5/21/21

We wrapped up another week by completing a writing assignment concerning a key turning point in our fantasy books. After turning this in, the book groups met to continue their reading. Many of the groups are getting to the later stages of their stories and they are eager to see how the books end.

We also spent some time exploring the famous ride of Paul Revere. We looked at a poem written about that event and then the kids began a piece of work that will see them create a graphic novel strip of the ride. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

5/20/21

We spent some time in the earlier stages of the day looking at a practice math MCAS test. Next week, the fifth graders will be taking their one session of the exam. Today was a nice opportunity to look at some of the questions that they might expect to see next week.

The fifth graders were also able to return to their informational writing topics during ELA time. Many of the kids are making some nice progress with their writing. 

5/19/21

We continued to be hard at work on our information writing during our ELA time. The fifth graders have all crafted lead paragraphs over the last two days. Today saw the kids look to gather information pertaining to their figures background before the start of the Revolutionary War.

Science time was spent exploring some extinct animals and learning about ways that humans can help to ensure that other animals are not lost. 

5/18/21

The fifth graders spent their ELA time researching their Revolutionary War figure. Using a number of books in the classroom and some online sources, the kids were gathering this information on their graphic organizers. Later this week, the goal is for the kids to begin crafting their lead paragraph.

We also undertook a math lesson that allowed the kids the choice to play one of the decimal games that we have learned the last three weeks.

5/17/21

This week is an important one of the kids because we are going to be selecting a topic to explore pertaining to the Revolutionary War for our last unit of writing. The informational writing unit is one that will really help to prepare the students for next year. Today and tomorrow, the kids are going to be exposed to a number of books that will allow them to select the one topic that they will pursue. 

With only a few more lessons left in our decimal unit, we also continued to be hard at work on word problems and comparing the values of decimals. The last three weeks have been rock solid and that was reflected in the grades for our most recent quiz. 

5/13/21

This Thursday saw the kids progress deeper into unit six of their math book. We have a few more lessons left in the decimal unit and the kids are doing well. At some point next week we will look to take a quiz that will see the kids adding and subtracting decimals in word problems. 

The fifth graders also did some writing pertaining to critical turning points in their fantasy books. After writing, they shared their thoughts with their groups and then returned to their reading. Many of the groups are approaching the second half of their stories. They really seem to be enjoying the books that they are working with.

5/12/21

 It was nice to return to a normal school day with the kids this Wednesday. The fifth graders looked to complete some multi-step decimal word problems during our math time. This lead into a decimal compare game that the students played with a partner.

On this early release day, we were also able to start to turn our attention to the Boston Tea Party. This will continue tomorrow.