9/30/16

The fifth graders returned to Bud Not Buddy during ELA today. Students continued to read the text critically and I was happy with the way that the groups worked together. We will continue to read the book over the upcoming weeks.

I also wanted to compliment the students for another great week of morning meetings. As part of responsive classroom, the fifth graders are taking part in meetings that include a daily message, a share out and an energizer. The students are doing a nice job of engaging one another and the days are getting off to positive starts.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and is able to watch the Patriots put a beating on the Bills.

9/29/16

The members of M102 continued their work with Bud Not Buddy during our ELA time. The students are engaging the text critically and are using our reading strategies to make inferences. The fifth graders were keying in on character traits of the main character today.

During math class, the students were faced with some order of operation problems. They rose to the challenge today and I was impressed with the perseverance of the group.

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night

9/28/16

The fifth grade officially kicked off their reading of Bud Not Buddy today. The students have been put into small reading groups and were rearing to get going. During today's reading of chapter 1, different active reading strategies were modeled for the students. I was happy with the effort exhibited by the groups today.

Earlier in the day, the fifth graders turned their attention to order of operations during math class. The students were actively engaged in the subject matter and the progress that I saw just during this first lesson was a credit to the students.


Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night

9/27/16

During today's math lesson, the fifth graders continued to work with different strategies to solve multiplication problems. The students have been incorporating knowledge gained in the first few weeks of school and I was impressed with the versatility of the fifth graders. They are becoming more adept at solving problems using more than one strategy.

Later in the day, the students received their copies of Bud Not Buddy. M102 spent some time making predictions about the story based off of the image on the cover and the synopsis on the back. The students are excited to begin this story and so am I.

I look forward to seeing families tonight during curriculum night.



Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night

9/26/16

The fifth graders began their preparation for reading the novel, Bud Not Buddy, today. We spent time looking at the Great Depression and the impact it had on children. Later, the students received their copies of the book and we captured initial observations and connections to the front cover of the story. This is a great book, and I am eager to begin reading it with my students.

Earlier in the day, the fifth graders worked with 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication problems. The students were tasked with solving these problems, showing their work with visual representations and finally creating a story for each problem.

Homework

30 minutes of quiet reading per night



As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

9/23/16

The students ended the week on a high note today. The members of M102 continued their investigation of the sun and shadows today. Using flashlights and their self made sundials, the fifth graders had an engaging lesson.

I also wanted to mention how proud I was of the students for their diligence when it came to the first post on the class blog. The fifth graders made informative prediction about the book Wonder and backed them up with meaningful evidence from the text.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.


As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

9/22/16

The students have really impressed me this week with their grasp of some of our early math concepts. The working vocabularies of the class continues to grow and the students are starting to display their versatility in solving multiplication problems.

We also were able to read the picture book, Salt In His Shoes. This book tied in nicely with our nine core reading competencies. The students worked well together to complete some questions pertaining to the text.

As a reminder to parents and guardians, the fifth graders should be looking to return signed and completed science camp forms as soon as possible. These forms are due by next Tuesday, the 27th. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

I also wanted to spread the word that we are still looking for some chaperones for science camp. Ideally, we would like to have adults stay the four days of camp, but we would also be open to having people volunteer for portions of camp. Please contact me at: dallen@arlington.k12.ma.us if you are interested in helping out.

Homework

Using the kidblog website, the students should respond to this prompt: Make a prediction about how August's time at his new school will go for him. Do you think that he will have a positive or negative experience at school? Why or why not? Please use evidence from the text to back up your point of view.

This post should be at least two paragraphs in length and should be posted by Friday, September 23rd.