Monthly Archives: January 2016

Math 5 Update

Dear families,

This post is in regards to my math 5 class (third block).

We have just begun our new unit on division! Students have shown a mixed level of background in division, so we are going to start with a review of the division strategy they learned last year; and eventually, all the students in the class will know how to use the traditional method of division (the way we were all taught) in order to solve long division problems.

Throughout the unit, it is of utmost importance that students are solid on their basic multiplication facts in order to solve division problems correctly. The best way you can help your child is to make multiplication facts flash cards with them and practice with them a little (maybe 10 minutes) every day – that will make division so much more efficient and easy for them.

In addition, if you allow them Internet access at home, there are tons of great games and practice activities on First In Math (they know what it is and how to log in) that will give them more practice with all the operations.

Next week, we will also begin a new weekly math challenge that will be given as a choice in addition to our other class work. This challenge will require them to stretch their math thinking and try many different approaches to a problem. Students who have shown a strong background in division will be spending their class time next week working through this problem; but please note that it may still require some time at home. Other students who would like to attempt the problem will be given it as a choice, but will have to work on it at home.

As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Writing 5 Update

Dear families,

This post is in regards to my 5th grade writing class (4th block of the day).

We have begun working on persuasive writing – one of my favorite genres of writing! Students have chosen a topic they care about, and they have found three compelling reasons to support it. We are currently working on building evidence to illustrate and prove each reason. We have discussed what makes solid evidence – that in some cases it’s facts, statistics and data; and in other cases, it’s personal stories and “what if” scenarios that paint mental images for readers. We have also practiced being discerning users of the Internet for research, using the acronym AAA: Appearance, Author, and Accuracy to find valid, trustworthy websites to gather evidence when facts and statistics are needed.

Students are working on building their plan for their persuasive essays, called boxes and bullets, on their Google Drive accounts. I hope you will take a look at their plan with them over the weekend! Next week, we will finish making our plans and begin drafting our essays using the language of persuasive writers.

We have just started a slightly new spelling/vocabulary program with three sections (commonly misspelled words, strong vocabulary words, and word patterns with Greek and Latin roots). All the students in the class are working on the same list right now because we realized that it is important for the entire class to not only have exposure to, but also to master the skills that are on the lists – both for their own writing, and also for test-taking skills as the year goes on. We will take a break from it next week as we have a shortened week, but the week of January 25, students will receive a new list that we will go over piece by piece. They will be tested on that list the following Thursday, February 4. I will give a practice test during the week of the test as homework, so that you and they can see what the test will be like and be fully prepared for it.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me!

TAG 4/5 Writing Update

Dear families,

this update is in regards to the combined 4th/5th grade second block TAG Writing class.

We have embarked on our persuasive writing unit! Please ask your child what topic and thesis they have chosen for their persuasive essays – we have some very passionate persuaders in class! We are just now in the planning phase – students have figured out their thesis and their three reasons why, and they have been working on gathering evidence that illustrates each reason. We have discussed what makes compelling evidence – that in some cases it’s facts and statistics but in other cases it’s personal stories. We have practiced being discriminating researchers on the Internet, using AAA (Appearance, Author, Accuracy) to determine if a website will have useful information. In the next week, we will finish our planning and begin the drafting process.

Students have a Greek and Latin roots packet that they have until Wednesday, January 20 to complete activities C, D, E and F in; we won’t have our class on Tuesday as the 5th graders will be going to Winkler that day. On Wednesday the 20th, we will also have our test on that unit (Unit 6 – Time and Place, the roots chron, temp, loc).

Students are also self-directing their own creative writing projects, some of which are collaborative. I am so impressed with the level of thinking and creativity that they are putting into these projects! We only have one day each week in class (Fridays) to dedicate to the projects, and I have asked students to spend about an hour a week outside of our Friday time to work on them as well. I hope you will talk to your child about the project they are creating – I think you will be impressed!

As always, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns!

TAG Reading 5 update

Dear families,

Just a quick update about our TAG 5 Reading class:

  • we are studying the elements of historical fiction right now. Your child is either reading Out of the Dust or Esperanza Rising.
  • Students have had 3 reading deadlines for the books and their final deadline, the end of the book, is Wednesday, January 20. They will have their final book club meeting for that book on Wednesday morning in class.
  • In order to prepare for the book club meetings, students are required to answer a set of questions on a Google Doc that they have been working on.
  • When we finish these books on Wednesday, students will start reading and learning about fantasy, and they will have book club meetings about those books as well. Their reading page deadlines will be given to them on bookmarks that I would like for them to keep in their books as constant reminders.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and as always please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!

Reading over winter break…

Hi families,

This post relates to my 5th grade TAG Reading class.

WOW! As I mentioned in my previous post, I was challenging the class to read quite a few pages over winter break. Students set quite lofty goals for themselves….and they exceeded them. Almost every single student read not only to the goal they had set, but way beyond it. The class had set out to read 3,295 pages over our two-week holiday, which came out to about 250 pages on average per student. When all their pages were totaled, they had read an amazing 5,775 pages!  I was blown away that some students read nearly 800 pages in two weeks! Thank you so much for supporting them by giving them awesome books and lots of time to read. It is experiences like that – lots of extended reading time with engaging books they can devour – that are helping your children continue to grow into amazingly thoughtful and voracious readers for life.

We will celebrate next week with an extended recess period which we will share with the 4th grade TAG Reading class, who also joined in our challenge (but our page total was ONLY made up of 5th graders’ reading!).

Thank you!