I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday on Monday.  We came back together on Tuesday & Wednesday then had a snow day on Thursday.  Luckily we were back in session on Friday.  What a crazy week!

In writing, the students were shown four pictures and were asked to choose one and develop a paragraph about that picture over the course of the week.  Students used a graphic organizer to focus their writing, wrote a rough draft, and had a peer edit their work.  Due to the snow day, we will be sharing these next week.  I know they're going to be really creative.

In writing, we are nearing the conclusion to our adding and subtracting decimals unit.  Be on the look out for a Unit 3 test next week.

In reading, we have started the novel Mr. Popper's Penguins.  I think the students are going to enjoy this humorous book over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Some exciting highlights this week included a field trip on Wednesday to the local university to see a performance by DuoPrism a performing group made of a pianist and violinist.  They played several pieces for us as well as explaining how their instruments produced sound.  We were able to get our picture taken with them after, very exciting!  (see picture below)

Once again, our class had top attendance and Ms. Asbell participated in a Minute-to-Win it game during our weekly assembly.  Sadly, she was not able to empty two Kleenex boxes faster than the 4th grade teacher she faced off with.  Maybe next time.

Hopefully Winter weather will stay at bay over the next week as we enter the last days before MAP testing in April. 

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!

This was the final week of our second quarter.  In other words, we are already 1/2 of the way through the school year.  It's hard to believe how quickly time has passed since we started this adventure together.  I hope that everyone has learned a lot already and will be fresh and prepared for more learning and testing when the third quarter starts in January.  Happy holidays, see you in the New Year!

Writer's Workshop- This week, we finished our persuasive essay.

Math- This week we continued to focus on geometry.  We've been learning about area and perimeter of different shapes.

Reading- This week we began reading the historical fiction novel: Pedro's Journal.  It is told from the perspective a tween on Christopher Columbus's ship as they traveled into the unknown.

Social Studies- This week, we began working on a WebQuest about the Age of Exploration.

Science- The students continue their study of Land & Water.

Writer's Workshop- This week we began work on persuasive writing.  We are writing about topics related to information we've learned during our weeks in the the Rise Above drug and alcohol prevention course.

Math- This week, we wrapped up our study of Unit 1.  We will have our Unit 1 test on Monday!

Reading & Social Studies- This week, we have been working on developing our final projects for Rise Above.  Students picked a topic that was discussed during the course of our classes and will develop some kind of presentation with information about the topic.

Science- The students continue their study of Land & Water.

Friday was our Halloween party.  Thank you to our room parents for doing such a great job in throwing us a fun party!

Writer's Workshop- This week, we finished our personal narratives.  We also talked about nouns.  The students practiced identifying people, places, and things in sentences.

Math- This week, we continued with our Rocket Math testing.  The students are making great progress in progressing up their rocket.  I hope that they are applying this knowledge of facts in their use of multiplication in daily assignments.  Once 80% of our students have mastered a level of Rocket Math, we add a flame to our rocket located outside our classroom.  Please be sure to check our progress when you stop by!

Reading- This week, we focused on reading non-fiction.  Our class was lucky to receive a donation of several hundred dollars in magazines for our classroom.  This donation was made by a couple in Joplin using Donors Choose.  They paid for our class to have Weekly Reader Magazine and Time for Kids Magazine.  These magazines will be used throughout the year to discuss current events and read non-fiction.

Science- The students began their study of Land & Water.

Social Studies- We have wrapped up our Native American WebQuest, the graduated books look great.  I hope that the students have gained much knowledge of various Native American tribes.

This week marked the end of our first quarter of the 2010-2011 school year.  How time has flown by!  Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held next Thursday (21) from 3:00-7:00 and Friday (22) from 7:30-10:30.  Don't forget your scheduled time!

On Thursday evening, our Academic All-Stars (those students who scored Proficient of Advanced on the MAP test) were honored by the district in a ceremony held at the high school auditorium.  Congratulations to the 10 members of our class who achieved this goal!  Go to the photos section to see images from the event.

Writer's Workshop- This week, we talked about making sure our pieces of writing have "Bold Beginnings", "Mighty Middles", and "Exciting Ends".  We also talked about adjectives to help our readers better picture the events or objects in our writing.  We used thesauruses to help us turn our words from mild to spicy! The students have been working on typing the final drafts of their personal narratives.

Math- This week, we continued our studies in Unit 1.  Please take time to look at the Unit Overviews provided by the textbook publisher.

Reading- Last week, we read several tall tales from our anthology.  This week, we wrote our own!  Students used their knowledge of tall tales to write a tall tale featuring themselves as the "larger than life" characters who help solve problems using their unique character traits.  Come see our hallway bulletinboard and read that stories!

Science- Students continued to work with Ms. Lawrence on learning about the Water Cycle, and will be starting the Land and Water Kit soon.

Social Studies- We continue to work on our WebQuests  Native Americans.  We should be nearing the conclusion of this project by the end of next week.

What's going on?
Writer's Workshop- We have chosen our narrative topics and have started our rough drafts.
Math- We have started working on Unit 1 in our math books.  We have started to discuss Multiplication and Division in Real-World Contexts.
Reading- We have wrapped up the first theme, Nature's Fury.
Spelling- Spelling City!
Science- Students continued to work with Ms. Lawrence on learning about the Water Cycle.
Social Studies- We continue to work on our WebQuest about Native Americans.  We will be working on this project for the next couple of weeks.