Week of September 19, 2016

Students playing "Predict a Product" in Math.

 Highlights from Last Week:

Our first full week of school! ​

• Student Council Elections --We had some fabulous presentations from eight students about why they wanted to be student council representatives. After holding a primary and then a final election, Alex and Caroline had the most ballots and now serve as the 5K student council members. Congrats!
• First Homework Project --Students received their first homework project of the year, "All About Me." We've been planning out our daily tasks each day to make sure we complete the project on-time and so it meets expectations. Students are challenged to think about their lives and the people in it who matter to them.
• Aspiration Essay --Most students have finished their essay describing their aspirations for 5th grade. Students learned about the structure of an essay and some strategies for making it flow smoothly and adding more detail, such as using transition words and asking questions of yourself. Students also assessed themselves using a class-created rubric.
• Math Games --We played a fun Ms. K-created game called "Predict a Product" to practice our multiplication facts and estimation skills. Students enjoyed betting on a product and rolling the dice to determine factors.
• DARE Class --I forgot in my planning last week that DARE Class begins. Students met the amiable Officer Chad Smith and learned about the goals of the DARE program. 

What We Didn't Get To:

• In Math, we didn't get to place value. I may move it until the end of the unit.
• In Reading, we didn't get to "Just 

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: 

• Open House --Also known as a Parent Back to School Night, is this Wednesday, September 21st. Fifth grade goes at 6:50pm after the principal's address in the auditorium at 6:30pm. I hope to see you in there!
• Picture Day --Thursday, September 22nd. 5th grade goes at 8:40am.

Special Activities:
We continue to take time throughout the day to learn expectations, routines, interpersonal skills, transitioning, and much more. These understandings are essential to the smooth operations of our entire school year.

• 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.
• Submitting Assignments & Using Google Classroom --As exciting as our online class community can be, it can also be overwhelming. We'll learn how to submit assignments via Google Classroom, check grades, and ask for feedback.

Math:
Multiplication Basics, Factors, and Number Theory.

• Multiplication Patterns --Students will investigate patterns in the multiplication table.
• Multiplication Games --We'll be learning Factor Captor this week to practice finding factors of numbers.
• Extended Multiplication Facts --We'll learn how to use basic facts like 6 x 7 = 42 to help us find extended facts like 60 x 70 = 4,200.
• Place Value --Students will explore the place value system as powers of 10 up to the billions place.
• Divisibility --We learn what it means to be divisible by a number and we learn some tricks to determining divisibility without actually dividing.

Reading:
Launching Reading Workshop.​

• Listening to the Inner Reading Voice --We'll identify thoughts we have as readers and how important it is to keep a conversation going in our brains as we read.
• Monitoring our Understanding --Students will learn how to recognize that their comprehension is fuzzy and will practice some strategies for fixing it.
• What is a "Just Right" Book --We'll learn how to recognize books that are just right for us and how to recognize when a book is too hard.
• Responding to the Reading Response Blog --I'll discuss how to appropriately submit comments to the class blog and remind students of the importance of using correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar online.
• 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:
Launching Writing Workshop.

• "I Am" Poems --Students write poems about their inner selves using a creative template.
• Adding and Citing Graphics --I will teach students how to add graphics to their "I Am" poem pages and how to cite the sources for those graphics.
• The Writing Process --We'll review the different stages of writing (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) and learn about what should be happening at each stage.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --From the suggestion of Thomas8, we are hoping to start a class newsletter, filled with student writing. This will give us a great forum for publishing to an authentic audience!

Science/Social Studies:
Next week (week of Sept 26) we should be ready to start Social Studies by diving into the US Government and how elections work. We'll tie in our research with current events about the 2016 election. We'll launch Science the next month, and cycle between Science and Social Studies each month.


Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. The "All About Me" Homework Project is due this week!

1. Homework Project: All About Me. Students will think, create, and write about themselves and those close to them. Due Thursday.
2. Read 25 minutes at home per day and keep a log in your planner.
3. There will be a math page for homework each night.
4. Respond to the Reading Response Blog by Tuesday.

Thanks for Reading!
So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback. I look forward to seeing you at Open House on Wednesday!