10/31/22

We concluded the month with more work being done on volume problems as well as another book group session during ELA time. The fifth graders are eagerly anticipating Friday's field trip to the planetarium at the Museum of Science. 

There will be no homework this week.

10/28/22

We concluded the week by reviewing some of the volume concepts that have been introduced during out math session. The students were also able to spend more time adding to their literary essay drafts.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

10/27/22

Book groups continue to make steady progress in their realistic fiction novels. The kids continued their conversations about challenges that their protagonists are facing during our session today. The fifth graders will look to respond to another prompt during their group time next week.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Log is due on Friday October 28th.

Field Trip Permission Slip needs to be signed and returned to school.

10/26/22

The members of A303 continue to make solid progress in our new unit of study in math class. We continued to work to solve volume problems this morning. The kids are getting much better at presenting three dimensional figures visually and then labeling their dimensions. We are looking for another quality lesson tomorrow.

We are going to meet with our second grade reading buddies tomorrow afternoon. The fifth graders are excited for this activity. 

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Log is due on Friday October 28th.

Field Trip Permission Slip needs to be signed and returned to school.

10/25/22

Students met with their book groups. The focus of our reading today revolved around the challenges that their main characters are facing. This discussion topic lead to a writer's response. I was impressed with those students who shared their thoughts with the full class. 

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Log is due on Friday October 28th.

Field Trip Permission Slip needs to be signed and returned to school.

10/24/22

The last full week in October will see the fifth graders working on various parts of their literary essays. This week, there will be a focus on using quotes to support thesis statements throughout the piece. Students will also be peer editing and having writing conferences with me during the next two weeks.

We are also going to progress deeper into our second unit of study in math class. This week, solving volume problems using connecting cubes and grid paper will be a point of emphasis.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night and fill out log on a nightly basis. Log is due on Friday October 28th.

Field Trip Permission Slip needs to be signed and returned to school.

10/21/22

We concluded the week by launching unit two in math. This unit will see the fifth graders finding the volume of solid figures. Our lesson today called for the fifth graders to start practicing this skill using connecting cubes. A positive first step in our new unit of study.

During writing, the fifth graders looked to identify interesting or telling details from their chosen literary essays to include in their body paragraphs. We practice this skill together and then the kids used the second half of the period working with their respective stories. Writing conferences will begin next week.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

10/20/22

The fifth graders took their unit one test this morning during math class. They have put in commendable work throughout this unit and I am sure the results of this exam will reflect that. With the time that we had remaining, the kids selected a game from a menu to play with a partner. I look forward to starting unit two tomorrow.

10/19/22

We are approaching the end of unit one in our math books. The kids finished a few outstanding workbook pages this morning and then paired up to play division compare. Tomorrow, we will look to take our unit one test. I believe the kids are well prepared for this.

Tomorrow is also picture day at the Thompson School.

10/18/22

Many of the students were able to craft their lead paragraph for their literary essay during our ELA time this morning. Using a graphic organizer, the kids gathered some talking points and then worked on shaping this. I was impressed with these and the kids had an opportunity to share their words with a partner at the conclusion of the session.

The fifth graders played a division compare game during math class. This was a nice way to break up the routine of the class. We also continued to work on division word problems.

10/17/22

The students met with their book groups and read deeper into their realistic fiction novels. After reading and discussing important plot developments, the kids responded to a writing prompt. We will look to have to more sessions with our book groups later this week.

We are also approaching the last section of unit one in math class. We are going to continue our exploration of division this week. The kids did a nice job on last week's quiz.

There is no homework this week.

10/14/22

The kids had a productive writing lesson to end the week. Each of the fifth graders was presented with two additional short stories during our time. At the start of next week they are going to select one of these stories with which they are going to start crafting a literary essay. We were also able to familiarize ourselves with a graphic organizer that we will be using during this process.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

10/13/22

The fifth graders sunk their teeth into a collection of short stories during our writing time this morning. They spent time reading and annotating these three pieces. On Friday, the fifth graders are going to select one of the stories that they have read over the last three weeks and they are going to use that story as the basis of a literary essay. This work will begin in earnest next week.

Today was an exciting day as we met for the first time with our book buddies in Mrs. Dichter's second grade classroom.

And as a reminder, the reading logs are due tomorrow.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night. Fill out reading log on a nightly basis. Due on Friday 10/14

10/12/22

An exciting day, as the fifth graders began reading their realistic fiction books within their reading groups. We have five groups working on five different novels. The first day went well as we continued to talk about norms and expectations for these sessions. We will look to meet again on Thursday morning.

The fifth graders also had another productive division lesson during math class. The persistence of many of the students continues to shine during this time period.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night. Fill out reading log on a nightly basis. Due on Friday 10/14

10/11/22

This week will see the kids begin working within their realistic fiction book groups. Today was a day for the fifth graders to complete some pre-reading activities on the book that they have been assigned. On Thursday, we are going to start reading. Using sticky notes and a journal graphic organizer, the kids are going to keep track of interesting and important observations. Some of these will serve as fodder for future pieces of writing.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night. Fill out reading log on a nightly basis. Due on Friday 10/14

10/7/22

We wrapped up our first week of October by having a productive math lesson. The students recently transitioned to division work. Many were able to complete a word problem with accompanying visual solution that they began yesterday. These turned out well. The last two math lessons were strong ones.

I also want to compliment the class for their attentiveness with their homework. All of the students turned in their work today and just based on initial observations, they turned out well. Thank you to parents as well for your assistance. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

10/6/22

These next two days will be spent ensuring that all fifth graders have completed the math and reading portions of their iReady assessments. I continue to commend the kids for staying focused on completing this pieces. Everyone is eager to be finished and we moved closer to that goal today.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night. Fill out reading log on a nightly basis. Due on Friday 10/7

10/4/22

The kids worked on the math portion of the iReady assessment this morning. I once again compliment the kids for putting their best effort into this important exam session. We will look to have all students complete with this when we return to school on Thursday.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night. Fill out reading log on a nightly basis. Due on Friday 10/7

10/3/22

We are going to have the fifth graders working on their iReady online assessments this week. Using their Chromebooks, the kids will take a math and a reading assessment. The data gleaned from these tests will not be used on report cards, but will offer valuable data about where the students currently stand. It will also better inform the book groups which we are going to be starting later this week.

Homework

Reading - 25 minutes of reading per night. Fill out reading log on a nightly basis. Due on Friday 10/7