Choosing the Right Opening

Today in Writers' Workshop, we tried different ways to begin our fictional writing.  Students learned that authors make choices of how they want to begin a piece of writing depending on the goal of their piece.  There are so many ways to begin, however we learned 6 different ways.  When students tried a certain opening, they wrote their name next to the opening they incorporated into their fictional story.

In Readers' Workshop, we read a book called Two Bad Ants.  We focused on point of view and inferencing. Students had time to read and practice the strategies in their own independent reading books. 

The Science BA will be on Thursday afternoon.  Students have a completed study guide which will help them study for the test.  We talked about studying a little every night, instead of waiting until Wednesday night to study.

Homework:

-30 minutes of  reading

-Study Link

-Study for Science BA (Thursday)

Reminder:

-No school tomorrow (Tuesday)

-Bring Your Own Device permission slip

( click here to download a copy)

Wednesday 10/28

Today in Writers' Workshop, students worked on publishing their

Memoir.  Also, students learned a technique that some writers use called quick writing. A technique where writers will quickly write a stream of thoughts sometimes based on topic or events for a specific length of time. I taught students to look at a picture and try and implement the picture into a story.  For 4 short minutes students had to write the entire time using the picture on the right.  These quick writes have helped build stamina and also incorporate previously learned lessons such as adding dialogue, sounds words, precise words, etc.

Take a look at the picture and ask your child what they wrote about.

Homework:
-Study Link
-30 minutes of reading

Reminders:
-Fun Run Friday 10 AM
-Halloween parade Friday at 2 pm

Tuesday 10/17

Today, students learned in Readers' Workshop a summarizing strategy called Fab Five.  We practiced with our read aloud, Goblins in the Castle. Students paired up to write cohesive paragraphs using the Somebody, wanted, but, so, then strategy. In Writers' Workshop, we learned about dialogue and how authors use dialogue in their writing. Students practiced using dialogue, a variety of speech tags, and punctuation in their memoir.  Most students are finished publishing their memoir and working with me to polish their final piece.

In math, students had a review day.  We were reinforcing traditional multiplication (3 digit by 3 digit) and also checking our work with estimates, partial product multiplication, and area model multiplication.  Since students entered 5th grade with such a solid foundation of partial products and area model multiplication, teaching students the traditional method of multiplying was much simpler. 

Homework:

-Study Link 2.9

-30 minutes of reading

Reminders:

-Planners will be checked tomorrow

-Fun Run this Friday at 10 AM

-Halloween parade Friday at 2 PM

Monday

Today in Readers' Workshop, students learned to use evidence from text to make claims. In addition, I read to the students, Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, and students used information from the text to develop thick questions and quality predictions.

On Friday, we will be celebrating Halloween.  In the morning, your child will be participating in the Fun Run from 10:00 - 10:35. The rest of the morning, we will be working.

Our annual Halloween Parade will take place at 2:00 that afternoon. Please remember our costume guidelines: No weapons, masks, scary or bloody costumes. Please have your child bring all costumes to school. We will have time for them to change before the parade. After the parade, we will have an activity and a snack.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Homework:

Study Link 2.8

30 min of reading

Making Quality Predictions

Today in Readers' Workshop, students independently made quality prediction and thick questions based on character traits. We used a book called The Sweetest Fig to analyze the character and write about how the story was going to unfold. By thinking about character traits, students were able to make bold predictions that were accurate.  Effective readers use these strategies and today I let students take more of the learning.

In Writers' Workshop, students used thesauruses to revise their memoir. Our goal was to be more precise with our language.  The online thesaurus helped many students to accomplish this goal.

In math, students are learning the traditional algorithm for multiplication. Today we practiced two digit by two digit multiplication and compared it with partial products and the area model of multiplication. Many students agreed that they wanted more practice.

Homework:

Study Link 2.5

30 minutes of reading

Making Predictions

Today in readers' workshop, students learned how to make quality predictions based on their character's traits.  As an example, we used Goblins in the Castle and decided that William, the main character, had a negative character trait: being too secretive. Based on this thinking, we created predictions that were more accurate.  Students learned that making quality predictions is a strategy that effective readers use.  During independent reading time, students practiced this strategy.

Homework:
- 30 minutes of reading
- Home Link 2.4

Cloud Weight

So...what do you think?  How much does a cloud weigh?

I recently asked that same question to my scientists.  Many students said, "as much as a feather,"  "500 pounds," and "next to nothing.  A majority of my students thought clouds weighed very little; most students believed that since clouds are suspended in air that they must way very little . I then asked them how much a hurricane weighs.  My scientists were shocked when they watched the video clip: CLICK HERE TO WATCH!


Homework: 
- 30 minutes of independent reading
- Home Link 2.4