A Week in Review 10/15 - 10/19

A Week in Review

October 15 - 19

 

 

 

Happy Friday! The students deserve a weekend of relaxation - we worked hard this week!! I'm proud of the respect and responsibility that I see so often. Our class is so eager to help and eager to learn, they amaze me daily with their excitement and respect for learning.

 

 

Virtue Awards:

 

Cindy F. has earned a Virtues Award for showing the virtues of RESPONSIBILITY and SELF-DISCIPLINE. Cindy always makes sure to have her assignments turned in on time and with quality work!

 

Jack Don. has earned a Virtues Award for showing the virtues of JOYFULNESS and RELIABILITY. Jack participates in all classroom discussions, completes his assignments with quality work, and is always willing to try new things. He is an excellent example of 5th grade leadership!

 

Reading:

Off and Running by Gary Soto was our main reading selection this week from our Journeys curriculum. Students read the selection and used a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast two characters. Digging deeper into text with strategies like this, help us as readers to think critically about the text and have more thoughtful and thought provoking discussions.

 

Writing:
We were busily immersed in our Writing Workshop and this week found time to 'free write'. Free writing allows us as writers to choose our own topics and write about what is important to us. It helps us generate ideas for when we have specific topics to write about. Free writing also builds our confidence! The students are always eager to share their writing during author’s chair. Next week, we’ll continue our focus on memoirs, with specific lessons geared to helping students grow in their understanding of good writing and incorporating specific writing techniques to strengthen their writing.

 

Math:

Decimals, decimals, everywhere! We have started our 3rd Math Unit of 5th grade! Our beginning lessons focused on reviewing what decimals are, place value, and relating decimals to fractions We use "secret code cards" to aid us visually in understanding the 'size' of a decimal. This unit lays an important foundation for upcoming content in 5th grade.
 

 

Social Studies:

Why did explorers come to the "New World"? Why did they call it the "New World"? What did they find here? What did they bring with them? These are some of the questions we answered in Chapter 4 of our History Alive! curriculum. We turned our classroom into a sunken ship, students 'dove in' to find artifacts, they analyzed the artifacts and took notes in their Social Studies notebooks. We discussed what these artifacts were and how they were used by explores, and why there were important. Students looked to answer whether the artifact was: new technology that encouraged exploration, a motive for exploration, or new products from the Americas. Below is a snapshot of our 'sunken ship', inside each grid was an artifact waiting to be investigated.

Science:

We went back to our stream tables this week, but instead of focusing on erosion, this experiment introduced us to the concept of deposition. We learned that deposition is the process by which eroded earth materials settle out in another place. We learned that earth materials eroded by rivers are deposited as sediments and that heavier sediments (like sand) are deposited before lighter sediments (like clay). This experiment connected to real life because we analyzed how the Colorado River might have eroded the earth materials that make up the Colorado Plateau.

 

Cocoa and Current Events:

Three cheers for our first and successful Cocoa and Current Events! We obviously enjoyed our hot cocoa but also we were enriched and enlightened by the discussions. There is a lot going on in our world, this is one way for us to talk about the news, expand our vocabulary, and even begin analyzing writers as we look for hidden bias or point-of-view.

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

~Mrs. Hatlestad

 

Upcoming Events:

29-Oct - Book fair begins

1-Nov - Book fair Family Night

1-Nov - Reflections art show at school

6-Nov - PTA General Assembly meeting

9-Nov - Professional day - NO SCHOOL

12-Nov - Veterans Day - NO SCHOOL

13-Nov - BSF Phonathon begins

16-Nov - SPIRIT DAY!