Week of November 7, 2016

Students researching and taking notes for their Social Studies project.

Highlights from Last Week:
We had some great guest speakers this week.

On Tuesday, author Greg Mone visited with the fifth grade to share about his writing process and how he gets his ideas. Each 5th grade class welcomed Greg into their classrooms for a writing workshop on revising. 

On Monday, Sherborn town clerk Carol Marple spoke to fifth graders about how she runs the town's elections. Fifth graders will get a taste of what that's like this week when they run a mock election at Pine Hill on Tuesday.

Students worked in teams this week to research a topic related to the US Government. They read through kid-friendly resources, watched BrainPop videos, and played simulation games on iCivics, all while taking notes. The next step is to use the knowledge they gained for a real purpose --teaching others!

In Math, we're wrapping up our unit on multiplication and division of whole numbers. Students have a good grasp of how to tackle work with multi-digit numbers, which frightened most of them at the beginning of the school year.


What We Didn't Get To:

• In Math, we didn't start reviewing for the assessment yet.
• In Writing, I added a lesson on bringing forth meaning in our stories instead of teaching how to add scenes from the past and future.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​​

• Pine Hill Mock Election --Tuesday, November 8th. Grade five is running the polls.
• Veteran's Day Friday --No school. Thank you, veterans, for your service!

Special Activities:

• Thursday: Marshmallow Challenge --As a fun engineering project, students will work in teams to build a structure using given materials that holds a marshmallow the highest distance possible off of a surface. This project is part of a nation-wide STEM initiative.
• DARE Class --No DARE class this week.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --Students will be working on the next edition.
• Fundraising for UNICEF --Students have one more week to raise money for UNICEF in hopes of reaching our class goal of $500. We plan to donate the money to help children in Syria.

Math:
Finish Place Value, Estimation, Multiplication, and Division.​
Begin Expression and Grouping Symbols.

• Review of the Unit --Here is the Study Guide in preparation for the assessment on Tuesday/Wednesday.
• Unit 2 Assessment --We will test our knowledge of place value, powers of 10, estimation, multiplication, and division. I have students correct much of their own assessments so that they get immediate feedback on what they know and don't know.
• Numerical Expressions --Using numbers, variables, and operations to represent mathematical situations.
• Grouping Symbols --Solving problems that contain parentheses, brackets, and braces.

Reading:
Close Reading.

• Figuring Out 'What's Going On' --We will use our close reading strategies (questioning, connecting, visualizing, and word analysis) to figure out what's going on in some challenging texts. 
• 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. We will review our responses in small groups this week.
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. We're getting close to the climax! As I read, I model fluent reading and literary analysis skills.

Writing:
Personal Narrative Writing.​

• Adding Scenes from the Past and Future --We'll learn when and how to incorporate flashbacks and flashforwards to enhance our stories.
• Using Commas with Transition Words --We'll learn an important editing techniques for inserting commas after dependent clauses that begin with transition words.
• Building Characters --We'll learn how to use dialogue and description to bring our characters to life.

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

• Government Project --Student teams will start their presentations on their chosen government topics. Students will compile their research from last week and collaborate to share their knowledge with the class. 
• Elections --Students will learn how elections operate by running the polls at the Pine Hill mock election on Tuesday. In class we'll explore the electoral college and the importance of voting.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. Students continue working on their Homework Project, "Government in Outer Space." It is due Nov 15th.
2. There is a new At-Home Blog #4 for students to respond to by Thursday. This one is a shorter one.
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 can work on their segment for the class newsletter at home.

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