Week of November 9, 2015

"A Trampoline Park for Pine Hill" Project by Kate

"Cubbies for Pine Hill" Project by August

Highlights from Last Week:
We had a wonderful and insightful workshop with author Gregory Mone. He taught us what it’s like to be a professional writer and shared some strategies for being a good writer. Students got to revise one of his stories from 6th grade!
 
We took our 2nd big assessment of the year on multiplication and division. Students seemed confident!
 
In Science, we explored storms. Students learned to compare and contrast informational text presentations –BrainPop and our Scholastic Weather Atlas books. Each format taught students about a particular storm but in different ways.
 
In Writing, we are learning how to write personal narratives. I added a lesson last week on how to stay in the main character’s point of view. To demonstrate, I told students a personal story about a time I rode my bike with my brother down a hill and crashed. Students had to recognize when I gave details that I couldn’t have possibly have known from my point of view at the time. We still have more work to do in the area to improve students’ abilities to write from their own point of view.
 
What we didn't get to:

• In Science, we only briefly touched on “climate” last week.
• In Writing, we still need to read published personal narratives to get inspiration for our own.
• In Math, students didn’t start their next open response.

 
 
This Week's Plan
 
Special:

• Wednesday: Veterans Day –no school.

 
Reading:
Identifying Key Ideas and Details. Book Groups.

• 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.
• Evidence in the Text –Students will use their own independent reading as well as our class read aloud to identify evidence in the text to support their thinking.
• Book Groups  –We dive into our guided reading book groups to practice the above skills.
• 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.

• Using Dialogue –Students will learn how to incorporate dialogue into their stories, which will help them maintain a set point of view.
• Reading to Write –To inspire our narrative craft, we will read published personal narratives and get ideas for our own.
• Using Paragraphs –Students will learn how to use paragraphs to separate different parts of their story.
• The Heart of the Story –Students will learn how to develop a theme, a message, or a lesson within their personal narrative by zooming in on the what their story is really about.

 
 
Math: 
Wrap Up Estimation & Computation. Begin Decimals.

• Correct the Unit 2 Assessment  –Students will correct their own assessments in an effort to provide immediate feedback. I will grade them separately though.
• Open Response  –We’ll tackle another open response problem and learn how to use specific vocabulary to make our written answers more precise.
• 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:
Finish Weather and Climate.

• Weather and Climate –Students will learn about climate and how weather patterns make up a location’s climate.
• Climate Project –We will work on a fun real-world project were students research the climates of three destinations they want to travel to and present their findings in a poster or brochure.

 
Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for full details.

• Students have a new Reading Response Blog to respond to. The new prompt will hopefully help students learn what a description is. They will practice their skills at determining key ideas and details.
• The Homework Project, “What If,” is due on Thursday, the latest.
• There will be a math page or two each night.
• Students should be reading at least 20 minutes each day and logging it in their planners.

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