5M Highlights 3/3 -3/7

5M Highlights:

·        On Wednesday we had our second whole school community meeting. These meetings are a chance for our entire school to get together and work on social learning and community building. The meeting follows a typical morning meeting format: greeting, share, activity, and morning message. This month we enjoyed hearing the second graders share about their study of the Arctic.

·        Monday marked the beginning of Puberty classes. Students learned about changes that happen to males during puberty. As expected there was some uncomfortable giggling, but students survived. I would like to remind students to be sure to remember that this is fifth grade material and is not suitable for conversation on the bus or anywhere else where younger students might be.

·        Students have done a great job doing investigative lab work on rocks and minerals.  So far they have completed two labs: one on properties of rocks and minerals and one on the luster of minerals.  Next week we will continue with the hardness lab. Students will be able to rate the hardness of minerals using Moh’s Scale, which was created by Freidrich Mohs in 1812. 

·        This week we began our next writing project. This will be a creative narrative where students will tell a story from the perspective of a rock in the rock cycle. They are full of zany, wacky ideas!

·        We have begun using the standard algorithm method of multi-digit multiplication.  This is the traditional way that we all learned multi-digit multiplication, so it should look familiar to you.  The target for fifth grade is to be able to accurately solve a 3 digit by 2 digit problem.

·        In our book Winter Camp, the kids have learned a ton of information about surviving in the arctic tundra. This week we practiced analyzing a character (Toughboy) and how he responds to problems. Additionally, we did some work around foreshadowing (when an author gives hints or clues about what might come later in the story). 

5M Highlights 12/9 - 12/13

5M Highlights:

·        Students spent a little extra time this week in Chorus preparing for the concert. Witnessing first hand, I am seeing all their hard work and effort paying off. We have such a talented young class. If you haven’t already, be sure to mark your calendars for the concert: Thursday, January 16th at 7:00 pm at SPHS.

·        During Math Workshop, students worked on factors using three specific methods. The methods included: using array, multiplication combinations, and the curtain method. Students did a great job using all methods throughout the week. As a class, we are finding parts of it challenging due to the emphasis on knowing our multiplication facts to find factors. To help strengthen our multiplication facts, we have done a lot of activities during morning meeting focusing on those skills and have worked together to come up with helpful strategies in remembering them.

·        We covered a lot of ground with our Book Club this week and found some great descriptive vocabulary. We continued working on adjectives this week, in our book groups, writing,  and the read aloud. We started a new book for read aloud, Among the Hidden. We are all looking forward in seeing how the story will unfold.

·        This week we started looking at how Geology influences our lives. The students researched their own birthstones and found some great information about its origin and symbolism. Students also picked a profession they may pursue in the future to research, and how it uses Geology. I am excited to see what they find as we continue our research.

·        On Wednesday you should have received your student’s progress report and portfolio. I hope the portfolio was a helpful tool in understanding your child’s progress up to this point. If you haven’t already, please send back your child’s portfolio by Monday. Please feel free to write any comments on your child’s portfolio on the back of this report. We’d love to know what you think.

·        This week I have learned a new online resource called Blogger. I am going to attempt to use this as a classroom website, as it is easier to update than what I used formerly. It is still a work in progress, but please check it out if you have a chance: http://mrsmaxwellsfifthgradeclass.blogspot.com/

5M Highlights 12/2 - 12/6

5M Highlights:

·        Last week was the official end to the first trimester of school. Trimester 1 Progress Reports will go home with red totes next Wednesday, December 11^th.

·        To prepare for a new trimester, students have been invited to apply for a new classroom job. They are excited to receive checks for their first trimester jobs.

·        In Language Arts workshop we focused on adjectives, both in writing and reading. We searched for adjectives in our book club books to notice how they make the writing rich and detailed. Student listened for adjectives in our read aloud book. We played games involving adjectives at morning meeting. After all this work, students were tasked to include 5 new and interesting adjectives in their Travel Journals. Some of my favorites were scintillating, exhilarating, and scorching.

·        During Math Workshop, students worked on using patterns and function machines to make ordered pairs. Many students were excited at the idea of solving equations and are actually looking forward to taking Algebra someday! We have now moved on to finding factors of numbers.

·        In our See the USA Project this week, students began researching points of interest around the country. Students are researching a variety of places from Disneyland to Chimney Rock National Historic Site and everywhere in between.