4/10/15

I wanted to compliment the entire Thompson school and particularly the fifth grade class for their performance during the concert today. I thought it was great and based on the reception the audience gave, many other people would agree. The hard work paid off and Ms. Havelin and the students deserve a lot of praise.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

4/9/15

Students looked at the causes and effects of the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party during social studies today. The class had a lively discussion and I was impressed with the level of background knowledge that students are bringing to the lessons.

During reading today, students focused in on unanswered questions that Number the Stars left in the reader's minds. Students came up with some answers to these questions and worked in small groups to share their answers.


Homework

Math - workbook page 43-44

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading and fill out log on nightly basis

Blog - What parts of Number the Stars were fictional? What parts of the story are factual? (due 4/10, 2 paragraphs in length)


Trivia

This man was responsible for bringing canons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, which ended the British siege of the city. Who is this man?

4/8/15

Students began to turn their attention to dividing and multiplying decimals during math class. This work will continue into the next few days. Students continue to take daily quick checks which are giving me a nice glimpse into where my class stands in relation to the material being taught. Room 312 has been performing strongly in math.

We are also wrapping up our work with the book Number the Stars. Today, students posed questions that were left unanswered by the book. My class did a nice job of working in small groups and came up with some interesting ideas for how they felt the story could have ended.


Homework

Math - third page in math packet

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading and fill out log on nightly basis

Blog - What parts of Number the Stars were fictional? What parts of the story are factual? (due 4/10, 2 paragraphs in length)


Trivia

The original capitol of the United States was located where?

4/7/15

We wrapped up our look at the Boston Massacre today. Students looked closely at an engraving made by Paul Revere to look for hidden meanings and other information. Fifth grade had an interesting class discussion and worked well with small groups. We will turn our attention to the Tea Act and the Tea Party over the next few days.

Students also were hard at work practicing for the spring concert which will take place on Friday. I can't wait to see the hard work pay off.


Homework

Math - second page in math packet

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading and fill out log on nightly basis

Blog - What parts of Number the Stars were fictional? What parts of the story are factual? (due 4/10, 2 paragraphs in length)


Trivia

What was the name of George Washington's home?

4/6/15

This week, room 312 will begin to focus on adding decimals. Fifth graders continued their work today of organizing given decimals from least to greatest.

My class is close to publishing their final personal opinion pieces in writing. I look forward to later this week when students will get to share their completed work with their classmates. A lot of hard work and effort have went into these papers.


Homework

Math - first page in math packet

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading and fill out log on nightly basis

Blog - What parts of Number the Stars were fictional? What parts of the story are factual? (due 4/10, 2 paragraphs in length)

Science - practice MCAS sheet


Trivia

Which two founding fathers of America died on the same day?

4/2/15

I hope everyone has an enjoyable long weekend.

4/1/15

Students are hard at work putting the finishing touches on their personal opinion writing pieces. As we prepare to move on to our next writing unit, I wanted to mention that I was impressed with the level of engagement that my class put into their writing. Students wrote with passion about topics that are important to them. I look forward to turning our attention to literary writing.

Grade 5 continued to work in small groups during our math class. Fifth graders have been playing some challenging games to organize and name decimals. Tomorrow we will be taking an assessment to gauge the progress of the students to this point in the unit.

Homework

Math - workbook page 29

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading

Spelling - test tomorrow

Trivia

Which famous work of literature contains the first mention of April Fool's Day?