Highlights from Last Week:

Students published some fantastic pieces of writing this week —their opinion essays. Students wrote about a variety of topics: why we should get air conditioners in our classrooms, why we should have a vending machine in the cafeteria, why school should start earlier, and many more interesting arguments. Throughout the unit, students learned many invaluable essay writing techniques, such as how to structure an essay using repetition, how to use transition and thinking words and phrases to connect ideas, and how to write toward an audience. To celebrate the completion of this unit, students read their essays in small groups and offered each other praise and feedback.

We have started our quest to conquer one of the most formidable math adversaries: Division. This week students learned how to “build a quotient,” using known multiplication facts to build up to an answer. This is an excellent way to strengthen their number sense, build a strong understanding of the concept of division, and set them up for success when they need to divide decimals and fractions.

Our class read aloud of Louis Sachar’s There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom continues to thrill the class. Students are learning how to use text evidence to make inferences about a character’s development over the course of the story. During the read aloud, students turn and talk throughout to share predictions, inferences, and analyses with each other. It’s amazing how deep they are getting in to the symbolism and themes of the story!

On Friday, students saw a presentation from local veterans to raise awareness and understanding of Veterans’ Day. Although I was absent that day, I heard students got a lot out of it.
 
What we didn't get to:
My reading lesson plan didn't get executed very well. We mostly did independent reading last week. I will try for Reading Choice Time and Writing About Reading this week.


This Week's Plan

Special:
Wednesday: Early Release. Parent Teacher Conferences. Students are invited and encouraged to attend.
Friday: Spirit Day! Wear black and orange for Halloween fun.


Reading:
Routines of readers' workshop and fall reading assessments.

• Writing About Reading –Students will continue to practice writing about their reading using our list of Reading Action Verbs. I will model the type of responses I expect and invite students to share their own with a partner.
• Reading Choice Time –We will discuss how to make Choice Time accountable and productive so that I am more likely to give students the opportunity to choose the project that they work on.
• Teacher Read Aloud  –There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. As I read, students turn and talk to share their analyses and evaluations of the characters and plot developments.

Writing:
We begin a new unit: Personal Narratives.

• Pre-Assessment –Students’ first task is to write a sample personal narrative to show what they’re able to do at the start of this unit.
• Turning Points –Students will brainstorm first times, last times, and time they realized something to help them generate personal narrative topics.
• Reliving the Moment –We will practice some strategies to help us see our experience in a step by step way before we write.
• Reading to Write –To inspire our narrative craft, we will read published personal narratives and get ideas for our own.

Math: 
Estimation and computation.​​

• Estimating Division Quotients –Students will learn how to estimate the answer to a division problem by rounding the dividend to a "friendly number" to the divisor and using their understanding of powers of 10 to place the quotient in the right place value.
• Division with 1-digit Divisors –Using the intuitive Partial Quotientsalgorithm, students will use their multiplication skills to divide up to 5-digit dividends by 1-digit divisors. (DIVIDEND divided by DIVISOR equals QUOTIENT)
• Division with 2-digit Divisors –Students will learn how to divide by 2-digit numbers using a menu of options for building a quotient.
• Division Number Stories –We will learn how to turn English into Math and solve real world division problems.

Science:
Weather and Climate.

• Cloud Formations –We will examine how clouds form how the different types of clouds cause our weather.
• Measuring Weather –We will investigate atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction, and precipitation, as well as how we can measure these weather indicators.

​

Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for full details.

• Students do not have a new Reading Response Blog, but they must comment on another student's post and reply to my comment by Friday.
• There is no new homework project this week.
• There will be a math page or two each night.
• I will assign some practice with "modifying clauses." Modifying clauses, which provide additional information about nouns within a sentence, help make students' writing more informative and interesting. Look! I just used one in the last sentence.
• For ambitious students, there will be a Science Challenge to build your own weather measuring instrument. These can be turned in by any time before Friday.

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

Highlights from Last Week:

• Students enjoyed our experiment on convection currents where we used hot and cold water, clear jars, and food coloring to demonstrate that hot air rises and cold air sinks. Students also worked diligently on their experiment reports to show how this experiment relates to wind.
• We learned how to multiply 3-digit by 3-digit numbers using the standard algorithm. Students agreed that it gets a lot easier once you practice it a bunch of times.
• In a spontaneous moment, I decided to let students create a tutoring video demonstrating the standard algorithm. I dove into it a little unprepared, so this week I will show students exactly what I am expecting and some video examples for inspiration. I hope that once they learn how to plan, film, and edit this video, they can create similar videos for all sorts of concepts throughout the year.
• We reached a big turning point in our class read aloud of There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. We discovered through deep inferencing that the belligerent main character, Bradley, secretly does want to have friends and be liked others. Students watched me as I stopped to trace some of Bradley's development through the story using evidence from the text.
• In an effort to integrate Science and Reading, we learned some strategies for tackling informational texts. Students learned how to navigate the layout of our Weather books along with a fun partner reading strategy called, "Stop, Think, and Talk."

 
What we didn't get to:
I had a few spontaneous ideas for lessons and activities this week that caused my original plan to be pushed back.

• We still haven't modeled decimals yet in Math. I got an idea for a fun math  project and had to run with it. I have decided to move straight to division with whole numbers instead of jumping to decimals in this unit.
• We didn't get to the water cycle investigation in Science.
• I still need to teach students how to write effective introductions and conclusions.

This Week's Plan

Special:
Wednesday: Early Release. Parent Teacher Conferences. Students are invited and encouraged to attend!


Reading:
Routines of readers' workshop and fall reading assessments.

• Reading Action Verbs Practice –Students will continue to practice writing about their reading using our list of Reading Action Verbs. I will model how to effectively do this with our class read aloud.
• Reading Choice Time –We will discuss how to make Choice Time accountable and productive so that I am more likely to give students the opportunity to choose the project that they work on.
• Formal reading assessments  –I only have 2 more to do! These assessments guide my instruction and grouping this semester.
• Teacher Read Aloud  –There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. As I read, students turn and talk to share their analyses and evaluations of the characters and plot developments.

Writing:
We finish opinion writing this week.

• Introductions and Conclusions  –Students will learn how to frame their essay with a creative, enticing introduction and a powerful, summarizing conclusion.
• Including Quotes for Support –Students will learn that they can back up their supporting arguments with the words and ideas of someone important. I will show them how to use quotation marks and transition phrases to set up the quote.
• Argument Forum –Students will engage in a debate-like presentation of their opinion essays, during which those who want to will read their essays to the class. I will model how students can react with "expressed support" (clapping and cheering) for powerful, well-supported arguments.

Math: 
Estimation and computation.​

• Math Movie –As a fun, spontaneous project, students are going to plan, direct, and edit a tutoring movie teaching next year's incoming 5th graders how to multiply with the standard US algorithm.
• Division through Multiplication –Students will learn how to break apart numbers into "friendly numbers" to the divisor so that they can divide mentally using multiplication facts that they know.
• Estimating Division Quotients –Students will learn how to estimate the answer to a division problem by rounding the dividend to a "friendly number" to the divisor and using their understanding of powers of 10 to place the quotient in the right place value.
• Division with 1-digit Divisors –Using the intuitive Partial Quotients algorithm, students will use their multiplication skills to divide up to 5-digit dividends by 1-digit divisors. (DIVIDEND divided by DIVISOR equals QUOTIENT)

Science:
Weather and Climate.

• The Water Cycle -We will investigate how water cycles through the earth and its atmosphere to cause weather.
• Cloud Formations –We will examine how clouds form how the different types of clouds cause our weather.

​

Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for full details.

• Students have a new Reading Response Blog to respond to.
• The Propose a Perk Project is due Thursday, October 22nd.
• Students will need to finish their Opinion Essay by Thursday night. If they don't finish in class, they will need to finish for homework.
• There will be a math page or two each night.

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

Highlights from Last Week:

• Two monarch butterflies hatched from their chrysalises, one right before our very eyes! Watch our video and see pictures here. We released them outside at the end of the day on Friday.
• In an effort to engage in inquiry-based learning, I had students come up with their own experiment to explore how hot and cold interact. Their first attempt yielded nothing remarkable. After coming up with improvements, such as using food coloring, making a lowering handle for a container, and getting very hot water and very cold water, students witnessed an amazing interaction! Ask them about it!
• Thanks to Liana's persuasive argument as to why we should have choice time in school, students had the opportunity to choose a fun activity during reading on Friday. Some started comic strips. Some collaborated on writing scripts. Others spent their time reading and looking for great descriptions. We'll have more choice time throughout the year.
• In writing, students learned how to be more persuasive in writing an opinion essay by thinking about their audience. We argued as a class as to whether we should keep our round tables or replace them with desks. Students came up with some pretty powerful reasons that were targeted at who they needed to convince --their peers and the custodian.

 
What we didn't get to:

• We didn't have any new reading skills lessons this week because I am trying to complete formal reading assessments. 
• We haven't modeled decimals yet.

This Week's Plan

Special:
Monday: Columbus Day. No School.


Reading:
Routines of readers' workshop and fall reading assessments.

• Teacher Read Aloud  –There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. As I read, students turn and talk to share their analyses and evaluations of the characters and plot developments.
• Formal reading assessments  –I continue to assess students' reading levels. I hope to finish this week!

Writing:
Opinion writing.

• Main Arguments and Supporting Arguments  –Students will come up with a main argument that they want to write about. They will learn how to clearly state 3-4 supporting arguments, or reasons, that support their main argument.
• Details and Examples  –Students will learn how to gather details and examples that back up each of their supporting arguments.
• Organization  –Students will learn how to logically organize their opinion essay and use transitional words and phrases, such as for example, as a result, and despite, to link their arguments and details within the essay.
• Introductions and Conclusions  –Students will learn how to frame their essay with a creative, enticing introduction and a powerful, summarizing conclusion.

Math: 
Estimation and computation.​

• Partial Products Multiplication –Students will multiply 2-3 digit numbers in parts to learn the concepts behind multiplication.
• Standard Algorithm –We'll learn the US multiplication shortcut that makes multi-digit number multiplication much more efficient.
• Decimal Models –We will learn about the first three decimal place values and draw models using base-10 blocks to help up visualize decimal numbers.
• Comparing Decimals –Students will learn how to order decimals from least to greatest.
• Adding and Subtracting Decimals –Students will learn how to add and subtract decimals using models and two different algorithms, partial sums and the standard algorithm.

Science:
Weather and Climate.

• Convection Currents –Students will investigate how convection currents, the movement of hot and cold air, causes weather.
• The Water Cycle -We will investigate how water cycles through the earth and its atmosphere to cause weather.

​

Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for full details.

• Students don't have a new Reading Response Blog to respond to, but they must reply to another student by Wednesday and reply to me by Friday.
• There is a new homework project that will be due Monday, October 19.
• We will work on an experiment report in class, but if students don't finish in the time given, they must finish for homework.

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

Highlights from Last Week:
Friday was truly a highlight for the whole year. The DS Arts Homecoming brought former Dispatch member Chad Urmston to our classroom to share stories about his signer/songwriter career and perform a couple songs for us.

We celebrated the completion of our ‘I Am” poems with a “café club” share, complete with dim lights, chill background music, and microphone. Students passionately read their poems to the class and we were all moved by the deep feelings everyone shared.

Our lovely butterfly is free! We released it and sent with it our hopes on the back of its wings. We still have three cocoons waiting to hatch. Maybe a new butterfly will be waiting for us on Monday!

Students took their first math assessment this week. Scores overall were very good. We’ll be finishing the accompanying open response question about divisibility and dancers in rows on Monday, along with starting a new unit on estimation and computation.

Our first Science experiment was mostly successful. To learn about how the temperature of the earth influences our weather and climate, we heated up substances found on our earth’s surface –sand, soil, and water. We did a preliminary analysis of the data, but we will graph it and analyze the graph in a science report this week.
 
What we didn't get to:

• Although I finished our first reading assessment on fluency, I was unable to begin the Benchmark Assessment, which gives a fuller picture of students’ reading levels.
• We also were unable to tackle “Monitoring our Understanding” stategies.
• The Science experiment on Sand, Soil, and Water took longer than anticipated, so we have yet to look at convection currents.

This Week's Plan

Special:
Wednesday: Early Release. Teacher professional development on Reading & Writing.


Reading:

• Reading Journal Responses –Students will learn more about how to write thoughtfully about their independent reading in their journals. 
• Monitoring our Understanding --Students will learn how to recognize that their comprehension is fuzzy and will practice three strategies for fixing it.
• Teacher Read Aloud --I continue to read aloud from There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. 
• Formal reading assessments -- I will begin administering a more thorough reading assessment this week, meeting with individual students. This assessment takes a couple of weeks to finish with the whole class.

Writing:

• Opinion Writing –This week we launch our unit on opinion essays. We start by listing things in our lives we care about and issues we feel passionately about to collect potential topics.
• Pre-unit Assessment –Students will write a sample opinion piece so that we can show their progress throughout the unit.
• Suspending your Judgment –Students will learn how to look past their own opinion in order to see both sides of an issue and gather evidence that both supports and weakens their position.

Math: 
We launch a new unit this week on Estimation and Computation.

• Open Response Practice --Students learn how to effectively respond to a math open response problem, showing their work clearly and concisely.
• Place Value and Powers of 10 –We look at how our place value system works by multiplying and dividing by 10. 
• Decimal models --We will learn about the first three decimal place values and draw models using base-10 blocks to help up visualize decimal numbers.
• Rounding –We will review and practice how to round numbers to a given place value, including decimals.
• Expanded Notation –We break down numbers, including decimals, by place value and write them using powers of 10.
• All of the above will help us effectively multiply two-digit by two-digit numbers (not including decimals yet). We will start off by using the Partial Products method. (I save the standard algorithm, which is essentially a short cut, for the end of this unit once students master the concepts behind multi-digit multiplication.)

Science:
We are studying Weather and Climate.

• We will continue to investigate causes of weather and climate by exploring the uneven heating of the earth and convection currents, which involve the movement of hot and cold air.

​

Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for full details. Students have a new Reading Response Blog to respond to. There is no new homework project. Students will need to complete an experiment report on our Sand, Soil, and Water experiment. They will get another experiment report later this week to finish for homework.


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