Blog Archives

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

9/24/2022

Happy Fall and happy last week of September! The weeks are just flying by in 5th grade! I can't believe it's nearly October! 🍁

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK💡
MATH:
Math last week shifted from multiplication to division! Students practiced dividing by tens, hundreds, and thousands. Later in the week we moved into dividing two and three digit numbers by two digit divisors.

READING WORKSHOP:
Last week's reading workshop focused on the power of conversation. Students learned that readers come together to have conversations in order to both share thinking, and grow ideas together. We also practiced identifying themes in fiction text. Using our completed read aloud, Towers Falling, students learned a structure to use when finding the theme and how to support it with specific evidence from the text. Additionally, students practiced activating schema to gain a deeper understanding of text.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP:
Our Being a Writer lessons last week focused on getting ideas from nonfiction. Students explored nonfiction text and non-book examples of writing throughout the week. We practiced writing question and answer books, advertisements, and even brochures! In addition, students spent time conferring with their writing partners as well.

SCIENCE:
We began wrapping up our Earth in Space unit last week with an examination of constellations. Students learned that constellations are patterns of stars that represent the shape of a person, animal, or mythical figure. After studying constellation patterns, students discovered that different constellations are visible during different seasons of the year. Using seasonal constellation charts, we created graphs to represent constellation visibility and analyzed this data to draw conclusions about the patterns we noticed.

THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS📌
MATH:
We will continue moving through Chapter 2 and focus on order of operations.

READING WORKSHOP:
Our mini-lessons this week will focus on who we are as readers, reading plans, and book talks.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP:
This week we will begin our second writing unit, The Writing Process. Students will select a draft to publish, and begin the revision process.

SCIENCE:
We will wrap up our Earth in Space study this week. Students will review the major concepts from the unit, and examine star patterns and constellations using the Sky View app!

UPCOMING EVENTS 📆
Monday, 9/26: NO SCHOOL (Non-Attendance Day)
Monday, 10/3: PICTURE DAY 📸 9:15am
Earth in Space Assessment (with notes)
Wednesday, 105: NO SCHOOL (Non-Attendance Day)

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Monday, September 19, 2022

9/17/2022

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We had another great week in 5th Grade!! Your children continue to amaze and inspire me with their flexibility, creativity, and readiness to learn! I can see our classroom community growing stronger each day, and for that, I am extremely grateful! 🥰

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK 💡
MATH:
Multiplication Week was a success!! Students spent the beginning of the week learning shortcuts for multiplying by 100s, 1000s, and powers of 10. We spent the remaining days practicing multiplication of 2, 3, and 4 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers. After a super busy practice week, we had a chance to wrap up our fun with an exciting multiplication bingo game day on Friday!!

READING WORKSHOP:
We officially put together the structure for our Reading Workshop last week! Students examined the roles of the teacher and students during our workshop time, and reviewed stopping and jotting as we read and discussed our mentor texts. We also spent time examining our reading identities and learned about one another's reading habits during partner interviews.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP:
Our Being a Writer lessons last week focused on quick writing techniques, point of view, and getting ideas from nonfiction. We practiced writing I could be...poems and explored nonfiction writing topics.

SCIENCE:
We continued moving along in our Earth in Space unit as we shifted our focus from seasons to stars! Students learned that different stars range in size, brightness, and distance from Earth.
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS📌
MATH:
We will continue moving through Chapter 2 and celebrate Division Week! Students will practice dividing by 10s, 100s, 1000s, and two digit divisors.

READING WORKSHOP:
Our workshop lessons this week will focus on activating schema, the power of conversation, and finding evidence for the theme of a text.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP:
Our first writing unit will come to an end this week. Students will continue to gather writing ideas from nonfiction, and work with writing partners for peer conferences.

SCIENCE:
Our study of Earth and Space will continue this week as we spend our time exploring Earth's orbit and stars, and examine constellations.

UPCOMING EVENTS 📆
Monday, 9/16: NO SCHOOL (Non-Attendance Day)
Monday, 10/3: Picture Day! 📸
**Coming Soon: Chapter 2 Math Assessment some time during the week of 10/3 (a specific date will be given as soon as we wrap up a few more concepts.)

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Monday, September 12, 2022

9/10/2022

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Another busy week passed us by in fifth grade! Our class has been working hard to make sure our classroom community continues to be a safe and welcoming place. Last week we finished up our Classroom Charter (it's like a class promise!) and determined that in our classroom, we want to feel safe, welcomed, respected, valued, and confident. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of the careful and thoughtful work our kids put into creating this pledge! 💗

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK💡
MATH:
Last week in math we began Chapter 2: Multiplication and Division. Students spent the week practicing multiplying by 10s, 100s, and 1000s, and rounding and estimating as well.

READING WORKSHOP:
We finished up our Notice & Note Literary Signposts study last week with our final two signposts.

First, students explored Again and Again moments; when you're reading and you notice a word, phrase, object, or situation mentioned over and over. Using excerpts from Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, students practiced answering the question, "Why does this keep showing up again and again." We learned that these answers will tell us about the theme and conflict, and might even foreshadow what will happen later.

Our final signpost of the unit was Memory Moment; when you're reading and the author interrupts the action to tell you a memory. Using an excerpt from Hope was Here, by Joan Bauer, students practiced answering the question, "Why might this memory be important?" We learned that the answers will tell us about the theme and conflict, and might even foreshadow what will happen later in the story.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP:
Our writers continue to flourish! Last week students explored a prewriting technique, quick writes, to get their writing juices flowing. We also continued to gather writing ideas from our own lives.

SCICENCE:
Earth In Space continued last week as we examined Earth's rotation and revolution. Students examined several pieces of evidence to prove that the earth is rotating to create daytime and nighttime, and revolving to create seasons.

THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS📌
MATH:
We will continue moving through Chapter 2, with MULTIPLICATION WEEK! 🥳 Students will spend the week multiplying by powers of 10 and 2-digit numbers!

READING WORKSHOP:
Our class will kick off our official Readers' Workshop this week! We will begin establishing roles and routines, while students consider their reading identities and craft their reading lives.

WRITER'S WORKSHOP:
Writing this week will focus on exploring point of view and getting writing ideas from nonfiction.

SCIENCE:
Our study of Earth and Space will continue this week as we begin talking about stars and our sun.

UPCOMING EVENTS📆
Monday, 9/26: NO SCHOOL
** It doesn't seem possible...but I can't seem to find any other immediate events that will impact our schedule! Stay tuned...maybe I'm missing something!

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Tuesday, September 6, 2022

9/3/2022

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Fifth grade continues to be off to an amazing start and our classroom community is growing stronger with each new day. From Smiles & Frowns, Put-Ups, and development of our Class Charter....to Individual Goal Setting meetings, writing share time, and read aloud discussions...we are learning so much about one another! We even welcomed a brand new to America student, Sofia! Our class has been incredibly kind and welcoming, which makes me the luckiest teacher ever! 💗

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK: 💡
MATH:
Last week in math we completed Chapter 1. Students identified the place values in digits up to 10,000,000 and practiced reading and writing numbers in expanded form.. We also compared and ordered numbers, and solved number pattern word puzzles. We took our final assessment on Thursday and enjoyed a Building Fact Fluency game day on Friday!!

READING WORKSHOP:
Our reading focus last week continued with Notice & Note as we learned about two more signposts.

Our first signpost of the week was Tough Questions; when you're reading and the character asks himself a really difficult question. Using excerpts from A Long Walk to Water, written by Linda Sue Park, students practiced locating tough questions and answered their own question, "What does this question make me wonder about." We learned that these answers will tell us about the conflict and might give us ideas about what will happen later in the story.

Next, Using an excerpt from Riding Freedom, written by Pam Munoz Ryan, students found and analyzed Words of the Wiser; when you're reading and a character (who's probably much older and wiser) takes the main character aside and gives serious advice. We practiced answering the question, "What's the life lesson, and how might it affect the character?" Answering this question helped us find the theme for the story.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP:
Students continue to enjoy our writing time together! Last week's lessons focused on getting writing ideas from poetry and our own lives. We learned about the importance of incorporating sensory details into our work, examined creative "Scranimal" poems, and explored ideas from personal experiences to use during writing time.

SCIENCE:
Earth in Space continued last week with a focus on Earth's gravitational force. Students used models and evidence to support the claim that gravity pulls objects toward the center of the Earth.

THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS: 📌
MATH:
We will begin Chapter 2: Multiplication and Division, and spend the week multiplying by 10s, 100s, and 1000s.

READING WORKSHOP:
Students will learn about the final two Notice & Note Literary Signposts, Again & Again and Memory Moment.

WRITERS' WORKSHOP:
This week in writing we will continue to learn how to get ideas from our own lives.

SCIENCE:
Our Earth in Space focus for the week will be on Earth's rotation and revolution.

UPCOMING EVENTS: 📆
Wednesday, 9/7 MATH MAP TEST @ 1:15pm

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