusing on the skill of identifying cause and effect relationships. We will also work on the comprehension strategy of summarizing, as well as using graphic aides such as charts and graphs to better our understanding.
Math - This week we will work on divisibility rules, identifying prime and composite numbers, squaring and unsquaring numbers, as well as prime factorization. Our test date for this unit will be on Tuesday, August 18th. Please be looking for a Test Alert to come home by the end of the week so students can begin preparing!
Writing - Students will complete one more autobiography type of writing, along with taking their own "selfie" to assist them! These should be fun! Another focus in writing this week will be responding to a piece of literature. We will be reviewing a strategy that most of the students know as A.P.E. to respond to a question about a text. This strategy will also assist them during Reading each week hereafter.
Science - We will be starting our work in Chapter 1 of the Life Sciences. This chapter's focus is on classifying plants and animals. Last week, students completed an investigation using keys to identify various trees and fish. This week, we will be reading and discussing material from our books as well as taking lots of notes!
Social Studies - Again, we will begin working through Chapter 1 of our new Social Studies curriculum. The focus of the chapter is on ancient civilizations, how the environment effected their lives, such as their housing, how they found food, etc. We will continue with this for a couple of weeks and end with a group project. That information will come home at a later date.
Students are receiving letters of "employment notification" on Monday morning! It is always so exciting to watch them open and read to find out for which job they have been hired. Be sure to ask them about it when you have a chance. Obviously, I am not able to always place students in their first choice of job, but I make sure to discuss how each job is important to the smooth running of our "company." I am doubtful that there will be much disappointment as there is a thrill in "getting a job" anyway, but please reinforce how important it is that we all do our jobs well no matter how big or how small; when we are all working together, our classroom will run like a well-oiled machine.
I am so thrilled with the start to this year that we have had! I am truly looking forward to an amazing year with this group of kiddos! Have a great week!
Here are some of the things we will be working on this week in class:
Reading - We will be reading a tall tale titled "Thunder Rose" and focusing on the skill of identifying cause and effect relationships. We will also work on the comprehension strategy of summarizing, as well as using graphic aides such as charts and graphs to better our understanding.
Math - This week we will work on divisibility rules, identifying prime and composite numbers, squaring and unsquaring numbers, as well as prime factorization. Our test date for this unit will be on Tuesday, August 18th. Please be looking for a Test Alert to come home by the end of the week so students can begin preparing!
Writing - Students will complete one more autobiography type of writing, along with taking their own "selfie" to assist them! These should be fun! Another focus in writing this week will be responding to a piece of literature. We will be reviewing a strategy that most of the students know as A.P.E. to respond to a question about a text. This strategy will also assist them during Reading each week hereafter.
Science - We will be starting our work in Chapter 1 of the Life Sciences. This chapter's focus is on classifying plants and animals. Last week, students completed an investigation using keys to identify various trees and fish. This week, we will be reading and discussing material from our books as well as taking lots of notes!
Social Studies - Again, we will begin working through Chapter 1 of our new Social Studies curriculum. The focus of the chapter is on ancient civilizations, how the environment effected their lives, such as their housing, how they found food, etc. We will continue with this for a couple of weeks and end with a group project. That information will come home at a later date.
Students are receiving letters of "employment notification" on Monday morning! It is always so exciting to watch them open and read to find out for which job they have been hired. Be sure to ask them about it when you have a chance. Obviously, I am not able to always place students in their first choice of job, but I make sure to discuss how each job is important to the smooth running of our "company." I am doubtful that there will be much disappointment as there is a thrill in "getting a job" anyway, but please reinforce how important it is that we all do our jobs well no matter how big or how small; when we are all working together, our classroom will run like a well-oiled machine.
I am so thrilled with the start to this year that we have had! I am truly looking forward to an amazing year with this group of kiddos! Have a great week!
Monday, February 2, 2015
Mid-Term Already!
You read it correctly! It's mid-term already for our third quarter. Please be sure that you are checking Power School and keeping up-to-date with your student's assignments. Time is passing very quickly and it's always best to be on top of the game!
Here are some updates for the past couple of weeks:
Math - We wrapped up our unit on fraction computation. We have now moved on to some geometry and are currently covering area and volume. We have learned formulas for calculating area of rectangles and triangles, and today we learned the formula for calculating volume of rectangular prisms. We did this after we did some experimenting with open prisms and centimeter cubes. We also discussed how finding volume can be similar to counting the layers of a cake; once we know how big one layer is, it's much easier to find determine the volume of all the layers! We will be testing on Friday over this unit, so be watching for a Test Alert to come home tomorrow!
Reading - As we continue to work through our unit on adapting, we have also begun some novel studies. Students are currently reading a novel in their lexile range. We are meeting once a week to discuss content and use the novel material to reinforce the skills and strategies that we practice during our literacy time each day. So far, this is going VERY smoothly and students are really enjoying the novels they've been assigned. We will continue to focus on the skills of generalizing, using graphic sources and drawing conclusions for the next several weeks.
Writing - Last week concluded our unit on Fractured Fairy Tales creative writing. The stories that have been written are amazing! It's not often that we are able to cut loose and be whimsical with our writing and this certainly paid off! The kids had a great time with it! With that now coming to an end, we are turning our focus towards preparing for the ISTEP+ test that will take place later this month. The test is currently being revamped and changes are quite drastic in comparison to what the students are accustomed to seeing each year. The writing portion now includes a reading passage with an essay question at the end. Students will be required to pull text evidence from the passage to support their essay answer. We are hitting this hard and heavy right now! We will continue to focus on this and some planning strategies that will help our students be successful writers, both on ISTEP+ and in future academic years.
Social Studies - Mid-term seems to be when a lot of things come to an end, and Social Studies is no exception! We wrapped up a unit over the American Revolution last week. Students spent several weeks reading about the causes of the war, creating timelines of the events and battles, and taking notes. They are now putting all of that knowledge to use with a final project! Students had about nine different options for their final project and we are using our class time this week to work on those. This is always a fun time each year, but the projects do require creativity and sometimes a little help from parents in the form of supplies. Students are welcome to use whatever supplies we have here at school, but don't be surprised if your student asks you to purchase something such as poster board or index cards for this project. All projects will be due on Friday, February 6th. We will then prepare for the ISTEP+ testing in social studies and continue studying the history of our nation after the war ended.
Science - Students in Science have been learning about the earth, it's location in our solar system and how the moon's gravity affects things such as eclipses and tides here on earth. Students have been reading, discussing, taking notes, and watching videos. There will be an open-book, teacher-guided test that will take place over the course of Thursday and Friday's class times this week.
As always, have a great week and feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns!
Here are some updates for the past couple of weeks:
Math - We wrapped up our unit on fraction computation. We have now moved on to some geometry and are currently covering area and volume. We have learned formulas for calculating area of rectangles and triangles, and today we learned the formula for calculating volume of rectangular prisms. We did this after we did some experimenting with open prisms and centimeter cubes. We also discussed how finding volume can be similar to counting the layers of a cake; once we know how big one layer is, it's much easier to find determine the volume of all the layers! We will be testing on Friday over this unit, so be watching for a Test Alert to come home tomorrow!
Reading - As we continue to work through our unit on adapting, we have also begun some novel studies. Students are currently reading a novel in their lexile range. We are meeting once a week to discuss content and use the novel material to reinforce the skills and strategies that we practice during our literacy time each day. So far, this is going VERY smoothly and students are really enjoying the novels they've been assigned. We will continue to focus on the skills of generalizing, using graphic sources and drawing conclusions for the next several weeks.
Writing - Last week concluded our unit on Fractured Fairy Tales creative writing. The stories that have been written are amazing! It's not often that we are able to cut loose and be whimsical with our writing and this certainly paid off! The kids had a great time with it! With that now coming to an end, we are turning our focus towards preparing for the ISTEP+ test that will take place later this month. The test is currently being revamped and changes are quite drastic in comparison to what the students are accustomed to seeing each year. The writing portion now includes a reading passage with an essay question at the end. Students will be required to pull text evidence from the passage to support their essay answer. We are hitting this hard and heavy right now! We will continue to focus on this and some planning strategies that will help our students be successful writers, both on ISTEP+ and in future academic years.
Social Studies - Mid-term seems to be when a lot of things come to an end, and Social Studies is no exception! We wrapped up a unit over the American Revolution last week. Students spent several weeks reading about the causes of the war, creating timelines of the events and battles, and taking notes. They are now putting all of that knowledge to use with a final project! Students had about nine different options for their final project and we are using our class time this week to work on those. This is always a fun time each year, but the projects do require creativity and sometimes a little help from parents in the form of supplies. Students are welcome to use whatever supplies we have here at school, but don't be surprised if your student asks you to purchase something such as poster board or index cards for this project. All projects will be due on Friday, February 6th. We will then prepare for the ISTEP+ testing in social studies and continue studying the history of our nation after the war ended.
Science - Students in Science have been learning about the earth, it's location in our solar system and how the moon's gravity affects things such as eclipses and tides here on earth. Students have been reading, discussing, taking notes, and watching videos. There will be an open-book, teacher-guided test that will take place over the course of Thursday and Friday's class times this week.
As always, have a great week and feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns!
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