Highlights from Last Week:


To lay the foundation for our Global Citizenship project, I informed students about what's going on in Syria. We watched a newscast showing how the children of Syria are suffering as their country is torn apart through an awful civil war. Students wanted to help the kids, so we learned about UNICEF, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Students decided to raise money for UNICEF, with a goal of $500 for the class.

On Monday, we had a visit from local veterans who shared about the different parts of the US Armed Forces. They encouraged students to honor Veterans on the upcoming Veterans Day, and students have the opportunity to write an essay describing why this day is important to remember.

Social Studies has been a lot of fun this week. Students have been playing games that simulate the roles of each branch of government. From passing laws to interpreting the constitution, students have learned what lawmakers, the president, and judges do at their jobs in a hands on way.

What We Didn't Get To:

• In Reading, we didn't get to start an in-class reading response.
• In Math, we didn't do an open response this week.
• In Writing, we only touched upon elaboration.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​​

• Special Guest Carol Marple, Town Clerk --She's coming to present about our local elections in Sherborn.
• Author Visit Greg Mone --He will be sharing about the creative writing process and working with students to enhance their storytelling skills.

Special Activities:

• DARE Class --Students learn decision-making skills and how to resist unwanted pressure with Office Smith for 10 weeks of 40-minute lessons on Wednesday mornings.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --Students are finishing their segments for our first class newsletter, which I hope to publish by Wednesday.
• Trick or Treat for UNICEF --Many students are fundraising for UNICEF this week in hopes of supporting kids in Syria.

Math:
Place Value, Estimation, Multiplication, and Division.​

• 2-Digit Division with Partial Quotients --We up the level of our division skills and divide by 2-digit divisors using the partial quotients. 
• What to do with Remainders --We'll solve real world division problems and determine how to report the remainder as an answer.
• Standard Algorithm for Multiplication 3-digit x 3-digit --We'll review the standard multiplication algorithm for when it's most useful, multiplying big numbers.
• Math Open Response --We'll put our division skills to work with a real world, multi-step problem. We'll learn how to show and explain our thinking in clear detail.
• Exponential Notation --We'll look at how to write numbers using exponents and powers of 10.
• Begin a Review of the Unit --Here is the Study Guide in preparation for an assessment next week.

Reading:
Close Reading.

• Figuring Out 'What's Going On' --We will look at the first step of close reading, figuring out what's actually going on. We'll look at strategies to help us do that: questioning, connecting, visualizing, and word analysis.
• In-Class Reading Response --Students will read an excerpt of text, use strategies that we learn in class, and respond in writing on the blog.
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. An entertaining story about a boy who hates school, hates his peers, and hates himself, but turns his life around with the help of a committed school counselor and personal resolve.

Writing:
Personal Narrative Writing.​

• Elaborating on the Important Parts --Students will learn how to slow down important scenes in their story and speed up less important scenes.
• Adding Scenes from the Past and Future --We'll learn when and how to incorporate flashbacks and flashforwards to enhance our stories.
• Ending Stories --We'll learn how to add closure and bring out lasting meaning in our narratives.

Social Studies:
Inquiry Investigation of the US Government & Elections:​

• Research Investigation --Students choose a branch of government or a government-related topic to research.
• Government Project --Students choose how they will present their knowledge about their government research topic. We'll come up with the requirements for the project as a class, create work plans so that groups of students know what their responsibilities are, and students will collaborate together to make something informative and cool.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. There is a new Homework Project called "Government in Outer Space," which I will assign on Tuesday. It is due Nov 15th.
2. Students will need to reply to me on the At-Home Blog #3.
3. Read 25 minutes at home per day and log the title, author, and time in the planner.
4. There will be a math page for homework each night.
5. Students will need to complete their segment for the class newsletter.

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

Highlights from Last Week:
On Friday, Pine Hill welcomed Brett Outchcunis, called Ooch, who presented on how to overcome bullying and why kids should collect many different friends. He was hilarious!

Students shared their "What If" homework projects this week. From stuffed animals coming to life, to pet cats talking, students had fun using their imaginations to tell some fantastic stories. You can check out students' awesome work on the Student Work page.

In Math, we learned how to multiply multi-digit numbers using the partial products method and the standard algorithm. Students then used their multiplication skills to solve a tricky open response prompt that bridges into division.

In Writing, students reviewed their first narratives that the wrote on-demand and assessed themselves using our narrative rubric. Students learned what is expected of them and got a preview of all the great skills and strategies I plan to teach them.

What We Didn't Get To:

• In Reading, we didn't get to Explicit versus Implicit meaning, nor the in-class reading response associated with it.
• In Math, students struggled at first with the standard multiplication algorithm, so we only barely touched on division through multiplication.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​​

• Parent Teacher Conferences --See the schedule here.
• Early Release --Wednesday, October 26th.
• Fire Safety Presentation --As required by law, students must learn how to prevent and stop fires.
  

Special Activities:

• DARE Class --Students learn decision-making skills and how to resist unwanted pressure with Office Smith for 10 weeks of 40-minute lessons on Wednesday mornings.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --Students will be tackling their first segments for our newsletter, planning and collaborating together to meet our November 1st deadline.
• Trick or Treat for UNICEF --I've participated in fundraising for UNICEF every year. I teach students about what UNICEF is, what it does, and the importance of stepping up to help children in need.

Math:
Place Value, Estimation, Multiplication, and Division.

• Division through Multiplication --Students will "build a quotient" by using multiplication.
• Powers of 10 with Division --We'll look at dividing by powers of 10 and learn the pattern of moving place values.
• Estimating a Quotient --It's a little trickier than with multiplication, but we'll round to friendly numbers in order to divide.
• Division with Partial Quotients --We'll learn how to divide multi-digit numbers by one digit numbers using this place-value friendly method.
• Math Open Response --We'll put our division skills to work with a real world, multi-step problem. We'll learn how to show and explain our thinking in clear detail.

Reading:
Close Reading.

• Explicit versus Implicit Meaning --We will read a variety of texts this week and learn to recognize what a text explicitly says and what we can infer.
• In-Class Reading Response --Students will analyze the explicit and implicit meaning of a text and respond in writing on the blog.
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. An entertaining story about a boy who hates school, hates his peers, and hates himself, but turns his life around with the help of a committed school counselor and personal resolve.

Writing:
Personal Narrative Writing.

• Bringing Forth the Story Arc --We'll learn how to structure our stories so that they have a beginning, middle, climax, and an end.
• Writing a Strong Intro --We'll study the introductions of published authors to learn effective ways to begin our stories.
• Elaborating on the Important Parts --Students will learn how to slow down important scenes in their story and speed up less important scenes.

Social Studies:
Inquiry Investigation of the US Government & Elections, particularly:

• The US Constitution
• Branches of Government

​
This week, students will play some fun and informative games that simulate working in a branch of the US Government. Here are the options:

• Bill of Rights -Learn about the rights citizens have by running a law firm.
• Branches of Power -Manage all three branches of government and their functions. See how they relate to one another.
• Represent Me -Learn how a legislator represents the voters.
• LawCraft -Craft bills by adding amendments, aiming to please both houses of congress.
• Executive Command -Learn about the responsibilities of the president.
• Supreme Decision -Learn about how the Supreme Court works.

Students will need to read the instructions carefully and learn how parts of the government work in order to successfully play the games.


Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. There is a new At-Home Reading Response Blog #3 for students to respond to by Friday.
2. Read 25 minutes at home per day and log the title, author, and time in the planner.
3. There will be a math page for homework each night.
4. There will be activities about the US Government from iCivics for students to complete.
5. Students will need to complete their segment for the class newsletter by Friday.

There is no new homework project this week.

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

Highlights from Last Week:
Students learned about the roles of government in Social Studies this week. They especially enjoyed creating their own countries, thinking about what kind of government they would set up and what protects and services it would provide for their imaginary people.

We're inching closer to publishing a class newsletter. Students selected segments of the newsletter that they would work on. Next step --research and write!

In Math this week we studied how our place value system is built on powers of ten. Students used exponential notation to represent numbers and learned how scientists use powers of ten to work with large distances (like comparing planets) and counting large quantities (like blood cells in the body).

In Writing, students are working on their personal narratives. We learned how to use dialogue and how to punctuate it correctly. Using actual spoken words of our characters makes our stories come to life from our personal points of view.


What We Didn't Get To:

• In Social Studies, we didn't get to Forms of Government.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​

• Parent Teacher Conferences --Weeks of October 17th & 24th
• Vision Screening with the nurse--Monday, October 17th
• Early Release --Wednesday, October 19th
• Special All School Meeting --Special guest Ooch presents "Super Power: Overcoming Bullying"
• Early Release --Wednesday, October 26th

Special Activities:

• Homework Project Share --We'll be sharing some of our stories, artwork, and trailers from our "What If" homework projects.
  
• DARE Class --Students learn decision-making skills and how to resist unwanted pressure with Office Smith for 10 weeks of 40-minute lessons on Wednesday mornings.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --Students will be tackling their first segments for our newsletter, planning and collaborating together to meet the Friday deadline.

Math:
Place Value, Estimation, Multiplication, and Division.

• Estimating Products --We'll combine our rounding skills with our extended multiplication facts knowledge to estimate answers to multiplication problems.
• Partial Products Multiplication --We'll apply our extended multiplication facts to multi-digit multiplication. The "partial products method" is simply a way of breaking down numbers into their place values when multiplying. It helps students with number sense, estimation, and division.
• Standard Multiplication Algorithm --Students will learn to multiply multi-digit numbers using the standard US algorithm.
• Division through Multiplication --Students will "build a quotient" by using multiplication.

Reading:
Close Reading.

• Explicit versus Implicit Meaning --We will read a variety of texts this week and learn to recognize what a text explicitly says and what we can infer.
• In-Class Reading Response --Students will correspond with a classmate on the in-class reading response blog. I will post a new one about explicit versus implicit later this week.
• Formal reading assessments -- I will be finishing up formal reading assessments this week -finally! 
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. An entertaining story about a boy who hates school, hates his peers, and hates himself, but turns his life around with the help of a committed school counselor and personal resolve.

Writing:
Personal Narrative Writing.

• Writing in a Step-by-Step way --We will learn how to switch from summarizing to storytelling, and how to zoom in to the important moments.
• Flash Drafting --Students will practice drafting in a fast and furious way in order to get their ideas written down.
• Taking Stock and Setting Goals --Students will reread their on-demand narratives and their flash-drafts and think about how they measure up to our writing rubric. They will set goals for themselves.

Social Studies:
Inquiry Investigation of the US Government & Elections, particularly:

• Forms of Government --We compare and contrast different forms of government, such as monarchy, democracy, dictatorship, etc.
• Limits on Government --We will look at how countries keep governments from getting too powerful.

Here are the Informational Reading Strategies we will focus on:

• Navigating the Features of Informational Text --Students will learn how to navigate an informational text filled with a variety of resources, such as timelines, quotes, dates, pictures, headings, and more.
• Determining What's Important --We learn some techniques for identifying main ideas, such as skimming and asking questions.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. Students will need to reply to me on the At-Home Reading Response Blog #2 by Friday.
2. Read 25 minutes at home per day and log the title, author, and time in the planner.
3. There will be a math page for homework each night.
4. Students will need to complete their segment for the class newsletter by Friday.

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

Highlights from Last Week:
Students took their first Math Assessment of the year. I had students correct their own test so they could get immediate feedback on their work, and then I gave them a final percentage. Most students did very well, and the class average was a 90.6%. I'd say students are ready to move on to the next unit!

In Social Studies, we had an invigorating discussion about the nature of government, comparing and contrasting the philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Students drew pictures of what a "state of nature" looks like (mayhem) and what a "social contract" looks like (order and civility). We also began a study of the role of government, and students got very excited about the prospect of creating their own country.

In Writing, we began our unit on Personal Narrative writing. Students learned some techniques for brainstorming ideas and planning a story. I'm excited to learn more about students through their storytelling of personal experiences.

The class enjoyed our reading of "Slower Than the Rest" by Cynthia Rylant. Students did a nice job responding on the blog and looking for the bigger meaning of the story.

What We Didn't Get To:

• Since I added a lesson on creating a Timeline to our work in Writing, we still have to learn about point of view. We crawling along with our class newsletter, but it hasn't been forgotten.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: 

• No School, Columbus Day --Monday, October 10th.
• No School, Yom Kippur --Wednesday, October 12th.
• Parent Teacher Conferences --Weeks of October 17th & 24th

Special Activities:

• DARE Class --Students learn decision-making skills and how to resist unwanted pressure with Office Smith for 10 weeks of 40-minute lessons on Wednesday mornings.
• Listening Levels --As part of a teacher exploration into how to encourage students to listen more actively, 5K will help create a video on "The Levels of Listening." We'll model what it looks like to just "be present," what it looks like to just "listen," and what it looks like to be an "engaged, active participant."

Math:
Place Value, Estimation, Multiplication, and Division.

• Place Value and Powers of 10 –We look at how our place value system works by multiplying and dividing by 10 and comparing the size of place values to one another.
• Estimating Products --We'll combine our rounding skills with our extended multiplication facts knowledge to estimate answers to multiplication problems.
• Partial Products Multiplication --We'll apply our extended multiplication facts to multi-digit multiplication. The "partial products method" is simply a way of breaking down numbers into their place values when multiplying. It helps students with number sense, estimation, and division.

Reading:
Reading Workshop.​

• In-Class Reading Response -- Students will read a short excerpt from Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass and write a short response about it.
• Formal reading assessments -- I continue administering the Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment this week, meeting with individual students to assess their fluency, comprehension, and more. This assessment takes a couple of weeks to finish with the whole class.
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. An entertaining story about a boy who hates school, hates his peers, and hates himself, but turns his life around with the help of a committed school counselor and personal resolve.

Writing:
Launch Personal Narrative Writing.

• Staying in a Point of View --When writing a personal narrative, students will need to tell the story from their perspective and avoid zooming out to an omniscient point of view. We'll learn how to maintain a consistent point of view.
• Using and Punctuating Dialogue --Students will learn how to incorporate dialogue into their stories in order to elaborate and develop characters.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --We'll put a little more work into launching this outlet for students to publish their writing for an authentic audience.

Social Studies:
Note: In Social Studies, students will read and discuss historical content, but I also intertwine instruction on informational reading techniques. Here is the content we focus on:
Inquiry Investigation of the US Government & Elections, particularly:

• The Role of Government --We ask, what does government do? We'll look at what it means to be a sovereign state. Students will create their own imaginary sovereign state.
• Forms of Government --We compare and contrast different forms of government, such as monarchy, democracy, dictatorship, etc.

Here are the Informational Reading Strategies we will focus on:

• Navigating the Features of Informational Text --Students will learn how to navigate an informational text filled with a variety of resources, such as timelines, quotes, dates, pictures, headings, and more.
• Determining What's Important --We learn some techniques for identifying main ideas, such as skimming and asking questions.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. Students continue to work on their "What If...?"  Homework Project, which is due Monday, October 17th.
2. There is a new blog post (#2) on the Reading Response Blog for students to reply to at home by Friday.
3. Read 25 minutes at home per day and log the title, author, and time in the planner.
4. There will be a math page for homework each night.

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

Highlights from Last Week:

Get Up and Move Day was Friday during All School Meeting time. The whole school had fun running around the campus and being active. I had particular fun making the "Squat Station," and encouraging everyone to squat. We even made a "squat wave" at one point!

On Friday, we celebrated our writing be sharing our "I Am" poems. The lights were low, chill music played in the background, and students got up to read their creative poems. It was a fun way to end the week.

Students enjoyed the Higher Order Thinking problem I gave them in Math this week. The Locker Problem. The problem made students use their knowledge of factors to figure out how many lockers out of 100 are open after a 100 students play a pattern game with them. It was fun to watch students wrestle with the concept of factors in a new way.

In Social Studies, I acted out my interpretation of the development of government to students' delight. Students learned what life might be like without governments making rules, enforcing them, and punishing those who don't follow them. We then launched our investigation into the purpose of government, tying it in with informational reading techniques.

What We Didn't Get To:

• In Writing, I still haven't been able to launch the class newsletter. Hopefully this week! I'll keep trying!

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: 

• Rosh Hashanah --Monday, October 3rd.
• Early Release --Wednesday, October 5th.
• No School, Columbus Day --Monday, October 10th.

Special Activities:

• DARE Class --Students learn decision-making skills and how to resist unwanted pressure with Office Smith for 10 weeks of 40-minute lessons on Wednesday mornings.

Math:
Multiplication Basics, Factors, and Number Theory.​

• Unit 1 Review & Assessment --We finish our review of what we've learned in this unit and take our first assessment. Check out the Study Guide here.
• Open Response on Divisibility --Students will take on a problems that requires them to use their understanding of divisibility and arrays.
• Place Value and Powers of 10 –We look at how our place value system works by multiplying and dividing by 10. 
• Expanded Notation –We break down numbers by place value and write them using powers of 10.

Reading:
Launching Reading Workshop.​

• In-Class Reading Response -- We begin our first weekly in-class reading response, where I will assign students a text to read and they will respond to a prompt of their choice during Reading Workshop. This week, students will read a heartwarming story about Leo, a boy who is "slower than the rest."
• Formal reading assessments -- I will begin administering the Fountas & Pinnell reading assessment this week, meeting with individual students to assess their fluency, comprehension, and more. This assessment takes a couple of weeks to finish with the whole class.
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. An entertaining story about a boy who hates school, hates his peers, and hates himself, but turns his life around with the help of a committed school counselor and personal resolve.

Writing:
Launch Personal Narrative Writing.

• Making Lists to Generate Ideas --We'll learn how to make lists of experiences in our lives, such as first times, favorite things, important people, turning points, and times we realized something.
• Staying in a Point of View --When writing a personal narrative, students will need to tell the story from their perspective and avoid zooming out to an omniscient point of view. We'll learn how to maintain a consistent point of view.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --I'll try (again!) to get our class newsletter started this week. Students will have an outlet to publish their writing for an authentic audience.

Social Studies:
Note: In Social Studies, students will read and discuss historical content, but I also intertwine instruction on informational reading techniques. Here is the content we focus on:
Inquiry Investigation of the US Government & Elections, particularly:

• The Purpose of Government --We ask, why do we need government? We'll look at the ideas of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
• The Role of Government --We ask, what does government do? We'll look at what it means to be a sovereign state. Students will create their own imaginary sovereign state.

Here are the Informational Reading Strategies we will focus on:

• Navigating the Features of Informational Text --Students will learn how to navigate an informational text filled with a variety of resources, such as timelines, quotes, dates, pictures, headings, and more.
• Determining What's Important --We learn some techniques for identifying main ideas, such as skimming and asking questions.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. There is a new Homework Project called, "What If...?" due Monday, October 17th.
2. Respond to Ms. Kimball on Blog #1 by Friday.
3. Read 25 minutes at home per day and keep a log in your planner.
4. There will be a math page for homework each night.

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