Plans Week of April 6, 2015

Last Friday, we wore yellow to show support for a young boy preparing to undergo a bone marrow transplant in the UK. Anna from Ms. Murphy's class inspired us to "wear yellow for Seth."

Highlights from Last Week:

This is a sad highlight: Our beloved Olivia Y had her last day in our class on Thursday. She has moved to Beverly and has transferred to her new school there. We made her a page of compliments that praised her for her hard work, determination, friendliness, kindness, and compassion. We will miss you very much, Olivia! Good luck in your new school. Come back to visit us soon!

PARCC testing Round 1 is finished. Round 2 will happen in May. Students learned and practiced the three key skills of standardized test taking: focus, rigor, and endurance.

On Thursday, students role-played characters from the American Revolution time-period and argued with each other over the British government and its tax laws. It was quite lively and students were able to present multiple viewpoints, including those of colonial commoners, tradespeople, upper class, and even Massachusetts governor, Thomas Hutchinson.

We had a blast on Monday during recess filming for the fifth grade graduation video. Our class shook to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" with style and energy! We can't wait to see how it all comes out.

We finished our math unit on Fraction Multiplication and took an assessment. Students will correct their own tests on Monday, I'll review and grade the tests, and they'll come home for parent signatures on Tuesday.

We launched two new literacy units this past week. In Reading, we are focusing on Survival and Resilience. Students learned that surviving requires resilience and that resilience can by physical, psychological, or social. We learned that "surviving" in the real world means so much more than what TV or the movies would have us think it is.

Ms. Faucon is teaching our new Writing Unit. Students will write their own memoirs, focusing on bringing meaning to their memories. This week, they began exploring topics and themes that they could grow into a memoir.

Here is the general plan for the week:

Reading: 

• We continue our study of texts about Survival and Resilience. Students will learn to identify "survival" as a theme in a text. They will see how characters and real people have overcome obstacles in their lives and consider how these lessons apply to our own lives. We begin this unit with some whole-class read aloud stories.

Writing:

• Ms. Faucon is teaching our writing unit on Memoir. This week, students  choose specific themes and memories to write about. Students will learn how to find lasting meaning from their memories and write to express big meaning from small experiences.

Math: 

• Dividing Fractions! This week we will explore the concept of fraction division and how to model it. We'll look at wholes divided by wholes (ex. 4 divided by 5). We'll look at wholes divided by fractions (ex. 4 divided by a fifth). We'll look at fractions divided by whole (ex. four fifths divided by 4). And we'll look at fractions divided by fractions (ex. four fifths divided by a fifth). Fun stuff!

Social Studies:

• We continue learning about The American Revolution. Students will read, watch videos, create skits, and write journal entries to study this epic event. Student will learn about five major causes of the revolution: The French & Indian War, The Stamp Act, The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, and The Intolerable Acts.

Science:
This week we will introduce Simple Machines. Students will investigate uses for things like: a wedge, a lever, an inclined plane, and a screw.


Thanks for reading! As always, please contact me with any questions, comments, or feedback.