Inclement weather conditions kept us at home two days this week.  But, we made the best of our time in school.  In writing, we talked about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We discussed the concept of BIG words.  Together, we determined that words don't have to have a lot of letters to be big, the meaning behind a word can make it big.  We listened to Dr. King's famous, "I Have a Dream" speech.  While listening, students wrote down some of the words that they considered to be BIG.  After developing the list, each student chose their top 5 BIG words from "I Have a Dream" and we developed a class wordle (see the end product below).  The students also chose lines from the speech and illustrated their meanings.  It was a powerful project, and many of the students left with a new understanding of Civil Rights and the power of BIG words.

Welcome back 5th graders! 

This week we set goals for our remaining semester of 5th grade in an activity I called "School Year's Resolutions".  Thinking about what we can do to make the most out of our remaining time is very important, I think that each goal set by the students will give them a focus and objective to take them through May. 

In math, we have continued our study of decimals.  The students are becoming proficient in adding and subtracting decimals.  We are also continuing with the Rocket Math program.  We have students who are reaching the end of the multiplication objectives and beginning to move on to their division objectives.

In social studies, we've began looking at early colonization of the United States.  We've already learned about the lost colony of Roanoke and Jamestown.

Winter weather is upon us, be on the look out for snow days in the coming weeks.  Stay warm and safe 5th graders!