 Welcome to my weekly plans for the 2015-2016 school year. On the right under Archive by Month, you can click a month to see plans from that particular month, or just scroll down to browse through them all.
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 Students cleaned out their folders... holy smokes! That's a lot of paper Ms. Kimball dished out at us! Highlights from Last Week:
What an adventurous week! The fifth grade enjoyed a wilderness extravaganza at Hale Reservations swinging from ropes, scooping critters from the pond, eating plants, building fires, and much more. It was a great way to appreciate nature and learn teamwork. On Friday, students squirmed through the puberty video. They learned what to expect as they slowly morph into their adult forms. In writing, students wrapped up their last project –personal narratives with visual elements. Whitney, Maggie, Julia, August, and Ben shared their entertaining and powerful presentations of their stories. It’s almost like watching a movie! Social Studies continues to thrill with the story of the American Revolution. We learned about George Washington’s struggle to lead an army that’s not really an army, and how the British make a number of missteps that enable the rebels to avoid defeat. This (Final) Week's Plan Monday, June 20:
Tuesday, June 21:
Wednesday, June 22:
On Thursday, Mister Kimball and I are off to Portugal for a much needed vacation. Saúde! Thank you for a wonderful school year students and parents! Have a most fabulous summer!  Fifth graders sharing their Global Citizenship charities with fourth graders. Highlights from Last Week:
Students visited the middle school on Thursday, touring the halls and peeking in classrooms. It was a great way to gain some slight familiarity with the building, as well as to meet some sixth graders. Our Citizenship Expo was a big hit. Students showed off all of their hard work raising money and awareness for their chosen charities. Thanks to all of the parents and family members who listened to students’ spiels. The chorus and band concert that followed was spectacular, and a special thanks goes to Mrs. Hodge and Mr. Davis for their great musical leadership. 5K had the honor of welcoming Superintendent McAlduff to our classroom for Reading Day to read aloud from some funny Jon Scieszka picture books. We still owe him a thank you note! We wrapped up Math for the year with the end of year assessment. Percentage scores ranged from the 50s to the 90s. It can be challenging to remember every math technique you learn in a year! One part of the test goes to the middle school, the other part goes home for parent signatures. In other subjects, students did a great job staying engaged and working hard despite the end-of-year excitement. Students have written some stellar stories that I hope to find time this week and next to share and celebrate. What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special:
Hale Reservation Information: 80 Carby Street Westwood, MA 02090 Phone: 781-326-1770 www.HaleReservation.org What to bring:
We leave school by 9am. We return to school at 4:45pm, depending on traffic. Pick up is at the Bus Loop. Please arrive by 4:45pm. Carpooling is encouraged! Writing: Personal Narrative Celebration!
Reading:
Social Studies: American Revolution.
Homework: Homework is minimal this week!
Preview of the Last Week of School Monday, June 20:
 Students Food Web posters Highlights from Last Week:
Students shared presentations of their Global Citizenship projects with the class. We admired the work and dedication each student did for their chosen charity, and applauded their efforts, big and small. Students have their posters displayed in the library for the whole school to admire. On Tuesday, newly published author Elinor Teele visited the 5th grade to share about her storytelling technique. Students learned a bit about integrating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) into stories. In Writing, students are skillfully composing personal narratives using more complex sentences (with the help of conjunctions) and more emotion (with the help of interjections). The stories are so exciting to read, especially now that students are building tension throughout their writing using a climactic story structure. What we didn't get to: Oh boy, A LOT. I didn’t budget enough time in the plan last week for Citizenship Project presentations. We also earned some bonus recess time where we played a thrilling class game of “Infection.” Combined, these additions prevented us from getting to the following:
This Week's Plan Special:
Math: End of Year Assessments. Review.
Writing: Personal Narrative
Reading: Informational Reading Groups.
Social Studies: American Revolution. We pick up the story after the Battle of Bunker Hill and learn about:
Science: We have wrapped up Science and now focus on Social Studies for the remainder of the year. Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.  Students in bright and colorful attire for our Disco Dress Day. Highlights from Last Week:
Students shared their posters and presentations about Food Webs and Ecosystems. With new-found flair, students made presentations on Google Slides with vivid images and short captions, using note cards to explain information rather than cram slides with walls of text. We learned all about producers, consumers, and decomposers in various ecosystems. To practice our newly-learned language skills with conjunctions, interjection, and more, we are writing personal narratives. This also helps us review strategies for writing personal narratives, which we studied back in the beginning of the school year. Students are now writing more complex sentences thanks to conjunctions, and are able to express emotions more clearly thanks to interjections. They also have some pretty entertaining stories to write! In Math, we tested our skills in Polygon Properties. Listing properties of triangles and quadrilaterals was easy for some, still challenging for others. I will give students who want it an opportunity to retake the test. We moved on to measurement conversions. Students loved the “Known to Unknown” method for converting from feet to yards, yards to miles. They were getting correct answers every time –and loving the work, strangely! Hey, I’ll take it! In Reading, we began our informational text groups. Students selected from topics such as Self-Driving Cars, Bees, The Zika Virus, and Climate Change. In their groups, they decided on a news article that all would read and jot notes about. This week, we will meet in groups to analyze and discuss the articles. Students seem pretty excited about this latest version of book groups. Middle-schoolers visited fifth graders on Thursday to share about schedules, lockers, and other important logistics. There is a lot to learn about middle school, but an important take-away is that there are many friendly faces willing to help. What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special:
Math: Measurement Conversions. Volume.
Grammar and Language Skills. Personal Narrative Review.
Reflections. Connect to Grammar.
Social Studies: American Revolution. We pick up the story after the Battle of Bunker Hill and learn about:
Science: We take a break from Science to pick up again with Social Studies. Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.  Students working hard on their Food Web poster. Highlights from Last Week:
MCAS is over for the year. Hooray! Students finished with the Science MCAS on Friday. Results for the tests can be expected late in the summer. Students begged for extra Science this week to work on their Food Web posters. Most students have finished and the posters look fantastic! Working in partnerships, students read about an ecosystem, listed living things, then sorted the living things based on what eats what. Students learned how energy in transferred from the sun through to producers, to consumers, to decomposers, then back into the earth. We belted out “The Circle of Life” in our best Elton John voices a few times. I don’t know how one makes grammar exciting, but somehow I managed to do it this week. We learned about conjunctions and examined how they can make writing flow better and add to meaning. Students had fun combining sentences like, “My dog is cute. My dog can be naughty,” into “Although my dog is cute, she can be naughty.” What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special:
Math: Finish Polygons. Clean up Measurement and Volume.
Grammar and Language Skills
Reflections. Connect to Grammar.
Social Studies: We take a break from Social Studies to focus on Science. We will pick up with Social Studies after Memorial Day. Science: Food Webs and Ecosystems.
Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.  Students intrigued by art at the Museum of Fine Arts. Highlights from Last Week:
We had a packed week last week. Students completed the Math MCAS as well as the DARE program. I think students enjoyed DARE significantly more than MCAS! Our field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts was enlightening. We learned about art in the Americas from the knowledgeable tour guides, then we browsed the rest of the museum to watch how the features of art changed over time. On Friday, we enjoyed special guest author, Michael Tougias, who wrote Our Finest Hours, now a Disney film. Mr. Tougias presented to 3rd and 5th graders about the real life event he researched and how writing historical nonfiction can be exhilarating. In Science last week, we learned about how plants grow and compared our understanding to our attempts to germinate seeds. We then studied food webs and ecosystems. Students read about a particular ecosystem and are working in partnerships to draw a food web that shows how energy is transferred from the sun to producers to consumers then to decomposers. What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special:
Math: Now that MCAS is over, we are going to go back and cover some of the concepts we rushed through.
Grammar and Language Skills
Reflections. Connect to Grammar.
Social Studies: We take a break from Social Studies to focus on Science. We will pick up with Social Studies again after the Science MCAS is over. Science: MCAS Preparation.
Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.  Students in battle positions on the North Bridge in Concord. Highlights from Last Week:
Our field trip to Lexington and Concord (The Minuteman National Park) was thoroughly engaging and fun. Students learned about the events of April 19th, 1775, and how the colonists gathered to stop the British from seizing their store of ammunition. We also learned how soldiers fought with their muskets and how women helped the cause by making cloth so Americans could boycott British cloth. Our class found particular delight with marching in formation across the North Bridge in Concord. Unfortunately, I lost a control of the troops at one point and they started “firing” at Ms. Correia’s class up ahead! Students learned how to beat box with their mouths and sing with passion during the amazing workshop with a cappella group, Ball in the House. I couldn’t make the night show, but I heard it was fantastic. “Dead or alive or dormant?” We’ve been singing that theme song each time we check on our seeds. Students are experimenting to see what seeds need to germinate, and then what plants need to grow. Students are changing the make-up of the soil, the amount of water, the type of fluid, the amount of sunlight, and whether or not there is air. No signs of life yet! We covered Volume in math quite well, despite needing to cram before MCAS. In Reading, we started reading and reenacting a play about Harriet Tubman. Students are learning to recognize examples of foreshadowing in a play by focusing on particular stage directions and performance instructions. What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special:
Math: Cram Time for Math MCAS. In order to cover everything that students will be tested on in the MCAS, which is May 10th and 11th, we need to cram in 1 ½ months worth of material in 2 weeks. Here is what we still need to cover:
Grammar and Language Skills
Continue with Foreshadowing. Revisit point of view.
Social Studies: Colonial America and American Revolution primary and secondary sources.
Science: Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems
Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.  "Call on me!!" Students eager to share their theories on the foreshadowing within our class read aloud of, The Stranger, by Chris Van Allsburg. Highlights from Last Week:
Students had an exciting week. We explored the new playgroup behind the school and played a class game of Zombie Tag. It was all a fun way to remember how magical being a kid is. In one of the most passionate class discussions I’ve ever witnessed, students analyzed examples of foreshadowing in our new favorite book, The Stranger, by Chris Van Allsburg. Students fought to be called on to share their theories about who the stranger was based on the little hints in the text. In Math, students had a blast analyzing line graphs of Granny’s hot air balloon ride and hypothesizing what happened to her based on the changes in the graph. Granny did everything from posing for a photo shoot, to falling down a sewer hole, to time traveling! On Thursday, we reviewed for the Science MCAS through a fast-paced nature walk. The lady from the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary refreshed our memories on everything from animal adaptations to types of rocks. Friday was Get Up and Move Day. Students enjoyed an invigorating half hour of exercise as an entire school. What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special:
Math: Cram Time for Math MCAS. In order to cover everything that students will be tested on in the MCAS, which is May 10th and 11th, we need to cram in 1 ½ months worth of material in 2 weeks. Here is what we still need to cover:
Grammar and Language Skills
Continue with Foreshadowing. Revisit point of view.
Social Studies: We take a break from Social Studies to focus on Science. We will pick up with Social Studies again after the Science MCAS is over in mid May. Science: Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems
Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.  Students getting ready to mail their business letters to their chosen charities. I hope everyone had a wonderful April break! Welcome back!
Highlights from Last Week: We had a fun week before the break. Some highlights include:
What we didn't get to:
This Week's Plan Special: Our week is pack with extra activities:
Math: Cram Time for Math MCAS. In order to cover everything that students will be tested on in the MCAS, which is May 10th and 11th, we need to cram in 1 ½ months worth of material in 2 weeks. Here is what we need to cover:
Grammar and Language Skills
Finish discussing Theme in Book Groups. Begin Foreshadowing.
Social Studies: We take a break from Social Studies to focus on Science. We will pick up with Social Studies again after the Science MCAS is over in mid May. Science: Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems
Homework: Please visit the Homework Page for more details.
Thanks for Reading! So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback. |
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