It's the Little Things in Life....

We've been busy this week beginning our study of cells.  Tomorrow the kids will have a quiz over the parts of an animal and plant cell.  Not only will they need to identify each part on a diagram, they need to know the functions of each of the main parts.  There is a study guide chart that we filled in on Wednesday and the parts picture was checked today and given back to study with as well.  Next week, we will work with the microscopes, looking at some real cells!



Building reading skills in the content areas like social studies and science is a big part of our reading development in fifth grade.  Learning how to work through the text, pictures, diagrams, maps, and more will create deeper comprehension of the material.  In addition to reading about cells this week, we continue to read our biography of Sammy Sosa.  We are learning how to stop after every few pages to ask questions about the text.  Sammy Sosa has many similarities to Roberto Clememte!

Accelerated math will test over parts of unit 3 on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  A letter came home today explaining the concepts that will be covered in this test.  Next week, we will move on to studying the coordinate plane, ordered pairs, and other related concepts.  We will test on those concepts the following week and move on to unit 4. 

Don't forget to spend 5 - 10 minutes nightly on each of the following:

• the dates flashcards we created this week
• preparing for your genre presentation on Monday (your project should be completed)
• math facts (Otter Creek) at your current level
• spelling word lists (word work is due tomorrow - we have had independent work time in class for these activities, but they may need to be finished at home)

Arithmetickles Assembly

First, I would like to give a quick shout out to B.H., who won the fifth grade competition at the math assembly today.  I'll bet your new favorite number is 7, right?  7 was always my favorite number when I was a kid, although I don't know why.

Today really flew by, and most of the class was pretty awake and alert, considering all the game playing, tv watching, and idleness that likely (and expectedly) occurred over the holiday weekend!    I hope you and your families all enjoyed your time together and I am sure I am not the only one that has an eye on another upcoming break in the distance.  There is much work and learning to be done over the next four weeks, so get those brains ready! 

While we will gently move through chapter 6 in social studies, including a quiz over our timeline flashcards on Monday of next week, this week we will dive back into science, beginning our study of cells (which will indeed include the use of the microscope).  Figure out which of the dates you just don't know about automatically, and study those for 5-10 minutes nightly (or any time you have during the day).

We will have a new list of words tomorrow and I will assign the activities this week, giving the kids time on Wednesday to work on the activities in class.  The word activities will be due on Friday and the test will be on Friday. 

As I posted last week and mentioned in class today, the November genre activity is not due until Monday.  THe extra time should be used to prepare for your presentation, which will be delivered to the entire class, not just a small group.  You will be graded on your presentation, so practice it at home. Everyone's presentation should be at least 2 minutes, but no more than 5.  This will count as a speech grade.

My math class has some decimal division and multiplication practice for homework and Mrs. Ryan's class has a test tomorrow.

For those who did not finish in class, the Sosa questions for chapter 4 (up to page 36) are due.  We will get in our first game of "Baseball" this week on Friday!    Also, the Gazette entry should be completed (again, most people finished with the time given in class) to be turned in tomorrow.

Until tomorrow....

Attention All 5G Students!

Ok-here is the BIG announcement!

First, I hope you all have been managing your time well with your genre projects so far. Your books should be completely read and understood.  Time management continues to be a challenge for some, witnessed today by the number of people who didn't get word work done on time.

Anyway,  I hope you have enjoyed the book you chose for this month and that you are noticing the differences between the different genres. We had some great representations from each of the genres last month. Since I want you to put the proper time and effort into your project AND have a very enjoyable Thanksgiving Break with your family, I am extending the due date for the November genre  project to December 3. Please spend some time planning and thinking about your project over break, but know that you'll have the week and weekend after Thanksgiving Break to work on it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Busy Kids

Everyone is really excited about Thanksgiving Break!

Today we continued to use our strategies as we read the Sammy Sosa biography.  We used the strategy of using prior knowledge to set us up for reading new material.  We also used the strategy of asking questions while we are reading to really pay attention to our material.  The class worked really well and had involved discussions on what would make good "thick" questions.  Due tomorrow are 5 questions at different levels that cover chapter 4 (single, double, and home run questions), but the majority of kids finished in the time given today in class.

Tomorrow, our reading session will be devoted to finishing up any reading for this month's genre selection, so BRING YOUR BOOK!  YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO ALSO BRING A PILLOW OR STUFFED ANIMAL (within reason) TO READ WITH AND GET COMFY.  If  your  reading is done, you can work on the project in class independently, so be sure you bring any materials needed.   I will be available to answer questions on the projects during the time I am not conferencing with students.  See....reading the blog does have its perks.  This was NOT announced in class!

Word work is due tomorrow (sentences are optional and it is free choice week).  We did a pretest in class today and many kids passed with an A, but some will retake to see if some extra study time helped.

Tomorrow is the final day for test corrections from the Chapter 5 test (unless you were absent) and everyone has math homework except for Mrs. Kallal's class.

Finally, tomorrow is the last day to participate in the Secret Snowflake program.  This is a very meaningful program offered at Young, helping our Young families in need for holiday gift buying.  If you don't have a sheet about the program, just email me that you would like your child to participate.  Your child will pick a snowflake from the window in the office and that snowflake has the gift to purchase with a number that represents the child it goes to.  I will write down the code, and the snowflake gift idea will come home for your family to go out and buy, wrap, and return for this family in need.  I helped separate the gifts last year, and the response from the community was really overwhelming.   Please consider helping those who need it.

5G Actors Club

Today, the kids did an amazing job performing their skits on what life was like for the Pilgrims in 1621.  Our skits focused on a variety of challenges faced by the Pilgrims.  Here were the names of the skits:

1.  Reasons for Leaving
2.  Starting Over, Again
3.  The Voyage to a New Life
4.  Land is Sighted
5.  Plymouth, a New Colony
6.  A Tough, Sad Beginning
7.  Two Cultures Meet
8.  Thanksgiving, 1621

While each group only had three cast members (a writer, a director, and an illlustrator), the groups did a great job of procuring volunteers willing to buff up their performances.  It was a great display of creativity, compromise, and time management (whether they were ready or not!).  An important thing to remember is that many groups who came over to America after the Pilgrims faced similar difficulties and dangers.

Tomorrow we have our test over chapter 5.  Students' pendafiles were checked today for the sheets that we've done that relate in any way to chapter 5.  While I have told the kids many times to keep all relative work in the pendafile for studying for the test, many kids were missing worksheets and work from lesson 2 and 3.  We will continue to work on developing this habit of keeping things where they belong at all times.

Homework:
Social Studies Test (look at the review pages at the end of chapter 5 to help you find questions to answer/look for) 

Math :  everyone has a sheet of homework.  My class has problems using formulas and I just sent an email to the class email address I have.  See the email for more info.  There is an error on one question.

Word Work:  Free choice activities due on Tuesday of next week.  Sentences are OPTIONAL (the kids were quite excited) .  Also, test on Tuesday.

Thanksgiving

Today, we read about the first Thanksgiving, which lasted for three days!  We talked about the ways to compare the Thanksgiving we are used to with our families, to the first Thanksgiving the Pilgrims experienced with the Wampanoag tribe.  Of course, with Thanksgiving being right around the corner, it is a fitting time to discuss this time in history. 

It is important to spend more than one sitting on reading this social studies content.  Just like the story on the Iditarod race, there are many details and events to take notice of.  One pass through the text will not provide the experience necessary to digest the material.  There are things we see every time we read that we easily pass over on the first go-round.  Think of when you watch a movie or a tv show for the third or fourth time.  You might find yourself saying, "I didn't see that the first time!"  As always, put yourself back in time.  Ask yourself some "Can you imagine?" questions to get yourself back to the time of the early colonies.

Homework for this week:

Social Studies:
--  Read lesson 3 again (see Links you'd Like for online access info). Most kids finished the worksheet in independent work time this afternoon.

--  On a piece of loose leaf, write down 6 important events and the dates on which they occurred.  Words you may use in your notes include, Pilgrims, Puritans, Squanto, Samoset, the Mayflower Compact, Separatists, Boston.

Math:
5G - link 3.2
5k - sheet
5R - link 4.5

Reading:
Read the Iditarod story. Study the alternate vocabulary sheet you got on Friday (in your pendafile).
We will have a quiz on this story tomorrow.

Social Studies Textbook

Our social studies textbook is now available online.  If you click on the "Links You'd Like" tab on top of the blog, you then click on the link to the book and enter the username and password given.  You can also bookmark this site:  pearsonsuccessnet.com  and put a post-it on the computer with this information (same for all the kids - they HAVE to type it in exactly as it is written, with caps in the right place):

username:  5Gstudent
password:  Young5

I know many kids will be happy to be able to leave the book at school and save their backs!!

We are currently on chapter 5 and have covered lessons 1 and 2.  We will cover lesson 3 and 4 this week and will review and test this week (on Friday).  FYI - the word list this week will not be tested until Tuesday, the 20th.  Word work for the next unit will be due on Tuesday, the 20th.

Iditarod Race Sites

Check out some of these sites to help you understand more about this race and the mushers!

Iditarod site 1

Iditarod site 2

Quick...and no harrumphing!!

Just a quick post for tonight between my conferences!

Remember to complete page 43 (lesson 2 sheet) for social studies.  The little journal entry is what I will really look at to see if you "can imagine" what it was like back then!   Can you remember the important event that happened on this date in history?

1492           1521          1535               1603             1607            1619            1624        1776        1793

Homework:
Social Studies:  Page 43.

Math
5G - 2 sided expression worksheet (use examples and your packet from yesterday's class to help you know the key words to look for!)

5K - none

5R - practice sheet

Word work due tomorrow and test tomorrow on word sort

LOG your pages.  I will do random checks to see that you are reading most nights of the week.  I do understand when there are occassional nights you cannot read! 

PICTURES CAME HOME TODAY!  If you would like retakes, they will be offered at a later date.

The best Monday...

"The best Monday is when there is no school on Tuesday!"

This is what I overheard in a conversation in class today.  I understand!  Enjoy your day off, kids!

Here is the work for this week:

Reading
Sammy Sosa reading - chapter one
*  Venn Diagram
*  Question sheet
(Most kids finished -or nearly finished - in class today)

Word Sorts
New word lists were studied today in class.  Word work is due Friday and the activities should be on the yellow sheet.  The chart for the syllables vs. vowel sound will be given on Wednesday, but some go-getters were making their own during some independent work time today.  The other activities include sentences, a word hunt (see the back of the sheet), and one free choice.  The test will be Friday.


Math
5G has a sheet on Order of Operations (see the Math Class tab for video sites)
5K has a sheet
5R has a division sheet

Social Studies
Carefully read page 159 - 161.  Be sure to reread for understanding.  Do you know the key people, places, and events from the pages?  What is an indentured servant?  Who was John White?  If you can't answer, go back and reread!  Put yourself there in history!!  Try to imagine what it was like!!

Writing
Get your 2468 (finished in class) signed.

Also, don't forget about being a Secret Snowflake helper (the sheet went home Friday).  See you Wednesday!

PoP aRt

Today we had our first Art Awareness lesson and learned about Andy Warhol. We created some pop art of our very own!  You'll see it next week at conferences. Below are a few pictures from our work session. Thanks, Mrs. Gudgeon! 

 

The kids were really focused and put their best coloring skills to work!  This piece took a lot of attention to detail.  While we had a good deal of time to work on this in class, some kids brought the work home to complete with the markers they have at home.  Please remind the kids to bring in thier finished work.

 

We worked on the second draft of our memoirs today, using some notes from the first draft.  One lesson we are learning as writers is how we have to spend a lot of time going back to the drawing board with new focus and ideas.  As all writers know, it is a good feeling to be "done" with a piece of writing, and lots of the kids thought they were done after the first draft.  Looking at some of the ideas that were generated today after reviewing some suggested changes, I think many kids are happier with the second draft and understand the need for revision. There is a lot to think about when we are writing, mostly what our reader needs from us. Sometimes, as writers, we think about the amount or quantity of what we are writing, when our reader just wants to be able to fully experience one thing we experienced. Writing memoir is challenging because it requires us to reflect on previous thoughts and feelings, something not easy to remember or tap into. While it is a challenge for this age, we will continue to develop stamina while writing and practice the habits of good writers.

 

Remember that word work activities, assigned on MONDAY, are due tomorrow.  Sentences are part of word work  this week.  We'll also take our test tomorrow on our word sort words.

 

Tomorrow is "Jersey Day!"