12/23/21

I hope everyone has a great winter break and a happy holiday. 

12/22/21

We continued our exploration of the colonies during the early stages of the school day. Working in pairs, the students explored the southern colonies and used an organizer to gather important details about the region. 

The fifth graders took part in a number of winter themed activities this morning. Thanks to the help of three of our parents, the kids had a great time playing some games. 

Tomorrow is board/card game day. Each student is welcome to bring one game to class.

12/21/21

The reading groups put the finishing touches on their posters during our ELA time. These turned out great and the fifth graders should feel proud over all they accomplished in our first unit. After the break, we will turn our attention to a non-fiction unit.

There will be no homework this week. Wednesday is show and tell and Thursday is board/card game day.

12/20/21

Our last week before winter break will see us wrapping up our work in unit three of our math curriculum. The students will have two more lessons dedicated to solving addition and subtraction of fractions and mixed numbers and we will end the week playing a math game. I am still going through the math assessments from last week, but from what I have seen to this point, the students did a very nice job. 

There will be no homework this week. Wednesday is show and tell and Thursday is board/card game day.

12/17/21

We wrapped up our final full week before winter break by taking an important math assessment. This piece of work saw the fifth graders solving some addition and subtraction fraction problems. Everyone worked diligently throughout the exam and I'm sure that will be reflected in the results. 

During ELA time, each one of the reading groups continued to work or began their book posters. Some nice cooperation was evident throughout the classroom and the posters are coming together nicely. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. As a reminder, next Wednesday we are going to have show and tell and Thursday is a board/card game day in the classroom.

12/16/21

Every Thursday, the fifth graders have been taking part in a SEL program called Second Step. This innovative program is designed to help students and entire school communities focus on key social emotional learning issues. Today, the members of A303 took part in a lesson focused on being empathetic to other people's perspectives. The students worked well together on these activities. 

As a reminder, next Wednesday the 22nd we will have show in tell in class. On Thursday the 23rd we are going to have board game day. Each student is welcome to bring one board or card game to class with them.

Homework

Reading - 20 minutes of quiet reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Due Friday 12/17

12/15/21

We continued to work on plotting fractions and mixed numbers on number lines during our math lesson. As we approach the vacation week, the fifth graders will be taking one final assessment next week. Based off of the work being done and the questions being asked in class, it seems as if the kids are going to be well prepared for this work.

Some of the small reading groups have transitioned into a book poster project to conclude our reading unit. Working together, the groups will be making large posters that will hopefully entice other students to read the book in the future. Many of the students are artistically gifted and this will give them a chance to shine. 

Homework

Reading - 20 minutes of quiet reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Due Friday 12/17

12/14/21

The students undertook a line plot lesson during math class that furthered our work with adding mixed numbers. I thought that the first two math lessons this week were excellent. Although there were some challenging questions, the students persevered and were able to show their understanding in a variety of ways.

Later in the day, the fifth graders took a school climate survey which will provide valuable insight for the district as a whole.

Homework

Reading - 20 minutes of quiet reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Due Friday 12/17

12/13/21

This week will see the book groups wrapping up their novels. As part of this process, the fifth graders are going to complete a piece of writing that will summarize their big takeaways from the book and then transition to a project that will see them creating book posters. We will look to have all of this work complete by the day before winter vacation.

Homework

Reading - 20 minutes of quiet reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Due Friday 12/17

12/10/21

Between getting a class snake and crushing multiple lessons on adding and subtracting fractions, the fifth graders in A303 had an eventful week. Math class saw the students working on a series on word problems and later transitioning to playing a fraction card game. We will look to carry all of this positive momentum over into our final two weeks before the vacation week.

I mentioned this to the fifth graders this week, but on the Wednesday before vacation (the 22nd) we are going to have a show and tell during morning meeting. Each student is welcome to bring something, appropriate for school, that is meaningful to them to the class that day. I would strongly advise students to select an item that is not overly fragile. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

12/9/21

We concluded the work we began yesterday concerning subtracting fractions. The strides that many students made within two lessons were apparent. I was impressed with the work that the kids were able to get done during our morning lesson.

Homework

Math - workbook pages 171 and 172, due Friday 12/10

12/8/21

We transitioned into our next lesson in unit three which will see the fifth graders subtracting fractions. Today was a solid first step in this important skill. I noticed students asking quality questions and sharing their thinking throughout the classroom. I look forward to continuing to work on this material as the week progresses.

The kids also voted to name our snake. Snape now has his very own name tag:

Homework

Math - workbook pages 171 and 172, due Friday 12/10

12/7/21

During morning meeting, the fifth graders had a chance to suggest some possible names for our snake. During tomorrow's meeting, we will have a vote and name the newest member of the classroom. The kids remain very excited.

During our ELA time, the last few writer's conferences pertaining to the literary essays were held. These pieces of writing are very good across the board. The kids have worked hard and that is reflected in the quality of the writing. 

Homework

Math - workbook pages 171 and 172, due Friday 12/10

12/6/21

The fifth graders learned about the water cycle during science this afternoon. After watching a short video that included a song, the kids worked in pairs to answer some focus questions and build a model of the cycle. They did a nice job with this work.

During math time earlier in the school day, the students were able to play the fraction tracks game. This game saw the students adding fractions and creating equivalent fractions on the fly to move tokens along number lines. We will also spend some time with this activity tomorrow.

We also have a new member of A303. A corn snake was delivered to us this morning and will be in the classroom for the next two weeks. The kids are going to take part in some writing and science lessons that involve our new friend.

Homework

Reading - read for 20 minutes each night, there is no reader's log this week

Math - students will receive math homework later this week

12/3/21

I want to compliment all of the members of A303 for their effort this week. Their perseverance and hard work in our math classes this week was excellent. The kids looked as if they put their best effort into an assessment that we took this morning. They then turned their attention to playing a fraction game called Fraction Tracks. 

The students also continued to work on an end of unit writing assignment during our social studies time later in the school day. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. 

12/2/21

We continued our work adding fractions during math class. This week has seen the fifth graders make significant progress with this work. I was terribly impressed with the ability of the students to create equivalent fractions and use those to help them solve problems this morning.  

Homework

Reading - 20 minutes of reading per night. Fill out log on a nightly basis. Log is due on Friday December 3rd.

Math - workbook page 162, due Friday 12/3

12/1/21

The fifth graders continued to make nice progress in our new addition of fractions unit this morning. Over the last two days, the students have paired up to play an adding game called "Roll Around the Clock". This game has been beneficial, as it has allowed the kids to create equivalent fractions. 

We also had another productive writing session later in the school day. Many of the students have reached the publishing phase of their literary essays. A few students had the option of taking part in a free write during this time.

Homework

Reading - 20 minutes of reading per night. Fill out log on a nightly basis. Log is due on Friday December 3rd.

Math - workbook page 162, due Friday 12/3