April 27,2014

Here we are at the end of Spring Break and heading into our last stretch of fifth grade.  I already feel teary just thinking about having to say goodbye to this amazing group of children.  Okay, I am not going to think about that yet.  I am going to focus on the time we have left together and continue to push each one of my incredible scholars to reach for the stars.  Let's end our year together with a great, big bang!

I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing vacation.  I know some traveled to warmer weather and some stayed put.  I did not go away for April vacation this year.  I stayed at home.  I read, relaxed, and worked on college stuff with my daughter Lexi. I went to my camp and worked in my gardens.  I love working in my gardening and it was refreshing to see the flowers sprouting, even thought the garden was still surrounded by snow!  We were lucky to have some beautiful days as well!  The ice had not gone our of the lake yet, but it was very close.    I love listening to birds sing and the peepers peep.  A sure sign that spring is here! 

Oh, I did get to go to a Yankee/Red Sox game.  I was lucky enough to see the game that the Red Sox won.  

As we head into the final weeks of school, we will be reviewing what we have learned so far, as well as learning lots of new things.  Homework will be focused on lots of review to get ready for NWEA's in a couple of weeks.  Everyone will need to put on their thinking caps, as some of the skills were learned way back in September.  I believe in each and every student.  I know that if they focus and do their very best they will rock the tests!  

In Math, we will continue to work on our Geometry Unit.  In Reading, students will be starting their Gary Paulsen book.  They will be reading a book of their choice independently and recording their thoughts in their journal.  Students will be expected to write in complete sentences, use proper capitals and punctuation, and their neatest writing.  We will be writing an "I wonder..." statement each day.  In Science, we will continue our work with plant and animal cells.  In Social Studies, we will be focusing on the Revolutionary War.  As you can see, we have lots of material to still cover.  

Even though it feels like a long time ago, I want to say how incredibly proud I was of how well the students performed in Spring Concert.  I would say....Yes, Fifth Grade Has Talent!

I am having a tough time uploading the video, but I will keep trying.  My phone is not an iphone, so it doesn't work well with my MacBook.  

Here are a few snapshots of our learning!

April Fool's Day Hot Fudge Sundaes!

The messier the better!

Mrs. Card and her new baby boy came for a visit!

Shelby teaching us how to make Lake Lava Lamps

Book Buddies

Special Chinese Luncheon with me.
All part of our incentive program.

Romeo sharing his Keynote on his famous explorer.

Hard at work!

Student Council with backpacks and Crocs for the children in Tanzania

Liam sharing his showing us his
knowledge on the Scientific Method!

THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS!

We have had a very busy third quarter.  Here is an overview of what we have been working on in each subject area!

Math:  

In math, we have been focused on fractions.  Along with this unit, we have been working on understanding all the key vocabulary words that go along with it.  Some of our math vocabulary words were factors, multiples, prime numbers, composite numbers, least common multiple, greatest common factor, reciprocal, denominator, numerator, improper fraction, mixed number, simplest form,  and reducing.  As you can see, it was a lot to learn!  They did a great job learning the new skills!  One thing that slowed some down was not knowing their multiplication facts fluently.  Keep on practicing!  It is such an important skill to have before moving onto to middle school.  

Reading:

This quarter we read, “The Watson’s Go to Birmingham.”  We learned about the Civil Rights Movement through this wonderful piece of historical fiction.  We focused on how to answer comprehension questions by reading the questions before we read the chapter so that we would know what we were looking for.  We worked on restating the question, answering in complete sentences and using information from the text to support our answers.  We also focused on understanding the elements of the story.  The beginning/setting, rising action, the climax, the falling action and the resolution.  We also read and interpreted a great deal of poetry.  We even spent a bit of time trying to understanding some Shakespeare.  I must say, they blew me away with their interpretations!  

Writing:

We have been reading and writing poetry this quarter.  We have written adjective poems, cinquains, limericks, haikus, bio-poems, and lots more.  We worked on understanding specific patterns and interpreting the meaning of each poem.  Students especially did a wonderful job painting a picture with their words when writing their color poems.  They finished it off by painting a beautiful watercolor picture.

Science:  WE have been learning all about the Scientific Method and how to write a lab report!  Many students were able to show their understanding of the Scientific Method during their science presentation to the class.  We had a fun time participating in all the experiments!

Social Studies:  We have been learning about the explorers and how changes in transportation technologies have affected trade over time. Each student prepared a keynote presentation or a poster to teach us all about the life and adventures of an explorer.

As you can see, we have been very busy!  As we head into our final quarter together in fifth grade, I am going to hold the students accountable for truly becoming a thoughtful thinker.  I want them to think on their own and work hard to retrieve information what they have learned this year, before they automatically raise their hand to ask a question.  Our goal is to bring it all together and find key strategies that allow us to apply our learning.

Here’s to our fourth quarter together!  I love my group of scholars!