12/23/25

I hope everyone has a nice holiday break. Look forward to seeing everyone back in class on January 5th.

12/22/25

This short, final week of 2025 will see the kids working on an animal project during our science time. After learning about and taking part in activities pertaining to living systems and food webs the last two weeks, the fifth graders selected an animal and began gathering information about them using a graphic organizer today. Tomorrow, they will start transferring that information to a larger poster. They will be looking to highlight some important adaptations of their animals.

There will be no homework this week.

12/19/25

We wrapped up our science talk this morning. Pairs of students reported out on their findings from when they explored three sites pertaining to the preservation of rainforests in yesterday's lesson.

Compliments to all of the students who are members of the chorus. Their performance this afternoon was excellent.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

On Monday the 22nd, kids are welcome to bring in one item for show and tell.

12/18/25

We spent the bulk of our math time this afternoon practicing the standard algorithm method to solve multiplication problems. The kids are doing a fine job of showing perseverance and making positive strides.

The kids were able to meet with their second grade book buddies this morning for one final time before the calendar turns over.

Tomorrow, the fifth graders are eager to watch and listen to the chorus performance in the afternoon.

Homework

Math - multiplication worksheet due in class on Friday 12/19

12/17/25

This morning, our ELA time was spent taking part in a "science talk". The fifth graders looked at an excerpt from The Most Beautiful Roof in the World and they looked to find evidence of why scientists study the rainforest. Nice team work throughout the classroom during this time.

Homework

Math - multiplication worksheet due in class on Friday 12/19

12/16/25

During science class, the kids finished creating a food web using animals from Monterey Bay. After sharing out their work with peers, they spent some time investigating the practice of kelp farming. This will tie into work we are going to do later this week.

In math class, the members of A303 took their final fraction quiz. They will receive math homework tomorrow.

12/15/25

The last full school week of 2025, will see the fifth graders launch a new unit of study in math class and continue to learn more about living systems and food webs in science class.

Unit 4 in our math book, will see the members of A303 revisit and refine some of the strategies they have been using to solve multiplication and division problems.

Homework

Math homework will be given later this week

12/11/25

In ELA, the fifth graders reread a portion of our anchor text and then looked to construct a chronological order of events of a typical day in the life of scientist Meg Lowman. We concluded the lesson by responding to an exit ticket concerning text structure. 

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of reading per night, fill out log on a nightly basis. Due in class on Friday 12/12

12/10/25

We undertook a valuable lesson during our ELA time this morning. Fifth graders worked to compare the structure of our two anchor texts in our rainforest unit. The kids worked in pairs using a Venn diagram to come up with some similarities and some differences. With the time that was left, they continued to add to the classroom word wall.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of reading per night, fill out log on a nightly basis. Due in class on Friday 12/12

12/9/25

Tomorrow in math class, the fifth graders are going to take a fraction assessment. This text will see them plotting fractional data on a number line and then responding to some questions about the data.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of reading per night, fill out log on a nightly basis. Due in class on Friday 12/12

12/8/25

We launched a new unit of study during our science time this morning. The Living System unit will see the fifth graders learning about ecosystems and their connectivity. Today, we looked at some examples of food chains and food webs. Later this week, the members of A303 will take part in some activities that will see them constructing food webs.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of reading per night, fill out log on a nightly basis. Due in class on Friday 12/12

12/5/25

We concluded the first week of December by doing some "close reading" during ELA in the morning. The kids looked at a passage from our anchor text and attempted to determine the structure of the story portion as well as noting powerful descriptive words being used by the author.

Next week, we will look to conclude unit three in our math book.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

12/4/25

The fifth graders refined their subtracting fractions strategies during math class this afternoon. As a whole, they did a nice job with yesterday's assessment.

To start the day, the members of A303 worked to come up with working definitions for some unfamiliar vocabulary words from our anchor text.

Homework

Math - fraction worksheet due on Friday 12/5

12/3/25

During math class, the fifth graders took a short quiz to track their progress. We then spent some time practicing adding and subtracting fractions.

The members of A303 were able to peruse the book fair this morning. During this time, they created wishlists of titles that they were interested in.

Homework

Math - fraction worksheet due on Friday 12/5

12/2/25

During ELA time this afternoon, the fifth graders spent some time learning about various types of nonfiction text structure. This segued into reading the first few pages of our anchor text, "The Most Beautiful Roof in the World". A productive lesson to end the day.

Homework

Math homework will be given tomorrow

12/1/25

Today we began two new units of study. During ELA time, the fifth graders progressed into unit two. In this unit, the kids are going to be learning about rainforests and reading non-fiction texts. We are going to spend time this week establishing some norms and taking part in introductory lessons.

In social studies, the members of A303 are going to be focusing on the 13 colonies. They are going to be exploring the three regions and delving into the daily life of people alive during this time period.

Homework

There will be math homework later this week