Week of March 6, 2017

Students reading during Social Studies.

Highlights from Last Week:

Students immersed themselves in research on their informational text topic. They learned how to focus their subject using separate topics, how to take organized notes, and how to find and evaluate resources on the internet.

We wrapped up Fraction basics, addition, and subtraction with an assessment this week. Most students did very well. For those that need a little more support, I will offer a recess period on Thursday to review concepts.

In Social Studies, students read "You Wouldn't Want to be an American Colonist," a playful account of the challenges faced by Jamestown colonists. Then they watched "Nightmare in Jamestown," a dark, thrilling video about the same topic. Students learned how to compare and contrast the book and the movie using linking words and examples.


What We Didn't Get To:

• We didn't get to the table of content in writing, but students needed a little more work on choosing topics about their subject.
• Instead of looking at "point of view" in social studies, we learned how to compare and contrast.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​​​

• Special Guest: Matt Noyes --Tuesday, March 7. Mr. Noyes is the chief meteorologist for NECN and has been a Pine Hill favorite for many years. He will be presenting to 5th graders about predicting weather.
• Talent Show Auditions --Tuesday, March 7
• Early Release --Wednesday, March 8th. Parent Teacher Conferences. Sign up Here.
• CSA Book Fair -Monday thru Wednesday, March 13th, 14th, & 15th.
• Early Release -Wednesday, March 15th. Parent Teacher Conferences.  Sign up Here
• Field Trip to the Ecotarium --Friday, March 17th. We'll learn about weather, the seasons, the sun, and much more.

Special Activities:

• None that I can think of.

Math:
Fraction Multiplication.

• Fractions of Whole Numbers –We will relate multiplication to the word “of” and find fractions of whole numbers using number lines and array models.
• Fractions Times Whole Numbers –We will use repeated addition and fraction models to multiply fractions times wholes.
• Fractions times Fractions –Students will explore models of fractions of fractions and relate it to multiplication.
• Standard Algorithm for Fraction Multiplication –Once students understand the concept of fraction multiplication, we will practice the standard algorithm and simplifying fractions.

Reading:
Book Groups and Informational Reading.

• Book Groups & Literary Analysis --We continue our discussions and students work on writing summaries, asking questions, and identifying important information.
• Informational Text Structures --We look at various ways of structuring informational texts, such as topic/detail, compare/contrast, sequence, and cause/effect.

Writing:
Informational Writing.​

• Table of Contents --Students will learn how to create an outline of their informational text using a table of contents. 
• Informational Text Structures --Students will take what they learn in reading and determine how they will structure the various sections of their informational text.
• Voice --We'll learn how to add voice to our writing through kid-friendly language, reactions, questions, and comparisons.

Social Studies:
Colonial America.

• Native Americans and Colonist --How did the Native Americans and the colonists interact?
• Northern, Middle, Southern Colonies --How did colonies develop differently?
• Slavery --Why did the colonies have slavery and what was the life of a slave like?

Science:
We switched to Social Studies.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details.

1. There is a new Homework Project called "Creature Feature." Due date is Monday, March 20th.
2. There is a new Reading Response Blog #8 about inferring.
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.

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