Plans Week of September 15, 2014

Students playing the "Factor Captor" math game.

Review: 

Our first full week of school went swimmingly! We had two wonderful surprises at the end of the week. One was that we got a brand new, state of the art "projector" that has the magic pens which allow you to manipulate the computer screen you're hooked up to. Two, we got a new student to welcome into our community. Happy to have you, Yubin!

Other highlights from the week:

• We are just about finished publishing our Hopes and Goals for Fifth Grade. Students voted to display them as leaves on a tree. Not the kind of leaves that fade, fall, and crumble, but the kind that withstand the harsh winds of change and the rains of challenge. (I tried really hard on that metaphor!)
  
• The students are making huge strides on acing their multiplication facts. Alec is the first student to finish the test in under a minute. Instant recall of multiplication facts makes ever other concept in 5th grade easier!
  
• Stamina and independence have been huge themes this week. Students are working toward reading independently for longer periods of time, solving problems with less teacher assistance, and staying engaged without distraction. 
  
• We launched our Science Journals this week, learning how scientists observe and record information. We practiced being scientists by studying a pencil and learning how pencils are made. 
  
• Students wrote an On-Demand Narrative for their portfolios. It was to be the best personal narrative they could write at this point in their schooling. Students will use these to compare their growth in writing throughout the year. After I read them all, I have to say, I was VERY impressed! Students set the bar high!

What We Didn't Get To:
The "Turning and Talking" reading lesson about our favorite books. 
In Science, we didn't get to introduce our Pond Life unit.


Reading:
Here are the lessons in reading that we will tackle this week:

• How to have a respectful and accountable "turn and talk" discussion with a partner. We'll discuss our favorite books.
  
• Using a Reading Journal to keep track of books, respond to reading, and ideas for future reads.
  
• Balancing your reading diet with a variety of genres and types of texts.
  
• Keeping track of your thinking during reading using sticky notes.
  
• Keeping track of your thinking during reading using the Reading Journal.

Writing:
Here are the lessons in writing that we will tackle this week:

• More ideas for coming up with stories: remembering times we had strong feelings.
  
• Re-live a memory as though you are playing a movie in your mind before writing.
  
• Use ideas from published authors to spark ideas for your own stories.
  
• Write from inside your own skin using details that ring true and exact.
  

Math:
Here are the lessons in math that we will tackle this week:

• Learn tricks for determining divisibility and how to test for divisibility.
  
• Identify prime and composite numbers
  
• Model square numbers with arrays & play a game called, "Factor Bingo," to reinforce knowledge of factors and multiples
  
• Assess our current understanding of fractions from 4th grade math with a quick math screening.
  
• Find the Prime Factorization of a number. Play a game called, "Name That Number," to practice number properties, basic facts, and more.
• Review concepts from Unit 1 Number Theory in preparation for our first math test.

Science:
Here is the plan for science this week:

• Learn about the characteristics of a pond ecosystem.
  
• Conduct water experiments to learn about the properties of water and how animals who live in it have adapted to it.
  

Thanks for Reading!
So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

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