11/14/16

The fifth graders spent their science time playing a Jeopardy review game. The questions dealt with the moon, the sun and the first manned mission to the moon. Both Mr. Quan and myself were impressed with the accumulated knowledge that the students brought into this lesson.

During math class, the students worked with division and multiplication cluster problems. These problems provided the students practice in working to solve division problems with unfriendly numbers. It was nice to see students increase their proficiency and lower their time in solving these problems. This work will continue into tomorrow's lesson.

Homework

Math - word problem worksheet due on Friday 11/18

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading

Blog - Make a prediction as to what will happen to Bud from this point forward in Bud, Not Buddy. Use evidence from the text to back up your point of view. This post must be at least 4 paragraphs in length and is due Friday 11/18

11/10/16

The fifth graders ended this short week by taking an assessment during math class. This assessment sought to gauge where the students are with some of the work that we have been doing recently with division. The students have been working hard the last few weeks and I am eager to sit with these assessments this weekend to see how the class did. Later in the class, the fifth graders worked together on some order of operations review puzzles.

Members of M102 also continued to work on their Kennewick Man project during social studies today. The fifth graders are thoroughly engaged with this project and are using the paper and explain everything apps on their iPads to help them craft their own version of the Kennewick Man. I can't wait to see the finished results.

I hope everyone has a nice long weekend. Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served the United States of America.

11/9/16

As we returned to school today, the fifth graders continued to read deeper into Bud, Not Buddy. The students began the lesson by responding to some focus questions. This lead into reading of new chapters. The fifth graders launched this new reading by discussing metaphors. I was impressed with the amount of background knowledge that the students brought to this lesson.

Earlier in the day, the fifth graders shared out small group responses to a word problem that involved both multiplication and division. This multi-step problem required the students to work together to come up with multiple solutions to meet the parameters of the problem. This segued into more work with multiple towers.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading 

11/7/16

This short week began with the members of M102 starting to work on a project in social studies. The students have been learning about the first peoples to cross over into the North American continent. One such person has come to be known as the Kennewick Man. The students are tasked with creating a sketch of what this man possibly looked like and listing tools that he may have carried with him to ensure his survival. The fifth graders will be working on this project throughout the course of the week.

Later in the day, the focus of our mini-writing lesson was on transition words. Students continue to be heavily invested in their opinion writing and are making steady progress to the ultimate goal of a typed final draft.

Lastly, the fifth graders took part in a mock election today to give them some sense of the significance of the national election which will take place tomorrow.

I look forward to seeing all students back in school on Wednesday.


Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading

11/3/16

The students of M102 spent some time investigating some tools used by the earliest Native Americans to enter the North American Continent. Fifth graders were tasked with reading an article and sketching these ancient implements and then writing about their importance. The students were animated and engaged in this lesson.

Later in the day, the fifth graders had a writing lesson that focused on rebuttals and the ability to counter differing point of views within their opinion pieces. The students continue to be hard at work on their papers and they are really taking shape. I have very much enjoyed getting to see these papers getting stronger and stronger.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of reading

11/2/16

Today, the fifth graders returned to Bud, Not Buddy. We are entering the middle chapters of the novel and I continue to be impressed with the level of enthusiasm that the students are displaying while reading this book. They seem to be enjoying it and that is displayed in their small group discussions and in their written responses.

We also worked with some word problems that involved division and its relationship with multiplication during our math block.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading

11/1/16

As we began the month of November together, the fifth graders continued to craft divisibility rules to use as a guide as we progress through the next few lessons. The second half of the math class saw the students undertake another challenging multi-step word problem. I enjoyed seeing the students reasons their way through the early stages of the problem.

Later in the day, the members of M102 returned to their writing. Today's focus was on adding transition words to create more of a flow to the writing.

Homework

Reading - 30 minutes of quiet reading