4/29/22

The fifth graders finished their ELA MCAS test this morning. Congratulations to all of them on wrapping this up.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. 

4/28/22

Compliments to the fifth graders for finishing the first part of their ELA MCAS exam this morning. It appears as if everyone worked hard and tried their best. 

We spent the rest of the day reading deeper in our class read aloud book and the kids had their normal library special after lunch this afternoon.

Tomorrow, the kids will take the second part of the ELA exam.

4/27/22

Each of the fifth graders selected a topic pertaining to the Revolutionary War that they are going to do some research and an piece of writing about. The fifth graders also had some time to begin researching their topic with our library of Revolutionary War books and gather their information into a graphic organizer. This was a quality first step on the road to working on our last writing unit.

Tomorrow and Friday, the kids will be taking the ELA portion of their MCAS tests.

4/26/22

The kids had an excellent math lesson this morning. We continued our work dividing fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by fractions. The last two days have been productive and the kids have been doing a great job of explaining their thinking to one another. 

As a reminder, the fifth graders are going to be taking the ELA MCAS on Thursday and Friday.

4/25/22

This week, the fifth graders are going to be taking the ELA portion of their MCAS test on Thursday and Friday. We are going to look to practice for the open response questions early this week. 

Another big point of emphasis will be our fantasy book groups. The fifth graders are going to start their books this week and also look to do some writing about some of the fantasy text structure features that they are noticing in the early going.

No homework this week because of MCAS.

4/14/22

I hope everyone has a relaxing vacation week. Look forward to seeing all of the fifth graders back at school on the 25th as we begin the last push towards the end of the school year.

4/13/22

The fifth graders were able to spend some dedicated time this morning taking an online ELA MCAS practice exam. This hour long session was informative for the kids to both familiarize themselves with the format and the questions that they will encounter the week after vacation

4/12/22

The fifth graders met with their fantasy book groups for the first time this morning. There was much excitement during this session. The kids were able to ready into the first chapters of their books and then responded to a prompt to conclude the session. A nice first start to this fantasy unit.

Tomorrow morning, the fifth graders are going to take part in a MCAS practice online assessment. It is important for all kids to have their devices and have them fully charged for tomorrow. Thanks for your help with this.

4/11/22

We began the final week before the spring vacation with an introductory lesson about informational writing. This week, the kids are going to practice some of the evidence gathering and organizer usage that will be of great importance during this unit. We explored a compare and contrast essay about George Washington and King George during this time.

There will be no homework this week.

4/8/22

The fifth graders were fortunate enough to get to watch a performance of the Thompson School play this morning. For those students that were participants, either on stage or behind the scenes, the play was a great success. They should all feel proud of their accomplishment. Those fifth graders who were in the audience greatly enjoyed getting to see the end result of all of the hard work that went into this performance. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Go Red Sox.

4/7/22

The fifth graders talked about norms and expectations for their fantasy book groups, which will be starting next week during a portion of our ELA time this afternoon. The groups practiced using a graphic organizer similar to the one they will be using within their groups as well.

We continued deeper into unit seven today and began multiplying fractions by fractions with visual graphic organizers.

All of the kids are looking forward to the performance of the play during tomorrow's school day.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night, log due Friday 4/8

4/6/22

The kids officially met with their fantasy book groups for the first time to take part in an activity pertaining to elements common to works of fantasy. They were also able to select the book that they are going to be working with starting next week. They appear to be excited a great deal by this new unit.

We also continued to learn about taxation and its role in the launch of the American Revolution during social studies class.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night, log due Friday 4/8

4/5/22

We turned our focus to multiplying fractions by mixed numbers this morning in math class. The students worked wonderfully with partners to represent these problems visually using fraction bars. Strong lesson across the board for the fifth graders.

Many of the kids were able to complete their book creator project concerning their non-fiction book. These are turning out great and later this week, the kids will be able to present their projects to their peers in the classroom.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night, log due Friday 4/8

4/4/22

The fifth graders are going to spend time this week wrapping up their nonfiction reading unit. Using the Book Creator app, the kids are going to compile their essays pertaining to various text features. They are also going to include some images pertaining to their book topic. The kids are eager to explore the app and today was a quality day of work.

We also continue to dig deeper into our next math unit. Today, we continued to work multiplying fractions by whole numbers.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night, log due Friday 4/8

4/1/22

The month of April began with the students shifting their attention to multiplication of fractions by whole numbers. We used fraction strips to work through some problems today. A nice first session in this new unit.

We also began our final project within our nonfiction reading unit. The students have been creating essays pertaining to different text features of their books. Today, they began uploading these essays into Book Creator. This project will be ongoing next week.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.