Week of June 6, 2016

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:

• In math, Volume.
• In Writing, yet again, Verb Tenses.
• Social Studies… all of it.

This Week's Plan
 
Special:

• Reading Day: Monday. Superintendent of Schools, Bill McAlduff, visits our classroom to read to students for 30 minutes. Lucky us!
• Early Release Wednesday
• Fifth Grade Open House: Citizenship Expo in the Library and classrooms at 6:00pm, Chorus & Band concert in the auditorium at 7:00pm.
• Step Up to Middle School: Thursday, 9:00-10:30am.
• 5th Grade Chorus & Band at All School Meeting: Friday at 8:40-9:30am.

 

Math: 
End of Year Assessments. Review.

• Assessments: Students will take a couple of assessments, one placement test for middle school, and another end-of-year assessment for report cards.
• Review Important Concepts: Depending on the time remaining this week, we’ll review things like division, decimals, volume, and fractions with some games, activities, and mini lessons.

Writing:  
Personal Narrative

• Language Skills in Action: Students use their knowledge of commonly confused words, conjunctions, commas, and interjections as they write a personal narrative.
• Enhancing a Text with Media: Students who complete their narratives will create a multimedia presentation of their story using images and sounds through a slideshow.
• Verb Tenses: We learn about the various versions of the past tense.
• Spelling Review: We'll review some common words that some students are still struggling with, such as "excited," and learn the pattern.

Reading:
Informational Reading Groups.

• Read Aloud: We are reading aloud from Rebecca Stead’s novel, “When You Reach Me.” Students are enthralled by the mystery, the constant use of foreshadowing, and the amazing grammar skills of the author!
• Informational Reading Groups: Students read about an informational topic, then meet in groups to discuss and analyze.
• Reflections and Revisions: After students meet with me in a one on one conference, they will revise their reflections on their blog writing.

 
Social Studies:
American Revolution.
We pick up the story after the Battle of Bunker Hill and learn about:

• The Declaration of Independence and its meaning
• The Battle of New York and Washington’s Struggling Army
• Trenton and Princeton and American Morale

 
 
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.

• Homework Project: None.
• Reading: 25 minutes of daily independent reading is expected. Students should log it in their Planners. 
• Reading Response Blog: Students will be assigned to respond to another student’s prompt from Blog #18. Each student will read the assigned prompt and follow the instructions given. Due by Friday.
• Other: Students may have some classwork that needs to be finished at home.

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