9/30/16

The fifth graders returned to Bud Not Buddy during ELA today. Students continued to read the text critically and I was happy with the way that the groups worked together. We will continue to read the book over the upcoming weeks.

I also wanted to compliment the students for another great week of morning meetings. As part of responsive classroom, the fifth graders are taking part in meetings that include a daily message, a share out and an energizer. The students are doing a nice job of engaging one another and the days are getting off to positive starts.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and is able to watch the Patriots put a beating on the Bills.

9/29/16

The members of M102 continued their work with Bud Not Buddy during our ELA time. The students are engaging the text critically and are using our reading strategies to make inferences. The fifth graders were keying in on character traits of the main character today.

During math class, the students were faced with some order of operation problems. They rose to the challenge today and I was impressed with the perseverance of the group.

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night

9/28/16

The fifth grade officially kicked off their reading of Bud Not Buddy today. The students have been put into small reading groups and were rearing to get going. During today's reading of chapter 1, different active reading strategies were modeled for the students. I was happy with the effort exhibited by the groups today.

Earlier in the day, the fifth graders turned their attention to order of operations during math class. The students were actively engaged in the subject matter and the progress that I saw just during this first lesson was a credit to the students.


Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night

9/27/16

During today's math lesson, the fifth graders continued to work with different strategies to solve multiplication problems. The students have been incorporating knowledge gained in the first few weeks of school and I was impressed with the versatility of the fifth graders. They are becoming more adept at solving problems using more than one strategy.

Later in the day, the students received their copies of Bud Not Buddy. M102 spent some time making predictions about the story based off of the image on the cover and the synopsis on the back. The students are excited to begin this story and so am I.

I look forward to seeing families tonight during curriculum night.



Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night

9/26/16

The fifth graders began their preparation for reading the novel, Bud Not Buddy, today. We spent time looking at the Great Depression and the impact it had on children. Later, the students received their copies of the book and we captured initial observations and connections to the front cover of the story. This is a great book, and I am eager to begin reading it with my students.

Earlier in the day, the fifth graders worked with 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication problems. The students were tasked with solving these problems, showing their work with visual representations and finally creating a story for each problem.

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night



As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

9/23/16

The students ended the week on a high note today. The members of M102 continued their investigation of the sun and shadows today. Using flashlights and their self made sundials, the fifth graders had an engaging lesson.

I also wanted to mention how proud I was of the students for their diligence when it came to the first post on the class blog. The fifth graders made informative prediction about the book Wonder and backed them up with meaningful evidence from the text.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.


As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

9/22/16

The students have really impressed me this week with their grasp of some of our early math concepts. The working vocabularies of the class continues to grow and the students are starting to display their versatility in solving multiplication problems.

We also were able to read the picture book, Salt In His Shoes. This book tied in nicely with our nine core reading competencies. The students worked well together to complete some questions pertaining to the text.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

Homework

Using the kidblog website, the students should respond to this prompt: Make a prediction about how August's time at his new school will go for him. Do you think that he will have a positive or negative experience at school? Why or why not? Please use evidence from the text to back up your point of view.

This post should be at least two paragraphs in length and should be posted by Friday, September 23rd.

9/21/16

This Wednesday saw the fifth graders look to locate states by their longitudes and latitudes. This lesson built on work that we began last week. I was pleased to hear students using their social studies vocabulary when discussing questions with one another.

Later in the day, the fifth graders worked together while learning a new game in math class. This game saw the students identifying the factors of certain numbers. The members of M102 worked well together during this activity.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

Homework

Using the kidblog website, the students should respond to this prompt: Make a prediction about how August's time at his new school will go for him. Do you think that he will have a positive or negative experience at school? Why or why not? Please use evidence from the text to back up your point of view.

This post should be at least two paragraphs in length and should be posted by Friday, September 23rd.

9/20/16

This early release day saw the members of room m102 begin with a energetic morning meeting. The students continue to impress me with their willingness to listen to one another and the students seem to be making nice connections with one another.

Later in the day, the students did some work with factor rainbows and multiples during our math block.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Homework

Using the kidblog website, the students should respond to this prompt: Make a prediction about how August's time at his new school will go for him. Do you think that he will have a positive or negative experience at school? Why or why not? Please use evidence from the text to back up your point of view.

This post should be at least two paragraphs in length and should be posted by Friday, September 23rd.

9/19/16

As members of rome M102 returned to school this Monday, I wanted to begin this post with a compliment as to how morning meetings have been going. Every day begins with the class forming a circle to better see one another. After a brief share and reading of the morning message, the fifth graders take part in an energizer. This serves to foster a sense of community in the room as well as to begin the day on a light hearted note. I have enjoyed seeing my students interact with one another and be active listeners.

The students began to take a closer look at the nine reading competencies, which will guide our work with both literary and informational texts this school year. The initial look into this subject matter involved reading some picture books to exemplify key concepts.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Homework

Using the kidblog website, the students should respond to this prompt: Make a prediction about how August's time at his new school will go for him. Do you think that he will have a positive or negative experience at school? Why or why not? Please use evidence from the text to back up your point of view.

This post should be at least two paragraphs in length and should be posted by Friday, September 23rd.

Specialist Schedule

Monday - Gym

Tuesday - Music

Wednesday - Gym

Thursday - Art 

Friday - Library

9/16/16

As the members of room M102 completed their first full week of fifth grade today, I wanted to take the time to compliment the students. They have worked hard this week and have already started the process of creating a strong community environment. I have enjoyed these last two weeks and I can't wait to dive further into the curriculum over these next few months.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and is able to enjoy some time outside.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

9/15/16

During social studies today, the fifth graders brought their knowledge concerning the directions of the compass into their look at the continents. I have been impressed with the passion that the students are bringing into these initial lessons and I am eager to continue to work next week. We will soon turn our attention to longitude and latitude.

The students were also introduced to using sticky notes to guide their close reading of texts. Students will be using these notes throughout the course of the year, especially during our upcoming work with the novel, Bud Not Buddy.

Students in grades three through five also took part in an assembly concerning renewable energy. One fifth grade student was able to show off their acting skills:

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Students today, also received a permission slip for A.M. and P.M. patrols. Please return these as soon as possible if students are interested

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading, fill out reader's log on a nightly basis. Due Friday

9/14/16

Room M103 began their science investigations today. The students will being studying the sun and its importance over the course of the next few weeks.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Students today, also received a permission slip for A.M. and P.M. patrols. Please return these as soon as possible if students are interested

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading, fill out reader's log on a nightly basis

Decorate writing notebook

9/13/16

The fifth graders continued to progress deeper into Wonder during class read aloud time. The students really seem to be enjoying this novel. While being read to, the members of M102 have also been writing down some connections between Wonder and other novels that they have read. The students continue to impress me with their meaningful writing.

During math class, the students continued to tackle some challenging math puzzles. These puzzles incorporate some of the vocabulary that we have been using recently.

Students also received the information and sign up packets for fifth grade science camp. Students are coming home with a number of important documents. Please take the time to look at these and return certain ones as soon as possible.

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading, fill out reader's log on a nightly basis

Decorate writing notebook

9/12/16

As we began our first full week together, the fifth graders continued to work with factors and multiples during our math time. The level of difficulty continues to rise, and the fifth graders rose to the challenge today.

We also officially kicked off our first social studies unit. We out going to spend some time looking at the continents and oceans. The students impressed me with their levels of background knowledge that they brought to the subject matter.

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading, fill out reader's log on a nightly basis

Decorate writing notebook

9/8/16

The students continued to work with multiples and factors today. The students have been building their working math vocabulary this week and I was impressed with the use of important terms duing today's lesson. The students worked capably in small groups.

Later in the day, the members of M102 were able to share their first creative writing piece with their peers. Using a "scar map", the students collected potential narrative story ideas in a fun way. I enjoyed getting to hear the students share.



Homework

By next week, I would like all students to have decorated their writing notebooks to reflect their likes and interests. As a frame of reference, her is a picture of mine:

9/7/16

Day two saw the fifth graders kick of their first unit in math class. The topic of today's lesson were factors and multiples. The students engaged one another in some meaningful discussions and worked nicely together when it came time to answering some questions using manipulatives. This work will continue on Thursday.

Later in the day, the students undertook their first creative writing project. This activity saw the students create scar maps. These maps will be used to generate future narrative writing pieces.

Homework

By next week, I would like all students to have decorated their writing notebooks to reflect their likes and interests. As a frame of reference, her is a picture of mine:

9/6/16

It was great to see the students return to the Thompson School today. I was happy to get to meet the 26 students who will be in my classroom this year.

The fifth grade began their day with some getting to know one another activities that tie into responsive classroom. Later in the day, the fifth graders were able to undertake an art project which allowed them to share some details about themselves with their peers.

We also spent some time today outlining some of the expectations and guidelines that are in place because the fifth grade will be outside in the modular classrooms this year.

I enjoyed this first day together and am eager to start this new year with the fifth graders. I look forward to seeing all of my students tomorrow for our first full day together.

Homework

By next week, I would like all students to have decorated their writing notebooks to reflect their likes and interests. As a frame of reference, her is a picture of mine:

Trivia

What species of fish is Dory?