Balloon Pops

Today we are starting our Balloon Pop fun! Each day we will pop a balloon to reveal a fun activity! Keep checking the blog to see what activity is next!

Weekly Happenings 5.7-5.11

We are down to the last few weeks of school! We still have a lot of learning and a lot of fun activities to fit in for the remainder of the year!

Here is what's happening this week:

Writing: Today, the students developed their thesis and supporting reasons for their essays. Over the next few days, we will work on finding pieces of evidence. They'll learn how to paraphrase parts of the book, use quotes from the book, and use lists as evidence. We'll also review how to write and introduction and conclusion.

Word Study: Due to the craziness of our schedule for the next couple weeks, we will no longer have word study. We'll use some of this time doing experiments and hands on science activities.

Science: Today the students learned what motion is and how forces affect motion. We'll dive deeper into the different forces. The students will also be conducting an experiment which tests the force of friction. They'll be creating ramps using different materials to test how they will affect the speed of toy cars.

Math: The students will continue working on their tessellations this week. They are looking great so far! I can't wait for you to see your child's finished project.

Reading: We are still in the middle of book clubs. Most of our lessons will be taught to deepen the understanding of their book. We'll focus on how smaller details and minor characters are important to the bigger ideas a book presents. They will learn about symbolism and what ideas they can form from the symbols. We'll also work on taking notes that will lead to a strong discussion. They'll meet with their groups this week to discuss their reading so far.

Important Dates:

5.8 - Buy One, Get One Free Book Fair
5.16- Field Trip
5.18 - Fun Day
5.22 - End of the Year Parties
5.23 - Last Day/Half Day

Global Day of Design

To celebrate Global Day of Design, the students created towers using only notecards, tape, and scissors. Their goal was to create the tallest tower. Our tallest tower was nearly 100 cm! 

Junior Achievement

Jr. Achievement was a success! The students learned what an entrepreneur is and what traits they have. They also learned the basics behind starting a business. 

Weekly Happenings 4.30-5.4

Week 1 of MAP is complete! Everyone continues to put forth their best effort on the MAP test! I am beyond impressed with everyone's hard work! We only have two days left!

Here is what's happening this week:

Writing: We are starting a new unit this week. The students will write a literary essay. Today, the students chose the book they'll be using for their essay. We'll spend a few days this week going back through the book, taking notes on character traits, motivations, struggles, change, and the theme of the book. They'll also notice the setting, word choice, description, and figurative language. They'll eventually expand one of their notes to form a thesis and supporting reasons. 

Word Study: We'll be MAP testing during our word study time most of this week. The students will get a new set of spelling words on Friday.

Science: We are moving back to science this week. Our last chapter covers force and motion. We will be doing a lot of hands on/STEM activities to learn the concepts.

Math: This week we will be creating a Tessellation project using what we have learned about geometric shapes. A tessellation is an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together,  in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping.  Here are a few examples:

Reading: We are also starting a new reading unit. The students will be participating in book clubs. Today, the students got their books and decided which pages they would read each day. We will work on having meaningful conversations during the book club meetings. It's important for the students to keep up with their reading and bring discussion points to the meeting. 

Important Dates:

4.30 - 5.2 - Math MAP testing 9:00-11:00

5.3 - Junior Achievement 

5.4 - LEAP Medieval Fair 

Math MAP Review

We played Kahoot to review all of the math we've learned this year!

Weekly Happenings 4.23-4.27

Day 1 of MAP is complete! I am so proud of how hard each student worked today! Our week will look a little crazy this week because of testing.

Here is what's happening this week:

Writing: We'll be taking a break from writing Monday-Wednesday due to MAP testing. On Thursday and Friday we will finish our poetry unit. The students will choose a few poems to revise, edit, and publish. Each student will compile their published poems to create a grade level poetry book.

Word Study: We'll be MAP testing during our word study time. The students will get a new set of spelling words next week.

Social Studies: Because we are testing in the morning, we will be moving our social studies time to the end of the day Monday-Wednesday. We will be learning more about the hardships the pioneers faced moving west. We'll also learn about slavery and the Civil War. We'll focus mostly on the causes of the Civil War. We'll look specifically at what role Missouri played in the causes of the war.

Math: We will spend this week reviewing all of the math concepts we've learned this year. We'll play some games and work through some word problems together.

Reading: Since the students are spending so much time reading during the MAP, we won't be doing reading lessons in the afternoon. 

Important Dates:

4.23 - 4.25 - ELA MAP testing 9:00-11:00

4.30 - 5.2 - Math MAP testing 9:00-11:00

5.3 - Junior Achievement 

5.4 - LEAP Medieval Fair