KICKING OFF A GREAT YEAR

Families, these first few weeks were a super start to our 5th Grade year.  I really enjoy this class and getting to know the kids academically and personally.  This is a fine group of All Stars, most of whom have been at Grant for many years.  It is exciting to think about moving forward this year as a community.

The Ribbon Cutting this morning was a nice community event to celebrate our new beginnings. After enjoying the ceremony and the movie trailer about Grant, the class spent math time learning about a past 5th grade community project: Outdoor Education Model.  Students then enjoyed designing building plans and creating 3D models while the community toured our building.

Back to School Night Potluck is another special event is coming up next week.  Please join us Sept. 13 for our annual community potluck.  After enjoying a meal with fellow All Stars and meeting staff, classrooms will host Back to School night.  During this time, I will introduce families to the 5th Grade curriculum, special events, and materials.  This is a great time to ask questions about your child's 5th grade year and the Potluck is such a pleasant event.  I hope to see you there.

Field Experiences:  Our class has already taken our learning to the community.  So far, we have observed and worked on integrated science activities at Stewart Park, the MKT trail, Flat Branch park, and Ellis Library.  We also have plenty of space at school to use for outdoor classrooms as well.  Students have done a very nice job as All Stars on these excursions.  Our experiences are helping hone our science skills, allowing us to see and discuss themes from social studies, and providing a foundation for our annual 5th Grade project.  Feel free to join us on any off our adventures.  The list of field trips and special events can be found in the newsletter weekly and updated daily on this class blog.

Below is a snapshot of our current learning.  Enjoy the pics and have a great weekend!

READING: This week, we took a closer look at reading thinking.  We used our read aloud, Seedfolks, by Paul Fleischman, to discuss and categorize various reading thoughts, such as predication, questions, inferences, personal connections, and more.  Students turned int heir 5 most helpful reading thoughts this week.  Students are choosing their own books and can be using their Just Right Book Share books for this current work.  A few students have already completed Book Shares as well.  The Book Share program is something we will cover during Back to School night and there is a Book Share link to the right with some background on the program.

WRITING:  In writing, we are revising and editing final copies of our autobiographical I AM poems.  Students have a poem along with an autobiographical sketch to share.  Some students may even have time to work this in to another type of media with their iPad.  Our experience has focused on descriptive language and organization of ideas.  Also, this is a creative introductory project that helps us learn more about our community.  My goal is to share these with families at Back to School Night.

MATH: Our math focus continues to be on area and volume in Everyday Math Unit 1.  We will assess over this unit next week.  Students have developed the formula for Volume  and continue to practice finding volume of rectangle prisms in a variety of ways.  We also start math everyday reviewing a variety of skills.  Students may have math homework depending on what our focus is or how much they complete in class.  Homework is updated daily on the class blog.

SCIENCE: In science, our focus remains matter and also practicing science skills during our field experiences.  During our trips, we tend to focus on local ecosystems/organisms, water properties, and resources. This week, we talked a lot about Best Management Practices for conservation.  Students are practicing descriptive observations and meaningful questions while using science tools such as rulers, guide books, journals, thermometers, and more.  Next week, our focus will be on matter, such as states of matter and the law of conservation of mass.

SOCIAL STUDIES: This week, we used our textbook to provide more background about geography, including land forms and climate and resources.  Our trip to Ellis Library also highlights a timeline of communication technology and maps.  We will use all this foundation as we begin our own Where in the World geography project starting next week!