Week of November 23, 2015

Students working hard on their Climate Tour posters and research.

 Highlights from Last Week:
Students finished their Climate Tour posters and they look fantastic! Each student researched the climate of three chosen destinations and presented their findings on an informational and vibrant poster. I am very impressed at students’ creativity! I will post pictures on the Student Work page soon!
 
In math students are challenging their understanding of decimals. We reinforced our skills at comparing decimals with a fun Kimball-created game called “Decimal War.” I love devising math games to practice skills!
 
We are getting close to the end of Louis Sachar’s There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom. Students are outraged at the current plot developments. Watching them react is priceless! I am amazed at how much they have improved at citing evidence from the text to support their claims.
 
Students are finishing up their first personal narratives. To help students assess their narrative technique and English mechanics, I created some checklists, which students are diligently working through. I love watching them independently revise and edit their writing because I know such habits will be invaluable to them in the upper grades.
 
With the repeated practice writing Reading Responses, students have greatly improved their ability to think and write insightfully about their independent reading. It’s inspiring to read students critical thoughts about characters, plot events, and authors’ craft in detailed, clear explanations. This type of critical analysis opens up so many opportunities for engaging literary discussions –and we’re not even in middle school yet!
 
What we didn't get to:

• Comparing and rounding decimals was trickier for students than I thought. Therefore, we didn’t get to subtracting decimals.
• I didn’t want to rush students’ Climate Tour poster presentations, so we didn’t get to our weather and climate quiz.

 

This Week's Plan
 
Special:

• Wednesday: Early release, the start of Thanksgiving break! No school until Tuesday, December 1st.

Reading:
Identifying Key Ideas and Details. Book Groups.

• Reading Response Journals –Students continue to practice writing thoughtful, evidence-based responses about their independent reading.
• Explicit details and Inferences –We continue to look at how to explain what a text says explicitly and compare that with how we draw inferences from the text.
• Book Groups  –Groups of students meet weekly to discuss a shared text.
• Teacher Read Aloud –We are getting towards the end of There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom. Students turn and talk to analyze plot developments and character changes over time.

 
  Writing:  
Personal Narratives.

• Publish and Share –Students will publish their first personal narrative. We will have a sharing session to celebrate.

 
  
Math: 
Decimals.

• Adding and subtracting Decimals –Students will learn how to add and subtract decimals using models and a couple of different algorithms.
• Decimal Game –We’re practice our decimal addition and subtraction skills with a fun game.

 
Science:
Finish Weather and Climate.

• Climate Project –Students will finish presenting their Climate Tour posters.
• Weather & Climate Quiz –I will assess students’ understanding of the water cycle, the causes of weather, and the difference between weather and climate.

 
Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for more details.

• Homework Project: None.
• Math: There will be a page or two of math practice on Monday & Tuesday. 
• Reading: 20 minutes of daily independent reading is expected. Students should log it in their Planners. 
• Reading Response Blog: Students do not have a new Reading Response Blog to respond to.

​I am not assigning homework over the Thanksgiving Break. Happy Thanksgiving! Rest, relax, and rejuvenate.
 
Thanks for Reading!
So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback.